25, May 2020
Cameroon and the Virus: Family Blames CRTV for Falsely Announcing Chemuta Banda Died Of COVID-19 0
The family of late Dr. Chemuta Divine Banda has initiated court action against the Cameroon Radio Television, CRTV, for falsely announcing that the human rights activist died of COVID-19.
A family member of the late chairman of the National Human Rights Commission was quoted as saying that both CRTV and the 8:30 p.m. TV news presenter, Adele Mbala Atangana, have been sued jointly and severally.
When Dr. Chemuta Banda died of an undisclosed illness at a medical facility in Yaoundé Monday, May 18, 2020, the 8:30 p.m. news presenter was categorical in attributing the death to the novel coronavirus.
“Even after it emerged from a death certificate which the family is brandishing, that the man did not die of COVID-19, the state-owned broadcaster still went ahead to post the story on YouTube and CRTV website,” the Guardian Post reported in its issue N° 1890 of Friday May 22, 2020 and added that the remains of Dr. Chemuta Banda were preserved at the mortuary of the Yaoundé General Hospital long before the CRTV 8:30 p.m. news bulletin of that day linking his death to the virus.
Barrister Ndong Christopher told The Guardian Post that the deceased’s family could claim damages of up to even half a billion francs FCFA given that by linking the late Dr. Chemuta Banda’s death to COVID-19, “CRTV has caused untold damage not only on the deceased but especially on his family members…even a dead man has and maintains his dignity.”
It is vital to include in this report that on May 15, 2017 CRTV’s top anchor lady Adele Mbala, while presenting the 8:30 p.m. prime time news on state television, read names of ministers and other officials presumed to have been named into the government of French President Emmanuel Macron. She reportedly got the unfounded information from social media.
The diplomatic row erupted between Paris and Yaoundé and prompted an extraordinary session of the Board of Directors of CRTV that ordered the removal of Adele Mbala from her position as Director of TV information.
Culled from Cameroon Info.Net with additional editing from Rita Akana
25, May 2020
Burundi expected to announce Ndayishimiye next president 0
Burundi’s election commission is expected Monday to declare Evariste Ndayishimiye the country’s next president, with all signs showing the ruling party’s candidate on track for victory following last week’s poll.
The National Independent Electoral Commission will unveil the outcome of the presidential and legislative races at 1200 GMT.
Local government results are also expected Monday.
Partial results already announced on state media indicate that Ndayishimiye, an army general from the governing CNDD-FDD who was hand-picked to succeed outgoing President Pierre Nkurunziza, has an insurmountable lead over his opponents.
Agathon Rwasa, the main opposition leader, has alleged foul play, saying early numbers showing his CNL party heading for a bruising defeat are a “fantasy”.
According to a tally by AFP covering 105 of 119 municipalities, Ndayishimiye won an outright majority in 101, and in at least one secured 99.9 percent of the vote.
In the four communes where he was defeated, Ndayishimiye attracted a support rate of no less than 43 percent.
Rwasa and his CNL, meanwhile, managed just 24.6 percent in Kabezi, a historic stronghold in western Bujumbura for the opposition party, which says some of its officials were harassed and detained on voting day.
The veteran politician attracted large crowds throughout his campaign, as did the ruling party, despite concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.
– Results questions –
Analysts predicted the presidential race would come down to a contest between Rwasa and Ndayishimiye, the strongest of seven candidates.
A foreign diplomat in Burundi, speaking anonymously, expressed strong doubts about the official result but said it was not surprising.
“We were expecting it to happen like this. Nobody could imagine for a second that the CNDD-FDD and its generals would cede power in any way,” the diplomat said.
Burundi, which the World Bank ranks among the world’s three poorest countries, has been under sanctions from its major donors since 2015, when Nkurunziza’s decision to run for a third term as president triggered violent unrest and political chaos.
At least 1,200 people have died and 400,000 have fled the country in violence that continues to this day.
So far this year’s election has not seen a repeat of that violence.
Rwasa has already hinted he would not take to the streets in protest and would appeal to the Constitutional Court, though he considers the process imperfect.
Tensions were high during the campaign and on voting day, when both sides accused the other of fraud and several CNL officials were arrested.
Burundi is tightly controlled by the ruling party and its youth wing, the Imbonerakure, have been accused of a forceful crackdown against the government’s critics in the aftermath of 2015.
If the election commission announces Ndayishimiye the winner as expected, he will be sworn in for a seven-year term in late August, when Nkurunziza’s term ends.
It is unclear whether Ndayishimiye would be able to rule free from interference by Nkurunziza, who in February was elevated by parliament to the rank of “supreme guide for patriotism” and will remain chairman of the party’s highly influential council of elders.
The final election results will be declared by the Constitutional Court on June 4.
Source: AFP