Headline News

16, February 2021

At least 60 die in Congo River shipwreck ⁰

At least 60 people died when a passenger barge carrying more than 700 people became shipwrecked on the Congo river at night, Democratic Republic of Congo’s humanitarian affairs minister said on Monday.

Some 300 survivors had been found near the scene of the accident in Mai-Ndombe province in the west of the country, but another 240 remained unaccounted for, Steve Mbikayi wrote on Twitter.

Deadly boat accidents are common in Congo, which has few tarred roads across its vast, forested interior and where vessels are frequently loaded well beyond their capacity. For most people the Congo river and its tributaries are the only means of travelling long distances.

“We sympathize with the families of the victims and we demand sanctions against all those responsible for the transport sector,” Mbikayi said, without elaborating. No further details were immediately available.

(Source: Reuters)

16, February 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Suspected Amba Fighters kill Cameroon army captain in Kumbo ⁰

Suspected Ambazonian fighters launched an attack on a Cameroon government army counter separatists team operating in Kumbo in the Bui County. The team was on a patrol to clear Southern Cameroons Self Defense Forces from Kumbo area when they came under attack, injuring the group’s commander Captain Omgbwa who later died of his injuries in a military hospital.

Local reports state that the Amba fighters seized weapons and equipment during the self defense operation. Similar attacks are possible all over Southern Cameroons in the near term.

Cameroon’s unwinnable war

At the heart of the crisis, which started in 2016, was a strike by teachers and lawyers, in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon. The professionals, supported by citizens of their areas, protested the unfair use of the French language and unjustified appointments of French speakers in their territories. Cameroon is a bilingual country. By 2017, the situation had spiralled out of control and developed into a fully-fledged separatist war. Both government forces and separatists are now bogged down in a conflict, that observers say, can only be resolved through dialogue.

By Isong Asu

16, February 2021

US Vice President Harris vows to strengthen ties with France ⁰

U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, expressing her commitment to strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries, her office said in a statement.

President Joe Biden, a former vice president himself under Barack Obama, has had Harris at his side for multiple events during his early White House tenure, indicating he wants her to have a key role in implementing his political and policy agenda.

The call with Macron, leader of a G7 nation, shows Harris is taking a role in foreign policy as well, an area in which the former U.S. senator from California has significantly less experience than Biden.

“Vice President Harris and President Macron agreed on the need for close bilateral and multilateral cooperation to address COVID-19, climate change, and support democracy at home and around the world,” the vice president’s office said in a statement.

“They also discussed numerous regional challenges, including those in the Middle East and Africa, and the need to confront them together,” the statement said.

Harris also spoke to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier this month in her first call as vice president with a foreign leader.

Biden, a Democrat who took over from Republican former President Donald Trump on Jan. 20, has sought to re-engage with allies and with global institutions after four years of his predecessor’s “America First” mantra.

Trump withdrew the United States from the World Health Organization and the Paris climate accord and largely scoffed at multilateral organizations and groups.

Biden had previously spoken with both Trudeau and Macron in January.

(REUTERS)

16, February 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Lebialem killings are grossly inhuman ⁰

Extrajudicial killings are grossly inhuman and must be condemned and the killing of three chiefs by Field Marshall, a feared fighter in Lebialem, should be condemned by all responsible and peace-loving citizens of Cameroon.

The story of the point blank shooting of those local authorities has even caught the attention of the Yerima-led Interim Government and it has been worried about such reckless brutality.

Speaking to the Cameroon Concord News Group’s London Bureau Chief, an official of the Interim Government regretted the violence Field Marshall has unleashed on those chiefs for no apparent reason.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said that such acts of violence only go a long way in giving the insurgency a very bad name, making it hard for the international community to take the different factions involved in the fighting in Southern Cameroons seriously.

“Nothing justifies the killing of those three local authorities in a public square. Southern Cameroons is not Afghanistan where people just get killed for no apparent reason,” the official said.

“No anger, no frustration and no story can justify such inhuman brutality. That is not the Southern Cameroonian mentality and such an action will never be condoned by the interim government,” the official stressed.

“We condemn this act just like we condemn the burning of our civilians and any abuse committed by the army like what occurred in Ndu recently,” he stressed.

“As Southern Cameroonians, we must never condone such a waste of human life. We are urging Field Marshall and all the other groups to stop intimidating the population. We are also calling on the fighters on the ground to stop killing Southern Cameroonians just because we disagree with them. We are fighting to build a democracy in Southern Cameroons and actions by Field Marshall and some shadowy figures on the ground only go a long way in calling into question our honest intention to bring about an independent and democratic Southern Cameroons,” the official concluded.

The interim government’s message is clear and honestly, there is nothing right in taking a human life and the actions of Field Marshall speak volumes to the abuse that is taking place in the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon.

The fighting in the country’s two English-speaking regions of Cameroon is the outcome of a recklessly declared war by a leader who has been out of touch with his country’s realities.

This is a war that does not have a place in Cameroon’s history but given that Cameroonian authorities have only one tool – ferocious brutality- in their small toolbox, they had to unleash terror on Southern Cameroonians who were simply bringing their sorry plight to the attention of the same authorities.

This government’s penchant for brutality and its under-estimation of the determination of the people of Southern Cameroons has resulted in some 7,000 deaths, a disruption of life in the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon and the displacement of thousands of Southern Cameroonians, with many living rough both at home and in neighboring Nigeria.

Despite the increasing human suffering, the Yaounde government has not deemed it necessary to seek peaceful means to engineer sustainable solutions.

Thousands of civilians have been burned alive, including babies, but these gruesome images are not strong enough to cause the ailing and dying president of Cameroon, Paul Biya, to contemplate a change in strategy. It is indeed unfortunate that a man can be this frozen in his position and thoughts.

The world cannot be totally wrong. The Pope has called for peace. He has spoken to Mr. Biya about the need to engage Southern Cameroonians in a frank and fruitful dialogue but Mr. Biya has remained adamant.

The Pope, like many heads of state has sent special envoys to talk Mr. Biya out of the madness and cruelty he has brought to a once prosperous nation, but his inhuman indifference to wise counsel has only made his soldiers to think that they have carte blanche to kill and maim whoever they meet in their path.

This mentality is not addressing any issues. At best, it is counterproductive. The chaos the war is spreading in Cameroon should have advised the government to rethink its ways. The number of civilian and military deaths is rising and there is no end in sight.

The government might have superior military power, but the determination of eight million Southern Cameroonians will surely keep the military in the jungles of Southern Cameroons for a very long time.

Many soldiers have been killed and thousands have been maimed by determined Southern Cameroonian fighters and this has struck fear in the minds of these young soldiers, many of whom have only been trained for six months and rushed to the killing fields of Southern Cameroons where they are made to see death first hand.

But how many soldiers and civilians must die for Mr. Biya to understand that the worst peace agreament is better than the best war?

If fighting and killing are beautiful, why have Mr. Biya and his collaborators not sent their own children to the war front? What have they been telling the numerous widows of those young soldiers who have lost their lives in a war that will never make Cameroon better?

Why can Mr. Biya and his collaborators not understand that while checking the insurgency is good, going to the negotiating table with the warring factions to iron out differences could bring lasting peace and stability in Cameroon?

Instead of paying leap service to the notion of one and indivisible Cameroon, why not match actions to words by addressing the root cause of the problem? Will Cameroon not be one and indivisible if it is federal and inclusive?

Why is the government intentionally giving the country a bad name and pushing its economy to the bottom of the abyss? Genuine patriotism does not exclude dialogue as a means of achieving sustainable peace.

Mr. Paul Biya and his government still have time to reverse some of the damage they have caused in the country. There is no prize for being stone-hearted and the evil that Mr. Biya and collaborators are spreading in Cameroon might one be the potion of their children.

The numerous killings in Cameroon will forever be considered as the legacy of Mr. Biya who in the 1980s asked Cameroonians this important question: What type of Cameroon do you want for your children?

From every indication, he has offered an answer to that question and it clear that the Cameroon he wants for future Cameroonians is a Cameroon that is intolerant, corrupt, nepotic, dishonest and economically bankrupt.

History will forever have it that once upon a time, there was a president in Cameroon who had all the natural resources in the world, the best human resources in Africa and the total support of the international community for him to transform his country into an earthly paradise, but he opted to destroy the country and its people by fostering corruption, inaction and nepotism which have transformed the country into a living hell.

As Mr. Biya continues to implement his machiavelian agenda, the world is simply wondering why a man who is supposed to be the light of his country could be so hellbent on destroying his own fatherland.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

15, February 2021

Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala becomes first female head of WTO ⁰

Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was appointed Monday to head the leading international trade body as it seeks to to resolve disagreements over how it decides cases involving billions in sales and thousands of jobs.

Okonjo-Iweala, 66, was appointed director-general of the World Trade Organization by representatives of the 164 member countries, according to a statement from the body.

She said in a statement that her first priority would be quickly addressing the economic and health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and to “implement the policy responses we need to get the global economy going again.”

“Our organization faces a great many challenges but working together we can collectively make the WTO stronger, more agile and better adapted to the realities of today,” she said.

The appointment came after new U.S. President Joe Biden endorsed her candidacy, which had been blocked by former President Donald Trump.

Biden’s move was a step toward his aim of supporting more cooperative approaches to international problems after Trump’s “America first” approach that launched multiple trade disputes.

But unblocking the appointment is only the start in dealing with trade disputes launched by Trump, and in resolving U.S. concerns about the WTO that date to the Obama administration. The U.S. had blocked the appointment of new judges to the WTO’s appellate body, essentially freezing its ability to resolve extended and complex trade disputes.

The U.S. government has argued that the trade organization is slow-moving and bureaucratic, ill-equipped to handle the problems posed by China’s state-dominated economy and unduly restrictive on U.S. attempts to impose sanctions on countries that unfairly subsidize their companies or export at unusually low prices.

Earlier this month, the Biden administration reversed Trump’s opposition and expressed “strong support’’ for Okonjo-Iweala and saying she “brings a wealth of knowledge in economics and international diplomacy.” She is the first African official and the first woman to hold the job.

Okonjo-Iweala, formerly Nigeria’s finance minister, had a 25-year career at the World Bank, where she rose to the No. 2 position of managing director. She holds both U.S. and Nigerian citizenship.

South Korean trade minister Yoo Myung-hee had withdrawn her candidacy, leaving Okonjo-Iweala as the only choice. Her predecessor, Roberto Azevedo, stepped down Aug. 31, a year before his term expired.

Trump repeatedly accused the WTO of unfair treatment of the U.S., started a trade war with China in defiance of the WTO system, and threatened to pull the United States out of the trade body altogether. Trump also imposed 25% steel tariffs that hit European allies on national security grounds, a justification that went beyond trade measures normally used within the WTO rules framework to address complaints about unfair trade.

So far, Biden has not said whether the U.S. will unblock the appellate appointments, and he has not withdrawn the steel tariffs either, which are backed by U.S. steel industry and union groups.

The World Trade Organization is an international body that deals with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated among the bulk of the world’s nations and ratified in their legislatures.

(AP)

15, February 2021

Biya oldest African Leader, celebrates 88th birthday ⁰

Africa’s oldest and second longest serving leader, Cameroonian President Paul Biya, celebrated his 88th birthday on February 13. Ceremonies were organized in Cameroon’s major towns, with loyal government ministers and young people pledging their support, while those opposed to his 50-year rule demanded the octogenarian hand over power. Biya is blamed by some for the several crises his country is facing but his supporters maintain that he is a godsent leader.

Government ministers join youths at Biyas 88 birthday celebration. Yaounde, 2/13/2021 Moki Edwin Kindzeka, VOA — Government ministers join young people at Biya’s 88 birthday celebration, in Yaounde

Among them is 28-year-old Fatimatou Iyawa, president of the Cameroon National Youth Council. She said Biya works tirelessly to improve Cameroon.

“We are here to wish him a happy birthday because it is not everybody who is lucky to have his age. He is our patriarch, he is our example, he is a role model for the Cameroonian people. We have modern sports infrastructure that he put at the disposal of the Cameroonian young people. There are schools, universities with modern equipment that he put at the disposal of the Cameroonian young people,” said Iyawa.

Ernestine Mokake, 24, another member of the youth council, said she does not see any reason to celebrate Biya’s 88th birthday. She says it is unhealthy for a man at an advanced age to hang onto power.

“He has been too long in power. Since 1982, we have had just one president. Look at a country like America, from 1982 to 2021, they have had seven presidents. In my country for the sake of democracy, governance, accountability, peace and nation-building, I would have preferred that at least we have a second president. At least for a change.” she said.

Biya took office in 1982 from Cameroon’s first president, Ahmadou Ahijo. Biya had served as prime minister since 1975. He has won all multiparty elections since 1992, and the opposition has always complained of heavy election rigging by Biya.

In 2008, Biya abolished the constitution’s two-term limit.

Main opposition parties such as the Social Democratic Front and the Cameroon Renaissance Movement party of Maurice Kamto, say Biya is responsible for the several crises in Cameroon. Kamto claims he won the 2018 presidential elections and Biya stole his victory.

Cameroonian opposition leader Maurice Kamto (L) sits in the back of a car as he is driven away on October 5, 2019, the day of…

Schoolchildren, their parents and teachers hold a protest after gunmen opened fire at a school, killing at least six children as authorities claim, in Kumba, Cameroon, Oct. 25, 2020. — FILE – Schoolchildren, their parents and teachers hold a protest after gunmen opened fire at a school

The opposition blames Biya for ordering his military to fight disgruntled separatists instead of opening what they call a true dialogue to solve the crisis. They also say Biya uses excessive force, and his military targets civilians suspected of collaborating with Boko Haram.

Addressing Cameroon youths February 10, ahead of the February 11 National Youth Day public holiday, Biya blamed some young people for the crises the country is facing.

Biya said he regrets that some Cameroonian young people have decided to rally behind the demons of hatred and division to the detriment of national unity. He said such youths are driven by barbaric fanaticism nurtured from foreign countries or by a pervasive use of social media to undermine Cameroon’s unity. He said he is urging young people to avoid such negative role models.

At 88, Biya is Africa’s oldest president. He is the second longest serving leader in Africa after his neighbor, Thedoro Obiang Nguema, of Equatorial Guinea. Obiang has been in power since 1979.

Source: VOA

15, February 2021

South Africa’s ex-president Zuma ‘no show’ at corruption inquiry ⁰

South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma has not shown up at a state inquiry into corruption during his time in office.

The former president defied an order by the country’s top court to appear before the commission on Monday to answer questions regarding allegations of high-level graft.

Zuma’s tenure in office from 2009 to 2018, which had coincided with the speedy rise of the Gupta family, was rife with accusations of corruption.

It is alleged that billions of dollars of state funds may have been looted through corrupt awarding of government tenders linked to the Gupta brothers.

Zuma’s lawyers confirmed in a letter to the inquiry that the former president would not attend the inquiry, where he was due to give evidence.

“The summons issued for our client to appear on Feb 15-19 2021 is irregular,” the letter said.

Zuma, 78, says he is innocent of any wrongdoing. However, he has not cooperated till now with the so-called “state capture” inquiry.

Source: Presstv

15, February 2021

First woman, first African: Nigeria’s Okonjo-Iweala set to be named WTO boss ⁰

Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala looks set to be confirmed Monday as the first woman and first African leader of the beleaguered World Trade Organization, a near-paralysed institution desperately needing a kick-start.

The WTO has called a special general council meeting at which the former Nigerian finance minister and World Bank veteran is expected to be formally selected as the global trade body’s new director-general.

US President Joe Biden strongly swung behind her candidacy shortly after the only other remaining contender, South Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee, pulled out.

“I look forward to finalising the process,” Okonjo-Iweala said on February 6 after securing the Biden administration’s support.

The organisation is also eager to conclude the drawn-out process, having been leaderless since Brazilian career diplomat Roberto Azevedo stepped down last August, a year ahead of schedule.

The process of picking one of eight candidates to succeed him had been expected to wrap up by November, but the administration of former US president Donald Trump blocked the consensus to appoint Okonjo-Iweala.

‘Reform candidate’

The 66-year-old will not be at the WTO’s Geneva headquarters for Monday’s virtual session and it is not known when she would take up her duties.

The 164-member organisation’s special session gets under way at 1400 GMT and Okonjo-Iweala is scheduled to hold an online press conference two hours later.

The WTO picks its leaders through consensus-finding, so even though she is the only candidate still in the race — boasting US, EU and African backing — there is always the chance of a spanner being thrown in the works.

She will take over an organisation mired in multiple crises and struggling to help member states navigate the severe global economic slump triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.

Okonjo-Iweala argued during the race that she was best placed out of the eight candidates for the post to steer the WTO through the crises.

“I am a reform candidate,” she insisted.

She has among other things warned that growing protectionism and nationalism have been spurred on by the pandemic and insists barriers need to be lowered to help the world recover.

Even before Covid-19 battered the global economy, the WTO was weighed down by stalled trade talks and struggled to curb trade tensions between the United States and China.

The WTO also faced relentless attacks from Washington under Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump. Among other things, Trump brought the WTO’s dispute settlement appeal system to a grinding halt in late 2019.

‘Boldness, courage’

Okonjo-Iweala has said her priorities include getting long-blocked trade talks on fishery subsidies across the finish line and breathing life back into WTO’s Appellate Body.

Twice Nigeria’s finance minister (2003-2006 and 2011-2015) and its first female foreign minister in a two-month stint in 2006, Okonjo-Iweala is seen as a trailblazer in her west African homeland.

She has brushed off claims she lacks experience as a trade minister or negotiator, insisting that what is needed to lead the WTO is not technical skills but “boldness, courage”.

She has portrayed herself as a champion against Nigeria’s rampant corruption — saying her own mother was even kidnapped over her attempts to tackle the scourge.

But her critics argue she should have done more to tackle it while in power.

A development economist by training with degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, Okonjo-Iweala has also had a 25-year career as a development economist at the World Bank, eventually becoming its number two.

She is on the Twitter board of directors and chaired Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

(AFP)

15, February 2021

Macron meets G5 Sahel leaders amid questions over France’s strategy ⁰

Leaders of France and five Sahel countries on Monday begin a two-day summit to discuss the G5-Sahel grouping’s anti-insurgency operations amid mounting local dissatisfaction over the military-heavy approach that has failed to stabilise the poorly administered region.

Leaders of the so-called G5 Sahel – Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger – are attending the two-day summit in the Chadian capital N’Djamena, with French President Emmanuel Macron joining via videolink.

The meeting comes a year after France boosted its Sahel deployment, seeking to wrench back momentum in the brutal, long-running battle.

But despite touted military successes, jihadists remain in control of vast swathes of territory and attacks are unrelenting.

Six UN peacekeepers have been killed in Mali this year alone, and France has lost five soldiers since December.

Islamist fighters in the Sahel first emerged in northern Mali in 2012, during a rebellion by ethnic Touareg separatists which was later overtaken by the jihadists.

France intervened to rout the insurgents, but the jihadists scattered, taking their campaign into the ethnic powder keg of central Mali and then into Burkina Faso and Niger.

Thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed, according to the UN, while more than two million people have fled their homes.

Calls for a course correction strategy

The crushing toll has fuelled perceptions that the jihadists cannot be defeated by military means alone.

At a summit in the French city of Pau last year, G5 Sahel leaders agreed to step up military cooperation to tackle the threat. “We have no choice. We need results,” said Macron at the end of the January 2020 summit.

But some experts believe there is a choice between focusing on a solely military strategy or viewing it as a component of a strategy that includes governance, political representation, fiscal reforms, anti-corruption as well as human rights issues.

In a report published February 1, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) called on G5 Sahel leaders to “reorient their approach to one rooted in efforts to prioritise governance, notably by soothing the escalating tensions among communities and between communities and the state in rural areas, which jihadists exploit, and by improving governments’ delivery of basic services to citizens”.

Jean-Herve Jezequel, the ICG’s Sahel director, said conventional military engagement had failed to deliver a knockout blow.

The jihadists “are capable of turning their backs, bypassing the system, and continuing,” he said.

Last Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called for a “diplomatic, political and development surge” to respond to the situation.

Last year, France upped its Barkhane mission in the Sahel from 4,500 troops to 5,100 – a move that precipitated a string of apparent military successes.

French forces killed the leader of the notorious Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Abdelmalek Droukdel, as well as a military chief of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM).

Troop drawdown?

But the latest attacks have also brought the number of French combat deaths in Mali to 50, prompting soul-searching at home about Barkhane’s cost and usefulness.

Macron last month opened the door to a drawdown, suggesting France may “adjust” its military commitment.

Despite persistent rumours, France is not expected to announce any troop withdrawal at N’Djamena.

Instead, to lighten the load, France is hoping for more military support from its European partners through the Takuba Task Force which assists Mali in its fight against jihadists.

The Sahel armies, for their part, are unable to pick up the slack.

In 2017, the five countries initiated a planned 5,000-man pooled force, but it remains hobbled by lack of funds, poor equipment and inadequate training.

Chad, which reputedly has the best armed forces among the five, promised a year ago to send a battalion to the “three border” flashpoint where the frontiers of Mali, Niger and Burkina converge. The deployment has still not happened.

Paris also hopes last year’s successes can strengthen political reform in the Sahel states, where weak governance has fuelled frustration and instability.

In Mali, the epicentre of the Sahel crisis, army officers overthrew president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita last August after weeks of protests over perceived corruption and his failure to end the jihadist conflict.

The interim government has pledged to reform the constitution and stage national elections, but critics say the pace of change is slow.

A 2015 regional deal between Mali’s government and northern rebel groups has also barely advanced, yet it is one of the country’s few options for escaping the violence.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

14, February 2021

Football: Salah vows Liverpool won’t give up title fight ⁰

Mohamed Salah has warned Manchester City that Liverpool will “fight like champions” despite a miserable run that plunged his side’s Premier League title defence into turmoil.

Jurgen Klopp’s side are languishing 13 points behind leaders City after crashing to a 3-1 defeat at Leicester on Saturday.

Salah had given Liverpool the lead with his 17th league goal of the season, but the Reds collapsed in the closing stages.

Klopp conceded the title to City after Liverpool’s third successive defeat.

It is a remarkable decline after Liverpool romped to their first title in 30 years last term.

But, after 24 hours of painful fallout from the loss at the King Power Stadium, with Liverpool fans hanging a banner in support of the German boss on the railings outside the Kop reading ‘Jurgen Klopp YNWA’, Egypt forward Salah made a defiant statement of intent.

“It’s been a tough period for many reasons. We are champions and we will fight like champions, until the very end,” Salah wrote on Twitter.

“We will not allow this season to be defined by the recent results we’ve had. That is my promise to all of you.”

While retaining the title may now be beyond Liverpool, they are still in the Champions League.

Klopp’s team face the Bundesliga’s second-placed side Leipzig in a last-16 first-leg clash on Tuesday.

The match, which has been moved to the Puskas Arena in Hungary due to German government coronavirus regulations not allowing Liverpool to travel to the country, could be pivotal to the rest of the Reds’ campaign.

Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold hopes a different competition and scenario will provide the lift they need to get out of their current slump.

“Everyone talks about a bad spell and a dip in form and stuff, but I feel personally we’ve performed well in the last few weeks, in the last two months or six weeks or so,” he told Liverpool’s website.

“It’s just that we haven’t been getting the results and it’s a results business so there’s no excuses for that.

“But I think confidence-wise, we’re not playing badly, we’re not getting battered.

“It’s about turning those performances into results and that’s probably what we need to look at most.

“In situations like this you want the opportunity to put it right as soon as possible.

“Different competition, which always freshens it up, different mentality going into it. It’s going to be a different task for us, a Champions League night.”

Source: AFP