Headline News

US Congressmember Introduces Resolution Urging Halt Of Cameroonian Deportations

18, November 2020

US Congressmember Introduces Resolution Urging Halt Of Cameroonian Deportations 0

Congressmember Karen Bass (D-CA), Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, along with 52 other Members of Congress, introduced a resolution urging for the halt of deportations to Cameroon.

“The United States must uphold its commitments under international treaties related to refugees and asylum-seekers and halt deportations of Cameroonian citizens,” said Congressmember Bass. “Many of the individuals who were deported last week were allegedly improperly coerced to sign voluntary deportation orders. Upon their arrival in Cameroon, many will be at imminent risk of death. To do this while we are transitioning between administrations is outrageous and unacceptable. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.”

On November 10, Congressmember Karen Bass (D-CA), Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, along with Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Congresswoman Shelia Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Congresswoman Judy Chu (D-CA), Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-TX), and Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) issued the following joint statement:

“Our offices have been alerted that African asylum-seekers from Cameroon and other African countries, many of whom were allegedly improperly coerced by ICE to sign voluntary deportation orders, will be deported as early as tomorrow morning. Upon their arrival to their designated countries, many will be at imminent risk of death. Their deportation should be put on hold until the new administration is sworn in and able to carefully review these claims. Anything otherwise is outrageous and unacceptable. We plan to introduce a measure this week to condemn this deportation should it take place. The United States should uphold its commitment under international treaties related to refugees and asylum-seekers and halt this unjust deportation.”

Source: The Street Journal

CPDM Crime Syndicate merges Sodecoton & Cicam to boost textiles

18, November 2020

CPDM Crime Syndicate merges Sodecoton & Cicam to boost textiles 0

The government of the central African country of Cameroon has announced a strategic merger of Société de développement du Coton (Sodecoton) and Cotonnière Industrielle du Cameroun (Cicam) to boost the country’s cotton textiles industry. The merger is part of the government’s 2020-30 National Development Strategy, which includes revival of the leather sector.

Sodecoton organises the production and marketing of cotton in Cameroon, while Cicam specialises in the manufacture of 100 per cent cotton loincloths and towels.

Within the framework of the National Development Strategy, the government aims to increase the country’s cotton production to 600,000 tons a year by 2025.

The strategy also aims to increase the volume of local cotton use by the domestic industry to 50 per cent by 2030. The cotton will be used for making apparel, particularly sportswear, and is expected to meet around 50 per cent of Cameroon’s clothing demand.

The garments produced using at least 60 per cent of local cotton will be supplied to the military, police and other government departments, according to Cameroon media reports.

Biya regime tightens security in Yaounde following repeated blasts

18, November 2020

Biya regime tightens security in Yaounde following repeated blasts 0

Security forces are stepping up security precautions in Cameroon’s capital Yaoundé following recurrent blasts in the city, a government official said on Monday.

“For some time now, we have been living with the phenomenon of explosive devices in the city of Yaoundé. We have not had this kind of thing before. We have taken more adequate measures to fight the phenomenon,” Naseri Paul Bea, governor of the Centre Region told reporters in Yaounde.

“All bags will be systematically checked in the city because we have realised that the explosive devices are carried in bags. All bags are banned in drinking spot. We have asked everyone to always have their ID cards on them,” he added.

He also directed community leaders to create community defense forces, or vigilante groups that can collaborate with security forces to fish out the criminals.

“The participation of the population in the security measures is very important. We cannot have a police officer behind every Cameroonian, so the population has to be vigilant and collaborate with security forces,” Bea said.

According to security reports, there have been over 10 attacks from improvised explosive devices in the capital since the start of the year. No deaths have been reported so far.

Source: Xinhuanet

Biya Francophone regime targets birth registrations of 500,000 children in conflict zones

18, November 2020

Biya Francophone regime targets birth registrations of 500,000 children in conflict zones 0

Cameroon has launched a drive to help parents register their children’s births in conflict-stricken regions, so the government can better plan health, education and other public services, the country’s Minister of Decentralization and Local Development, Georges Elanga Obam said on Monday.

“We are trying to modernize the legislation and the reglementation governing the civil status. We want by the end of next year to register something like 500,000 kids without birth certificates,” Obam told reporters in the capital Yaounde during a plenary session of the National Assembly dedicated to deliberate on birth registrations in the country.

According to officials, only four out of 10 children possess a birth certificate in the Far North region where thousands have been displaced by Boko Haram attacks and in the Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest ravaged by close four-year armed separatist conflict.

Members of parliament expressed concerns that the country has one of the lowest rates of birth registration in Central Africa with just about 66 per cent of children owning a birth certificate.

Most parents in rural areas of Cameroon do not register their children because of the long distances to registry offices, cumbersome process and high cost, officials said.

Child’s rights campaigners say ensuring every child’s birth is registered is key to safeguarding basic rights and access to healthcare, education and justice.

Source: Xinhuanet

African countries not progressing in good governance

17, November 2020

African countries not progressing in good governance 0

Governance progress slowed across Africa for the first time in a decade, even before the coronavirus pandemic hit, with commitment to democracy and civil rights faltering, a major report said Monday.

The Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance, published every two years, gives each country’s government a score according to criteria including anti-corruption measures, protection of civil liberties and caring for the environment.

More than 60 percent of Africans live in countries that made progress in good governance over the period 2010 to 2019, this year’s report said.

But progress has slowed in the last five years and this year, for the first time in the last 10 years, the combined score for all the countries fell year-on-year, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation added.

The foundation, set up in 2006 to focus on the need for good political leadership and public governance in Africa, cited growing curbs on people’s ability to exercise their democratic rights and take part in civil society.

The results use data from last year and do not therefore include the impact of coronavirus.

Since the pandemic began, some elections have been postponed while “the continent had been going through a deterioration of civil society space, participation and rights long before Covid-19,” the report said.

There is “an increasingly precarious environment for human rights and civic participation” as well as a “deteriorating security situation,” it added.

– ‘Worrying declines’ –

Also this year, the incumbent presidents of Guinea and Ivory Coast succeeded in pushing through constitutional changes allowing them to stand for a third term, sparking deadly unrest while adding their names to a long list of leaders with similar playbooks.

Post-election clashes have claimed scores of lives in Ivory Coast and at least 21 in Guinea, where several opposition figures are in police custody over the violence.

In Nigeria, largely peaceful youth-led protests against a hated police unit spilled over into looting and violence.

The UN last week called for urgent measures to protect civilians in Mozambique’s northeastern Cabo Delgado province, where jihadists are wreaking havoc, warning that the population was “desperate”.

Since 2015, countries’ scores for security and rule of law and participation have slowly worsened while scores for rights and inclusion have fallen more sharply, the report said.

Only one country, Ethiopia, has made progress across all areas measured over a decade, the report said — but the continent’s second most populous country is now embroiled in a military conflict pitting the federal government against the dissident northern region of Tigray.

Across Africa, progress in some areas such as economic opportunity has come alongside “worrying declines in participation, rights, inclusion, rule of law and security,” the report said.

– Covid inequality –

Coronavirus threatens gains in economic opportunity, “worsening an already alarming situation,” it added.

For the first time, the report looked at new areas such as digital rights and inclusiveness as well as environmental sustainability.

South Africa, ranked sixth, has declined over the decade, falling more steeply since 2015, and is on a “concerning trajectory,” the report found.

The country’s former president, Jacob Zuma, was forced out by the ruling African National Congress (ANC) over a slew of corruption scandals.

ANC secretary general Ace Magashule was charged last Friday with multiple counts of fraud, corruption and money laundering allegedly committed under Zuma.

Source: Africa News

Cameroon’s unwinnable war: CDC workers go for months without salaries

17, November 2020

Cameroon’s unwinnable war: CDC workers go for months without salaries 0

With about twenty thousand contracts of employment and a related monthly wage bill of about FCFA 2.5 billion, the crisis in the North West and South West Regions and the COVID-19 pandemic have weighed down on the Cameroon Development Corporation, CDC.

While the CDC is struggling to stand on its feet with government support and the willingness of the workers to get back to work, months of unpaid salaries seem to be throwing a spanner in the works.

For a while now, workers in some of the units of the CDC have staged protests decrying the non-payment of accrued salaries. On November 12, workers at CDC’s Bota Engineering yard went on strike, demanding months of unpaid salary.

A day after the protest, Eric Nzegge, Director of Human Resources at the CDC told journalists that the corporation’s management is exploring avenues to pay the workers, but patience is key.

“The General Manager of the Cameroon Development Corporation is very much concerned about the difficult situation that the workers are going through and CDC strives every other day to ensure that the workers are paid,” The Post quotes Nzegge as saying.

Nzegge said CDC General Manager, Franklin Ngoni Njie urges workers to exercise a little more patience, given that work is only now resuming, albeit timidly, in most of the corporation’s estates.

Since the Anglophone crisis morphed into an armed conflict in 2017, CDC palm, banana, and rubber plantations were forced to shut down. Gunmen kidnapped workers, maimed others, and went on to destroy CDC installations.

As such, the agro-industrial company has been unable to meet its financial obligations. It has, over the year depended on growing oil palms, rubber, and bananas and then selling its produce. The proceeds then go to pay workers and maintain the corporation. As such, when workers work, the CDC makes money and pays them.

“We are hoping, as work is timidly resuming in most of the estates, that whenever there is money, the workers shall be paid,” Nzegge said. He adds that about a month’s salary was paid to the workers a few weeks back, but understands it may not be enough.

A ‘Statement of Assurance’ from the management of the company states: “Conscious of the ongoing difficulties faced by the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) as a result of the current socio-political unrest in the Northwest and Southwest Regions, acknowledging the fact that ten of our estates are almost entirely shut down, putting over five thousand jobs at risk, we wish to state that, being the sole owner of the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), the State of Cameroon has duly been informed of the prevailing situation.

“While waiting for the State to provide a lasting solution to the crisis, all workers of the Cameroon Development Corporation are enjoined to remain calm and forward-looking, as management is doing all it takes to ensure that things unfold in their best interest. We are hopeful that the powers that be will do all that is necessary to keep the CDC afloat.”

Culled from Cameroon Info.Net

French radio station RFI announces Paul Biya’s death

17, November 2020

French radio station RFI announces Paul Biya’s death 0

On Monday, November 16, 2020, the French media announced the death of several public figures on its website before removing them, claiming that it was a bug.

French Radio RFI surprised its listeners on Monday, November 16, 2020, by publishing in advance on its website, the obituaries of several public personalities yet still alive. All in all, about a hundred people of established fame were treated to articles announcing and describing the circumstances of their death. They included Alain Delon, Sophia Loren, Clint Eastwood, Pele, Sir Alex Ferguson, Yoko Ono and the President of the Republic of Cameroon, Paul Biya.

 Alerted by the outcry caused by these articles, the public media quickly withdrew them and apologized on the social networks, indicating that a bug was at the origin of this situation.

“A technical problem led to the publication of numerous obituaries on our site. We are mobilized to rectify this major bug and apologize to those concerned as well as to you who follow us and trust us,” reads the RFI twitter account on Monday, November 16, 2020.

However, unless official information from the government of the Republic of Cameroon proves otherwise, it is important to remember that Paul Biya is alive and well! We saw him last November 12, at the funeral of his elder sister, Régine Ngonda, who died on October 31, 2020 in Yaoundé.

By Rita Akana with files

UN General Assembly president reprimands Security Council for ‘failing to do its job’

17, November 2020

UN General Assembly president reprimands Security Council for ‘failing to do its job’ 0

UN General Assembly president Volkan Bozkir on Monday criticised the Security Council, saying it was failing to respond to the world’s biggest challenges due to “competing interests.”

“The council has, on many occasions, failed to carry out its responsibility to maintain international peace and security,” Bozkir, a Turkish diplomat, said at a debate on reforming the body.

“Competing interests among its members and frequent use of the veto have limited the Security Council’s effectiveness. Even in some of the most urgent humanitarian crises, the council could not provide a timely and adequate response.”

There has been growing criticism of the body, which has not been reformed in decades, with France’s President Emmanuel Macron saying in a recent interview with Le Grand Continent that it “no longer produces useful solutions.”

Bozkir said reform of the Security Council was “an unavoidable imperative — both challenging and essential.”

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Security Council has held few meetings devoted to the virus.

It took more than three months to overcome friction between the United States and China to pass a resolution on July 1 calling for more international cooperation and to support a call by the secretary-general for a ceasefire in war-torn countries to help fight the disease.

During the debate on reform, the 193 UN members discussed the right to veto, the privilege of the five permanent members of the Security Council (United States, China, Russia, France and United Kingdom), enlarging the forum and its regional balance.

Modest expansion of council?

Russia, which has used its veto 15 times since 2011 on the Syrian dossier alone, and the US do not wish to see that power reduced.

“The United States remains open, in principle, to a modest expansion of the Security Council,” said American diplomat Ngoyi Ngoyi. But “this must be pursued in a way that will not diminish the Security Council’s effectiveness, or its efficiency, and will not alter or expand the veto.”

Deputy Russian ambassador Anna Evstigneeva argued that “ideas leading to the erosion of the prerogatives of the permanent members of the Security Council, including the right to veto, are unacceptable.”

Using the veto, or even the threat of using it, “have repeatedly prevented the United Nations from becoming associated with dubious companies,” she added.

Later, Chinese ambassador Zhang Jun criticised an “over-representation of developed countries” and called for a larger presence of small and medium nations, particularly African ones.

The Security Council, which can decide on international sanctions and the use of force, has 15 members. In addition to the five permanent nations, it has 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms.

Germany is a candidate for another permanent seat on the Council, along with Brazil, Japan and India. Africa is seeking two spots but has yet to identify potential future beneficiaries.

Source: AFP

Russia’s Putin approves establishment of naval base in Sudan

17, November 2020

Russia’s Putin approves establishment of naval base in Sudan 0

Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved the establishment of a major naval base in Sudan, which will improve Moscow’s ability to operate in the Indian Ocean and expand its influence in Africa.

In a decree released on Monday, Putin announced that he had approved a Russian government proposal to set up a naval logistics hub in the North African country and ordered the Russian Defense Ministry to sign an accord to go ahead with the venture.

According to a draft document related to the agreement and unveiled earlier this month, the naval facility would be able to moor no more than four ships — including nuclear-powered vessels — at the same time.

The document further said the hub would also be used for repair and resupply operations as well as a resting place for Russian naval service members.

US: Trump says Biden ‘won because the election was rigged’

16, November 2020

US: Trump says Biden ‘won because the election was rigged’ 0

US President Donald Trump seems to have implicitly conceded defeat to his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, while claims the presidential election was rigged.

Trump took to his official Twitter account on Sunday and said Biden “won” the presidential election on November 3 because the vote was “rigged.”

“He won because the election was rigged. No vote watchers or observers allowed, vote tabulated by a radical left privately owned company, Dominion, with a bad reputation & bum equipment that couldn’t even qualify for Texas (which I won by a lot!), the Fake & Silent Media, & more!” Trump tweeted.

“All of the mechanical ‘glitches’ that took place on Election Night were really them getting caught trying to steal votes. They succeeded plenty, however, without getting caught,” the president added in a subsequent tweet. “Mail-in elections are a sick joke!”

The tweets, like many of Trump’s recent posts about the election, were flagged by Twitter as containing disputed claims about election fraud.

Reacting to the Republican president’s tweets on Sunday, Biden’s incoming Chief of Staff Ron Klain said the election result was a decision made by the American people and that he accepted the tweets “as a further confirmation of the reality that Joe Biden won the election.”

Klain went on to say that, “He won because he got more votes, in the popular vote by a lot and he won the same number of electoral votes that President Trump called a landslide four years ago.”

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