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Southern Cameroons Crisis: Hospital Administrator, two nurses arrested for treating ‘Amba’ fighters

24, September 2022

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Hospital Administrator, two nurses arrested for treating ‘Amba’ fighters 0

The administrator of Banso Baptist Hospital (BBH) Jean Sama and two nurses, Teyeah Relindis (a scrub nurse) and Teba Carine, an advanced practice nursing assistant (APNA) are currently being held by elements of the Cameroon government military  deployed to Kumbo for treating people considered as enemies of the state.

A sister publication Cameroon News Agency reported that the three were taken by the Francophone soldiers on September 22nd to an undisclosed location.

They are accused of treating wounded separatist fighters and it is not yet clear whether they are safe and in good physical conditions.

On September 4, separatist fighters who were receiving treatment in the hospital were dragged out of the wards and shot in front of the same hospital:

“Amba says we are working with the military and the military says we are working with Amba. What have we done? This is sad” a source quoted by Cameroon News Agency lamented.

Elsewhere in the report, CAN also revealed that last Saturday, drugs which left BBH for the Ndu Baptist Health Center were seized by soldiers loyal to the Biya regime in Yaoundé.

The BBH is a hospital of the Cameroon Baptist Convention (CBC) which is a church and is a non-partisan, non-political organization that offers medical care to everyone as an expression of Christian love.

Wounded Cameroon army soldiers have also been treated (and continue to be treated) at BBH and all other Baptist health facilities operating in the embattled region:

BBH staffs are planning to go on strike if the hospital administrator and nurses are not released. The repercussions for this could be catastrophic as BBH and its satellite health centers – are the lifeline for people with terminal conditions such as HIV, cancer or diabetes and a strike would affect them seriously.

By Fon Lawrence in Bamenda with files from Cameroon News Agency

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Children should be able to return to school

21, September 2022

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Children should be able to return to school 0

Since 2016, fighting between separatist insurgents and the military has disrupted the education of over 700,000 children in Cameroon’s two Anglophone regions. As the school year starts in September, education in the conflict-affected regions is at risk again. The two sides should strive to protect schools from being attacked and keep classrooms open. 

At the start of Cameroon’s academic year on 5 September, schools in the two Anglophone regions kept their doors shut to comply with a general strike (locally known as a “ghost town” operation) imposed by separatist militias combating the government in Yaoundé. The following day, only a handful of schools offered classes, primarily in the relatively safe towns of Buea and Limbe.

School’s out

Some separatist groups have ordered public schools in the Anglophone regions to remain closed until at least 1 October. On that day five years ago, separatists proclaimed the independent Federal Republic of Ambazonia, as they call the North West and South West regions. In response to the boycott, government officials said they considered shuttering so-called community schools, which are run by volunteers in separatist-controlled areas.

Civilians have borne the brunt of the fighting between separatist militias and Cameroon’s security forces. The conflict has killed about 6,000 people, displaced more than 500,000 and severely disrupted access to government services in the Anglophone regions. Attempts by Anglophone peace campaigners and foreign facilitators to resolve the conflict peacefully have stalled. Sadly, as Cameroon’s conflict parties repeatedly use access to education to push their political objectives, children are paying a disproportionately high price. The UN estimates that two of every three schools in the North West and South West have closed indefinitely.

The Anglophone crisis began in 2017 when lawyers and teachers staged peaceful protests aimed at preserving the two regions’ distinct legal and educational systems. At the time, unions and civil society organisations called for a school boycott in order to push for negotiations with the government and demand the release of detained Anglophone activists. A heavy-handed army crackdown on protesters calling for the two regions’ secession from Francophone Cameroon then hardened the resolve of many Anglophones, triggering armed rebellion.

Yet, though popular at first, the school boycott quickly lost support as separatist militias began destroying schools and killing teachers who continued working. Tens of thousands of children were denied the chance to go to school for months on end, sometimes years. By 2018, an estimated 4,000 Anglophone schools had shuttered, eventually depriving over 700,000 children of regular classes for almost four academic years.

Some died in the mayhem, too. In October 2020, suspected separatists stormed a private school in the town of Kumba, slaughtering at least seven children and injuring thirteen others. In 2021, separatists killed four students and a French language teacher in Ekondo Titi.

The lack of access to quality education is worsening the already dire socio-economic crisis plaguing the Anglophone regions. Pressure from Anglophone civil society prompted some separatist groups to formally call off the school boycott in 2020, but attacks on schools continue unabated. Overall, the conflict has severely harmed the education system. Schools that are still operational are often damaged or overcrowded. Teachers have fled, without being replaced. Parents who can afford to do so are now sending their children to schools in the Francophone regions.

Disproportionate struggles

The targeting of schools has had a particularly pernicious impact on girls. Parents who have seen their incomes dwindle prefer to send their boys to school, keeping girls at home to help with chores or small trades. Yet others who have fled to Cameroon’s Francophone regions have to fend for themselves, sometimes leaving their daughters out of school and vulnerable to recruitment into sex work.

Despite successful campaigning against the school boycott by Anglophone communities and women groups over the past two years, the latest tug of war over education risks robbing thousands of children of the chance to learn yet again. More critically, it could set the scene for another military escalation by raising tensions ahead of 1 October, when separatist sympathisers typically hold anti-government protests.

Instead of calling for a school boycott or threatening to close voluntary learning centres, Cameroon’s conflict parties should use the start of the school year as an opportunity to mitigate the suffering of children in the Anglophone regions and build trust with local communities. Separatist activists in Cameroon and abroad should unconditionally call off all school boycotts. If they do so, the government in Yaoundé should acknowledge the gesture as a de-escalating measure.

For their part, international partners who are committed to resolving the Anglophone conflict should urgently remind the two sides of their obligations to protect civilians and ensure children’s right to education.

Culled from The Africa Report

Benin welcomes Hollywood take on women warriors

19, September 2022

Benin welcomes Hollywood take on women warriors 0

Benin’s historic female warriors known as the Amazons of Dahomey are legendary across West Africa, but a Hollywood production is bringing them back into the limelight.

The Woman King, released last Friday and shown at one Cotonou’s few cinemas on Saturday, is inspired by the story of the Agojie women who protected the ancient Kingdom of Dahomey and fought against French colonial troops in the 19th century.

The main character General Nanisca is played by the Oscar-winning American actress Viola Davis, who trains the next generation of recruits against a rival African kingdom and European slave traders.

The production directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and mainly filmed in South Africa has won praise for its leading roles for black actresses, but has also generated criticism that it glorifies slavery.

At the premiere in Benin’s economic capital, a descendant of Ghezo, a King of Dahomey, who attended the screening at Canal Olympia cinema, shed tears during the viewing.

“For the princess that I am, some of the scenes were very touching. These brave women gave their lives to protect Ghezo’s heritage, which is my own,” said 37-year-old Sylvine Senami Ghezo.

A younger viewer, 15-year-old Bahunde Efanam, was also emotional and said the film gave her “shivers”.

The Amazons of Dahomey have been celebrated many times before, including in the 2018 film Black Panther in which they inspired Wakanda’s Dora Milaje warriors.

More recently, Benin’s President Patrice Talon unveiled a giant 30-metre high bronze statue representing an Amazon in central Cotonou.

The government said it chose the figure as a symbol of national identity and key part of its history to showcase in a bid to attract tourists.

Tourism

Made by Chinese artist Li Xiangqun, “the statue will be, for us and those who visit, a symbol of the Beninese woman of yesterday, today and tomorrow”, the president said of the display in July.

“What is important is that in Benin, the words courage, bravery, strength, combativenesses and honour are not exclusively associated with men,” said the president.

For those working in the nation’s budding tourism industry like Achille Remy Yelouassi who was at the premiere, the hope is also that films like The Woman King “help put Benin on the map”.

Some though said the next film should be made in Benin and not Hollywood since it concerns the country’s history.

In the United States, some have criticised the movie for not addressing the role Dahomey Kingdom played in the slave trade. #Boycottwomanking has been trending on Twitter.

But for some Beninese women, the film can also help tackle issues around women’s rights according to Senami Totin, a lawyer and activist in the country.

“In a patriarchal society like we have in Benin, you need a lot of courage and determination to defend women’s rights,” she said, listing challenges from impunity for rape, forced marriages, exclusion of women from inheritance rights, and a lack of representation in politics.

“We no longer have to fight wars against enemy armies but the fight for women’s emancipation is a daily one, and for that, we have to have an Amazon spirit,” she added.

In addition to celebrating the Beninese woman, actress Viola Davis said she hopes the film also inspires young girls around the world.

“It’s for my six-year old self… the little girl who was traumatised, the little girl who was called ugly, the little girl who wasn’t seen, who was left invisible,” she told reporters before the Toronto premiere earlier this month.

“I see you Viola. I see every chocolate girl who is like you. I’m telling you to stop running. This is my gift to you.”

Source: AFP

Biya regime officials say Amba fighters attacking schools in Southern Cameroons

16, September 2022

Biya regime officials say Amba fighters attacking schools in Southern Cameroons 0

Officials in Cameroon say armed separatists have chased several thousand children from schools just days after the students returned to classrooms for the first time in years. Troops sent to restore school security in the western regions say they have killed at least 13 rebels in clashes over the last month.

Cameroon’s military says separatist attacks this month on western villages, mostly on schools, sent thousands of schoolchildren, teachers and villagers fleeing for safety.

Lingalla Prudence is among students who on Monday fled Kumbo, an English-speaking town in the Northwest Region. The separatist conflict has disrupted her education so often that the 21-year-old, who should be in college, is still trying to finish high school.

“We were in school, and some people brought guns and chased us out of the school and kidnapped some teachers and all the children are out of school,” she said.

Teachers’ associations say the Anglophone rebels are targeting state schools, which they view as a tool of the French-speaking majority’s rule. But they are also attacking religious and private schools.

Joe Tiemuncho, coordinator of the Parent-Teachers Association for Presbyterian schools in Cameroon, said separatist attacks and threats have shut down scores of schools that had reopened, some for the first time in years, when the school year started on September 5.

“Many schools have shut down given the intimidations that are coming from separatist fighters,” he said. “Teachers, learners and school managers are afraid to get into full-swing activities because it is unpredictable, you can’t say what will happen in the next few minutes. Some teachers have even had their arms amputated. Students have been kidnapped and they [fighters] continue to kidnap teachers, students and others asking for ransom.”

Cameroonian military spokespersons weren’t allowed to speak with reporters on a trip to the area, but they did confirm that hundreds of troops were deployed to restore security so classes can resume.

The military says the separatists also declared a lockdown in the English-speaking western regions that paralyzed trade. Separatists that declared the lockdown say it is in response to a government ban on community schools that the rebels control.

Cameroon in August closed more than 200 community schools that rebels said they controlled.

The military says in the past week troops killed at least 13 rebels during clashes in the towns of Kumbo, Oku and Ndop.

Rebel spokesman Daniel confirmed their fighters were killed and said they also killed government troops.

Cameroon’s military did not confirm any fatalities but said a few troops were wounded.

Cameroon’s anglophone rebels want to create a breakaway state they call Ambazonia, separate from Cameroon’s French-speaking majority. The U.N. says the rebel conflict has killed more than 3,300 people and displaced more than a half-million since fighting broke out in 2017.

Culled from the VOA

End of Covid pandemic in sight: WHO

14, September 2022

End of Covid pandemic in sight: WHO 0

The number of newly reported Covid-19 cases has dropped dramatically, the World Health Organization said Wednesday, urging the world to seize the opportunity to end the pandemic.

Newly reported cases of the disease, which has killed millions since being identified in late 2019, last week fell to the lowest level since March 2020, said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“We have never been in a better position to end the pandemic,” he told reporters. “We are not there yet, but the end is in sight.”

But the world needed to step up to “seize this opportunity”, he added.

“If we don’t take this opportunity now, we run the risk of more variants, more deaths, more disruption, and more uncertainty.”

According to WHO’s latest epidemiological report on Covid-19, the number of reported cases fell 12 percent to 4.2 million during the week ending September 4, compared to a week earlier.

‘Underestimate’

But the agency has warned that the dropping number of reported cases is deceptive, since many countries have cut back on testing and may not be detecting the less serious cases.

“The number of cases that are being reported to WHO we know are an underestimate,” Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO technical lead on Covid, told reporters.

“We feel that far more cases are actually circulating than are being reported to us,” she said, cautioning that the virus “is circulating at a very intense level around the world at the present time.”

Since the start of the pandemic, WHO has tallied more than 600 million cases, and some 6.4 million deaths, although both those numbers are also believed to be serious undercounts.

A WHO study published in May based on excess mortality seen in various countries during the pandemic estimated that up to 17 million people may have died from Covid in 2020 and 2021.

Van Kerkhove noted that going forward there will likely be “future waves of infection, potentially at different time points throughout the world, caused by different sub-variants of Omicron or even different variants of concern.”

But, she added, “those future waves of infection do not need to translate into future waves of death.”

‘Seize this opportunity’

In a bid to help countries to do what is needed to rein in the virus, the WHO on Wednesday published six policy briefs.

Among the recommendations, the WHO is urging countries to invest in vaccinating 100 percent of the most at-risk groups, including health workers and the elderly, and to keep up testing and sequencing for the virus.

“These policy briefs are an urgent call for governments to take a hard look at their policies, and strengthen them for Covid-19 and future pathogens with pandemic potential,” Tedros said.

“We can end this pandemic together, but only if all countries, manufacturers, communities and individuals step up and seize this opportunity.”

WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan agreed.

“Even as the pandemic wanes, and as the number of cases may drop, we are going to have to maintain high levels of vigilance,” he told reporters.

“We still have a highly mutable, evolving virus that has shown us time and time again over two and a half years how it can adapt, how it can change.”

Source: AFP

Schools Resumption: But not every child is in school in Southern Cameroons

14, September 2022

Schools Resumption: But not every child is in school in Southern Cameroons 0

The foundation of any state is the education of its youths. Unfortunately, this does not apply to Southern Cameroons where over a million children in the region’s rural areas have been held captive by Amba fighters who have very little faith in education and the Yaoundé government which does not really care if some of its citizens are in school or not.

For more than five years, many children in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions have been robbed of their right to education following a strike by lawyers and teachers which met with extreme violence from the Biya regime.

The violence which ensued has not only killed many young children, it is still having a huge impact on the most vulnerable segments of the society, especially children in rural regions of Southern Cameroons who are being threatened with death by Amba fighters who hold that no child should go to school until Southern Cameroons gets its independence from the Republic of Cameroon.

Schools effectively started in Cameroon last week, but many children in Akwaya Subdivision, Mamfe Central Subdivision, Eyumojock Subdivision and Upper Bayang Subdivision, all of which are in Manyu Division, are still at home, hoping that a miracle will occur for the so-called Amba fighters to allow them to go to school.

Cameroon Concord News last week sent a team to Manyu Division to find out if rural kids were back in school, but it turned out that school resumption which is supposed to be national is indeed not national as many Manyu kids are still at home.

Children in Kendem, Ossing, Kembong, Ntenako, Ndekwai, Sumbe, Akriba, Mbinjong and Bakebe are still at home with many really worried about their future as the years go by.

According to the Cameroon Concord News team, the blame lies squarely with the separatists who are determined to rob the children of their right to education.

Many parents are very disappointed and mad at the separatists but they cannot speak up because of the presence of gun-toting irresponsible Amba fighters who still erroneously think that their country will be the best without its people going to school once the Yaoundé government grants independence to the two English-speaking regions of the country.

“We are really desperate. Our children have been at home for more than five years and there is no sign that the independence will ever come. We need help. Our liberators have become a huge problem onto us and our children. If the Biya government is really a problem as Amba fighters tell us, it at least allows children to go to school in East Cameroon. The new invisible administration, which manufactured false hope for us, is now a millstone around our necks,” an angry parent who brought two of his young children to Mamfe town for them to go to school said.

“We are stuck with this rogues who are permanently threatening to kill us if we send our children to school. Which nation has ever developed without its population being educated?” he asked.

In Ntenako and Ndekwai where the schools have been invaded by wild weeds, the parents have begun speaking up against the band of criminals who pass off as liberators.

Speaking to the Cameroon Concord News team, an agree parent who elected anonymity said that “we can longer allow this to continue. We must work with the government for these rogues to be arrested or killed by the military. They came here promising to protect us, but we now need protection against them. Our children cannot go to school and the idle criminals keep harvesting our crops without our permission. We are scared of talking but if the government could deploy more troops here we will report all those boys who are making life unbearable to us,” he said.

“Some of these criminals even sleep with our daughters and wives for free and many are even pregnant for these thieves. We are really frustrated and we are using this medium to call on the government to come and help us. We are stuck,” he said angrily.

Even if the separatists call for a resumption of schools in the rural areas of Southern Cameroons, it will take years for things to return to normal. Most teachers in those rural areas have fled and many cannot be accounted for. Some have even left the country, but they are still receiving their salaries.

Worst of all, some of the school infrastructure is decaying and some villagers are even stealing school property.

In Ossing in Manyu Division, a bunch of low class, ill-behaved commoners have taken off the roofing sheets of the Ossing Government Primary and Secondary Schools and sold to some villagers.

All the academic and other records have been soaked by rain because these criminals took off the roofing sheets.

Currently, the Ossing Village Council is working hard to bring those who have committed these odious crimes to justice.

Some of those who purchased the sheets have been identified and they are being made to pay hefty fines for purchasing stolen property, a city councilor who elected anonymity told the Cameroon Concord News team.

“It is unfortunate that our own people are destroying our own infrastructure. How can we ever develop if our own people cannot go to school. I have never known a worse revolution than this,” he regretted.

I hope time will bring some wisdom to this revolution which is completely off its rails. Its leaders are completely unhinged and they are simply unaware of the adverse consequences of their misguided actions, he concluded.

By Our senior international correspondent Dylan Tambe Ashu

Archbishop Andrew Nkea opens Our Lady of Fatima girls’ college Bamendankwe

5, September 2022

Archbishop Andrew Nkea opens Our Lady of Fatima girls’ college Bamendankwe 0

The Metropolitan Archbishop of the Bamenda Archdiocese was in Bamendankwe today when he officially opened the newly constructed Our Lady of Fatima girls’ college.

His Grace Archbishop Andrew Nkea — who heads the Bamenda Ecclesiastic Province, also announced that the school campus is safe, secure and that there are few places left for the current academic year.

Cameroon Concord News understands work on the building began early last year and is now completed.

Speaking exclusively to Cameroon Concord News Group, His Grace Archbishop Andrew Nkea said the building has been designed to take full advantage of natural light, sunshine and ventilation with a covered area outside each classroom to provide shelter and security.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files

Barack Obama: president, Nobel laureate, and now an Emmy winner

4, September 2022

Barack Obama: president, Nobel laureate, and now an Emmy winner 0

Hollywood newcomer Barack Obama was awarded an Emmy for narrating his Netflix documentary series “Our Great National Parks,” the Television Academy announced Saturday.

The former two-term US president had already won a pair of Grammy Awards — for audio versions of his memoirs “The Audacity of Hope” and “Dreams from My Father” — so he now only needs an Oscar and a Tony to complete the estimable EGOT.

According to an Entertainment Weekly tracker, only 17 people have achieved an EGOT, including Mel Brooks, Whoopie Goldberg, Audrey Hepburn and — most recently — Jennifer Hudson.

One other president had already been awarded an Emmy — Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 — although his was an honorary award.

After leaving office in 2017, both Obama and his wife Michelle have each written best-selling memoirs, and in addition to their non-profit foundation, have established a production company which has inked a major deal with Netflix, reportedly worth tens of millions of dollars.

Their company’s first documentary for the streaming service, “American Factory,” won the Oscar for best documentary feature and an Emmy for directing, though the awards went to the filmmakers and not to the Obamas themselves.

Obama’s successor to the presidency, Donald Trump, did not win an Emmy for his reality competition show “The Apprentice,” although he was nominated twice.

Obama also received the Nobel Peace Prize after his 2008 presidential election win, for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”

Source:  AFP

Covid-19: City of 21 million in new lockdown as China maintains strict policy

2, September 2022

Covid-19: City of 21 million in new lockdown as China maintains strict policy 0

China has placed millions of its citizens under renewed lockdown following fresh outbreaks of COVID-19, authorities reported Tuesday, as the government persists in its hard-line policy on containing the virus.

The measures affected about half of the 6 million residents of the port city of Dalian, along with an undisclosed number in Chengde and Shijiazhuang in Hebei province, both around three hours from the capital Beijing.

Dalian’s lockdown was due to last five days, although authorities have in past extended restrictions depending on the number of new cases.

Beijing has been relatively unaffected thus far, although travel in and out of the capital has been discouraged and residents are subject to testing on an almost daily basis.

Partial lockdowns have also been imposed on cities such as Chengdu in the southwest, Shenyang in the northeast and Jishui in the southeast.

Such measures are mandated under China’s “zero-COVID” policy, which contrasts starkly with moves by other nations to coexist with the virus through gradual easing of restrictions, vaccinations, improved therapeutics and voluntary isolation.

China has largely kept its borders closed to foreign visitors, while requiring those who do come to submit to more than a week of quarantine in hotels where sanitary conditions are often poor. Masking and regular testing are also standard and anyone found to have been in close contact with a person confirmed to have the virus is forcibly transported to field hospitals.

The World Health Organization has called China’s policy unsustainable and on Monday, a Chinese think tank issued a rare public disagreement with the ruling Communist Party, saying the curbs that have shut down cities and disrupted trade, travel and industry must change to prevent an “economic stall.”

The Anbound Research Center gave no details of possible changes but said President Xi Jinping’s government needs to focus on shoring up sinking growth. It noted the United States, Europe and Japan are recovering economically after easing anti-disease curbs.

“Preventing the risk of economic stall should be the priority task,” the think tank said in a report titled, “It’s Time for China to Adjust Its Virus Control and Prevention Policies.”

Previous lockdowns have seen tens of millions confined to their homes, sometimes for weeks. A strict lockdown in the largest city and commercial hub of Shanghai earlier this year led to protests online and in person over lack of food and medical services.

China on Tuesday reported 1,717 cases of local transmission, 52 of them in Liaoning province where Dalian is located. Most of the cases were reported in Sichuan province, whose capital is Chengdu, and the vast majority were asymptomatic.

Source: AP

French Cameroun: Eneo to cut electricity supply to the University of Douala over non-payment concerns

1, September 2022

French Cameroun: Eneo to cut electricity supply to the University of Douala over non-payment concerns 0

Cameroon’s power utility threatened to take retaliatory steps against the University of Douala, citing payment concerns. Eneo said it would suspend electricity supply to the university if it does not repay the CFA1.7 billion in unpaid bills it owes.

“Errors and omissions exempted, the review of your accounts in our books to date reveals that you still owe us CFA1,760,818,212, excluding interest on arrears,” the company wrote as a “formal notice to pay before suspending the supply of electricity.”

This situation highlights the issue of unpaid bills within public administrations. As a reminder, the government has begun to implement a plan to repay a total of CFA182 billion of debt to Eneo from December 2021.

Source: Business in Cameroon

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