It appears there is no limit to the odium Cameroonians will suffer at the hands of Paul Biya and his “untouchable” Higher Education Minister, Fame Ndongo. After the scandal involving Biya’s laptop computers, Fame Ndongo, in a communique signed and published March 7, 2018, appointed Prof Teyabe Marcelline née Dama to head the Language Sciences and Communication Dept of the University of Maroua.

The only problem here is that the said varsity don died on Oct 31, 2017 and was buried on Nov 11, 2017 in her native Kaélé. In this era of information and communication technology, the cavalier management of something as basic as human resources by the Biya regime speaks to an incompetence that goes beyond carelessness and poor judgment. But the buck of all the carelessness stops at the president’s desk.

Biya must take responsibility for the actions of those he appoints into positions of authority and power. Clearly, there have been daily indications that there are far too many of them who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.

By Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai

More than 200 Cameroonian teachers demanding back pay and allowances have been arrested and detained in police stations across the capital Yaoundé after attempting to hold street protests on Tuesday.

Their family members say they have not had any contact since.

The leader of group, Samuel Ekoto, told BBC Afrique that plans to resolve the pay dispute last year weren’t honoured, adding:

We demand the release of our colleagues. Some of us have been waiting one, two, three years [for a resolution over pay] but there’s a lack of commitment from the authorities.”

But some teachers disagree. A spokesman for another teacher’s body, Jacques Bessala Ngono, told BBC Afrique it believed progress was being made in talks with the authorities and so had cut ties with those who protested.

Culled from the BBC

Besieged by an unending campaign of terror by Boko Haram in the northeast, secessionist agitations in the southeast, and vicious attacks by suspected Fulani herdsmen in north central states and elsewhere, Nigeria is a country in need of an urgent reprieve.

Unfortunately, that reprieve seems to be more of a mirage than an actuality.

The theatre commander of the Nigerian troops fighting insurgents in the northeast recently claimed victory against a sect that has proved many times that it can reinvent itself to withstand the heat from the Nigerian troops.

Much like Nigeria, again, Cameroon’s major problem is no longer the insurgents that have killed about 25,000 people in both countries, according to SBM Intelligence estimate, the push for independence by its Anglophone region is now casting a blanket of violence on the country.

The separatists, on October 1, 2017, declared the northwest and southwest regions as the self-proclaimed ‘Republic of Ambazonia’. There is no need to seek an expert view to know that President Paul Biya, a man who has ruled Cameroon for more than 34 years, will haunt the separatists.

However, for Nigeria, which has its own internally displaced people to cater to, the influx of Cameroonians escaping from the violence in their country is another headache to a troubled head. Nevertheless, the situation would be a lot better if it remains just that.

With both countries sharing a 1,975km-long border, either side of which are violent crises, the possibility of the proliferation of small weapons is high. Also scary is the presence of fighters, trained, semi-trained or untrained, ready to handle these weapons.

Added to that is the penchant for Cameroonian troops to violate the sanctity of the Nigerian border. In recent months, the Cameroonian military have entered into Nigeria, chasing Anglophone secessionists, without prior permission from the Nigerian authorities. This is in spite of Nigerian authorities handing over 47 leaders of the separatist movement who were arrested in Abuja in January, even though Nigeria does not have a standing extradition agreement with its neighbour.

Besides, the crackdown on the separatists by the country’s military is creating a set of radicalised, maybe untrained, army who have become willing to fill the ranks of the Ambazonian Defence Forces (ADF).

Already, they have been launching attacks from Nigerian territory in recent weeks, aided significantly by a porous border.

“The truth is that many militants are hiding among the refugees, and they just cross the border at will through the forest,” Lawrence Asuquo, head of immigration at Ikom, told AFP.

“They launch attacks on the Cameroonian army and they run back to Nigeria. It’s almost impossible to track them.”

Apart from the security problems that Nigeria faces, there is also an economic dimension to the crisis.

Figures from Cameroon’s Ministry of Commerce show that Nigeria is the country’s largest trade partner, with 22 per cent and 17.8 per cent of imports coming from Nigeria in 2011 and 2012 respectively. Currently, annual trade exchanges are approximated to be worth ₦217 billion, excluding “the robust informal trade linkages on both sides of the almost 2000km border shared by both countries.”

However, if the crisis festers and Cameroon continues to violate the integrity of the Nigerian border, there is the likelihood that the trade volume, formal or informal, between the two countries would reduce drastically.

Both Nigeria and Cameroon are still reeling from the effect of Boko Haram insurgency. An unending separatist agitation is the last thing they need at this time.

Source: The Guardian

One of the greatest calamities ever conceived and implemented by a creature walking on two limbs is this monstrosity called ENAM. The curriculum was designed in the nineteenth century by the French colonial masters. It wasn’t fit for purpose then and it isn’t fit for purpose now. But, the intellectual inactivity of the so-called academic authorities in French Cameroon have failed to grasp this simple fact. This nineteenth century model of education was intended by the colonial masters to educate the natives of the day on following their orders. It was accepted as true by the colonialists that the native was intellectually and physically inferior. This system of education was designed to purport such scandalous falsehood.

This absurdity, still sustained by this idiocy of a regime is designed for students to study magistracy and administration. Intakes are admitted after a fraudulent selection process. The old mantra of ‘it’s not what you know, it’s who you know’ is its motto. The place is full of the well-connected not the academically brilliant.

Even by its standards, this year’s intake was embarrassing. When you hear some people talking about this disaster of an establishment, you might be forgiven to think they are talking about Harvard Law School or London School of Economics. To accurately appreciate an educational organization, one would have to look at its graduates. If a great number of its graduates are making great contributions to their societies, the logical conclusion is that it’s a great institution. That can’t be said of ENAM

It’s pathetic that future graduates go in with the dream of coming out to join an ever expanding public service with one intention- join the bribery and corruption conveyor belt. Upon graduation, they get their ‘matricule numbers’ and are posted so they can start ripping the rewards of their labour. Thus we find ourselves with magistrates and administrators who don’t understand the law, people and are clueless about administration.

Now, the conundrum presents itself. The products of ENAM are running the country. They are faced with a crisis, the first real political difficulty to face the nation since 1961 and have no answers. They find themselves with nineteenth century schooling and directives in the twenty-first century. I suppose some of the lessons they take at ENAM are;

1. if someone opposes your policies and politics, offer them a huge bribe to buy their silence
2. if someone opposes you, ban them from entering the country of their birth.
3. if someone has a different point of view from you, hunt them down even if it means breaking international law.
4. citizens protest peacefully, shoot them.

In the twenty-first century, the political, legal and administrative gods of La Republique, who habitually products of ENAM collectively believe that it’s not abnormal to try citizens in a military tribunal. Kim Jong-un must be aghast at the legal system in La Republique.

Many in government haven’t grasped the enormity of the task facing the nation. The policies of the last 57 years have failed the people of British Southern Cameroons woefully. But with a degree of self-importance never before seen upon planet earth, the administration of La Republique led by products of ENAM are failing to see their apparent shortcomings.

Until and unless it’s accepted that these colonial policies and education model are not adequate to deal with twenty-first century problems, many in Cameroun are in for a massive shock. The shoot to kill policies of the past intended to quiet legitimate protests will not work. As Ambazonians, we refuse to accept outdated and imperialist institutions and instructions as they have no place in this century. Until these policies and abuse stop, we shall resist, resist and resist arrogance and occupation till the end.

 Sessekou  Asu Isong

A Cameroon Concord News Production

The Southern Cameroons crisis has taught every Cameroonian where the English language goes to die. Cameroon Concord News is citing the Ambazonian crisis to make it clear that Southern Cameroonians do not regard themselves as blameless in the use of the English language today in La Repubique du Cameroun.

But do you ever, like Cameroon Concord News, read the speeches or ministerial press releases of French Cameroun cabinet ministers and want to ask, “What has the English language ever done to you?” English language is in a bad way and the blame mainly goes to those who write or speak about politics in French Cameroun.

Among the ugly features presently witnessed in French Cameroun are dead or dying metaphors, redundant words and phrases, pretentious diction, and meaningless, abstract or vague words. President Biya and his gang and those who write speeches for them are the worst offenders.

While none of this is about political correctness, the Francophone political elites always take the adjective over the noun so that everything that comes out of their mouths is designed to sell their achievements and that of Mr. Biya.

In CPDM politics, any direct admission of weakness or failure is to be avoided. Unfortunately, this makes the consequences far more serious when failure is eventually uncovered like the case with this press release signed by  the Minister of Commucation, Issa Tchiroma Bakary. It would be unfair to blame only President Biya for these developments.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Many French Cameroun students have reportedly auctioned the free lap top computers given to them by President Biya, Cameroon Concord News has learned from businessmen operating at the Kennedy Avenue in Yaoundé.

After the first phase of distribution of the computers recently, some students simply rushed to the Kennedy Avenue and offered them at give away prices to traders. Confirming the news on Wednesday January the 17^th 2018, the French Cameroun triweekly L’oeil du Sahel reported that on the day of delivery, some students were already at the Avenue Kennedy to sell them.

A computer dealer at Kennedy Avenue hinted Cameroon Concord News that the PBHev computers are bought at a very low price. “Some students offer them for 55,000 FCFA while others are ready to exchange it for a modest sum of 39,000 FCFA.”

It was in the framework of the “Special youth plan” prescribed by the 84 year old Paul Biya, on February 10, 2016, that the Minister of Higher Education signed a convention agreement on July 27, 2016 in Yaoundé, with a Chinese company Sichuan Telecom Construction Engineering Co. Ltd called “e-national higher education”. Through this program, Paul Biya decided to implement a project “a student a computer.”

By Rita Akana

The eldest of President Biya’s two children recently admitted into ENAM has been absent from school ever since the beginning of the school year and could be replaced by a candidate on the waiting list. Cameroon Concord News understands the 2017/2018 academic year at the National School of Administration and Judiciary (ENAM) started on Monday with an official opening ceremony which was followed by classes that commenced on Tuesday, January 09, 2018.

Paul Junior Biya was conspicuously absent and nothing has been heard of him. There is no longer any doubt that Paul Junior Biya, declared admitted in 16th position out of 85 candidates in Cycle B of the administrative division is a truant.  Cat calls have greeted his absence with many suggesting that he should be replaced by a candidate from the waiting list. A senior lecturer of the so-called prestigious school was heard murmuring privately that there are many who are waiting and it is unfair to leave an empty place because of the whims of a child from a rich family.

Aged 23, Paul Junior Biya was one of the candidates who sat for the ENAM entrance examination on September 16, 2017. His absence has now generated a new controversy with some students who know him personally saying he is not good material for ENAM. “You are the only one surprised. Cameroonians, who know more or less the presidential family, know that Biya Junior has no place at ENAM. Even if he does a trick, he does not have the capacity to sail through the two years training program” noted a staff at ENAM.

It is vital to include in this report that the list of candidates admitted to Cycle B of the Administrative Division of the National School of Administration and Magistracy (ENAM) for the academic year 2017/2018, ranked in order of merit.

By Rita Akana

Cameroon has begun giving out free computers to all university students in what the government says will boost education and research. But the distribution of what is said to be a gift from Paul Biya, one of the longest serving presidents in the world, months before presidential elections has generated criticism.

Thousands of students sang as they lined up at the University of Yaounde II in Soa, 15 kilometers northeast from Cameroon’s capital city, to receive free laptops. Among them was Eric Ambe, a 21-year-old second-year law student, who says he can now do online research. He says he could not raise $150 to buy a used laptop sold near his university.

“We are very happy because it will help us to study well, it will help us to prepare our courses well. With this gift, the youths can now study well,” said Ambe.

Professor Jacques Fame Ndongo, Cameroon’s minister of higher education, is distributing the laptops. He said all registered university students will have their own share of what is a gift from President Biya, who, said he, is helping young university students secure access to a modern-day digital economy.

Students sit, waiting for their laptops at the University of Yaounde II, in Soa, near Yaounde, Cameroon, Dec. 27, 2017. (M. Kindzeka/VOA)

“Students are very delighted because they receive a fantastic gift from their father, the head of state, who loves them and who knows that they are the future of our dear and beloved country. The university community thanks his excellency, Paul Biya, for this donation,” Ndongo said.

The first 80,000 laptops being distributed on the campus are part of a promise of 500,000 Biya made in 2016. The government has promised to distribute all of them by April 2018.

The computers, manufactured in the Chinese city of Shenzhen in Guangdong province, are branded PB HEV, short for Paul Biya, Higher Education Vision.

First complaints

But at a computer repair shop at the student residential area of Bonamoussadi, three students have already sold their laptops, complaining that they are not of good quality. Pius Ayeneh, a hardware maintenance technician, says what is very frustrating to users is that the laptops are sluggish.

“The hard drive is too small. The capacity is 32 Gigabyte. The processing speed is just 1.44 Gigahertz. If you install like Microsoft Office and the operating system, you cannot run any other program,” Ayeneh said.

One of 500,000 laptops Cameroon’s government says it hopes to distribute to university students by April of 2018. All of the computers bear the letters PB HEV, short for Paul Biya, Higher Education Vision. (M. Kindzeka/VOA)

The government announced it secured a loan of more than $133 million from China to buy the computers. The government says each costs about $550 and they will use the remainder of the loan to train information technology instructors.

But opposition political parties say the loan should have been better used to set up a computer assembly plant in the central African country. The main opposition party, the Social Democratic Front, (SDF) says Biya is using the computers as a campaign tool ahead of the September 2018 presidential election.

The SDF says Gambia invested $7.5 million to build a technology assembly plant and that Kenya also has one.

Cameroon government spokesperson Issa Tchiroma says the $133 million invested in the computer project includes a provision for high speed internet to all universities and institutions of higher learning. He refuted claims that Biya is using the laptops as a campaign tool.

Cameroon’s higher education minister, Jacques Fame Ndongo, takes receipt of a shipment of laptops at Yaounde-Nsimalen International Airport, Dec. 25, 2017. (M. Kindzeka/VOA)

“This project is a result of the head of state’s initiative for Cameroonian students to give them the necessary boost and beyond, create the psychological trigger for their insertion in the digital world,” Tchiroma said.

Cameroon will be organizing parliamentary and presidential elections in September 2018. There have been calls from within Biya’s ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement for him to run again for president. He is one of the longest serving leaders in the world, already having been president for 35 years.

Source: VOA

Prime Minister Philemon Yang has said that he wants to know how a student who died months ago gained admission into the National School of Administration and Magistracy (ENAM). Cameroon Concord News gathered that Mr. Philemon Yang has ordered an investigation to shed light on what appears to be a new scandal in Cameroon’s prestigious school, which is going to accommodate Junior and Brenda Biya, the son and the daughter of the President of the Republic for the 2018 academic year.

The controversy came to light after it was revealed the name of a candidate Njdomo Millsaints Claude, who died well before the entrance examination, ended up in the list of those admitted with a score of 14/20. The late Njdomo Millsaints Claude was among the 5 successful candidates into Cycle A of the Faculty of Administration.

The Prime Minister is aware that the late student did not do the oral session of the examination but came first in the scoring.  Philemon Yang has created a commission of inquiry composed of representatives from the PM office, the Ministry of Public Civil Service and Administrative Reform (MINFOPRA), the president of the board of directors of ENAM and the rector of the school.

It is the third scandal that has rocked ENAM’s 2017 entrance examination process. On November the 16th, the results of the eligibility candidates published by the rector, Linus Toussaint Mendjana and announced over state radio and television were immediately annulled by the Minister of Public Service, Angel Michel Angouing. Following presidency arbitrations, other results were published on the 17^th of November by the MINFOPRA that were also affected by many inconsistencies.

By Sama Ernest