Life

21, March 2017

Exposed: 4,000 people die each year in Cameroon from Malaria ⁰

Health officials in Cameroon say malaria remains a concern and are mobilizing for its eradication. According to figures released yesterday in Yaoundé, more than 4,000 people die each year from malaria and more than half of these 4,000 deaths are registered among pregnant women.

Cameroonian authorities have made efforts to limit the devastating effect of malaria. However, these actions of the government have failed continuously due to corruption and the misappropriation of international funding meant for the fight against malaria.

By Sama Ernest

11, March 2017

Video showing Chantal Biya celebrating amid killings and rapes in Anglophone Cameroon ²

A video showing Cameroon’s first lady, Chantal Biya sharing a private time with her close friends probably in one of the apartments of the Unity Palace in Yaoundé have since yesterday Friday, March 10, 2017 rocked the entire nation.

The wife of the President of the Republic Paul Biya appeared in a relaxed mood in the video where she and her interlocutors jiggled and evoked in a funny way the successful hit Miss Lolo by the Ivorian artist Meiway. What appeared as a staging was interrupted after 16 seconds on instruction from Chantal Biya.

9, March 2017

Southern Cameroons Women’s Day: Attendance noticeably less than expected ¹

Hundredths gathered at the Commercial Avenue in Bamenda, North West region to commemorate the 32nd International Women’s day amidst ghost town that was being observed by the population. The scantily attended event lacked the fanfare that usually accompany it, reports Cameroun Info.Net.

Most of the women who took part in the parade were under the banner of regional delegations including some few associations. However the Governor of the North West region Adolphe LELE L’Afrique said he was satisfied with the turn out especially as messages had been circulated calling for boycott in the two English speaking regions. He congratulated women who showed up saying it was a wonderful move.

Some women who took part in the parade were transported back to their destinations in military trucks. The situation in Buea was not different, turnout was low compared to previous years but like his North West counterpart, Bernard Okalia Bilai congratulated the women who showed up for the celebration saying that they also have to play a key role in maintaining peace during this period of crisis. He urged women to send their children to school by also convincing their husbands to see the need for educating their children.

8, March 2017

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Mo Ibrahim Foundation calls for the restoration of internet services ¹

In a statement on the use of internet and cellphone services in Africa published on Tuesday, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation noted that there has been a significant progress in almost all countries in Africa. The African foundation which shares the belief that governance and leadership lie at the heart of any tangible and shared improvement in the quality of life of African citizens however said it was concerned about the prolonged internet blockade in the North the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon.

The Foundation that follows with attention the development of internet and mobile services on the African continent said such blockades have potential devastating consequences for economy, education and health, and prevent citizens to access news and to engage socially. “We hope that the government of Cameroon, and others will share our concern and facilitate the access of internet and mobile phone services to all its citizens,” Mo Ibrahim urged in the statement.

The Mo Ibrahim statement coincided with the Prime Minister’s visit to the North West region in an attempt to negotiate the resumption of classes. At a stakeholders’ meeting in Bamenda on Monday, North Westerners told PM Yang that schools will only re-open if detained strike leaders are released, internet restored and the region demilitarized.

One of the speakers at the meeting, Hon Wilfred Fusi Naamukong told the PM and his entourage that the state hasn’t yet given a statement to apologize for the massive killings orchestrated by armed government troops on unarmed civilians carrying out peaceful protests. “Our detainees because of these grievances that the president himself has acknowledged should be freed and our internet restored,” the people’s representative told the government envoys as an obligation for school resumption in the region.

In response, the Head of Government urged the population of his native region not to sacrifice the education of their children for whatever grievances. “The greatest empowerment you can ever have is education. Don’t give it away for anything even if you are angry and you don’t eat. Even if you cannot go out to see your friends and drink a beer, do not sacrifice on education; that’s a wrong place to go. It is an embarrassment to the international scene,” the Prime Minister said calling on parents in the region to accompany their kids to school latest Tuesday March 7. However, the plea seems to have fallen on deaf ears as schools are yet to resume in the region.

Cameroun Info Net

6, March 2017

Social Media and the Anglophone Crisis ⁰

The Anglophone crisis that has put Cameroon in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons clearly underscores how social media, a key development tool, can become a force for unity and mobilization on the one hand and a tool to manipulate and expose violence and injustice on the other. This crisis which,occurred amid political and economic exclusion of Southern Cameroonians, has scarred the country’s social and political landscape forever. It calls for the establishment of a new status quo as the status quo ante is no longer tolerated by Cameroon’s English-speaking minority. The effectiveness of social media in mobilizing Anglophone Cameroonians across the world cannot be overemphasized. Across the world, social media have been considered as “technologies of freedom” that have given the voiceless an opportunity to express their views and have access to the public sphere. In Cameroon, while the government has always viewed social media as tools that should drive development, the ordinary citizens have always seen them a little differently though they agree on their role as agents of development. The emergence of social media technologies raised a lot of enthusiasm about citizen political participation in the public sphere in the digital era and this was based on the popularity of these technologies and the fact that they would provide relative autonomy from state and commercial control and influence when it comes to the dissemination of information.

Social mediaare considered to be extremely effective means to record, store and distribute information and the crisis in West Cameroon has proven that beyond a doubt. Most of the information about government atrocities was brought to the world in real time, thanks to this technologies of freedom. The ferocious brutality that has been the government stock in trade throughout this crisis and the violence perpetrated by protesters was captured and released to the world, thanks to social media.The beauty of social media stems from the two-way flow of information while at the same time they are independent of spatial constraints. Considered exceptional tools for individuals and groups to promote their causes to public officials and interested members of the public, social media have demonstrated during the Anglophone crisis that they are effective in exposing violence from both sides of the conflict that is tearing Cameroon apart. The government’s response to the publication of incriminating videos, some purported to be fake, highlights the role social media can play to bring the people’s plight into the spotlight.

Based on the positive results social media have delivered in other parts of the world, especially in the Arab world where many dictatorshave been kicked out of power, the use of social media in Cameroon for participatory communication in the public sphere is viewed as a significant path to the advancement of deliberative and participatory democracy in Cameroon, especially at a time when human rights are suffering. Over the last two decades, the country’s global media sector has been decisively changed due to the globalization of electronic media and what were once highly regulated industries, often dominated by public service or governmental broadcasters, have been open to individual citizens to use to obtain access to the public sphere and influence government actions and policies. While the government of Cameroon may still be dragging its feet regarding the holding of genuine dialogue with Consortium leaders, the popular demonstrations that have taken place abroad and the population’s compliance with decisions taken by various Anglophone organizations are testimonies to the effectiveness of social media as tools for mobilization and political communication. Often seen as redemptive features of new media are the availability of large stores of information for citizens to tap without the prior intervention of media gatekeepers or other mediators; interactivity which enables citizens to find out things for themselves rather than passively receiving or ignoring what is given and the creation of virtual forums which make it possible for exchanges between citizens and officials. Today, social media dominate in the new media era and this has made information about government actions just a click away; a possibility that is widely exploited by Southern Cameroonians to challenge government authority and highlight its weaknesses.

In Cameroon, just like in other parts of the world, social media such as Facebook, Whatsapp and Twitter are delivering information and documents to the population in a very fast way. Unlike print communication, social media have given the ordinary Cameroonian greater access to information and significant possibilities to participate in the political discourse which, in the past was a luxury to the poor. Falling Internet charges are enabling many Cameroonians to engage in online communication which has altered the substance, form, and style of communication in ways that have never been seen before, creating new-style electronic formats such as Internet discussion groups and chat rooms. These platforms have also creatednew public spaces and provided unprecedented opportunities for political discourse in the country; a tool the Anglophone minority, especially its Diaspora, is making the most of.

The coming of the social media age is not only serving as a catalyst that is instigating a populist political movement in Cameroon where citizens have greater access to the political world than before, it is going a long way in educating huge segments of the population which were once cut off from the political reality of their country. Social media are serving as stimulants to political interest and activism among Cameroonians, a situation that is very disturbing to the country’s government. In Cameroon today, ordinary citizens are able to establish meaningful and effective roles for themselves in the political arena that has been primarily the domain of the elite and this is causing the government of Cameroon to lose sleep and its decision to cut off an entire region from the World Wide Web is a clear demonstration of the government’s inability to win the war of propaganda that has been playing out on the Internet.

With social media, there is more political information disseminated today through a vast diversity of sources than at any time in the country’s history. Political news is available for general audiences through network newscasts and real time news broadcasts. The wide range of available formats also permits information to be targeted at specific audience segments, including those who traditionally have been under-represented in the political world. Social media are allowingCameroonians to receive information that is relevant to them personally and to make contact with others who have similar social and political orientations. As opposed to the “sound-bite” journalism that characterizes much mainstream political media in the country, newer forums have more time and space for the presentation of contextual and historical material as well as extended discussions of issues than the government would have loved.

One of the primary characteristics of the social media age is the interactivity that communications technologies facilitate among citizens, public officials, and media personnel. Rather than merely being the passive recipients of political information, it is now possible for Camerooniansto make their political presence and opinions known. They are today playing more visible roles in political events and this is undermining the government’s influence. For example, record numbers of Cameroonians are joining political organizations other than parties, especially those associated with particular issues. The Anglophone problem has clearly proven this and the citizens’involvement has been aided by media publicity and interactive communication forums which allow them to express their opinions, ask for and obtain information quickly, and receive instructions on how to take action. This explains, in part, why Southern Cameroonians have been successful in mobilizing their citizens across the world over the last three months to leave the government with a sticky situation on its hands.

While social media offer novel opportunities for democratic politics in Cameroon, it is presenting testing times to a regime that is wont to manipulating its people and checking the free flow of information. Social media have created significant communication forums that have the ability to spark citizen interest, increase awareness and knowledge of public affairs, and prompt political participation and dissent. Today, a significant number of Cameroonians seek out political information online and participate in discussions in electronic spaces which grant them the opportunity to develop and express their own opinions. The content and presentational style of news in the traditional media, especially government-owned media in Cameroon, is turning the public off traditional media, with more people migrating to the social media world where information is delivered in real time.

While social media is far from being the cause of recent uprisings in Cameroon, it has become an undeniable fact that social sites are dramatically changing the way protests and revolutions in Cameroon are taking place. Participants and planners have been using social sites like Twitter and Whatsapp to spread the word about upcoming protests, making it easier to gain supporters. Posts on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites have been allowing protesters to form a cohesive voice and to enjoy a feeling of unity. Real time posts on social media have also been offering a raw look at what is happening and eliminating the editing and polishing that can dull mainstream news reports. The global reach and immediate updates available via social media have radically changed the face of the protests in Cameroon and this is highlighting the power of social sharing. Despite the government’s disconnection of the Internet, the power of social media has not declined and their use has grown exponentially among the country’s Diaspora. For many activists, Twitter, Whatsapp and Facebook have become tools to help keep the spotlight on the revolution which is being run out of the country and to remember those who have lost their lives since the uprising, or those who have since been imprisoned by the authorities.

By Dr. Joachim Arrey

About the Author: The author of this piece is a keen observer of Cameroon’s political and economic landscape. He has published extensively on the country’s political and economic development, especially in the early 90s when the wind of change was blowing across the African continent. He has served as a translator, technical writer, journalist and editor for several international organizations and corporations across the globe. He studied communication at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom and technical writing in George Brown College in Toronto, Canada. He is also a trained translator and holds a Ph.D.

6, March 2017

Death threats sent to GCE Board Registrar ¹

The Registrar of the Cameroon General Certificate of Education Board, CGCE , Dr Humphrey Ekema Monono has revealed that he receives death threats everyday from anonymous persons who send messages threatening to kill him if he goes ahead to organize the 2017 session of the GCE.

The Registrar made the declaration in Buea as the Board held an extra ordinary Council session to take a decision on the prevailing situation in Southern Cameroons. Cameroun Info.Net reported that the board has recorded the lowest registration ever for the 2017 GCE session. Humphrey Monono also revealed that though the board is independent, it is under the tutelage of the Ministry of Secondary Education. He pointed out that he is expected to take instructions from his hierarchy, hence cannot unilaterally suspend the writing of the exams.

During the meeting which took place at the head quarters of the board, members of the council gave the Registrar authorization to extend the registration deadline to March 20; 2017 to get many more candidates into the 2017 session. Mr. Monono hinted that some 70,000 students have registered as of February but some sources say it is below 40,000.

Members also called on parents, students and other education stakeholders to effectively take their children back to school on Tuesday March 7, 2017. They equally called on Education Secretaries of both Lay private and Confessional schools to disseminate the information, calling back students to their various schools by the said date.

Cameroun Info.Net

6, March 2017

Southern Cameroons GCE: Former Minister Peter Abety confirms the Consortium is winning ¹

The Chairman of the Cameroon General Certificate of Education Board, Prof Peter Alange ABETY has expressed worries over the quality of certificates to be awarded to students if something is not done and done in a hurry to bring to an end the current crisis that has rocked Southern Cameroons. Peter Abety, a former Minister of Special Duties at the Presidency of the Republic and a pro CPDM comedian who would not agree that an Anglophone problem exist in Cameroon was addressing stakeholders in the education sector in Buea during the extra ordinary Council Session of the GCE Board last Friday March 3, 2017.

The GCE Board Chairman said if activities in schools continue to be paralyzed with no effective classes, then the Board will not set questions that cover the entire syllable on the calendar hence what the students will learn cannot be used to proof that they had a full school year. Prof. Peter Alange ABETY said certificates will in this case be less credible especially on the international scene mindful of the fact that students have been home for several months.

Abety seen here with the late Guardian Newspaper reporter, Sylvanus Ezieh used the Buea forum to urge parents to send their children to school. In an attempt to shift the blame from the Biya Francophone government, the GCE Board chairman said that Lay private and Confessional schools have the key to an effective back to school, if they jointly sign a letter inviting parents to do so. Religious leaders and representative of the Catholic, Protestant and Islamic academic establishments all observed that their doors were wide open for students to come back to school.

Present during the conclave were representatives from NWR and SWR Teachers and Parents Association, Directors from the Ministry of Secondary Education, a Representative from the Presidency, Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Finance, trade Union leaders among others. It is vital to include in this report that Peter Abaty was a prominent CPDM figure when corruption reign within the admission process into the Higher Teachers Training College, Ecole Normale.

By Rita Akana with files from CIN

4, March 2017

Southern Cameroons GCE: CPDM Board moves for another deadline extension ²

The Council of the Cameroon General Certificate of Education (GCE) Board has “exceptionally authorized” the registrar to extend the deadline for the 2017 GCE registration for the Ordinary and Advanced Levels in all centers across the country to March 20, 2017. The decision that comes after two other postponements was taken at the end of an extra-ordinary council meeting of the Board in Buea on Friday March 3. The previous deadline expired on Tuesday February 28.

The Registrar of the GCE Board, Humphrey Ekema Monono, told state radio and television on Tuesday that slightly over 70.000 candidates had registered nationwide to sit for the 2017 session of examinations organized by the Board—a figure estimated to be about three times less than the number that sat for the exams in 2016. The extension is seen by critics as a government move to lure teachers and students to go back to school as allegations are rife that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) could declare a blank academic year in the country due to the numerous teaching hours lost in the two English speaking regions.

According to a release read on CRTV Radio, the session that was attended by representatives of teachers’ trade unions, teachers’ associations of the South West and North West regions, religious and private institutions, “also unanimously called on teachers, students and pupils to resume classes latest Tuesday March 7, 2017 at 7:30am.”

It is the third time the deadline is being extended. Registration was initially due to end December 30, 2016 but rocking Southern Cameroons which has paralyzed activities in schools and courts forced authorities to postpone. Schools in the English speaking North West and South West regions have remained closed since teachers in the regions began a sit-in strike in November last year.

Despite the repeated postponements, some observers still believe the holding of GCE this year is still implausible. They argue that schools are yet to resume and students have been out of activity for months though government says “measures have been taken” to avert such.

Cameroun Info.Net

1, March 2017

Douala: Blood trafficking ring dismantled ¹

Cameroon Radio and Television has reported that a network of traffickers of human blood has just been dismantled in Douala, the economic capital.

These traffickers, the CRTV report revealed, were secretly taking blood from a hospital in Kotto, a district in Douala. The blood was then labeled and levied at 6500 FCFA and resold in hospitals in the Littoral region. Members of the network included medical staff.

According to our information, donors underwent no examination before the blood was collected for the patients.

By Rita Akana

1, March 2017

Southern Cameroons Uprising: Huge drop in number of GCE exam entries ¹

The General Certificate of Education has reportedly recorded a low registration this year as compared to previous years. Local media reports in Southern Cameroons say some 70,000 candidates have successfully gone through registration formalities. The figure is far below the 182,000 that registered last year.

Commenting on Tuesday February 28, 2017, the GCE Board Registrar Dr Humphrey Ekema Monono shied away from the worrying registration statistics in both the Bamenda and Buea provinces of Southern Cameroons but hinted that the Board was working daily for the smooth holding of the 2017 Session.

The chartered member of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate also observed that it was too early to know the exact number of candidates who have registered in West Cameroon but insisted on making public the figures next week.

The well-fed Registrar said the Board hopes to have some 100,000 after the Tuesday deadline. Dr Humphrey Ekema also revealed that vetting of questions for the 2019 session has started in Buea. However, it is still not clear whether the examinations will take place in the months previewed; May and June respectively.

The Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime has insisted that examinations this year must hold despite calls from protesters for boycott. A pro La Republique online news portal, Cameroun Info.Net recently hinted of the possibility of extension of the school year citing one Mr. Paul Goghomu serving at the Prime Minister’s office. However schools have remained closed in Southern Cameroons and for those that are opened, classes are not effective.

By Chi Prudence Asong with files from CIN