News

4, March 2018

Slovania: Slain journalist buried ⁰

Slain Slovak investigative journalist Jan Kuciak was laid to rest in his wedding suit on Saturday as police released the seven Italian nationals who were detained regarding Kuciak’s explosive report on high-level corruption.

Kuciak’s murder has raised fresh concern about media freedom and corruption both in Slovakia and Europe. It follows the October 2017 assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who had denounced corruption in Malta.

Kuciak’s burial in the northern Slovak village of Stiavnik came a day after his fiancée, Martina Kusnirova, was laid to rest in her wedding gown in the northern town of Gregorovce. The couple, both 27, were to marry in May.

The ceremony began with the reading of a poem written by Jan for his fiancée that he had planned to read at their wedding.

Leading the funeral mass, Bratislava Archbishop Stanislav Zvolensky told hundreds of mourners packed into the local Roman Catholic church that “if the murderer thought he was able to silence Jan, he was wrong.”

“He achieved the opposite. An attack on a journalist is also an attack on the freedom of our country. We must not allow it.”

Slovak police commander Tibor Gaspar has said the motive for murder was “most likely” related to Kuciak’s investigative journalism.

In Italy, prosecutors have suggested that the ‘Ndrangheta may have been behind the killing of Kuciak and his fiancée, who were found dead at their home near Bratislava on Sunday.

Kuciak was about to publish an article that raised possible political links between Italian businessmen operating in Slovakia and the ‘Ndrangheta.

Political tool?

Hours before the funeral, police released seven Italian nationals named in Kuciak’s report and who were detained on Thursday, a day after it was posthumously published.

Police investigators said that after “checking the facts,” they were unable to bring charges within the legal 48-hour detention period.

Thousands flocked to candlelit anti-corruption vigils for the murdered journalist held on Friday across Slovakia, an EU, and NATO country of 5.4 million people.

People hold a banner reading “Attacking a journalist = attacking all of us” during a silent protest march to pay tribute to murdered Slovak journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kusnirova, at the Freedom Square in Bratislava, Slovakia, on March 2, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

Leftist Prime Minister Robert Fico has accused the opposition of using the murder as a “political tool to get people out on the streets and gain power.”

The latest protests echoed a wave of anti-graft rallies by mostly young Slovaks last year demanding the dismissal of senior police officials and ministers in Fico’s government for alleged foot-dragging on fighting corruption.

The seven Italians were taken into custody on Thursday in police raids in the eastern town of Michalovce.

Slovak media reported that among those held was businessman Antonino Vadala — the owner of several companies — and some of his relatives, alleged by Kuciak to have links to the mafia and contacts in the Slovak government.

€1 million reward

The allegations in Kuciak’s report triggered an angry rebuke from Fico, who showed reporters stacks of euro bills totaling the €1-million (US$1.2-million) reward he has offered for information that could lead to the killers.

Interior Minister Robert Kalinak said on Facebook on Thursday that Italian police, Europol, the FBI, and Scotland Yard pledged to help Slovak investigators.

Two close Fico associates were forced to resign after the article was posthumously published on Wednesday, while one minister quit in protest.

Echoing opposition parties, the leader of Most Hid, a junior partner in Fico’s three-party coalition, has also demanded Interior Minister Robert Kalinak resign.

The party said Saturday it would meet on March 12 to decide whether to quit the coalition after Kalinak refused to step down on Saturday.

‘Dangerous’ insults

Fico once told journalists they were “dirty, anti-Slovak prostitutes,” but he vowed that his government was committed to the “protection of freedom of speech and the safety of journalists” in the wake of the murder.

Christophe Deloire, the secretary-general of Reporters without Borders (RSF), told AFP he had asked Fico on Friday in Bratislava to “clearly express his regrets” for having publicly insulted journalists, something the RSF chief called “dangerous.”

Fico’s office later issued a statement saying that there was “no call on the PM to apologize to journalists,” denying Deloire’s claim.

But contacted by AFP, Harlem Desir, the Freedom of the Media representative at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, confirmed that Deloire had called on Fico to apologize to journalists.

The European Parliament is expected to send a fact-finding mission to Slovakia as early as next week, German MEP Ingeborg Grassle said on Saturday.

(Source: AFP)

3, March 2018

Fresh wave of ethnic violence kills 49 in Congo-Kinshasa ⁰

A fresh flare-up of ethnic violence has claimed the lives of at least 49 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ituri province.

The murders took place overnight in the village of Maze, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Bunia, the capital of the northeastern province of Ituri, which has been wracked by conflict between the Hema and Lendu communities, the government said on Friday.

Alfred Ndrabu Buju from international Catholic charity Caritas said, “We have counted 49 bodies and are still searching for other bodies.”

“A child was admitted this morning in Drodro general hospital, with an arrow in his head,” Buju added.

Interior Minister Henri Mova earlier said 33 were killed in the unrest.

“The provincial governor is on his way to the site of the killings,” Mova said.

Witnesses said the assailants were members of the Lendu community.

“The attackers went into the village and committed a real massacre,” said local activist Banza Charite.

More than 100 people have been killed since the violence erupted in Ituri in mid-December. The unrest has also forced 200,000 people to flee their homes.

More than 28,000 of the displaced have crossed the border into Uganda in recent weeks, according to UN figures, most of them women and children, reporting horrific stories of violence.

Tensions between the Hema cattle herders and Lendu farmers have largely laid dormant since a 1998-2003 war, which claimed the lives of thousands, but have flared again in recent months because of disputes over land.

The United Nations said earlier this year it would seek more than $1.5 billion to respond to the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, warning the violence-torn country was at a “breaking point.”

Source: Presstv

3, March 2018

Nigeria: Mass abduction in Dapchi dents Buhari’s security record ⁰

When President Muhammadu Buhari took office three years ago, eradicating Boko Haram militants and rescuing the hundreds of women and children they held captive was one of the main pledges in his inaugural address.

Another mass abduction of schoolgirls in the town of Dapchi has exposed how little progress has been made. It also shows that security is a major weakness for the former military ruler with less than a year to go before elections.

“The government is not doing sufficiently well as it relates to security because if they are, an experience like that of Chibok that happened four years ago, we had four years to prevent the recurrence of Chibok. Yet four years after we still have Dapchi, and not just that one or two girls or five girls, over a hundred girls were taken in one night.” Bukky Shonibare, a member of the Bring Back Our Girls Group

The kidnap of the 110 girls, mostly aged 11-19, almost two weeks ago bears similarities to Boko Haram’s 2014 abduction of more than 270 schoolgirls from Chibok.

“I voted for Buhari for change, but sincerely right now, the way things are, we are going backward and not forward. Before I used to come out in confidence, but now I come out in shame. If we find good change, I want Buhari but with the way things are, if it continues like this, I will not vote for Buhari.” Idris Mohammed, a generator repairer.

Buhari has declared the Dapchi abduction a “national disaster”.

Source: Reuters

3, March 2018

Biya regime imposes curfew in the Buea Province amid Anglophone crisis ⁰

The SouthWest region of Cameroon has imposed a month-long curfew on five out of six divisions / departments according to a release from the office of the governor.

The March 1, 2018 document said the move was important given the exigencies of security, the preservation of peace and the maintenance of law and order.

The affected divisions are Manyu, Meme, Ndian, Lebialem and Kupe-Muanenguba. The only division not under the order is Fako.

The orders were put into four articles as follows:

That the movement of commercial vehicles and private cars shall, with effect from the date of signature of this order, be prohibited throughout Divisions – South West region from 7 pm in the evening to 6 am in the morning for a period of thirty (30) days renewable.

That this prohibition shall not be applicable o Ambulances, vehicles of Administrative Authorities and/or Officials of the Forces of the Law and Order carrying out official duties.

That Senior Divisional Officer, Regional Heads of Defense and Security Forces, Divisional Officers a,d Mayors of the Administrative Units cited above shall be charged, each in their sphere of competence with ensuring the implementation of this order.

That this order shall be registered and communicated where need be. It was copied to the necessary agencies and signed off by the governor in the region’s capital, Buea.

The curfew order comes barely a week after a similar one was imposed on adjoining North West region. The two – known as the ‘Anglophone regions’ are at the heart of a secessionist attempt to break off from French – majority Cameroon.

Guerilla style attacks by separatists elements have claimed the lives of about twenty-four security officials. People in the region have also fled in their thousands into Nigeria for fear of reprisal attacks from the army.

Source: Africa News

2, March 2018

Gunmen attack army headquarters, French embassy in Burkina Faso ⁰

Nearly 30 people, including civilians and soldiers, have been killed when gunmen launched a coordinated attack in Burkina Faso’s capital, targeting the army headquarters and the French embassy.

Five assailants reportedly got out of a pick-up truck in the center of the capital Ouagadougou and opened fire on passersby before heading towards the French embassy on Friday morning. They then set fire to the car.

Meanwhile, a blast took place near the headquarters of the Burkinabe armed forces and the French cultural center, which are located around a kilometer (half a mile) from the area of the first assault that houses the embassies, the prime minister’s office and the United Nations offices, witnesses said.

“I saw people with sacks on their backs attack the guard. Then I heard the explosion. I saw soldiers flee the army headquarters building running,” witness Kader Sanou said. The explosion hit the army compound, setting the building on fire.

Men escape from Burkina Faso’s army headquarters during an attack in the capital Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on March 2, 2018. (Photo by Reuters)

Media reports quoted three security sources, two in France and one in West Africa, as saying that at least 28 people lost their lives in the attack on the military headquarters.

Two of the sources said 28 people were killed and a third reported that “around 30” died in the attack in the capital.

Government spokesman Remi Dandjinou had earlier said the attackers killed five people and injured about 50 others during the attack on the military headquarters.

Speaking on state television, he added that two paramilitary gendarmes lost their lives while defending the French embassy.

According to the government, four gunmen were killed in the embassy attack and two in the second assault.

Burkina Faso’s government had said in a statement posted on the government’s Information Service website, “Special units of the defense and security forces have been deployed.”

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but previous assaults were conducted by allies of al-Qaeda in retaliation for the country’s participation in a regional fight against Takfiri militants.

Jean-Marc Châtaigner, France’s ambassador to West Africa’s Sahel region described the assault as a “terrorist attack.”

The attack was the third major attack in Ouagadougou in just over two years.

In August 2017, a terrorist attack on the upscale Turkish restaurant Aziz Istanbul in Ouagadougou killed 19 people, many of them children, and injured 21 others.

In January 2016, assailants launched an attack on a hotel also popular with foreigners and a café in the capital, killing at least 30 people from 18 different nationalities. The al-Qaeda Takfiri terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Burkina Faso, one of the poorest countries in the world, shares a northern border with Mali, which has long been battling al-Qaeda.

French Special Forces have been present in Burkina Faso since 2010 on a declared mission to help regional governments in the Sahel tackle extremism, particularly in neighboring Mali.

France was a former colonial power in Africa, ruling over Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast as well as the Congo, Sudan, Somalia, Morocco, and Algeria. Ghana was a former British colony.

Source: Presstv

2, March 2018

Israeli police question Netanyahu for eighth time over fraud, bribery allegations ⁰

Israeli police arrived on Friday at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home where media reports said they were to question him for an eighth time over allegations of fraud and bribery.

An AFP journalist saw detectives arriving at Netanyahu’s official Jerusalem residence in two vehicles at around 9 am (0700 GMT). Police issued no official confirmation that questioning was under way. Investigators were at the same time to take a statement from his wife Sara at national fraud squad headquarters near Tel Aviv, media said.

A former Netanyahu aide and a top businessman are both in custody, linked to allegations of suspected fraud by the premier.

Nir Hefetz, a former media adviser to the Netanyahu family, and Shaul Elovitch, the controlling shareholder of telecoms group Bezeq, were among seven suspects arrested last week as fraud suspicions against Netanyahu snowballed.

Police suspect Elovitch was given business concessions in return for Netanyahu receiving good press on Walla!, a news website he owns. Hefetz is alleged to have acted as a messenger between Netanyahu and Bezeq and Walla! bosses.

He is also suspected of trying to bribe a retired judge to block a probe into the prime minister’s wife, Sara Netanyahu, over alleged misuse of public funds.

Police have now questioned the premier eight times since the beginning of 2017, and last month said there was sufficient evidence to charge him for graft, fraud and breach of trust in two other cases.

In one, he and family members are suspected of receiving one million shekels ($285,000, 230,000 euros) of luxury cigars, champagne and jewellery from wealthy personalities in exchange for financial or personal favours.

In the other case, investigators suspect the premier of trying to reach an agreement with the owner of Yediot Aharonot, a top Israeli daily newspaper, for more favourable coverage.

Israeli media said police would question him on the Bezeq affair for the first time on Friday and would also take from him a statement as a witness in suspected corruption around Israel’s purchase of three submarines from German industrial giant ThyssenKrupp.

The cases have fuelled speculation he could be forced to step down or call an early election but Netanyahu says he is innocent of any wrongdoing.

Eli Kamir, another former Netanyahu adviser arrested last week, was on Wednesday released from police custody but placed under house arrest.

Shlomo Filber, a Netanyahu ally for more than 20 years and former director general of the communications ministry, was freed last week after agreeing to turn state’s witness in exchange for avoiding jail, police said.

He is suspected of mediating between Netanyahu and Elovitch and promoting regulatory changes worth millions to Bezeq.

(AFP)

2, March 2018

Cold snap paralyzes Europe, more die ⁰

An extreme cold snap across Europe claimed more lives, forced the closure of airports in Scotland, Switzerland, France, and Ireland, and left hundreds of drivers stranded on snowy highways Thursday.

Heavy snow and high winds halted all flights in and out of Dublin Airport, with authorities saying they are unlikely to resume until Saturday. Irish Rail said no trains are likely to run until Saturday.

Forecasters said a new storm is bringing blizzards, 100-kph winds, freezing rain, and thunderstorms to Ireland, southwestern England, and Wales later Thursday. They predicted zero visibility and deep pockets of snow.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar urged people to get home by 4 pm Thursday and stay there until the storm has passed. The Irish stock exchange shut down at midday and will be closed all day Friday.

“The risk to life and limb presented by severe weather conditions should not be underestimated,” said Varadkar.

The World Health Organization warned Thursday that the cold weather poses particular risks to vulnerable people such as the elderly, children, and those with chronic diseases or disabilities.

Swedish media reported that a woman who had left her home at an asylum center with her daughter and son, aged 8 and 9, was pronounced dead in the hospital after being found in a forest.

Danish police said an 84-year-old woman with dementia became the second person to die in the country because of the cold weather.

It was travel chaos at Europe’s airports and on its highways.

People walk on the tracks after the tram service was stopped due to snowfall in Tours, France, on March 1, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

Geneva’s airport closed after the Swiss city was hit with 13 centimeters of snow over a three-hour period early Thursday. It reopened several hours later after extensive de-icing of the runway, plans and facilities.

Snow also shut down Glasgow and Edinburgh airports in Scotland, and there were cancellations at Heathrow and other airports in Britain. Airports in the southern French cities of Montpellier and the Atlantic beach resort of Biarritz were also affected.

Around the Paris region, about two dozen officials braved Arctic temperatures for a night outdoors to call attention to the plight of the homeless after at least 13 died from exposure since January 1.

Dragging blankets and sleeping bags, officials from an array of political parties wearing their blue, white, and red sashes hunkered down near Austerlitz train station as snow began falling early Thursday.

Hundreds of drivers were trapped in their cars overnight in Scotland, and authorities said everyone except emergency workers should stay off the roads.

Police in the county of Lincolnshire in eastern England said most roads there are impassable, with as much as 60 centimeters of snow in rural areas.

In southern France, about 2,000 cars were blocked on highways in the Herault region, where snow — and snowplows — are extremely rare.

Macedonia’s government urged employers to exempt pregnant women and people over 60 from working for a day and to pay special attention to keeping construction workers warm due to the freezing conditions. The low temperature Thursday in Macedonia dropped to -18 Celsius near the border with Bulgaria.

(Source: AP)

1, March 2018

Killed in (Peacekeeping) Action: 4 UN soldiers die in Mali ⁰

Four United Nations (UN) peacekeepers were killed in central Mali on Wednesday after their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device (IED) planted by suspected militants.

The UN mission in Mali, known as MINUSMA, said in a statement that the casualties occurred when a convoy of peacekeepers hit the device along a road in the Mopti region.

“We have just received information from the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali indicating that a UN military vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device on the Boni-Douentza axis, in the region of Mopti in Mali. Preliminary reports indicate that four peacekeepers were killed and four others were wounded. Medical evacuations are currently ongoing,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

‘Undeterred’

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “strongly condemned” the IED attack and said such attacks targeting UN peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law.

“These cowardly acts will not deter MINUSMA’s determination to support the Malian authorities in their efforts to protect civilians and accompany the Malian people in their quest for peace and stability,” the UN chief added.

The Wednesday roadside attack came a day after six Malian soldiers were killed when their vehicle struck a mine in the Segou region. A forest ranger was also gunned down in another incident blamed on militants.

‘Cornered’

Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist groups in Mali have been carrying out increasingly deadly attacks on domestic and foreign forces in the African country, raising security concerns.

But the head of the MINUSMA has said the increased attacks are because the terrorists have come under intensified pressure.

“MINUSMA is currently upgrading its security presence in central Mali,” Mali mission chief Mahamat Saleh Annadif said. “Cornered, the terrorists are multiplying their attacks.”

More than 11,000 UN peacekeepers have been deployed to Mali since 2013 to counter terrorist attacks and general lawlessness.

French Defense Minister Florence Parly (C) stands in front of a flag-draped coffin during a ceremony in honor of the two French soldiers killed in Mali, on February 27, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

In late January, 14 soldiers were killed and 18 more wounded in an attack on their camp in Mali’s restive northern regions.

Extremists linked to al-Qaeda took control of the desert north of Mali in early 2012 but were largely driven out in a French-led military operation launched in January 2013.

In June 2015, Mali’s government signed a peace agreement with coalitions of non-militant armed groups. But extremists still remain active in the area, and large tracts of the West African country are lawless.

Source: Presstv

1, March 2018

UK running out of gas amid new cold wave ⁰

The UK’s National Grid says it needs to buy gas in order to meet the demand amid severe drops in temperature and gas supply outages due that have raised consumption levels to a five-year high.

The NG requested shippers on Thursday to post offers on the OCM locational market after wholesale gas prices soared 74 percent within a day.

Earlier, the company issued another warning after forecast for the day initially showed a shortfall of 49.5 million cubic meters below the country’s projected need of 395.7mcm per day.

According to the Guardian, the deficit had been narrowed down to 35.2mcm.

“We are in communication with industry partners and are closely monitoring the situation,” the NG said.

Widespread snow and unprecedentedly cold temperatures following the arrival of the “Beast from the East” polar vortex and Storm Emma have forced people across the UK to fire up their heating.

The situation has been further affected by several outages in the supply line, which has proven vulnerable to very cold weather over the past.

So far, problems have been have been reported at a pipeline to the Netherlands, while there has been reduction in gas flows from Norway.

Technical issues have also been plaguing main gas facilities in the UK, including the North Morecambe Barrow terminal.

The UK’s gas storage has also hit the lowest levels since 2006, mainly because of the decision last year by energy company Centrica to close down the country’s biggest gas storage facility, Rough. The site accounted for 70 percent of the UK’s gas storage.

Last year, a “perfect storm” of energy supply crisis forced Britian import gas from Russia, despite London’s role in a series of strict sanctions that were supposed to cripple the Russian energy industry.

Source: Presstv

1, March 2018

Battle for Ambazonia: Arsonists Visit SDF Chairman Ni Fru Ndi ⁰

The home of the chairman of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) in Bamenda was last night attacked by arsonists. Mr. Fru Ndi has, for a long time now, been a victim of threats from unknown persons who accuse him of playing ball with the Yaounde government.

The fire, which started around the kitchen area of Mr. Fru Ndi’s home in Bamenda, was swiftly put out by firefighters with the help of neighbors.

Over the last week, threats against the SDF Chairman have increased. He is also being accused of complicity with the ruling CPDM by accepting to hold his party’s congress at the Bamenda Congress Hall.

Opponents and adversaries of the chairman indicate that by accepting to hold the SDF congress in a hall offered by the ruling party (CPDM), Mr. Fru Ndi was leading his party into an unholy political marriage with the ruling party which is widely considered as a crime syndicate in Cameroon.

Similarly, Anglophone separatists operating in Southern Cameroons had also threatened to disrupt the SDF Congress following criticisms by the SDF Chairman of the Southern Cameroons struggle for independence.

It was alleged that Mr. Fru Ndi had called the President of the Republic of Ambazonia, Julius Ayuk Tabe, and his government that had been arrested in Nigeria on January 5, 2018, and illegally extradited to Cameroon in late January terrorists.

Mr. Fru Ndi’s comments had angered many Southern Cameroonians who think a complete restoration of independence to the former British trust territory will be the only way for English-speaking Cameroonians to escape the marginalization they have experienced for 56 years.

The Southern Cameroons armed groups which have been carrying out retaliatory attacks on soldiers and kidnapping senior administrative officers in the region, have always held that they must punish Mr. Fru Ndi whom they accuse of having political intercourse with the Yaoundé government.

To ensure that the congress actually took place as scheduled, the Yaounde government provided top security to Mr. Fru Ndi, a situation that further fueled rumor that he was collaborating with Mr. Biya. Even the location of the event was heavily guarded, as the armed groups were determined to wreak havoc.

Similarly, due to threats, the SDF congress location had been changed as the owners of the first location were scared that their property could be burnt down or destroyed.

It should be recalled that the SDF had on many occasions tried to bring the Southern Cameroons crisis to the floor of the National Assembly, but was repeatedly blocked by the ruling party whose Members of Parliament have never seen anything wrong with the way their government has handled the crisis which has become today a civil war wherein more than 300 army soldiers have been killed and over 500 civilians have been murdered by the Cameroonian army.

The army has also rendered many people in the southwest region homeless by burning their homes as a retaliation against the population each time it is alleged that a soldier has been killed.

In the South West region, towns like Kwakwa have simply been erased from the map following the burning of the entire town by army soldiers, and in Mbonge, the town has become a ghost town as many residents have simply fled following the killing of a gendarme officer in January.

In Kembong, in Manyu Division where many gendarme officers have been sent to an early grave, many young men have fled the town, with a majority now seeking refuge in Ossing, a small city some 15 km from the Manyu Divisional headquarters of Mamfe.

The violence in the English-speaking regions has escalated over the last two months and armed groups operating in the region have made their impact felt. They have been issuing threats and many analysts have been advising that their threat should be taken seriously.

It should be recalled that in mid-February, the Batibo Divisional Officer was kidnapped and taken into a thick forest and attempts by government officials to locate him have been futile. Not even his body has been located even when there was rumor that he had been killed.

For now, it is believed that he is being held by Anglophone separatists who are seeking to restore their independence from the Republic of Cameroon. A few days after the disappearance of the Divisional Officer, the Social Affairs delegate was also kidnapped and his is living rough and wild just like the divisional officer.

It is worth mentioning that the SDF is in favor of a federal system in Cameroon and the party chairman and its presidential candidate for the upcoming presidential election, Joshua Osih, have thrown their support behind a federal system that will empower the people and make them masters of their own destiny.

It should also be noted that the SDF has always chided the government for mismanaging the Anglophone problem that has unfortunately metamorphosed into a crisis that has resulted in hundreds of deaths.

It should be recalled that Mr. Tchiroma, Laurent Esso and Fame Ndongo, are the ministers who have caused the Southern Cameroons crisis to escalate. Today, it has gotten to levels that are almost impossible to address as Southern Cameroons separatists are determined to restore their independence.

Meanwhile, it is being reported that Cameroon’s minister of communication, Issa Tchiroma, will very likely be arrested soon following his role in the mismanagement and misappropriation of state funds.

The government spokesperson, who has been a mouthpiece for Cameroon’s president, Paul Biya, is facing a long jail term as his name has appeared among those who are being accused of embezzling funds and misusing fuel coupons at the Cameroon Radio and Television Corporation (CRTV).

Mr. Tchiroma has been singing the president’s praises for years in the pious belief that he will not be brought to book in case he finds himself in dire legal straits. But as the trial of former CRTV General Manager, Amadou Vamoulke, drags on, more suspects are being roped in. Mr. Vamoulke has decided that he will not go down alone. He has therefore provided a long list of people who willingly participated in the looting of state funds at the CRTV.

Early this week, some seven CRTV staff were dragged to the Yaounde maximum security prison where they are expected to answer for their role in the misappropriation of CRTV funds and misuse of fuel coupons in the coming months. Mr. Tchiroma’s name has popped up and this has left the government spokesman with lots of butterflies in his stomach.

It is alleged that most of the fuel coupons were issued to friends and girlfriends of CRTV staff. It is also alleged that Mr. Tchiroma handed a huge chunk of these coupons to his harem of women who have done a good job of misusing them.

It should be noted that as the country’s minister of communications, Mr. Tchiroma is the CRTV Board chairman and he surely has a few questions to answer about the missing money and millions of dollars in fuel coupons alleged to be misused.

The 70-year-old Tchiroma has once spent 8 years in jail for his role in the April 1984 coup d’état that almost toppled Mr. Biya. But the news that he will soon be back in the dock and possibly back to jail has triggered an illness that may result in Mr. Tchiroma’ s evacuation abroad for medical treatment.

While arrangements for his evacuation are under way, the government is making sure that Mr. Tchiroma does not flee while on medical evacuation like the former Minister of Agriculture who is currently living in the Washington DC area after pretending that he was dying of an unknown ailment. He used his medical evacuation to escape the grip of the “lion-man” who was determined to hand him a long jail term for embezzlement.

By Kingsley Betek and Fosuh Tamajung in Bamenda