17, December 2016
Bamenda: Youth leaders demand release of all detainees 0
Leaders of Cameroon Youth Association have called on the government to release hundreds of Youths arrested in Kumba, Bamenda and Kumbo during last week’s strike action. The youths gathered at the Presbyterian Church Centre Ntamulung in Bamenda, North West Region on Wednesday December 14, 2016 in conference on the recent happenings and to propose a way forward.
In his opening speech, the coordinator of the Cameroon Youth Association, Marcel Amabo Mutanga said like the biblical Job, we have waited, we have waited, hoping that our fathers and leaders will solve these issues but we have instead watched with consternation, the massacre of our brothers, self justification, and the use of national issues for selfish political interest.”
The Cameroon Youth leaders condemned all forms of violence in the expression of grievances and the maintenance of law and order. The Youths also condemned the massacre of Anglophones or Southern Cameroonians by forces recruited to protect them. Marcel Amabo declared, “We hereby demand the release of all those arrested in Bamenda, Kumbo and Kumba.” The Cameroon Youth Association has promised to investigate into the real number of youths arrested, missing, wounded and to descend to the streets to sensitize the youths on how to go about the strike in civility so as to stay away from soldiers killing them.
Culled from The Post
18, December 2016
Rwanda’s sole government-recognized opposition party leader to challenge President Kagame 0
The leader of Rwanda’s sole government-recognized opposition party has announced plans for standing as a candidate in next year’s presidential election. Frank Habineza, with the Democratic Green party, announced the decision on Saturday after a meeting with party leaders in the capital, Kigali. “I have accepted your request to represent you as the presidential candidate for the upcoming presidential election, which will take place on 4th August 2017,” he said.
Habineza will challenge President Paul Kagame. The incumbent leader, who took power in 1994 at the head of a rebel army, had previously come forward as a candidate. Rwanda’s parliament passed amendments to the constitution this year to allow Kagame to stand for re-election for another seven-year term.
Over the past years, Kagame has faced criticism for the lack of political freedoms in Rwanda, although the country is regularly praised for its stability and economic performance. Kagame’s government has refused to recognize several opposition parties, barring them from contesting elections. The United Democratic Forces (FDU) is the most prominent of all those parties. Its leader, Victoire Ingabire, was arrested in 2010 while campaigning against Kagame.
Habineza vowed at the end of the Saturday party congress that his main goal would be to establish democracy in Rwanda. “Democracy does not come from the sky, it won’t come from America or Europe, we are the ones who have to fight for it,” Habineza said, adding, “We want to bring democracy to this country.”
Presstv