News

30, May 2017

Senate committees engaged in information fight amid probe into Trump-Russia ties ⁰

US Senators engaged in investigating President Donald Trump’s possible collusion with Russia during the 2016 campaign and transition are locked in a battle for more information.

US Senate’s Judiciary and Intelligence committees are conducting separate probes to also investigate Russia’s alleged interference in the November vote as well as Trump’s dismissal of James Comey as he was heading a probe into the matter at the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

With more revelations and leaks coming out on a daily basis, the senators are fighting for the same information.

So far, they have even failed to bring Comey (pictured below) in for a hearing.

“We’re trying to get [Comey] before the Senate Judiciary Committee but we haven’t had any luck,” the Republican chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley, told reporters during a conference call. “Of course we could subpoena him but we don’t want to make that move until we have to.”

The committee, which oversees the FBI investigation, has called on the bureau to hand over Comey’s memos regarding the matter but to no avail this far.

“I think we perhaps need to do more than just invite [Comey]. I think it’s important that he come before the oversight committee … and at least do us the courtesy of appearing and that we should be able to look at his material and ask questions about them,” said the committee’s ranking member, California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein (pictured below).

According to Republican Representative Jason Chaffetz, the chairman of the US House Oversight Committee, “the FBI is withholding those documents, citing to the appointment of Robert Mueller as special prosecutor.”

After dismissing Comey, Trump assigned the former head of the FBI as special prosecutor earlier this month. Both the president and the Kremlin have denied allegations of collusion and interference.

Source: Presstv

29, May 2017

Southern Cameroons Crisis: SDF announces the creation of a Special Committee to investigate abuses and extra judicial killings ⁰

The Executive Committee of the Social Democratic Front, SDF decided over the weekend to set up a special committee to investigate the abuses and extra judicial killings in Southern Cameroons. Following the SDF National Executive Committee meeting of Saturday the 28^th in Bamenda, the SDF announced its decision to set up a special committee to investigate the rapes, arbitrary arrests and detention of Southern Cameroonians in Francophone jails attributed to the forces of law and order.

Southern Cameroon has recorded several cases of rape, disappearances, kidnappings and deaths, attributed to the police and the Francophone dominated elite force known as BIR. A video highlighting abuses against students was widely circulated on social media. The said exactions are attributed to the forces of law and order from La Republique du Cameroun.

Several leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium banned by the Biya Francophone government were arrested and detained at the Kondengui central prison in Yaoundé. The English-speaking leaders are currently being prosecuted by the Yaounde military court.

The creation of a special commission of inquiry comes after the SDF’s criticism against the 84 year old dictator Paul Biya and his government, for their silence on the demands made by the Cameroon Common Law Layers and teachers trade unions which plunged the country into a deep crisis.

By Chi Prudence Asong

Cameroon Concord News

28, May 2017

Congo Kinshasa: Frenchman, 3 Congolese hostages freed ⁰

Militiamen have freed a French national and three Congolese who were kidnapped in March in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the Interior Ministry says. They were among five workers, including a Tanzanian, who had been kidnapped from Banro, a Canadian gold mining corporation that runs two mines in DR Congo and is exploring for the mineral elsewhere in the vast, resource-rich country.

The Tanzanian had already been freed. The remaining four hostages were all freed on Saturday, the Congolese Interior Ministry said in a statement. French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated those involved in the release, “in particular Congo authorities for their mobilization and the effectiveness of their action,” according to a brief statement from his office. The French foreign ministry said it had no information on the identity of the attackers.

New York and Toronto-listed Banro’s four gold mines in eastern Congo have faced hazards both from illegal miners squatting on site and by armed groups that are a legacy of a regional conflict which officially ended in 2003. Armed robbers attacked Banro’s Twangiza gold mine in neighboring South Kivu province in February, killing three police officers.

Kidnappings are frequent in DR Congo’s east, which has suffered nearly two decades of brutal conflict, with neighboring states backing rebel groups in a civil war against Kinshasa’s authority, and roaming armed militia triggering the mass flight of terrorized civilians. The United Nations has 19,000 soldiers, police and military observers deployed in the DR Congo, its biggest and costliest peacekeeping mission, with an annual budget of $1.2 billion.

28, May 2017

Special Criminal Court: 3 facing trial on corruption charges ⁰

Three civil servants in the Ministry of Public Service and Administrative Reform (MINFOPRA) will stand trial on June the 1^st 2017 at the Special Criminal Court in Yaoundé. The Court recently revealed that it now has evidence of corruption and embezzlement of public funds against the trio.

Elisabeth Abogda, deputy director of the budget, as well as her two collaborators, Serge Mbang Zogo and Mvogo Mvogo have been sued before the Special Criminal Court for an alleged misappropriation of 100 million CFA francs relating to an operation launched in 2011 for the recruitment of 25,000 contractors in the civil service.

Prosecutors at the court hinted that the amount indicated represents the damage suffered by the State of Cameroon following the mysterious disappearance of 1213 cash vouchers during the operation of recruitment. The said vouchers were kept inside Room 607 of MINFOPRA where the three officials involved were working during that period.

To substantiate the accusation, the Ministry has reportedly produced 26 exhibits that were admitted into the procedural file and the testimony of the witnesses of the accusation received in court during the proceedings. Cameroon Concord News understands the exhibits include inter alia, the various notes appointing the members of the various teams responsible for the distribution of cash certificates, the coordinator, the persons in charge of distribution, requests for explanations addressed to certain agents.

Depicting the Special Criminal Court established to prosecute alleged corrupt government officials and the several Alibabas responsible for pilfering from the public treasury as the President’s court is no misnomer. We call it the President’s court because it is one instrument of power through which the President is reining in on perceived opponents from within his CPDM power conduit. An attribute of a genuine court is the fairness of the trial proceedings in cases which are brought before the court for trial. It is not the number of convictions entered against accused. A court is legitimate and recognized as such because of its exercise of judicial, executive, legislative and administrative independence. A court that is independent must be accessible to all citizens after all, is equality before the law, not a constitutionally protected value? The Special Criminal Court is lacking in these attributes of impartiality, judicial independence and accessibility. It is perceived more as the President’s Court than a Court of Justice.

Establishing this court was President Biya’s way of saving himself the embarrassment of being humiliated during his perennial trips abroad as the President of the most corrupt countries in the world. This ranking of the country as the most corrupt or one of the most corrupt countries had a potential to hamper President Biya’s personal pecuniary interests far from the borders of Cameroon. There was therefore a personal interest need to establish the court. Another personal interest need was to avail himself of a legal tool under his direct control to consolidate absolute power, blackmail potential rebels and competitors within the system and to stifle any form of institutional opposition. He perceived the court as a tool with which to whitewash his more than thirty years of corrupt governance and the rape of the economy.

By Rita Akana and Soter Agbaw-Ebai

Cameroon Concord News Group

27, May 2017

German Chancellor says climate talks at G7 summit ‘very unsatisfactory’ ⁰

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says talks on climate change in a summit in Italy of the seven wealthy nations, known as the G7, were not successful as US President Donald Trump calls for more time to announce his position on the issue and whether Washington would remain committed to the landmark Paris Accord.

Merkel said on Saturday that Washington’s partners in the G7 all remained in the dark about Trump’s intention on climate change, adding that the debate at the summit in Sicily was “very unsatisfactory.” “Here we have a situation of six against one, meaning there is still no sign of whether the US will remain in the Paris accord or not,” Merkel said, adding, “The whole discussion on the topic of climate was very difficult, not to say very unsatisfactory.”

The German chancellor, who spoke to reporters in Sicily after the summit, said the discussion on climate change was quite different than the one that happened on trade. She said the G7 member states clearly articulated that they would reject protectionism in trade policies. However, Merkel said the climate debate could not yield similar results as six governments agreed to endorse the Paris Agreement but Trump tweeted that he will decide next week.

“I will make my final decision on the Paris Accord next week!” Trump tweeted. The final declaration of the G7 summit also reflected the differences between the United States and other members on the issue. “The United States of America is in the process of reviewing its policies on climate change and on the Paris Agreement and thus is not in a position to join the consensus on these topics,” said the statement, adding that other members would “swiftly” begin to implement the Paris Agreement, which they said would be to the benefit of developing countries.

Trump had on several occasions during his presidential campaign criticized the accord, saying it could harm jobs inside the United States while being to the favor of countries such as China. The US president had even branded the agreement, which obliges parties to cut back on carbon emissions, a Chinese hoax. Like many other agreements signed under the administration of former US President Barack Obama, Trump has vowed that he would revise Washington’s commitments under the deals to ensure US interests are protected.

Source: Presstv

27, May 2017

President Trump will be impeached ⁰

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says President Donald Trump’s decision to fire FBI chief James Comey amounts to “obstruction of justice” and will lead to his “impeachment.”

Speaking to graduates at her alma mater of Wellesely College on Friday, Clinton, Trump’s major rival in the 2016 presidential election, said Comey’s dismissal was a step towards authoritarianism.

“When people in power invent their own facts and attack those who question them, it can mark the beginning of the end of a free society,” she warned. “That is not hyperbole; it is what authoritarian regimes throughout history have done.”

She then drew a parallel between Trump and former US President Richard Nixon, wrongly claiming that the latter was impeached over the Watergate scandal. This is while Nixon resigned from office after firing a special prosecutor overseeing the case.

“We were furious about the past presidential election, of a man whose presidency would eventually end in disgrace with his impeachment for obstruction of justice, after firing the person running the investigation into him at the department of justice,” she said during the commencement speech. Trump fired Comey earlier this month, plunging the White House into chaos.

US President Donald Trump attends a working lunch during the Summit of the Heads of State and of Government of the G7, the group of most industrialized economies, plus the European Union, in Taormina, Sicily, May 26, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

The former FBI director has been blamed for Hillary’s loss. He has also been accused of plotting against President Trump. Prior to the November 8 vote, Comey led a controversial probe into Clinton’s use of a personal server to exchange government emails while she was secretary of state.

After the election, he began investigating Trump’s alleged ties to Russia as well as a series of cyber attacks against Clinton’s campaign, which Democrats claimed were conducted by Russian hackers. Various administration officials like Vice President Mike Pence have tried to downplay the decision and deny its ties with the Russia probe.

However, Trump himself admitted that the “Russian thing” was indeed one of the reasons he took the decision.

Bill Clinton’s impeachment

Ironically, Hillary’s own husband, former US President Bill Clinton, is one of the only two US heads of state to have ever been impeached.

Former US President Bill Clinton (Photo by AFP)

In fact, Bill Clinton’s 1998 impeachment was based on two charges of perjury and “obstruction of justice,” the very same reason Hillary thinks Trump will be impeached for.

The charges against the then-president stemmed from his extramarital affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

Culled from Presstv

26, May 2017

Biya seeking foreign funding ⁰

President Paul BIYA has met with Cristina RIVERO De THEISEN at the Unity Palace. The international consultant and lobbyist met the 84 year old dictator on the 24 May 2017.

Speaking after the meeting, Cristina RIVERO de THEISEN said it was a privilege for her to be received by the Head of State. She also hinted that a pathway has been established to woo major investors to Cameroon.

A well placed at the presidency of the republic hinted that Etoudi was running short of cash and that Biya is seeking foreign funding.

Camcordnews Desk

25, May 2017

Kenya: 3 policemen killed in bomb blast ⁰

Three police officers were killed and two others injured when their vehicle ran over an improvised bomb near Kenya’s eastern border with Somalia, a Kenyan official said Wednesday. The police vehicle was moving from Kula Police Post toward the Liboi border town, North Eastern Regional Coordinator Mohamud Saleh said. He said three other officers were unhurt.

The incident came a day after Kenya’s police chief Joseph Boinnet announced al-Shabab extremists were stepping up attacks in the country. Boinnet said the Somalia-based al-Shabab is under pressure from African Union troops supporting Somalia’s weak government against the extremist group’s insurgency.

Al-Shabab, which has ties to al-Qaida, claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s attack in a report by its news agency and said it had killed at least five Kenyan police officers, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist groups. In the last two weeks, attacks by al-Shabab in Kenya’s Garissa and Mandera counties have increased after a lull. Last week, an improvised bomb killed four people in a vehicle, including a minor.

Mandera County has been hardest hit in recent years by an al-Shabab campaign to avenge Kenyan troop presence in Somalia since 2011. Kenya’s troops are part of the AU force in Somalia. Kenya has managed to stop the frequency of al-Shabab attacks in its capital, Nairobi, and major towns, but human rights groups say the government uses methods such as extrajudicial killings that can fuel revenge attacks.

(Source: AP)

25, May 2017

UN Secretary General opens channel of communication on safety of journalists ⁰

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres takes concrete steps on safety of journalists issue, setting up a channel for communication in emergency cases and to better coordinate UN bodies. The office of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres decided to establish a direct and continuing channel of communication with a coalition of press freedom organizations on journalism safety. Guterres made this decision following a February 2017 meeting with Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières – RSF), Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), on behalf of the #ProtectJournalists coalition. The Secretary-General’s decision comes at a particularly dangerous period for journalists in many countries.

RSF, CPJ, and WAN-IFRA have been campaigning through the #ProtectJournalists campaign for the creation of a new position in the UN in order to implement international law regarding journalists’ safety. The #ProtectJournalists coalition has been in a dialogue with the Secretary-General’s senior staff to ensure that this direct communication channel will allow mobilization at the highest levels of the UN system to respond to emergency cases, and to ensure better coordination among the UN agencies, funds, and programs, as recommended by the UN Plan of Action.

“Secretary-General Guterres told us that he wanted to take immediate action to improve the safety of journalists on the ground and that his closest team will work towards this goal. In a second time, he will continue to consider our initial recommendation to appoint a UN Special Representative for the safety of journalists supported by a worldwide coalition of NGOs, media outlets, journalists and prominent public figures,” said RSF Secretary-General Christophe Deloire. “We deeply appreciate his commitment on this topic, and the decision he has already taken. The world’s major problems, from environmental issues to extremist violence, cannot be resolved without the work of journalists.”

“At a time of unprecedented threats to journalists around the world, we are grateful for the commitments made by the Secretary General to continue to speak out about the importance of the press around the world and to open a permanent channel of communication around emergency cases,” said Joel Simon, Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

RSF and members of the #ProtectJournalists coalition will put in place a process to gather and relay emergency cases directly to the UN Secretariat. In the coming weeks, RSF will chair a consultation including international and local press freedom organizations to consider the best process for referring cases, so that cases can be referred to the Secretary-General as soon as possible.

Five hundred and eighty journalists and media assistants have been killed worldwide since the adoption of the UN Plan of Action in 2012, according to RSF research. Impunity remains the norm, with full justice in only three percent of journalist murders in the past decade, according to CPJ analysis.

Pauline ADES-MEVEL

REPORTERS SANS FRONTIÈRES/ REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS

24, May 2017

Filthy and inhumane: Biya regime bans Amnesty International press conference ⁰

Police banned a press conference today in Yaoundé organized by the Amnesty International office for West and Central Africa. The officials of the renowned body were surprised at the Biya’s regime reaction and informed press men and women that they had respected all legal procedures but “We are extremely surprised at the ban on this press conference,” said Aliuone Tine, Amnesty International’s regional director for West and Central Africa, facing a dozen policemen in uniform including some elements from the Secret Service.

Cameroon Concord News understands Amnesty International intended to present to the media a petition which recorded more than 300,000 signatures worldwide, through which thousands of people asked the 84 year old dictator President Biya for the release of three students each sentenced to 10 years in jail, for circulating a joke on Boko Haram, by SMS

The three Cameroonian students were convicted of non-denunciation of terrorist acts on the 2^nd of November 2016 and 310,000 people around the world are asking the Cameroonian authorities to release these students and allow them to join their families for them to realize their dream of being able to continue their studies and find a job. Among the signatories of the petition are celebrities like Patrick Mboma, a Cameroonian football legend.

In December 2014, Fomusoh Ivo received an SMS saying, “Boko Haram recruits young people from 14 years. Conditions of recruitment: 4 GCE subjects including religion “. According to Amnesty International, his friend’s SMS was meant to highlight the difficulty of finding a good job without a diploma, and suggested, in the tone of the joke, that included the armed group, Boko Haram.

The young Fomusoh, forwarded this message to Afuh Nivelle Nfor, who then sent it to Azah Lewis Gob. These three young people were charged on 3 March 2015, under the Penal Code and the Cameroonian Military Justice Code.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Sama Ernest