News

25, July 2016

Professor Tazoacha Asongayi buried in Belluh-Lebang ⁰

The late emeritus Biochemistry University lecturer was lowered into his grave in Belluh-Lebang Fontem after a solemn funeral mass by the Bishop of Mamfe Diocese. It was about 2pm last Saturday, 23 July, 2016 when the remains of the vocal and prolific socio-political critic were lowered into the grave at the cemetery of the Roman Catholic Mission Parish Belleuh-Lebang Fontem. Professor Tazoacha Asonganyi died last 3 July, 2016 in Yaounde after an ailing episode.

Hundreds of mourners came from Cameroon and abroad to bid farewell to the late 67-year-old man who had been Secretary General of the Social Democratic Front (SDF), Cameroon’s leading opposition party, from 1994 to 2005. Among the personalities who braved the deplorable road to Fontem were the SDF National Chairman, John Fru Ndi, the former vibrant icon of the SDF, Andrew Akonteh, the deceased’s widow, Florence Asonganyi, offspring and crowds of Lebialem elite, countrymen and women.

The remains of the late Professor of Biochemistry, who earned his PhD in the London University in 1980 and taught in the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaounde I, had received academic honours from his peers and laid for viewing in Yaounde on 22 July before his final 400-kilometre journey to his native Fontem in Lebialem Division of the South West Region.

As chief celebrant of Asonganyi’s funeral mass, the Ordinary of the Mamfe Diocese, Bishop Andrew Nkea, recalled the late Professor’s selfless political and social life that bore him media fame. The chapter of the man, Asonganyi, who had become a front-line choice to media columnists, television and radio producers, is closed but his over 100 articles, and volumes will forever be reminiscent of the colossal but short in gait who recently toured the various Regions of Cameroon presenting his last piece titled: “Cameroon, Difficult Choices of a Failed Democracy”. Who would have known that he was just bidding bye to mankind? Adieu Tazoacha!

Cameroon Tribune

24, July 2016

Buea Council provides accommodation for the Molyko fire disaster victims ⁰

The 3 families affected by the fire incident in Molyko, Buea in the South West region have been housed in a three apartment building in Buea. Mayor Patrick Ekema, made the goodwill gesture saying it is in line with the concern expressed by President Biya that every Cameroonian should have access to food, shelter and medicine.

The Saturday 16th July 2016 fire outbreak in the Malingo junction left devastating consequences and the Buea city council had to provide not only accommodation but new mattresses, gas cookers, pots, food stuffs to the victims. Mayor Ekema has reportedly pleaded with the finance committee of the Buea council to foot electricity bills and other related expenses for those affected by the disaster.

The victims of the fire were lodged at a Bomaka hotel for four days before being moved to their present site. In providing a new kind of responsible CPDM leadership, Mayor, Patrick Ekema made five visits to the victims to take stock of their welfare.

Cham Victor Bama (Cameroon Concord News Group)

24, July 2016

Failed Coup: Turkey disbanding presidential guard ¹

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has announced the disbanding of the country’s presidential guard following the recent failed coup. “There will not be any presidential guard as we do not need it anymore,” told Turkey’s A Haber TV channel on Saturday. Earlier in the day, authorities arrested 283 members of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s guard over alleged affiliation to failed coup.

Turkey has launched a large-scale crackdown following the July 15 attempted coup d’état. A three-month state of emergency has also been declared in Turkey. Meanwhile, the key aid of US-based opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen (seen below), who Erdogan blames for the coup attempt, has been arrested. According to a source in the Turkish presidential office, Halis Hanci arrived in Turkey two days before the coup.

Presstv

23, July 2016

19 Nigerian soldiers missing after Boko Haram ambushed ⁰

The Nigerian military says 19 soldiers have gone missing after the Boko Haram Takfiri terrorist group ambushed military forces in the embattled northeastern province of Borno. On Thursday, “when our troops were returning to their defensive location, they ran into an ambush by the terrorists who came to reinforce their fleeing comrades. The troops fought back… killing many of them,” said Major-General Lucky Irabor, the military chief of staff, on Friday.

He went on to say that three officers and 16 soldiers were still missing, adding that another 16 soldiers and three pro-government civilian vigilantes sustained injuries in the incident. The development came three days after the army conducted a full-scale operation in the restive province, killing at least 42 terrorists and rescuing 42 children and 38 women kidnapped by Boko Haram in Gangere village. This also comes as military has reportedly rescued as many as 10,000 people form Boko Haram captivity this year.

Presstv

22, July 2016

Revealed: Algeria is the most racist country on earth ⁰

Algeria is the most racist country in the world, according to a study conducted by several organizations including Open Borders for Refugees and Stop Dis Stop Crime in Nations. The North African nation won the first place following more than 1,248 respondents in which over 75% of its citizens admitted to haven racist ideas or very extreme.

The population of Algeria is composed of 99% Arabs and 1% of Europeans (according to official sources), because the black skin individuals are not counted. Algeria has blatantly refused to host any migrant from Iraq and Syria.

91% of Arab Algerians have reportedly demanded the immediate expulsion of blacks in the country (which are not up to 100,000 people. 83% of those surveyed would prohibit Christianity and 61% would ban Judaism. More than half is against the admission of refugees, not because of the jihadist threat but because of the ethnicity of the migrants. 95% of Algerians would ban visas for Chinese immigrants.

Algeria is the country with the most racist crimes on the road; over 21,000 road deaths in 2015 and more than 60,000 wounded with the victims mostly black, Europeans or Asians, according to the study.

Chi Prudence Asong (Cameroon Concord News Group)

22, July 2016

Buea: Forum to raise funds to support orphans and widows of fallen soldiers ends up with numerous pledges ⁰

The Fallen Patriotic Foundation, FPF, a non-denominational and apolitical organization has joined hands with government to support orphans and widows of soldiers who died in the course of defending the nation in the war against Boko Haram extremism. According to statistics from FPF, there are close to 450 orphans who need full parental support. The founder of the foundation, Laura Ndiwane epse Sako, said FPF was working to provide assistance in the area of education to children of fallen soldiers.

They also seek to provide counseling and psychosocial assistance to families of the deceased to enable them cope with the situation and accept the loss, as well as assist them in the compilation of documents to receive death benefits from the State, among others. During the ceremony, the Secretary General of Buea Council on behalf of the Mayor, made a contribution for schools in Buea, while Mrs. Menga pledged to sponsor all orphans of fallen patriots in the South West Region.

A company that supplies antennas pledged to sponsor all the orphans of two northern regions. There were other pledges as well as freewill donations. The widow of Major Agbor Djomo Johnson, Noubessi Ruth, said that her daughter was just six weeks old in her womb before the father died at the battle front. A video of the activities of the military in the battle front was also projected during the ceremony.

The Fallen Patriots Foundation was created on November 27, 2015 in Yaoundé with the objective to support and guarantee the education of orphans of fallen soldiers. The importance of the ceremony was to present the foundation and to raise funds. In the days ahead, specifically on the 10^th 12^th and 19^th of August, 2016, scholarships will be awarded to children from Maroua, Garoua and Yaoundé respectively.

Cameroon Tribune

21, July 2016

Nigeria: Army frees 42 children, 38 women from Boko Haram cells ²

Nigeria’s military has rescued at least 80 children and women in an operation against the Boko Haram Takfiri terrorist group in the country’s troubled northeast. Army spokesperson Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman said on Thursday that the captives were released on Tuesday by troops who attacked a gathering of the Boko Haram militants at Gangere village in Borno state.

The official added that the freed hostages included 42 children and 38 women. Usman noted that 42 terrorists were also killed during the high-scale offensive. This comes as military has reportedly freed as many as 10,000 hostages form the grips of the Boko Haram terrorists this year. The Takfiri terrorist group has kidnapped a large number of civilians, including several women over the past years.

On April 14, 2014, Boko Haram terrorists kidnapped 276 girls from their secondary school in the northeastern town of Chibok in Borno. Fifty-seven of the girls managed to escape afterwards, but the fate of the remaining others is still largely unknown.

That mass abduction of female students by the terrorist group has shocked people around the world and brought global attention to Boko Haram’s militancy. Boko Haram started its campaign of militancy in 2009 with the aim of toppling the central government in Nigeria. It has so far taken the lives of more than 20,000 people and forced over 2.7 million others from their homes.

Boko Haram has expanded its terror activities to Nigeria’s neighboring countries. Troops from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger have been battling the terrorists in recent months. The group has pledged allegiance to the Daesh Takfiri terrorists operating mainly in Syria and Iraq.

Presstv

21, July 2016

“Tony Blair shall sleep no more” ⁰

British MPs have been given a date in September to debate a motion in the House of Commons to find former prime minister Tony Blair in contempt of parliament for involving the UK in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The date was agreed on Wednesday by the speaker and MPs from across seven parties led by Scottish National Party’s Alex Salmond.

The motion will say that former Labour prime minister had given “seriously misleading” statements in the House of Commons in 2001, 2002 and 2003 and should be therefore held in contempt. The motion was launched after the Chilcot inquiry into the role of the UK in the Iraq war released a report on July 6.

Even if the motion was passed, it would be mainly symbolic as the House of Commons has not used its power to punish non-MPs for several years. The Chilcot report offered a scathing critique of the UK government’s involvement, under Blair, in and after the invasion of Iraq.

The report said Blair had overstated the threat posed by Saddam’s supposed Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs), deployed ill-prepared forces to the Arab country and had “wholly” inadequate plans for after Saddam’s ouster.

Members of the media inspect the volumes that comprise Iraq Inquiry report, during its presentation by John Chilcot in London on July 6, 2016. ©AFP

The report concluded that Blair’s decision to join the US-led war in Iraq was made “before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted.” A spokesperson for the group of MPs who launched the motion said families of British soldiers killed in Iraq were also planning legal action against Blair that would proceed separately.

The inquiry revealed that “Blair was promising US President George W Bush in private memos while he was telling Parliament and people something entirely different in public statements,” the spokesperson also said.

“If we are to prevent such a catastrophe happening again it is essential that parliamentarians learn to hold the executive to critical examination in a way that Parliament failed to do in 2003,” the spokesperson added.

Meanwhile, families of dead soldiers have launched an appeal to raise£150,000 to pay for a legal assessment of the Chilcot report to determine whether they could pursue private prosecution of Blair. The appeal, known as the Crowd Justice, said in a statement on its website that the report has confirmed that there were“serious failings” before and after Iraq war.

“Our armed forces must never again be so callously sacrificed by political ambition and the irresponsibility and failings of Government and Whitehall,” the statement also said. “Those responsible should be held to account. Now it is down to us, the families, to ensure that justice is done,” it added.

Presstv

21, July 2016

Yaounde: Government Delegate fighting urban disorder ⁰

The Government Delegate to the Yaoundé City Council, Gilbert Tsimi Evouna inaugurated seven modern multipurpose kiosks on Wednesday the 20th of July 2016. The new cabins will serve as links between customers and enterprises and contribute in fighting urban disorder.

Prior to the building of the kiosks, the haphazard implantation of business kiosks along streets was the situation that prevailed in Yaoundé. The Government Delegate explained that the number of kiosks will increase to 150 by November 2016 and 500 in 2017. The project was co-sponsored by the city council and some undisclosed institutions.

CRTV

20, July 2016

UN: Security Council to vote to select new Secretary General ⁰

The 15 members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will vote behind closed doors on Thursday in order to select the next secretary-general to the world body out of a dozen officially proposed contenders.

Representatives of the 10 non-permanent member states along with those of powerful permanent five – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States – will huddle together on Thursday to choose the ninth officeholder of the UN, a successor to the incumbent Ban Ki-moon.

Each member state will rate the 12 candidates with a ballot marked “encourage,” “discourage” or “no opinion,”, and the contender with the most secured “encourage” ballots will be nominated for the job and introduced to the General Assembly for the final vote.

The selection process, however, is not that straightforward and is hugely overshadowed by the unique and highly controversial privilege of the five permanent members to veto.

Not only can the five permanent members veto any resolution but can block any candidate as well. As a result, the selection is subject to the veto of any of the five permanent members of the Security Council.

Of the 12 candidates, six are women, from three different continents. If one of them is selected as the next leader of the UN, she will be the first ever officeholder of the world body, since there has never been a female secretary-general so far.

Moreover, the bulk of the candidates – eight – are from Eastern Europe, a region which has had no representatives in the top job since the creation of the UN in the final year of the Second World War.

Among the top contenders vying for the job are Argentina’s Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra, Slovenia’s former president Danilo Turk, New Zealand’s former premier Helen Clark, and Antonio Guterres, who served as Portugal’s prime minister.

Ban took office for his first five-year term on January 2007 and was re-elected to a second term on June 2011, after his first one expired on December 2011. He will leave office at the end of the year and will be replaced by the new leader on January 2017.

The UN is under fire for years by member states not only for the unrivaled ability of veto, enjoyed by the permanent five members, but also for its secretary-generals, who are chosen not for their abilities to run the world body and serve all member states, but to serve the permanent five members.

Presstv