Politics

22, November 2017

US: Trump backs Moore despite sexual misconduct allegations ⁰

US President Donald Trump has voiced support for embattled Roy Moore, the Republican Senate candidate in Alabama, despite mounting allegations of sexual misconduct against him.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, Trump said he did not want to see the victory of the Democratic opponent of Moore, who has resisted growing calls to step aside.

Moore, who has been accused of sexually abusing and pursuing teenage girls, is facing off against Democratic Doug Jones in a high-stakes special election in Alabama.

“He totally denies it,” Trump said of 70-year-old Moore when asked about whether electing “a child molester” was better than electing a Democrat in the Alabama race.

“He says it didn’t happen,” said the president, noting “You have to listen to him, also.”

“We don’t need a liberal person in there, a Democrat, Jones,” Trump said. “I’ve looked at his record. It’s terrible on crime. It’s terrible on the border. It’s terrible on the military.”

Trump shrugged off the accusations, saying the fact that those who have accused Moore did not come forward earlier put into question such complaints.

In response, Jones issued a statement, saying he “believes the women, and that the people of Alabama will hold Roy Moore accountable.”

Doug Jones meets with supporters and voters at a Mexican restaurant, November 20, 2017, in Talladega, Alabama. (Photo by AFP)

Trump, who himself has been accused of sexual impropriety, also said that he was happy that women are now coming forward accusing lawmakers and media figures, many of whom Democrats, of sexual misconduct.

This comes as the United States is grappling with a growing list of sexual assault and harassment scandals that rocked the world of entertainment, business and politics.

Others involved in such scandals include Democratic Senator Al Franken, renowned actor Kevin Spacey as well as Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

Culled from Presstv

21, November 2017

230 parliamentarians vote to impeach Mugabe ⁰

Impeachment proceedings against Robert Mugabe will start on Tuesday after 230 members of the ruling Zanu-PF party voted in favor of the motion in Harere on Monday.

Simon Khaya Moyo, Minister of Information and Media said: “They just concluded that was attended by 230 Zanu-PF members of parliament out of 260 members has endorsed the impeachment.”

Mugabe was initially expected to resign on Sunday after the Zanu-PF central committee voted to sack and replace him with his former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

However, Mugabe refused calls to step down and vowed to stay on as president in a defiant TV address to the people of Zimbabwe on Sunday.

Mugabe’s sacking comes after the army seized the state broadcaster on November 15 and placed him under house arrest.

Source: Presstv

20, November 2017

Shifting alliances among Southern Cameroons figures in the US is making political initiatives inconsistent ⁰

Molyko in the Buea County of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia is a street of contrasts, with hotels, cafes and an old Art Decor University of Buea campus intermingled with hoops of razor wire that cordon off private buildings. The first anti French Cameroun government action resulting from the Southern Cameroons revolution took place here about a year ago. Anglophone citizens from all walks of life—young and old, men and women, secularists, teachers and lawyers, members of trade unions and employers unions—all united to denounce successive Francophone regimes that have not met the needs of Southern Cameroonians for over 56 years.

The people of Southern Cameroons have drafted a new constitution, meant to be a new social contract for its society. The process is still going on and has not been smooth. The Governing Council that has legitimate authority in Southern Cameroons has renamed the territory as the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. Negotiations between the interim government and other Southern Cameroons groups stopped when few of the opposing sides could not reach agreement. But after the new nation was shaken by a series of French Cameroun killings, massive arrests and detentions, the President of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and a cream of other Southern Cameroons leaders observed the chaos currently going on in La Republique du Cameroun and decided that, despite their differences, they shared a common need to forge ahead with the struggle for an independent Southern Cameroons.

The 4^th Conclave that produced the draft constitution, grappled with three contentious questions: the role of political parties in the Southern Cameroons society, gender equality, and limits on executive power. Professor Carlson Anyangwe and the legal think tank purposely used precise language in the constitution to set forth principles for the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. To be sure, the 4^th Conclave was a potent reminder of the United States’ constitutional process in 1789, when setting down words defined values for a nation.

Seeing the violence against our people and the sufferings of thousands that have escaped to neighboring Nigeria should bring everyone together with a renewed understanding of the urgency to come to agreement. We of this publication believe and fervently too that you are either with the interim government or with the Biya Francophone regime.

The interim government pointed in the draft constitution that the Federal Republic of Ambazonia is a civil state that is based on citizenship, the will of the people, and the supremacy of law. The draft constitution declared that women and men have equal rights and duties and we understand this will reflect in the upcoming cabinet.

The greatest challenge was how to prevent a return to dictatorship. The Federal Republic of Ambazonia’s draft constitution places limits on executive power, protects civil liberties and freedom of the press, and guards due process. It is the only constitution in West and Central Africa to grant “freedom of conscience.” The draft constitution included provisions for presidential term limits, elections, a constitutional court with power to impeach, an independent judiciary, and independent constitutional bodies with responsibility for issues such as combating corruption and human rights.

Based on this draft constitution, Southern Cameroonians should all rally behind the interim government and participate in the political process including the struggle for complete and total independence. Governance will not been smooth. But we as a people will get to Buea. Bloody attacks by French Cameroun forces have undermined the tourist industry, the bedrock of the Ambazonia economy. Consequently, shifting alliances among leading Southern Cameroons figures in the US and Europe is making political initiatives inconsistent.

Thanks to the interim government, Southern Cameroons has maintained its peaceful revolution. Nigeria is helping with support to our refugees in the Cross River State and several other measures. Ambazonia is slowly but surely becoming a priority for the UN, the EU and the African Union. Keep the faith in the interim government.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Cameroon Concord News Group

20, November 2017

“Robert Mugabe has no intention of leaving the scene” ⁰

The world sat in front of hundreds of millions of TV screens yesterday and watched Robert Mugabe make a speech regarding his future and that of Zimbabwe. The expectations from east to west, north to south were the same. Reuters, long believed to be the leader in news scoops had fed the other leading news agencies including Cameroon Concord News Group that the old fox was about to announce his exit from the international and political scene with dignity. We were all fooled.

It seems to be a familiar pattern on the world scene that news agencies these days get their predictions utterly erroneous. The election of Trump and Brexit were predicted inaccurately and incorrectly reported. As I watched the TV screens and spoke to Cameroon Concord News Group Southern Africa Editor live from Harare, nothing could have prepared me for what I was witnessing.

I witnessed a fragile old man, 93 years of age ramble; ramble on and on and on. At some stages of his speech, he sounded like someone who had suffered and was recovering from a stroke. Earlier in the day, the political party which he founded, and has led for 37 years, the ZANU-PF had dismissed him as leader. He had been given till today noon by the party to step down as the president of Zimbabwe or face the degradation of impeachment. His speech to the nation was seen as a platform for the old fox to announce his submission and ensuing peaceful retirement.

We waited for the punch line announcing his resignation which never came. We have now been reliably informed that the generals who led the move to remove him from office were told he was going to make a speech announcing his resignation but Mugabe refused to show them a copy of his speech. Cameroon Concord News understands from our Southern Africa editor in Harare that the Generals asked to see his speech but Mugabe emphatically refused.

As I watched the speech, I noticed like the hundreds of millions who did the same around the world that he was too old and in many occasions couldn’t follow the pages coherently. It was a pity and an embarrassment for someone who was once a great leader. I wondered what drives him to believe that if he didn’t have the mental coordination to read a written speech, he had all the faculties in place to run a nation. He appeared just too ancient and incapable.

The party which he founded has now disowned him. The overwhelming majority of his people don’t want him to continue as leader after almost four decades. Based on what we saw yesterday, Mugabe hasn’t got the mental ability and dynamism to make day to day decisions as a leader but he insist on carrying on as the president of his country.

We thought we had seen the last chapter of this drama, but it looks like Comrade Robert Mugabe has no intension of making that happen. Those close to him say bushiness is what took him to the top. The big question now is if that is what will bring him down spectacularly.

By Asu Ashu

Cameroon Concord News

London

20, November 2017

Kenya: Opposition leader Odinga calls for international intervention ⁰

Kenya’s opposition leader Raila Odinga has urged international community to intervene in what he has called his country’s “election crisis” as sporadic clashes between police and protesters keeps claiming more lives.

Odinga said Sunday that at least 31 people had been killed since he returned from overseas trip on Friday, adding that the situation needed an urgent “international intervention” to stop government from trampling on rights of opposition members.

“This is state-sponsored thuggery,” Odinga said, adding that his country was being pushed to the precipice”.

The opposition leader, who protested his loss in the August presidential election and then boycotted a rerun last month, said people who had lined up the roads Friday to welcome him home from engagements in the US and Britain were confronted by police and 18 were shot dead.

His remarks also came after residents of a Nairobi slum protested the killing of at least 13 people in an overnight attack by unknown gunmen. Police has put the death toll of the clashes at four, but people attending the mortuary said 13 bodies bearing bullet wounds had been brought in. police said that five people had been killed in the Friday stampede before Odinga’s arrival. But mortuary records corroborated 18 people were dead.

Tensions remain high in Kenya, a major ally of the West and a an economic powerhouse in the Horn of Africa region, since a Supreme Court ruling in September which nullified President Uhuru Kenyatta victory in original votes. Civil society activists and a politician are again challenging Kenyatta’s win in October repeat of the election. A decision by the court is expected on Monday as Odinga insists that irregularities that led to the nullification of the first round remained the rerun.

Culled from Presstv

19, November 2017

Southern Cameroons: Statement on nominations into the cabinet ⁰

London, 19th November 2017

Fellow Compatriots,

There comes a time when a people have to take their destiny into their own hands or let the opportunity slip past them forever. We have taken the leap of faith and cannot let doubt hold us back. Our people have been holding their breath and even getting impatient as they await the nomination of the Cabinet of the Ambazonia Interim Government. Thank you for your patience. It is not easy selecting fourteen individuals out of a population of eight million. It is even harder when one is working with a wonderful and experienced group of people scattered all over the world and has to select a few to help steer our restoration train to its final destination.

Over the past weeks I have consulted far and wide, and listened to the wisdom of some of our best minds. At the end of the process, the responsibility and accountability of the decisions I take remain entirely mine. I must emphasize that these decisions are taken with the best interest of our people and our nation at heart with RESOLVE, UNITY and DISCIPLINE being the guideposts.

When we attended the first Conclave in February this year, extra effort was made to ensure that all our frontline leaders participate in the founding of a United Front. With the Successes of the first Conclave, the second Conclave went an extra mile to ensure that this unity was cemented and saw the participation of all our frontline movements including: –

Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC),
Southern Cameroons People’s Organization (SCAPO),
The Consortium,
Republic of Ambazonia (RoA),
Southern Cameroons Youth League (SCYL),
Ambazonia Governing Council (AGC),
Movement for the Restoration of the Independence of Southern Cameroons (MoRISC).

At the end of the second conclave, a new leadership was born. Ever since, our movement and the struggle for the restoration of our Independence has seen several positive changes which culminated in the establishment of an Interim Government at the 4th Conclave earlier this month.

The United Front has not been without its problems. Over time, some movements have lost their membership. Today, we have passed the point where we should be working as separate factions and groupings. The time for politicking will come. For now, we need to close ranks and operate as one people with a single ambition which is to liberate our country. When we all get to Buea, we shall give the chance for those who want to play politics. But not NOW!

Immediately after my election as Chairman of the Governing Council, I reached out to all the known leaders of our movements in a bid to find common ground. During our Meet the People Tour, we made every effort to meet every of our leaders and to build the much-needed cohesion. In the build-up to the fourth Conclave, I made sure to invite our frontline leaders with the hope of finding common ground and work as one unit. Unfortunately, all these efforts have not always met with great success. In spite of these shortcomings and disappointments, I am still convinced that we are stronger together. Therefore, I have decided that in the constitution of the cabinet for our Interim Government, I will make one last effort to ensure that our compatriots and leaders of frontline movements should be part of our United leadership. We must also recognize that a significant ratio of the 8 million Southern Cameroonians are not members of any of the frontline movements. Many of our people have joined the struggle as patriots, as concerned citizens and as members of a community without ties to any movement. Many people play key roles in advancing this struggle to the point where it is today. The bulk of support, both financial and material, that we are getting as an Interim Government is coming through the leadership of Country Coordinators and Heads of Departments. Most of them hold no movement allegiance. We must also recognize and respect them for their work. For that reason, the leadership that we seek to build must be inclusive in accordance with the role played by all involved. It is for that reason that we took the decision at the 4th Conclave to dissolve SCACUF. This is because we believe that we now need a different kind of entity to take our revolution to its logical end. That entity can only be one which allows us, while maintaining our personal and group affiliations, to embrace a common platform that belongs to all of us together.

I must caution that revolutions do not succeed in the midst of disunity and indiscipline, where every individual and group does as they please. This revolution is no exception. We must have unity of purpose, unity in our actions and be disciplined in whatever we do. It is therefore my hope that everyone will see the importance of working together. We must put aside our personal egos and ambitions, for the common good of the eight million people that we are privilege to lead. Should we encounter any further resistance in this quest for unity, I want to signal very strongly that we have to accept that the train does not have to wait for every traveler before it leaves the station. We are in the process of building a Coalition of the Willing and only those who are willing will be admitted on board. While I do my very best to be inclusive, if obligated, I would not hesitate to exclude any individual or group that seeks self-aggrandizement over our common interest. This will be my last attempt at bringing our leaders together to work under one banner. We must make this clear, we will not allow for anarchy and chaos which, in some countries, has allowed individuals, groups or tribal affiliations to put selfish priorities before the common good of all our people.

We have heard some talk of whoever takes us to Buea will decide. Be rest assured that such selfish ambitions will not be tolerated and will be nipped in the bud. We shall not limit our condemnation to those who espouse such philosophy but their supporters and sponsors as well. I therefore ask all our citizens to be vigilant and to report any such activities geared at hampering our God-ordained struggle. In a while we shall publish the names of those who have been selected to serve our people. I will ask everyone to serve with humility in whatever role they will be assigned. I am sending letters inviting various leaders to join me in serving and leading our people. I hope to hear from each person within 48 hours of dispatch of my letter. We have a list of great individuals in the struggle ready to serve. Should any of the leaders turn down the invitation to serve as part of the UNITY PLATFORM, he/she will be replaced. Your interim government will be made public as soon as I hear from the leaders.

All of us as leaders must either choose to work together for the good of our people and our country or accept being rejected by our people. We have gone past the activism stage of our struggle. We are now at the nation-building stage. The real business of Unity starts now and I invite all to be part of this Coalition of the Willing!

Sisiku AyukTabe

President, Interim Government

Federal Republic of Ambazonia

19, November 2017

After Catalan: Uproar begins in another Spanish region ⁰

Tens of thousands of people have staged a protest rally in the Spanish city of Valencia, calling on the central government in Madrid to allocate more funding to the autonomous community of the same name.

More than 60,000 demonstrators took to the main streets of the city on Saturday, expressing discontent with what they called the unfair distribution of budget to Valencia.

Waving Valencia’s regional flags, the protesters demanded that the Spanish government revise the country’s financial system in order for a fairer distribution of funding to autonomous communities.

“We came to this demonstration to ask and to demand that the financial distribution to the autonomous communities become fairer and more balanced with the population and with the investments we have,” said Cloti Iborra, a participant at the peaceful rally.

“We are an autonomous region that… [is] underfunded; we pay more than what we receive. We pay as a rich community, when in reality we are poor; we have higher unemployment, lower wages,” she added.

An image grab from a video by Ruptly shows protesters in the Spanish city of Valencia on November 18, 2017.

The Saturday demonstration enjoyed the support of all political parties in Spain except the ruling conservative People’s Party (PP) of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

The Spanish prime minister’s government has already had to cope with a secession bid in Catalonia, which is also an autonomous region and which neighbors Valencia in northeastern Spain.

Madrid has had to sack the regional government in Catalonia over its defiant bid to gain independence from Spain following a referendum that was held illegally on October 1.

Anti-government sentiments still run deep in Catalonia as people favoring independence stage back-to-back rallies on the streets and urge Madrid to free jailed leaders and activists.

Source: Presstv

18, November 2017

Mugabe makes first public appearance since coup ⁰

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe arrived at a university graduation ceremony in the capital on Friday, his first public appearance since a military seizure of power that political sources say is aimed at ending his 37 years in office.

Wearing a blue and yellow academic gown and mortar board hat, the 93-year-old sat in large wooden chair at the front the hall. He was greeted by ululations from the crowd as he declared the ceremony open.

Earlier Friday, Zimbabwe’s military claimed that it was making “significant progress” in talks with Mugabe for his departure from power while it pursues and arrests allies of the president and his wife.

Talks with Mugabe continued, the military said in a statement reported by the state-run Herald newspaper and Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation.

Zimbabwe’s military is “currently engaging with the Commander-in-Chief President Robert Mugabe on the way forward and will advise the nation of the outcome as soon as possible,” the statement said.

“Significant progress has been made in their operation to weed out criminals around President Mugabe,” it said, adding that the military had already arrested some although others remained at large. Those sought had been “committing crimes that were causing social and economic suffering in Zimbabwe.”

The military is seeking cabinet ministers and other top officials who had been associates of first lady, Grace Mugabe, part of a clique dubbed the G40 because many were in their 40s and 50s. They are of a different generation from the one that fought for independence from white minority rule.

Zimbabwean soldiers control vehicles as they stand by an intersection as they regulate civilian traffic in Harare on November 15, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Army troops and armored vehicles continued to patrol the capital, Harare, as Zimbabweans went about their daily business.

Ousted VP back in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe’s former vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, whose sacking last week triggered the military’s takeover, has returned to the country, an aide told AFP Friday.

Mnangagwa, who is a leading candidate to succeed President Mugabe, flew back to Harare on Thursday after nearly a week abroad, as army chiefs and the president met to negotiate Mugabe’s exit from office.

This file photo, taken on January 7, 2017, shows Zimbabwe’s former vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, speaking during a ceremony at the National Heroes Acre in Harare. (By AFP)

The generals took over late on Tuesday after Mnangagwa was sacked by the president and Mugabe’s wife emerged in prime position to succeed her increasingly frail husband.

Government TV showed Mugabe, the world’s oldest head of state, dressed in a navy blue blazer and grey trousers standing alongside army chief General Constantino Chiwenga.

(Source: Agencies)

18, November 2017

Ambazonia Crisis: UN calls for inclusive dialogue ⁰

In a press release issued on November 17, 2017, the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) stated that it continues to follow with “great attention” the development of the situation in Southern Cameroons.

The UN emphasized that it is “particularly concerned by the upsurge of violence, including that targeting civilians and State agents, including the defense and security forces whose members have lost their lives in attacks in different localities of Southern Cameroons.

While expressing his condolences to the families of the victims, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Central Africa and Head of UNOCA, François Louncény Fall, strongly condemns these acts of violence and demands that their perpetrators be “Clearly identified and prosecuted in accordance with the law”.

The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Central Africa and Head of UNOCA also reiterated the UN’s commitment to the territorial integrity and unity of Cameroon and called on the parties to resolve the Anglophone crisis by “peaceful means”. He called for calm and restraint while encouraging “the holding of an inclusive dialogue”.

By Sama Ernest with files from CIN

17, November 2017

Kenya: Three killed as police disperse Odinga supporters ⁰

Three people were shot dead Friday in Nairobi, an AFP reporter saw, as police dispersed thousands of opposition supporters welcoming home their leader Raila Odinga from an overseas trip.

The three men, all with bullet wounds in the upper body, were seen lying on the road in Muthurwa, a city suburb where riot police armed with tear gas, water cannons and rifles clashed with stone throwing protesters, part of angry battles that lasted throughout the day.

Odinga won an unprecedented court victory overturning the result of the August 8 presidential poll, leading to a rerun last month that he then boycotted claiming it would not be free and fair.

Kenya’s Supreme Court is due to rule Monday on whether President Uhuru Kenyatta can be sworn in for a second term or if there must be another rerun.

The dispute over this year’s presidential vote has left the country deeply divided and protests between opposition supporters and police have become commonplace.

Human rights groups estimate that close to 50 people have been killed in election-related violence, the vast majority shot by police.

People call for help for a man who was allegedly injured during a rally of opposition supporters in Nairobi, Kenya, November 17, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Odinga returned Friday from a 10-day trip to the United States where he visited think tanks and sought support for his contention that fresh elections must be held, supervised by an overhauled election board.

His National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition had called its supporters to a “Welcome Back Baba Convoy” — using a nickname for Odinga — to join the opposition leader on his way from the airport to a planned rally in the city center.

But a heavy deployment of police blocked roads and broke up crowds surrounding the convoy, unleashing liberal amounts of tear gas, copious jets from water cannon trucks and firing shots.

The clashes caused chaos in the capital that continued late into the afternoon.

The Kenyan police’s water cannon releases water against protesters during a rally of opposition supporters in Nairobi, November 17, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Following the rerun vote, NASA launched a “National Resistance Movement” aiming to use civil disobedience and boycotts to challenge what it considers to be Kenyatta’s illegal government.

Friday’s gathering of thousands of opposition supporters in Nairobi was the movement’s first show of strength since then, but fell short of the “million man march” promised by party leaders.

It also marked a heavier deployment of police than in the past, as they sought to block Odinga from holding a rally.

Eventually, Odinga managed to say a few words to cheering supporters from the sunroof of his car.

“Today is the day we are launching Kenya as a third republic,” he said, referring to independence from Britain in 1963 and the new constitution in 2010.

“What you have seen is a signal that a third liberation is coming soon,” Odinga said before driving away.

(Source: AFP)