18, February 2025

We thank the Head of State: Biya regime distributes CFAF 2Bln to rice farmers following protests ⁰

The Cameroonian government has disbursed 2 billion CFA francs to 8,750 rice farmers affiliated with the Yagoua Rice Expansion and Modernization Company (Semry) in the Far North region. The funds were distributed by Paul Atanga Nji, Minister of Territorial Administration (Minat), who has been on a working visit to the Mayo-Danay department since February 13 to address concerns raised by farmers.

In late January, rice farmers in Yagoua, the departmental capital, held protests demanding compensation related to the Logone Valley Investment Development Project (Viva Logone), implemented by Semry. The protests turned violent, resulting in one farmer’s death and several injuries. President Paul Biya subsequently sent Atanga Nji to de-escalate the situation and oversee the payments.

“This generous gesture from the Head of State is a form of support for the beneficiaries, whose activities have been severely impacted by delays in launching the rice rehabilitation project in the Logone Valley, as well as by poor harvests during the last agricultural season,” Atanga Nji told reporters.

The first tranche of 1 billion CFA francs was distributed to 4,399 rice farmers in Toukou, Yagoua, on February 13 during a ceremony at the Tapvounda Rice Cooperative site. In addition to the financial aid, farmers also received agricultural equipment and inputs. The second phase of payments, targeting 4,351 rice farmers, is currently underway in Maga, another town in Mayo-Danay. Atanga Nji is personally supervising the distribution process.

Source: Sbbc

18, February 2025

Eyumojock Sub Division: MP Teku Tanyi puts smiles on many faces during Youth Day Celebrations ⁰

The Eyumojock Member of Parliament, Hon. Teku Tanyi, brought more excitement to the National Youth Day celebration in Eyumojock sub-division in Manyu Division by sponsoring sporting activities and awarding prizes to meritorious individuals and schools.

The festivities, presided over by the Divisional Officer for Eyumojock, Besinga Ely Etone, brought together members of the Regional House of Assembly, elites, traditional rulers, students and pupils from various schools in the sub-division to commemorate the National Youth Day which was celebrated on the theme: “Youth, Maturity and Responsibility for the Consolidated of Peace, Security, Economic Growth and Democratic Progress.”

The youths showcased their talents in various activities, including cultural displays, choral singing, ballet, and a match past. The sporting activities sponsored by the Member of Parliament were a highlight of the event, providing an opportunity for the young people to demonstrate their skills and teamwork.

In addition to the sporting activities, the MP donated essential items to support the education and well-being of the students and pupils. These included exercise books, desktop computers, laptops, and toys.

The recipients did not conceal their joy and appreciation. They thanked the MP for his sustained encouragements.

“Our MP is going above and beyond to help revive a sub-division which has been hard hit by the socio-political crisis. We truly appreciate what he is doing,” a resident of Eyumojock who elected anonymity said.

Hon. Teku Teku Tanyi, for his part, said the activities he sponsored and the prizes awarded were a demonstration of his commitment to empowering young people in his constituency.

He said that by promoting sporting activities and providing essential educational materials and resources, he was encouraging the youths to develop their physical and mental well-being, while also fostering a sense of community and social cohesion.

It is no exaggeration to note that the Youth Day celebration in Eyumojock was a resounding success thanks in great part to the MP’s generous support.

Below are the prizes awarded by the young and dynamic MP.

I.Football Boys.

A.Secondary Schools:

i. First Prize: Trophy 🏆 plus 100.000 cash prize

ii. Second Prize: Cash Prize. =75.000

iii. Third Prize: 20.000

B. Primary Schools. Football boys

i. First Prize: Trophy 🏆 plus 50.000

ii. Second Prize: =30.000 cash prize.

iii. Third Prize: 15.000

II. Handball Girls:

A. Secondary Schools.

i.First Prize: Cash Prize= 30.000

ii.Second Prize =25.000

iii.Third Prize: 15.000

B.Primary Schools:

i. First Prize =25.000

ii. Second Prize =20.000

iii. Third prize: 10.000

III.Assorted prizes to schools and students who excelled at the 2025 GCE/ Technical examinations

IV. Donation of books to school libraries.

V. YCPDM Football Match:

YCPDM boys Vs YCPDM girls.

i .Winners: Trophy 🏆 plus 75.000

ii Runners up: 50.000

VI. GCE 2024 EXCELLENCE AWARD:

APPRECIATION TO TEACHERS

i. GBHS Eyumojock: = 50.000

ii. GSS EKOK =40.000

Match officials of CPDM: 25.000

By Kingsley Betek in Eyumojock

17, February 2025

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Senator Zang Oyono is dead ⁰

Calvin Zang Oyono, a Cameroonian Senator who represented the South Region on the platform of the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement is dead. CRTV, Cameroon’s state radio and television confirmed this to Cameroon Concord News on Sunday 16 February 2025.

Zang Oyono was a Francophone politician who until his death served as deputy managing director of COTCO.

Elected senator three times, in 2013, 2018 and 2023, Calvin Zang was born in Nsimi in the Zoétélé Sub Division in the Dja et Lobo Division in the South region.

The late senator was a graduate of the National School of Administration and Magistracy (Enam).

By Rita Akana

17, February 2025

Vatican: The Holy Father resting, stable after first night in hospital ⁰

After being admitted to the hospital Friday for treatment of what the Vatican initially described as bronchitis, Pope Francis is stable and has been prescribed complete rest while being treated for a respiratory infection.

He was described by a Vatican spokesman as being “serene” and “in good humor” Friday night after his admittance to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, spending the evening reading newspapers.

A statement Saturday morning said the pope had slept well during the night, and in the morning ate breakfast and read some newspapers while receiving treatment and awaiting the results of further tests.

On Saturday evening, the Vatican said Pope Francis, while admitted with a fever, no longer showed any signs of having a fever and that further testing during the day “confirmed a respiratory infection.”

His treatment, the Vatican said, was modified slightly “based on further microbiological findings.”

Laboratory exams Saturday showed “an improvement in some values,” the Vatican said, but did not offer further details.

The pope received the Eucharist Saturday morning and spent the day alternating between rest, praying and reading.

In order to facilitate a full recovery, doctors, the statement said, “have prescribed absolute rest,” meaning he will not give his scheduled Sunday, Feb. 16, Angelus address, however, the text of the speech will be distributed for publication.

Some of his events for this weekend’s Jubilee for Artists and the World of Culture have been cancelled due to the pope’s hospitalization, and his Sunday Mass for the event will now be celebrated by Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, Prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education.

Francis was also updated on the many well-wishes and expressions of prayer and solidarity that have been conveyed since he was admitted and has asked that faithful continue to pray for him.

The 88-year-old pontiff was admitted to the Gemelli Hospital Friday at the end of his regularly scheduled audiences that day, after around two weeks of struggling with a bronchitis that forced him to take his private audiences and meetings at his residence, rather than the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace.

This marks the fourth time he has been admitted to Gemelli, where popes traditionally go for medical treatment, following colon surgery in 2021, a stay for bronchitis in April 2023, and surgery to repair an abdominal hernia in June 2023.

He has also suffered two falls in recent months, once in December resulting in a bruised chin, and once in January that caused an injury to his arm, requiring it to be placed in a sling for several days.

It is unclear how long the pope will remain in the hospital, but it is expected that he will stay for several days.

Source: Crux

17, February 2025

Biya’s 8th term: Catholic priest says elections help build a community of love ⁰

A leading Cameroonian priest and intellectual, Father Humphrey Tatah Mbuy, says electing the right candidates during elections help in achieving one of the Church’s overarching goals: Building a community of love.

Speaking during his weekly sermons distributed on social media, Mbuy’s message comes at a critical time as Cameroonians prepare for the upcoming presidential election scheduled for October this year.

President Paul Biya who turned 92 on February 13 is likely to seek an 8th term in office. The world’s oldest head of state has been in power since 1982 when he took over from Cameroon’s first president.

But the president’s advanced age and failing health has raised concerns over his candidature. In any event, the ruling CPDM party candidate – whether it is Biya or not – could face a slew of opposition candidates, the most formidable being Prof. Maurice Kamto who has been endorsed by a coalition of 30 political parties known collectively as the Political Alliance for Change.

Kamto, who officially scored 14 percent of the vote in the 2018 disputed presidential election, is running on a campaign of extending health and education services and reducing the acute inequities in Cameroonian society.

With the October election expected to be an inflection point in Cameroon’s political journey, Mbuy said he believes the Church may be called to play a leading role in guiding the electorate towards making an informed choice.

“We must participate in politics because politics is one of the highest forms of charity because it seeks the common good and Christians, lay people, must work in politics,” he said, quoting Pope Francis when asked about how and what role the Church should play to ensure free and fair elections anywhere in the world.

“The role of the Church is to educate, to encourage, and to enlighten people about basic human values and moral principles involved in the process of registration, voting, counting of votes, and proclamation of elections thereafter,” the Cameroonian priest said.

He went down memory lane, explaining the contribution of the Church to the growth of democracy around the world – a history that reached a high point on April 2, 2004, when the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, then led by Cardinal Renato Martino, published a compendium of the Church’s social doctrine, endorsed by Pope Saint John Paul II.

The compendium encompasses the entire social teaching of the Church, guiding its actions in socio-economic and political matters.

Mbuy recalled that ahead of the UK’s 2024 general elections, the bishops of England used this compendium to create a Christian voter guide. Similarly, on March 28, 2022, the Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines issued a pastoral letter urging voters to consider the common good in the May 2022 general elections.

In the same way on August 24, 2018, the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon addressed a pastoral letter on the presidential elections that came up that year.

And in May 2023, the Bishops’ Conference of Sierra Leone wrote a similar pastoral letter to guide the people about the elections which were to take place in June 2023.

“So, from north to south, east to west, it is common for conferences of Catholic bishops to address a pastoral letter to Christians and people of goodwill before and after elections,” Mbuy said.

Mbuy explained that a careful study of bishops’ letters about elections across Africa, Europe, Asia, and America typically reveals four common themes. The first theme, he said, is to educate people about their civic duty and moral obligation to vote. The second theme is a call for voters to choose candidates who can work for the common good. The third theme emphasizes the need for everyone involved in the electoral process, from registration to proclamation, to ensure that elections are free, fair, transparent, and honest. Lastly, the fourth theme is a plea and prayer for peace during, before, and after elections.

“The bishops usually write as pastors, as spiritual leaders and as moral guides to the people,” he said.

“Few, if any bishop at all, are interested in chaos, confusion and violence,” Mbuy said.

The priest said that citizens have “the right to know facts about the people from whom they have to choose one or more. Many citizens are hardly aware of their natural and civic right to register and cast their vote which matters. The Church has the obligation to educate them on the vital civic and moral duty.”

“The Church is and should always act as mother and teacher, martyr and magistrate because she has the moral obligation to lead society always towards that which is good, especially in free, transparent and fair elections,” he said.

“It is such free, fair and transparent elections, the cleric said, they will lead the Church to achieve one of its most cherished goals-building “communities of love,” Mbuy said.

Source: Crux

17, February 2025

Why is Biya seeking re-election? ⁰

Many Cameroonians thought that after 42 years in power and following the crash of his reputation both at home and abroad, Cameroon’s President, Paul Biya, will no longer run for the presidency, and especially as his health has become a cause for concern.

Biya has reigned over his country for decades and during his time in power, a lot has gone wrong with a country once considered as an earthly paradise by many. The country’s economy has collapsed, the country’s youths are frustrated and depressed, and unemployment in the country has reached record levels.

Despite Mr. Biya’s dismal performance over the last four decades, militants of the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement are still pushing for their chairman to seek re-election to extend President Biya’s term after forty long and frustrating years in power.

In today’s editorial meeting in London, the Cameroon Concord News Group Paris bureau chief jokingly said that Mr. Biya needed a 7-year extension because he was looking forward to addressing a few things before leaving power at the age of 100 years.

Biya’s candidacy in the upcoming October presidential election, he said, was justified, adding that the next 7-year term would make him president for life.

The October presidential election is already shrouded in uncertainty amid restrictions on free speech imposed by the country’s Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, to curb the spread of anti-Biya actions.

The 92-year-old Biya said in a recent address to Cameroonian youths that he wanted the election to go ahead to guarantee his continued stay in power, advising the country’s youths to shun propaganda and misinformation that might hurt them in the long run as if they are not already hurt.

The Francophone dominated Cameroon opposition has accused the out-of-touch regime of putting political gain ahead of national progress and development in its push for Biya to contest the election.

Biya and his ruling CPDM party control everything in Cameroon including the use of condoms but are short of declaring Cameroon a kingdom.

Two prominent CPDM officials speaking on condition of anonymity told Cameroon Concord News that Cameroon as a nation was on the brink and that if appropriate measures were not taken, the country would hit rock bottom in a few months.

“Biya is running because he is ashamed and his conscience is now judging him,” one of our sources in Yaoundé said, adding that “his 42-year reign has brought untold hardship to millions of Cameroonians who once saw Biya as a youthful and effective solution to the country’s problems.”

Biya, our source added, had disappointed many and that he completely out of touch with the country’s youths who are in the majority.

“There is a massive disconnect between Biya and the youths in Cameroon. We live in a world wherein technology is being leveraged to address socio-economic issues, but Biya and his people are stuck in the past. We hope if he gets the next seven years, he will be able to correct some of the mistakes he and his government have made over the last four decades,” the source concluded.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

14, February 2025

Southern Cameroons: Ngarbuh massacre victims wait for justice five years on ⁰

Brutal violence has taken hold in Cameroon’s North-West and South-West regions since 2016 as armed separatist groups seek independence for the country’s minority Anglophone regions. Attacks on communities and acts of banditry have become the norm.

Government security forces were deployed to stop attacks and bring stability, but the conflict has only deepened. Security forces and separatist groups have both been responsible for serious abuses against civilians. One gruesome case, however, highlights the security forces’ role in cold-blooded attacks and the government’s attempts to delay any accountability.

On February 14, 2020, Cameroonian soldiers and armed ethnic Fulani raided Ngarbuh, in the North-West region, killing at least 21 civilians, including 13 children, and burning homes. Bodies of some victims were found charred inside their homes. The killings shattered the community and sent shockwaves throughout the country. The attack was a reprisal against residents whom government forces accused of collaborating with separatist fighters.

The government initially denied its troops were involved in the massacre and described allegations against them as fake. But following sustained national and international pressure, Cameroon’s President Paul Biya established a commission of inquiry in March 2020. The government eventually admitted the role of security forces in the attack and announced the arrest of two soldiers and a gendarme in June 2020.

A trial opened in December 2020 before a military court in the capital Yaoundé. However, the trial has faced numerous delays and has been marred by irregularities. Hearings have been postponed multiple times for various reasons, including the absence of judges and other court members. Victims’ families have had minimal participation in the proceedings and the court has refused to admit key evidence, including death certificates. Senior officers have not been arrested or charged, and 17 ethnic-Fulani vigilantes, who were also charged with murder, remain at large.

The last hearing took place on October 17, 2024, and the next is scheduled for February 20. The glacial pace of the proceedings has victims’ families wondering if justice will ever be rendered.

The Ngarbuh trial is an opportunity for the government to show its people and the world it can hold its senior officers responsible. The question is whether Cameroon’s judiciary will act.

Culled from Human Rights Watch

13, February 2025

Cameroonian PhDs: Poor Helpless and Desperate ⁰

On February 12, 2025, the Collectif des docteurs/PhD, chômeurs indignés du Cameroun (CDPCIC), a group of unemployed PhD holders, sent a letter to the senior divisional officer for the Mfoundi division, Emmanuel Mariel Djikdent, announcing their intention to stage a peaceful march in Yaoundé on February 20. The protest follows the publication of results from the second phase of a special recruitment program for university lecturers in the country’s newly established public universities in Bertoua (East), Ebolowa (South), and Garoua (North).

The collective, which represents doctorate holders struggling to find employment across Cameroon, voiced strong dissatisfaction over what they describe as “inconsistencies” and “injustices” in the selection process. According to their letter, the march aims to demand an additional recruitment round to include PhD holders who were unfairly excluded from the final selection process.

Allegations of Favoritism and Unfair Selection

In their correspondence, the group raises several concerns regarding recruitment criteria and candidate eligibility. Their primary grievance is the alleged mismatch between some selected candidates’ profiles and the advertised positions, a situation they claim has opened the door to favoritism and a disregard for meritocracy.

They further denounce the inclusion of already-employed civil servants in the recruitment process, which they argue contradicts the initiative’s original intent—to provide opportunities specifically for unemployed PhD holders, as instructed by the President of the Republic.

Another major point of contention is what they see as a blatant injustice: some newly minted PhD holders, who defended their theses only days before the results were announced, were hired, while more experienced doctorate holders with years of teaching and research experience were left out. “These are the pioneers of our public and private universities, some of whom are already advanced in age, and they should have been prioritized for recruitment,” the collective stated.

Adding to their frustration, some advertised positions reportedly disappeared from the final list of recruitments, despite having qualified applicants. For the unemployed PhD holders, this further deepens their disappointment and sense of exclusion after years of academic pursuit. These grievances have compelled the CDPCIC to take action, organizing what they insist will be a “peaceful march” in the capital.

Protests Extend to the Great North

The discontent is not limited to Yaoundé. Another group, the Collectif des titulaires du doctorat/PhD du Grand-Nord, has also announced a peaceful demonstration in Ngaoundéré, the capital of the Adamaoua region, scheduled for February 21, 2025.

Like their counterparts in Mfoundi, these doctorate holders say they are expressing their “profound indignation” over what they view as social injustice and geographical discrimination in the recruitment results. According to them, the selection process failed to implement the “affirmative action” principle meant to favor candidates from underrepresented regions, particularly in Cameroon’s northern regions, where access to opportunities is perceived to be more limited.

On February 4, Séraphin Magloire Fouda, Secretary General of the Prime Minister’s Office and Chairman of the Central Supervision Commission for the special recruitment program, announced the results of its second phase.

This initiative aims to recruit 150 lecturers for the three newly established public universities, created by presidential decree in January 2022, for the 2024–2025 academic year. Eligible candidates had to be under 45 years old as of October 1, 2024, hold a doctorate or PhD, and reside either in Cameroon or abroad.

Launched in 2023 and set to conclude in 2025, the recruitment process seeks to strengthen the teaching workforce at these universities, which admitted their first students in the 2022–2023 academic year but continue to face a significant faculty shortage.

Source: Business in Cameroon

13, February 2025

French Cameroun: Douala accident claims five lives ⁰

A fatal road accident occurred on the evening of February 12, 2025, at 4 Étages in Bonaberi, located in Douala’s 4th district. According to initial, yet-to-be-confirmed reports, five people lost their lives in the crash involving two heavy-duty trucks and a taxi.

Eyewitness accounts suggest that a speeding cement truck collided with a stationary semi-trailer carrying iron bars. In an attempt to avoid the impact, the cement truck swerved and crashed into a taxi carrying the driver and four passengers. All five occupants of the taxi died instantly, witnesses reported.

This tragedy comes just two weeks after a similar accident at Carrefour Meec in Yaoundé’s 6th district. In that incident, a poorly secured shipping container fell off a truck onto a taxi, killing two of the four passengers on board.

Source: Sbbc

13, February 2025

Fifty countries affected by USAID freeze, says WHO ⁰

Programmes to tackle HIV, polio, mpox and bird flu have been affected by the freeze on tens of billions of dollars of overseas aid from the US, says the head of the World Health Organization (WHO).

US President Donald Trump has taken steps to close the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), arguing that its spending is “totally unexplainable”.

However, WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has urged the Trump administration to consider resuming aid funding until other solutions can be found.

HIV treatments and other services have been disrupted in 50 countries, he said at a briefing on Wednesday.

Speaking publicly for the first time about the freeze on US aid funding, at a virtual press conference in Geneva, Dr Tedros said: “There are actions that the US government is taking… which we’re concerned are having a serious impact on global health.”

In particular he pointed to the suspension of PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief, which he said had halted HIV treatment, testing and prevention services in 50 countries.

He added that a reprieve for life-saving services had not stopped the disruption.

“Clinics are shuttered and health workers have been put on leave,” Dr Tedros said.

Experts in global health have warned of the spread of disease, as well as delays to the development of vaccines and new treatments as a result of the cuts.

Trump has argued that USAID is “incompetent and corrupt”.

He recently announced huge cuts to the agency’s 10,000-strong workforce and the immediate suspension of almost all of its aid programmes.

The agency spends about $40bn (£32bn) – about 0.6% of total US yearly government spending – on humanitarian aid, much of which goes towards health programmes.

The vast majority of USAID money is spent in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Europe, where it is primarily used for humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

Elon Musk, the tech billionaire who is working on the White House’s effort to shrink the size of the federal government, has previously claimed that the aid agency is “a criminal organisation”.

Neither Trump nor Musk have provided clear evidence to support their claims.

As well as the freeze on USAID, President Trump has taken steps to withdraw the United States from the WHO.

Under the Biden administration the US was the largest funder of the UN’s health agency and in 2023 it contributed almost one-fifth of the agency’s budget.

Dr Tedros said Trump’s decision was affecting collaboration between countries on global health threats. He also said the US had reduced its reporting of bird flu cases in humans.

The WHO says it has employed emergency measures similar to those used during the Covid pandemic to fill the gaps where there are shortages – in life-saving antiretroviral medication, for example, which is used to treat people living with HIV.

Meg Doherty, director of global HIV, hepatitis and sexually-transmitted infection (STI) programmes at the WHO, said efforts were being made to co-ordinate the sharing of vital supplies of medicines between countries.

However, she said a better, long-term solution was needed: “We have been seeking support from country to country for sharing, but this is a short-term approach.”

Source: BBC