18, September 2017

Kenya opposition urges reform of electoral commission ⁰

Kenya’s opposition leader Raila Odinga Sunday said the coalition he leads will hold nationwide campaigns to urge reforms of the electoral commission before the fresh presidential elections next month.

Odinga has maintained that the electoral commission must be reformed or he will not participate in the new election ordered by the Supreme Court when it nullified President Uhuru Kenyatta’s re-election in August. One of the reforms he wants is the removal of a dozen top officials he accuses of electoral fraud. The electoral commission has set Oct 17 for the repeat election.

Those who perpetrated illegalities and irregularities in the nullified election remain in place, “claiming readiness to conduct another election,” Odinga told thousands of supporters at a rally.

“We are ready to go for elections, even tomorrow, but we will not go to elections with a compromised electoral commission,” Odinga said. Odinga accused the electoral commission of working with Kenyatta’s Jubilee party to rig the elections.

A supporter of Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga holds a placard in the Kibera area at an election rally in Nairobi, Kenya on Sept. 12, 2017. (Photo by AP)

“IEBC (the electoral commission) and Jubilee are partners in crime,” said Odinga. “The two need each other. If Jubilee is in power, it will protect the co-conspirators and fraudsters in IEBC. Those IEBC officials have every reason to protect Jubilee as their only source of protection.”

Kenyatta has said the electoral commission should not be changed and he even warned the judiciary from interfering.

Other changes that Odinga wants include disqualifying a French firm, OT-Morpho, from supplying equipment to transmit results, claiming that only two of more than 40,000 kits were used to transmit the nullified election results and that staff from the company may be complicit in electoral fraud. Odinga also said the Al Ghurair printing firm should be blacklisted from supplying ballot papers because the Supreme Court found that some of the forms it printed that were used to transmit presidential results lacked security features such as serial numbers and water marks which were meant to prevent rigging.

Odinga has complained about the electoral commission for some time. In May 2016 he led protests calling for the removal of top officials of the electoral commission who oversaw the 2013 elections, which Odinga lost to Kenyatta and the Supreme Court upheld the results. At least five people were killed in those protests after police responded with live ammunition. Those electoral commissioners were eventually removed by parliament and replaced with the current officials.

(Source: AP)

18, September 2017

Anglophone Crisis Symposium, Coventry, United Kingdom ⁰

A symposium on the Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon has been organised for all Cameroonians to attend regardless of their persuasion. Whether you are Anglophone or Francophone, come along and let’s debate the issues.

This is a joint initiative of WCA and WCMC UK to explore lasting solutions to the recurrent Anglophone problem.

Date of Symposium: 30th September 2017, Start time 11am prompt.

Location: The Hilton Hotel, Paradise Way, Walsgrave Triangle, Coventry CV2 2ST.

Questions from delegates will be address to our distinguished panel of speakers consisting of:

*1. Edith Kahbang Walla (Kah Walla) 2. Prof. Jean Emanuel Pondi 3. Barrister Ben Muna 4. Mola Njoh Litumbe 5. Prof. Nelson Enonchong – (as moderator) 6. Hon Jean Mitchel Nintcheu – MP for Doula and Wouri central*.

Other potential Independent guests who have been approached are:

Representative from Commonwealth Secretariat • Representative from Ghanaian High Commission • Representative from Nigeria High Commission • MP for Coventry North East, Colleen Fletcher, MP. • Representative from the Community Secretary, Sajjid Javid’s office .

We have engaged a market research company to conduct a survey of the views of delegates on which option they are for, prior to the symposium and again take their views after they listen to all the panellists in order to measure opinion of a cross section of the UK Cameroonian Diaspora.

Tickets will be priced at £40 which will,

include dinner and alcoholic beverages at the end of the symposium and an opportunity to network with the panellists and some of the distinguished guests who will be attending.

This is a significant and inclusive gathering of Cameroonians in the UK to debate the issues facing Anglophones specifically. The organisers are looking to engage all parties and steer a better way forward with input from all attendees.

For tickets to book your place please call – Judith +44 7916 276295, Frank +447429880730 or Phil +44 7975981048

You can also purchase tickets online using:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cameroon-anglophone-crisis-symposium-coventry-uk-tickets-37259450018

Please note that tickets will be available on a first come first serve basis as the places are limited.

We would be most grateful to have you at the Symposium.

Organisers and sponsors:

*West Cameroon Association (WCA):* Is a Think Tank and a collective of English-speaking Cameroonians based in Cameroon and the Diaspora.

*West Cameroon Movement For Change (WCMC):* Is a Coalition of West Cameroonians worldwide who are campaigning for the restoration of the dignity of the people of West Cameroon.

18, September 2017

Yaounde: How President Biya’s children are changing the rules at ENAM ⁰

Last Saturday’s late arrival of the son of the President of the Republic at the examination centre for Cycle B “General Administration” into the National School of Administration and Magistracy, compelled the management of the exams to let the other candidates who came late into the hall.

A Mercedes brand vehicle matriculated CE 915 belonging to the Director of ENAM, Linus Toussaint Mendjana, having on board Paul Biya Junior entered the ENAM campus very late. Tongues have ever since been wagging on why the Director General of ENAM preferred to put his car at the disposal of the son of the President of the Republic.

4,837 candidates competed on Saturday 16 September for the entrance examinations at ENAM Cycle “B” of the administrative division. Paul Biya Junior sat for the exams in “G.A block 3” on constitutional law and general culture.

A week ago, Brenda Biya, the daughter of the President of the Republic, took part in the entrance examination to the cycle B “financial control” of the same school. The presence of the children of the President of the Republic in the list of candidates for entrance examinations to ENAM has generated a new debate in French Cameroun.

By Sama Ernest
Cameroon Concord News

17, September 2017

Bui County: Six killed in crash ⁰

Six people were killed on Saturday in a serious traffic accident in Bui County precisely in Kumbo. The accident between a semi-trailer carrying goods and a public transport bus also caused many injuries. As in 2010, when 1,200 people were killed on Cameroonian roads, there is a peak of deaths from traffic accidents in 2017 supporting calls for immediate independence for Southern Cameroons.

For the first eight months of 2017, (from January to August), 4190 accidents including 179 fatalities, 784 bodily and 3227 material were recorded in Cameroon. The month of August 2017, was the most deadly with a total of 626 accidents of all categories, including 34 fatalities, 79 bodily and 513 material. Officially, there were 98 deaths as a result of road traffic accidents, in August alone.

Cameroon experts attributed 70% of these accidents to human causes, 20% caused by road conditions and 10% to technical causes. The Francophone government fears that the upward trend will continue and recently claimed to have taken a series of measures, including the reform of the driving license. The new Cameroonian driver’s license, which includes a dozen points, entered into force on 1 September.

The Cameroonian authorities are also considering the use of mobile radars, multiplying joint checkpoints (police, gendarmerie and road traffic prevention in the Ministry of Transport), as well as general alcohol tests and other measures such as limiting the speed limit to 100 kilometres per hour for transit vehicles and heavy goods vehicles.

By Eyong Johnson
Cameroon Concord News

17, September 2017

30 Burundian refugees die in clashes with Congo security forces ⁰

At least 30 Burundian refugees have been killed in clashes with Congolese security forces over plans to send some of them home, a Reuters witness and local activists said on Saturday.

Police and soldiers opened fire as the refugees protested over the plan in the town of Kamanyola in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday, the activists told Reuters.

Congo’s government spokesman Lambert Mende denied that those killed were refugees, saying that the clashes broke out when assailants from an unidentified armed group attacked an office belonging to the national intelligence agency.

Five soldiers and 20 of the attackers were killed in the fighting, Mende said.

More than 400,000 refugees have fled Burundi – including 40,000 to neighboring Congo – since violence erupted in April 2015 when President Pierre Nkurunziza said he would seek a third term in office, a move his opponents said was unconstitutional.

Wendo Joel, an activist from a Congolese pro-democracy and human right group, said the refugees had seized a weapon and killed a soldier as they tried to free some of their arrested compatriots.

“The soldiers first fired in the air but there were many refugees,” Joel told Reuters. “I have counted 32 bodies. There are also about 100 wounded.”

Republican Guard soldiers in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (Photo by Reuters)

Reuters TV footage showed more than 30 bodies covered by sheets on the roadside in Kamanyola, with many more wounded also lying in the street.

A UN spokeswoman confirmed that at least 18 Burundian asylum seekers had been killed but said the toll was likely to rise. Many others had taken shelter at the UN peacekeeping mission’s nearby base, she added.

According to a spokesman for the UN refugee agency, more than 2,000 Burundian refugees live in Kamanyola with host families.

In a statement, Burundi’s main opposition grouping, CNARED, accused Burundian army troops and members of the ruling CNDD-FDD’s youth group Imbonerakure of carrying out the killings with the Congolese army.

Burundian officials could not be immediately reached for comment, but Burundi’s foreign minister Alain Aime Nyamitwe wrote on Twitter: “My heart sinks as I learn of the shootings in Eastern #DRC.”

“Clarifications are needed on the shootings and circumstances around,” he added.

The violence in Burundi has killed over 700 people and a UN commission said last week there were reasonable grounds to believe authorities had committed crimes against humanity. The government rejected the commission’s findings as “propaganda”.

17, September 2017

Suicide among US war veterans highest in west, rural areas ⁰

Newly released US government data shows suicide rate among military veterans as considerably higher in western and rural parts of the country, further indicating that female and older veterans are at higher risk and that social isolation, gun ownership and limited access to health care are likely factors.

The new figures are the first-ever Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) data on suicide that show wide state-by-state disparities, demonstrating that states such as Montana, Utah, Nevada and New Mexico have had the highest rates of veteran suicide as of 2014 — the most current VA data available, the AP reported Saturday.

According to the official report, the suicide rates among US war veterans in the four states stood at 60 per 100,000 individuals, which is much higher than the average veteran suicide rate of 38.4.

Veterans in large parts of those states must drive 70 miles (112 kilometers) or more to reach the nearest VA medical center for treatment.

The overall suicide rate in Western states, the latest data shows, stood at 45.5 while all other regions of the US had rates below the national average rate.

The new VA data also reconfirmed drastic demographic differences: Female veterans are at much greater risk, with their suicide rate 2.5 times higher than for civilian women. This is while the suicide risk among male veterans was 19 percent higher than civilian men.

As a whole, however, older veterans make up most military suicides, according to the government report, which pointed out that nearly 65 percent of the victims were age 50 or older.

Other states with high veteran suicide rates, including mostly rural West Virginia, Oklahoma and Kentucky, had greater levels of prescription drug use, including opioids.

This is while a 2016 VA study found that veterans who received the highest doses of opioid painkillers were more than twice as likely to die by suicide compared to those receiving the lowest doses.

“This report is huge,” said epidemiologist Rajeev Ramchand, who studies suicide for the government-sponsored RAND Corporation. He further noted that the suicide rate is higher for veterans than non-veterans in every single US state by at least 1.5 times. “No state is immune.”

According to Ramchand, pinpointing specific causes of veteran suicide was difficult but they likely involved factors more rampant in rural areas, such as social isolation, limited health care access, gun ownership and opioid addiction.

“This requires closer investigation into why suicide rates by veteran status are higher, including the role that opiates play,” Ramchand emphasized.

“These findings are deeply concerning, which is why I made suicide prevention my top clinical priority,” VA Secretary David Shulkin said recently. “This is a national public health issue.”

The VA has reported a major hike in the number of veterans seeking medical care after returning from conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, where the US military has intervened in purported bids to root out terrorism and bring stability to the troubled regions.

Terrorism, however, expanded drastically in both countries since the US-led military meddling as Washington seeks another upsurge of troops in the war-torn nations following major withdrawals.

The latest data provides more detailed breakdowns on national figures released in 2016, which saw 20 veterans committing suicide per day. The statistics come from the largest study of veterans’ records by the VA in a bid to uncover new information on where to direct resources and identify veterans most at risk.

Source: Presstv

16, September 2017

Blood and tears dropping from the eyes of Southern Cameroonians – Biya the devil’s favorite demon? ⁰

Blood and tears dropping from the eyes of Southern Cameroonians – Biya the devil’s favorite demon?

By Gerald Atem Asong

Michigan – USA.

In our modern world; the twenty first century to be precise, we tend to see governments as protectors of the rights and freedom of their people. Just as this is seen in many countries around the world and even some African countries, Cameroon is and has always been a country wherein the government is more of a monster or an agent of evil. The government of Cameroon which is headed by Biya who has been in power for more 30 years knows nothing but evil. Is he the devil’s favourite demon? His contribution and total involvement in the killing and murdering of Southern Cameroonians in a fierce and cruel manner earns him a place at the devil’s right hand. It is not surprising to coin this government and all those involved with it as the devil’s favourite demons.

The ongoing crisis in Cameroon didn’t start last year 2016. This is a problem that has been accumulating for more than 50 something years (56). For about 56 years, Southern Cameroonians have seen nothing else but carnage, bloody killings and murdering of Southern Cameroon and Southern Cameroonians. Before you ask me when these took place, let me explain. There is no better way of explaining or describing the eradication of the culture of a people;the institutions of a people. Before Southern Cameroons joined La Republique in February 11, 1961 after the plebiscite, we had a way of life. We had a language, an educational system, banks, airports, agricultural institutions that helped the people sustain life but after we joined La Republique, everything vanished. Our people have been rendered helpless for all these years. No sound education because at the end of it all, there are no jobs. French teachers are teaching in English schools, our law system has been adulterated. Institutions like the marketing board that helped poor farmers is non – existence. Anyone who decides to speak up and speak out is dragged to jail without trial. So many have been killed for fighting for freedom. What an agenda to wipe out a people from the universal? When people like Adolf Hitler set out to ethnic cleansed the Jewish people, there is no other way to quantify his actions because that was outright demonic. The plan of Biya and his predecessor Adhijo has been to exterminate or obliterate a people (Southern Cameroonians) and their culture. Southern Cameroonians live in a country with little or no voice, they beg for everything from Biya’s regime as slaves. They are mistreated, maltreated and silenced when they raise their voice. This is happening because the goal is to get rid of these people (Southern Cameroonians) and the government isn’t going to stop until it achieves its goals.

When Southern Cameroonians cry, blood drops because the pain is severe, they are hard pressed on every side and they have nowhere to go. Southern Cameroonians have been abandoned, they have been crying for more than 50 years to be liberated from the chains, shackles, fetters and dungeon of Biya’s regime. Those who couldn’t stand the heat for too long travelled abroad for greener pasture. How green are the greener pastures abroad? When Southern Cameroonians abroad are being treated as slaves in Lebanon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and you name the rest. When these brothers and sisters are being, brain drained in America, Britain, Germany, France and other western countries. I know someone will be quick to say not only Southern Cameroonians are running away from the hardship and absent of fundamental human rights in Cameroon. But it is well documented that, majority of Cameroonians out of Cameroon are Southern Cameroonians. This is telling; it is a clear evident of marginalisation, it is a clear proof of an attempt to assimilate a people into another culture and way of life. It is a clear indication of a master plan orchestrated by the devil himself and passed down to his favourite demon (Biya) for execution. Southern Cameroonians love their country (Southern Cameroons), they want to go back to their country but with the status quo, they have no future, their children have no future. When a government sets out to do away with everything a people (Southern Cameroons) have as a country, then the intention of that government is to colonise or enslave the people of that country. This is what Biya has been doing since he took office.

Some Southern Cameroonians who decided to protest even before October 2016, have been arbitrarily arrested, jailed and accused of terrorism; isn’t that laughable? Where in the world are people being arrested and tortured, maimed for calling out an evil and barbaric government? Only in countries like Cameroon.The cosmetic release of some of the Southern Cameroons leaders is widely known. Everyone is aware of the fact that it is just window dressing. Because the government wants schools to reopen after almost a year of no school – the decision by the government to release some of our leaders with the aim of appeasing Southern Cameroonians is a farce, a masquerade in its finest. The government’s placatory worked in the past but the people have caught on with the demonical manipulation of the government. Southern Cameroonians are aware of the diabolic and hellish scheme of Biya. They know you Biya so well; you don’t have a heart, love doesn’t exist in your dictionary, you don’t care about the people of Southern Cameroons. Southern Cameroonian have been bleeding for so long, you have seen themcry with blood dropping from their eyes but you choose to inflict more pain and suffering on the people of Southern Cameroons. They are ready to take this to the end, they want their freedom, they want to be liberated and they want to be happy and they want to smile again. The crying for far too long by these people (Southern Cameroonians) is coming to an expected end; and there is always a time for people like you (Mr. Biya) to be shut down once and for all like your friends who caused untold evil in our world (Idi Amin, Charles Taylor, Sani Abacha, SekouToure, Adolf Hitler, Stalin, Vladimir Lenin, Mussolini, Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong II) and many others.

The cause to liberate Southern Cameroons from the fetish and devilish power you (Biya regime) and your cronies have been using isn’t going to slow down, the Southern Cameroonians are just getting started. They are more than resolved and resolute to fight on until the freedom song can be sung in their homeland.

NB: Published unedited

16, September 2017

US: Protesters take to St. Louis streets after murder acquittal for ex-cop ⁰

Several hundreds of Black Lives Matter protesters have taken St. Louis’ streets to voice their anger after a Missouri judge acquitted a white former St. Louis police in the 2011 killing of an African-American man. Some protesters clashed with police and a few scuffles broke out on Friday in the state of Missouri where racially charged clashes in the nearby city of Ferguson created the Black Lives Matter movement in 2014.

Police said some demonstrators hurled rocks and water bottles, while witnesses and video footage showed police used pepper spray on at protesters about a block from the courthouse. A court in Missouri freed Jason Stockley, 36, who was charged with first-degree murder for killing Anthony Lamar Smith, 24. He was arrested in May 2016.

The former policeman was accused of planting a gun in Smith’s car but claimed in his testimony that he did this in self-defense. More than 500 protesters held a demonstration following the verdict in downtown St. Louis, chanting, “No justice, no peace” and “Shut it down.” Some held “Black Lives Matter” signs.

“I’m sad, I’m hurt, I’m mad,” said the Reverend Clinton Stancil of the Wayman AME Church in St. Louis. “We haven’t made any progress since Ferguson, that’s clear. Cops can still kill us with impunity.” The deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police over the past years have sparked nationwide protests under the banner of Black Lives Matter movement.

On Tuesday, the US Department of Justice will not bring civil rights charges against six Baltimore police officers involved in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray, the young African-American man whose killing sparked mass protests in 2015.

The department said that “the evidence is insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt” that the officers who arrested Gray “willfully violated” his civil rights.

Source: Presstv

16, September 2017

French Cameroun: Um Nyobe honored in Boumnyebel monument ⁰

A monument has been erected in honour of the late freedom fighter Ruben Um Nyobe in his village at Libellingoi Boumnyebel in a ceremony that held on the 13th of September 2017. Libellingoi Boumnyebel is located some 84 kilometres from Yaounde. The occasion was attended by many politicians in the company of the wife and son of the fallen hero, Mme Ngo Ndjock Y. Marie and Daniel Ruben Um Nyobe.

Speaking during the event, the Secretary General of the UPC party enjoined the youth to emulate the example of Ruben Um Nyobe. He regretted the fact that the freedom fighter did not live to see Cameroon gain her independence.
Ruben Um Nyobe was co- founder of the Cameroon People’s Union (UPC) on 10th April 1948. On 14th September 1958, the independence crusader was assassinated by the French army still in Libellingoi Boumyebel . On the 27th of June 1991, President Paul Biya promulgated the law on the rehabilitation of UPC martyrs as national heroes.

Ruben Um Nyobe was born on 13th September, 1913 in the Nyong and Nkelle Division in the centre region. He attended Presbyterian schools in the French occupied territory and worked as a civil servant in the Finance and judicial administration sectors.

He made several appearances at UN the headquarters in New York where he criticised French refusal to prepare Cameroon for independence or self government . His efforts paid off when the Trusteeship council issued a series of resolutions asking France to implement political reforms in French Cameroun. French Cameroon finally became independent on 1st January 1960.

16, September 2017

Yaounde: Aids plague reaching peak ⁰

According to estimates by the National AIDS Committee, Cameroon is recording approximately 38,000-53,000 new HIV infections each year. Cameroon Concord News understands that 620, 000 people are living with HIV in Cameroon. Since 2004, the trend in prevalence has been marked by a downward trend, from 5.5% to 4.3% in 2011 in the population aged 15-49, with a peak between 35-39 years (8 , 1%).

Given that the HIV epidemic is more urban (4.8 per cent) than rural (3.8 per cent), and that current control strategies are cost-effective in a context of scarce and increasing resources, the Yaounde regime is considering boosting communication to people aged 15-49 and particularly for those who are developing risky behaviours. One of the goals is to reduce the incidence of HIV in the population aged 15-49 by at least 50%.

Health official say to achieve this, a relevant and well-targeted communication strategy must be developed, taking into account already identified risk behaviors: poor or ignorant girls who have unprotected sex with men who are generally older and have financial power, multiplicity of partners among girls and boys, homosexual swinging, etc.
Yaounde also noted that the increased use by young people of phones to quickly exchange messages and images through Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter, Viber, etc., is a new facort to be integrated inevitably into the campaign to eradicate virus.

Sama Ernest
Cameroon Concord News