7, May 2017

Macron elected French president ⁰

France’s centrist candidate, Emmanuel Macron, has won the country’s presidential election by a resoundingly margin over far-right candidate, Marine Le Pen.

Initial estimates showed Macron winning between 65.5 percent and 66.1 percent of ballots ahead of Le Pen, who is expected to win between 33.9 percent and 34.5 percent.

In an interview with AFP, Macron said his election victory represented “hope” and a “new chapter” for France. “A new chapter in our long history begins tonight. I want it to be one of hope and renewed confidence,” he added.

Defeated candidate, Marine Le Pen, claimed a “historic, massive result” for her far-right National Front (FN) in Sunday’s presidential run-off, AFP reported.

Macron’s supporters celebrate in front of the Pyramid at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, on May 7, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Le Pen made a short statement, saying she had called Macron to wish him “success” in tackling the “huge challenges” he faced. Le Pen also announced that she would lead the FN into June’s legislative elections.

People in France started to cast their ballots in the presidential run-off earlier on Sunday after polling stations opened at 8 a.m. local time (0600 GMT). Some 47 million people were eligible to vote at 66,546 polling stations across the European countries.

Figures from the Interior Ministry said 65.30 percent of voters had turned out by 5 p.m. (1500 GMT), which was lower than in any of the past four presidential elections at the same stage of the day, Reuters reported.

Supporters of Emmanuel Macron celebrate near the Louvre Museum after results were announced in the second round vote of the 2017 French presidential elections, in Paris, France, May 7, 2017. (Photo by Reuters)

Pollsters’ estimates based on these figures put the final turnout at 73-75 percent, down from around 80 percent or more in those past four elections. Macron and Le Pen won the first round of voting in France’s presidential election on April 23. Macron finished first with 24 percent, ahead of Le Pen with 21.3 percent.

The populist far-right candidate has portrayed herself as anti-EU, anti-NATO, and anti-immigration. Macron is seen as a centrist who aims to continue the policies of outgoing President Francois Hollande by deregulating the economy and deepening integration with the European Union.

Source: Presstv

7, May 2017

Dozens of Chibok girls abducted by Boko Haram released ⁰

Dozens of Nigerian schoolgirls who were abducted by the Boko Haram Takfiri terror group from the northeastern town of Chibok in 2014 have been released. “I can confirm they have been released,” said a government minister on condition of anonymity on Saturday, adding that an official statement would be released shortly.

“The girls were released through negotiations with the government,” said another official. Several sources put the number of released girls at around 80 while others claim some 60 were freed by the terrorists. “The girls are now lodged in the military barracks and will be flown to (the Borno state capital) Maiduguri tomorrow (Sunday),” a military source was quoted as saying.

More than 20 girls were freed last October in a deal negotiated by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Since then, several others have managed to escape or been rescued, but 195 were thought to be still in the hands of the terrorists.

The militants abducted 276 girls from their secondary school in the northeastern town in April 2014. Fifty-seven of the girls managed to escape, but nearly 220 others are still missing and international efforts to spot and rescue them have so far failed.

In August, Boko Haram released a video purportedly showing some of the girls and demanding the release of comrades in exchange for the freedom of the abductees. A masked member of the group speaking in the footage claimed some of the girls were still alive, and that the others had been killed in airstrikes carried out by the Nigerian air force on the Boko Haram hideout.

7, May 2017

Biya envoy ends “seductive” tour of Southern Cameroons ⁰

The President of the National Episcopal Council, NEC, Archbishop Samuel Kleda has ended a tour of Southern Cameroons reportedly ordered by the 84 year dictator, President Biya. The head of the Douala Archdiocese met with the Roman Catholic Bishops of Southern Cameroons including stakeholders in the education sector of the Catholic Church. Cameroun Info.Net reported that Archbishop Kleda’s ‘seductive’ tour was aimed at watering down the tension within Catholic Bishops and Christians in the region after a recent court summon.

Archbishop Kleda held talks with the Bishops of Mamfe, Kumba, Buea and Bamenda where he proposed a Francophone way forward to end the Anglophone crisis. He was accompanied on his Biya mission by Mgr Abraham Kome, Bishop of Bafang and the Head of the Sub commission for Justice and Peace, Fr Jervis Kebbei, vice Secretary General of the National Episcopal Conference, acting as notary and translator.

Kleda was told by the Anglophone Bishops that public schools were also paralyzed as a result of the Anglophone uprising. The Man of God admitted that he met the leaders of the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium during the January National Episcopal Conference, NEC meeting in Mamfe. But still did not condemn their arrest or called for their immediate release. The Francophone Bishop read from the same CPDM script and pleaded with the Anglophone Bishops to put an end to hatred, suspicion civil disobedience, as well as intimidation.

Archbishop Kleda said true peace, which is fullness of life, is built on solidarity and fraternity. He also affirmed that the Cameroonian Bishops have asked the state to respect the rights of all Cameroonians and apply the 1996 constitution on decentralization. Archbishop Samuel Kleda pointed out that the court action against the Anglophone bishops could create new problems.

It is vital to include in this report that by travelling with a translator, the Archbishop of Douala justified calls for an independent state of Southern Cameroons. Archbishop Kleda and his other Francophone Bishops refused to issue a declaration in Mamfe against the rapes, killings and extra judicial killings going on in Southern Cameroons. Cameroon Concord News understands ghost town operations will resume tomorrow Monday the 8^th of May 2017 in all villages, towns and cities in West Cameroon.

By Rita Akana

6, May 2017

Everything is Going Wrong in Bamenda after the University Games ⁰

Just five days after the 20^th edition of the University Games that held in Bamenda from the 22^nd to the 29^th of April, 2017, the infrastructure constructed by Francophone companies worth billions of FCFA have started crumbling. The Tribune which hosted all the official ceremonies presided over by Jacques Fame Ndongo, the anti Anglophone Minister of Higher Education during the recent 2017 University Games at the Bambili Campus has collapsed. A part of the freshly constructed metal framework has been lying on the steps for three days running.

The Francophone political elites who attended the games must have been lucky that the grand stand did not fell during the games. The affected area is precisely under the platform where people took shelter when it rained during the Games. A senior Southern Cameroonian serving the Biya Francophone regime observed that the collapse was the result of the bad work that has been done on the infrastructure of the Games.

Cameroon Concord News gathered that everything was done in a hurry in a bid to counter the ghost town operations currently going on in Southern Cameroons. According to a source within the Commission which was in charge of organizing the 20th University Games, the government released 3 billion CFA for the construction of infrastructure at the Bambili Campus in Bamenda, where the Games were held for the first time. Ghost towns will return on Monday in both the Bamenda and Buea provinces of Southern Cameroons.

By Sama Ernest

6, May 2017

France: Macron claims “Hillary Clinton style” cyber attack ahead of election ⁰

The campaign of leading French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron says he has been the target of a “massive and coordinated hacking attack” following the release of what it said to be the campaign’s internal documents online just ahead of the election.

Late Friday, Macron’s campaign staff said the “cyber attack” led to the release of thousands of emails and other documents, slamming it as an attempt at “democratic destabilization, like that seen during the last presidential campaign in the United States.”

According to local press reports, nearly nine gigabytes of data were posted on a profile called EMLEAKS to Pastebin, a site that allows anonymous document sharing. However, it was not immediately clear who was responsible for posting the data or whether any of the information was genuine.

An electoral card next to ballots for French presidential election candidate for the En Marche ! movement Emmanuel Macron (L), and French presidential election candidate for the far-right Front National Marine Le Pen and on a ballot box at a polling station in Rennes, western France. (Photo by AFP)

In a statement, Macron’s political movement En Marche! (Onwards!) confirmed that it had been hacked. It issued a statement saying, “The En Marche! Movement has been the victim of a massive and coordinated hack this evening which has given rise to the diffusion on social media of various internal information.”

The campaign files spread on social media shortly before midnight on Friday. when the 39-year-old, centrist Macron and his ultra-right rival Marine Le Pen officially concluded political campaigning for Sunday’s presidential poll. Macron’s aides slammed the leak as “unprecedented in a French electoral campaign.”

“Clearly, the documents arising from the hacking are all lawful and show the normal functioning of a presidential campaign,” Macron’s aides declared in a statement.

French presidential candidate for the far-right Front National (FN) party Marine Le Pen (Photo by AFP)

This is while the pro-European Union and pro-business former banker is leading his anti-establishment rival with a comfortable margin of nearly 62 percent to 38 percent, according to latest polls. Le Pen has said she wants to copy Britain’s example and hold a referendum on France’s EU membership, prompting serious concerns in capitals across the bloc.

A former economy minister under Socialist President Francois Hollande, Macron is a pro-trade reformer, who left the government last August to concentrate on his new political movement En Marche, which has drawn 250,000 members in 12 months. Meanwhile, a French Interior Ministry official refused to comment on the hacking, citing French rules that forbid any commentary likely to influence an election.

Moreover, the presidential election commission said in a statement that it would hold a meeting later on Saturday after Macron’s campaign informed the body about the reported hacking attack. The commission further called on the media to be cautious about publishing details of the emails considering that campaigning had ended, and publication could lead to criminal charges.

France is the latest nation to see a major election overshadow by allegations of manipulation through cyber hacking. In January, US intelligence agencies accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of ordering the hacking of parties linked to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in a bid to influence the polls on behalf of her Republican rival Donald Trump.

Source: Presstv

6, May 2017

Europol, FBI arrest 900 in crackdown on global pedophile ring ⁰

US and European police have shut down the largest global pedophile ring after hacking its website and arresting nearly 900 of its members following a two-year investigation. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Europol made the announcement Friday after a court sentenced Florida-based Steven Chase, founder of the so-called Playpen pedophilia network, to 30 years in prison.

The police are said to have arrested 870 people during the investigation into the group’s members around the globe that began after Chase’s arrest back in 2014. Officials said 368 of those arrested were from Europe. The investigation also identified at least 259 sexually abused children. As part of its investigation, called “Operation Pacifier,” the FBI used a malware to seize the Playpen website and server, which allowed authorities to track and identify Playpen users.

The result of that investigation was the harvesting of IP addresses and other identifiable information of more than 1,300 people who either logged in or registered on the site during that period, FBI and Europol said. Chase was sentenced this week in a federal courtroom in North Carolina on multiple child-pornography and child-exploitation charges.

Two of the founder’s aides, Michael Fluckiger and David Browning, both US citizens – who served as administrators of the site – were each jailed for 20 years. “Those individuals involved in the sexual abuse of children are becoming increasingly forensically aware and are actively using the most advanced forms of anonymisation and encryption to avoid detection,” said Steven Wilson, head of Europol’s Cybercrime Center.

“The internet has no boundaries and does not recognize borders. We need to balance the rights of victims versus the right to privacy. If we operate 19th century legal principles then we are unable to effectively tackle crime at the highest level,” he added.

5, May 2017

EU warns of ‘impossible’ Brexit negotiations with UK ⁰

European Council President Donald Tusk has warned of “impossible” Brexit negotiation after UK Prime Minister Theresa May accused Brussels of meddling in Britain’s election. “These negotiations are difficult enough as they are. If we start arguing before they even begin they will become impossible,” Tusk told a Thursday news conference alongside Norway’s prime minister.

“The stakes are too high to let our emotions get out of hand, because at stake are the daily lives and interests of millions of people on both sides of the Channel,” the former Polish premier said. “We must keep in mind that in order to succeed we need today discretion, moderation, mutual respect and a maximum of goodwill,” he added. The remarks came hours after European Parliament President Antonio Tajani insisted that “no one is trying to influence the outcome of the election campaign in the United Kingdom.”

On Wednesday, May accused the EU of using Brexit as an excuse to influence the outcome of Britain’s upcoming general election. Speaking after a meeting with Queen Elizabeth II, May told reporters at 10 Downing Street that the “bureaucrats of Brussels” were hoping to sway voters by making “threats” against the country. She also attacked the European media, saying they had “misrepresented” her government’s stance on negotiations concerning the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

5, May 2017

Cameroon has worst press freedom records ⁰

A recent world classification on press freedom has ranked Cameroon 130th among 180 countries. By this position, the country dominated by French speaking political elites took a downward trend from the 2016 classification. In 2016, Cameroon held the 126th position.

This revelation has rubbished statements made by the so-called government spokesman and Minister of Communication, Issa Tchiroma Bakary that journalists in Cameroon were free and independent. The findings noted that Cameroon is considered a “Not Free Zone”, meaning it is one of the countries with a massive media crackdown.

The International Organization for the Defense of Journalists says media professionals in Cameroon are constantly under police harassment and arbitrary arrest. The Yaounde regime operates a vicious media regulatory board known as the National Communication Council that shuts down independent news organizations. Journalists were arrested during demonstrations in the English-speaking regions where Internet connection was cut off in January 2017 for three months.

Source: Cameroon Intelligence Report

5, May 2017

Francophone Public Health Minister says Bamenda Teaching Hospital is a special gift from Biya ⁰

Andre Mama Fouda, the Francophone Minister of Public Health who blatantly refused to hand over mosquito nets to the Anglophone regions donated by the World Health Organization was in the North West recently pretending to launch the construction of a Teaching Hospital in Bamenda. Mama Fouda who hails from the Mfoundi constituency in Yaoundé made up of 44 families and having 4 ministerial positions said his mission to Southern Cameroon was to lay the foundation stone for a new Regional University Teaching Hospital at the Ntambang neighborhood, Bemenda III Sub Division.

Minister Fouda was not alone as his Beti Ewondo kinsman, Jacques Fame Ndongo, the anti Anglophone Minister for Higher Education was also busy commissioning the construction of 4 new building for the University of Bamenda. Our senior correspondent in Bamenda hinted that the Wednesday 3rd May 2017 events were all aimed at countering the Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium and that the Biya Francophone regime was not interested in seeking an end to the Anglophone crisis.

The Minister Andre Fouda project estimated at FCFA 15 billion is to erect and equip a modern day health facility featuring 121 hospital beds. Fouda revealed that the ultra-modern facility will offer services that include; Obstetrics, Cardiology, Neurology, Dentistry, CD scanning, delivery rooms, medical and surgical hospitalization, intensive care units and many more.

For the second time in the history of Southern Cameroon, a sitting cabinet minister announced that a project will be completed in 18 months. As a reminder, the late Prof. Peter Agbor Tabi had told the Manyu people that he was going to tar the Kumba-Mamfe road in 18 months.

The Francophone political elite also added that the hospital was a special gift from the Head of State to the region. Minister Mama Fouda emphasized on government’s commitment to ensure that the project is delivered within the prescribed time frame.

By Rita Akana

4, May 2017

Anglophone Problem: A bitter pill to swallow ⁰

Over the last weeks, the government has been talking about dialogue and how the grievances of the Anglophone minority are being addressed in order to restore the country’s shaky peace. Current efforts by Anglophone Cameroonians to ensure an end to the marginalization it has suffered for fifty-six years have really hit the target and are serving as a bitter pill for the government to swallow. Though the government has been bending over backwards to address some of the issues the country’s English-speaking minority has complained about, it sometimes still resorts to its old tricks to find out if some of those outdated pranks can actually produce the desired results. Instead of doing the right thing, it has been urging its surrogates to engage in operations which the population considers as provocative and meaningless.

Over the last months,it has organized several sporting events in Buea and Bamenda, as well as ferrying criminals and unemployed Francophones to the English-speaking region for them to march during national events such as the Youth Day which took place on February 11 and Labor Day on May 1, believing that such activities will help dissolve the will and determination of a people whose resolve is unbreakable. West Cameroonians know that there is something in the offing regarding the upcoming National Day on May 20, which is highly contested by the English-speaking minority. By engaging in such disgraceful activities, it is clear that the government is still finding it hard to swallow the bitter pill the English-speaking minority has administered to it. Its underhand operations aimed at stifling the civil disobedience are simply giving the country a bad name and eroding Cameroon’s image as an oasis of peace in a sea of turbulence. The world is watching Cameroon in bewilderment and disgust as the country slides down the slippery slope of chaos. The inability of the government to find appropriate solutions to this issue has brought it down in everybody’s estimation.

Wont to imposing its will on the peace-loving people of Cameroon, the Cameroonian government initially felt its authority had been called into question by the English-speaking minority and it was time for it to display its muscles. The government of Cameroon, that has always thrown dust into the eyes of the international community by brandishing its pseudo-democratic credentials, lost control of itself and unleashed a reign of terror on students and lawyers who were simply demonstrating their frustration with a political system that has never really taken their plight into consideration when it comes to planning the country’s development. The government’s iron-fist approach has caused peaceful demonstrations to become a months-long civil disobedience, with courts and schools in the English-speaking part of the country remaining closed for over seven months.

However, despite the ferocious brutality, the English-speaking minority has made up its mind and is very determined to stand its ground. With their leaders languishing in jail and after more than five decades of marginalization, with thousands of lives destroyed and about 30% of the region’s population living in exile, it will be hard to placate West Cameroonians into being part of this union that has brought more pain than pleasure to them.

Today, the government has figured out that intimation will not cut it. It is seeking ways to engage the English-speaking minority in a dialogue that will appease them and rebuild confidence in a country that has neglected 20% of its population for more than five decades. In a bid to convince the rebelling West Cameroonians, the government is acknowledging some of its mistakes and it is trying to yield some grounds vis-à-vis the demands of the English-speaking minority. Its surrogates are currently speaking a different language and all those who tried to argue that there was no Anglophone problem, have all eaten their words. Issa Tchiroma, Fame Ndongo, Atanga Nji and Laurent Esso are all keeping a very low profile to ensure that they do not make a bad situation worse. Their arrogance and lack of sound understanding of the current breed of Anglophones is responsible for the escalation of the conflict in Cameroon. They simply did not understand that after five decades of marginalization, West Cameroonians had left the country in droves and after many years abroad, they have become a formidable political force that cannot be overlooked. They even failed to understand that a monkey does not provoke a lion where there are no trees. Home-based Cameroonians know the source of their strength, especially their financial power. The government has taken a blow to the liver and West Cameroonians are simply not scared of it. It must look for new and innovative ways to engage with an intellectually-sound and financially rich Anglophone Diaspora if it really wants to lay this issue to rest. But it must first of all release all those kidnapped and taken to Yaounde.

The government is calling for peace, but West Cameroonians are not buying into whatever peace it is selling. The government seems to be talking to a wall and the proof of its failing efforts is the boycott by West Cameroonians of all the events it has been organizing in the English-speaking part of the country ever since its stand-off with the English-speaking minority started. It will be preposterous for the government to think that it can deceive West Cameroonian into forgetting the Kafkaesque brutality that was unleashed on them by their own government. If there has to be any dialogue, then there must be some confidence building measures. The government has to swallow its pride and accept that things have changed and that Cameroon will never be the same again. The Anglophone minority has changed Cameroon for good. No dialogue can take place when Agbor Balla, Paul Ayah, FontemNeba and Mancho Bibixy are still in jail, with many others still on the run. It is hard to talk about peace when many have been killed and hundreds are still fleeing for their lives. If the government is serious about restoring peace, it must start by releasing all those who have been jailed and granting amnesty to all those who have fled the country. It should also be prepared to account for all those who have been killed. A lot of things can be forgiven, but they will never be forgotten. West Cameroonians will be happy to bury their heroes on their own land and they will want to make sure that they have not lost their lives in vain.

The government has gradually been displaying its “olive branch” though West Cameroonians hold that its intentions may not be genuine. It has, on several occasions, spoken from both sides of its mouth and this is not inspiring confidence. It has promised that West Cameroonians will have a section at the School of Administration and Magistracy (ENAM), the school that trains civil administrators and magistrates in Cameroon. Common law will be used in English-speaking parts of Cameroon and Francophone judges and magistrates will no longer be posted to West Cameroon, except they have a good understanding of Common Law. In the same vein, Francophone teachers will stop plying their trade in the English-speaking part of the country given that their rudimentary knowledge of English is hurting many West Cameroonian kids.

Its restoration of the Internet in West Cameroon is a step in the right direction, but the disconnection of the Internet for almost a hundred days is one thing that has hurt many Anglophones. It did not only roll them into the dark ages, it also hurt the sources of their livelihood. The Internet blackout has brought untold hardship and pain to firms and citizens of the affected regions. The South-west region’s Silicon Mountain is today struggling. While some of the start-ups are returning, West Cameroonians are still not sure that all of them will return to the Southwest regional capital of Buea. Banks, micro-finance institutions and money transfer agencies are gradually picking up. The Internet blackout has been a disaster to the English-speaking region’s economy and the ghost towns designed to draw the government’s attention to the people’s plight is sapping the economy of its vitality. But West Cameroonians understand that to eat an omelet, you must break eggs. If the ghost towns can help West Cameroonians have a better destiny at the end of the process, then they are prepared to follow the instructions of their leaders. They hold that fifty-five years of sheepish subservience to the Yaoundé government have ruined the destinies of their children, with many living in exile.

Also, the creation of the bilingualism commission is one of the measures the government has taken to address some of the issues raised by Anglophones. Its creation did not generate any excitement among West Cameroonians. Members of the commission have recently been appointed by the country’s president and while it is too early to judge the commission’s work, it is clear from the appointments that the government is not ready to walk away from its old ways. The commission is being chaired by Peter Mafany Musonge, a former prime minister, who drew a lot of flak following a hate speech delivered in Buea, the south west regional capital, against North westerners. The commission’s decision to tour West Cameroon has come in for castigation as many see the tour as a waste of taxpayers’ money. The commission’s work has been clearly cut out and touring the English-speaking region of the country will not change a lot as many on the commission belong to the ruling party which is wont to doing things for political expediency. Mr. Musonge, himself an Anglophone, has been a magnet for controversy. His knowledge of bilingualism and multiculturalism leaves much to be desired. He is being castigated for using his political office to feather his nest. Many West Cameroonians, especially those in the Diaspora, question the rationale behind the appointment of a man who is struggling with age and health issues to lead a commission that is supposed to foster mutual co-existence in the country. Many, especially among the Anglophone Diaspora, argue that such an important commission should have been the subject of wide consultations with opposition parties and the Diaspora that has become a formidable political and economic force in Cameroon. The Diaspora contends that the government is still ignoring Anglophones and their problems though there are four West Cameroonians on the twelve-member commission.

If the government of Cameroon needs genuine peace, then it must start practicing justice. Instead of considering the West Cameroonian as an enemy, it should see him as a resource,a fellow citizen in his own right, who if well utilized, could make significant contributions to efforts at lifting the country out of poverty. It must also consider West Cameroon, not just in terms of its resources, but also as a region that is in dire need of development. It should be pointed out that West Cameroon accounts for about 60% of the country’s wealth. It is blessed with many resources, including oil, gas, diamond and timber. Its rich sub-soil has brought lots of economic benefits to the country. For four decades, the Rio Del Rey estuary,located in the southwest region, has been the source of more than 90% and at times 100% of all the country’s hydrocarbons, specifically oil.In 2014, Cameroon exported US$5.88 billion worth of products, of which US$2.65 billion, about CFAF 1,650 billion, was from crude oil. This is a significant amount of money and some of this money should be reinvested in the region, especially in Ndian Division where the oil fields are located.

The government’s failure to equitably share the country’s oil wealth is one of the issues that is hurting many West Cameroonians. Instead of viewing demands by West Cameroonians as a display of arrogance and a bitter bill, the government should see the current situation as a wake-up call. After fifty-six years of marginalization, West Cameroonians feel it is time to try other things. The unity they had sought with East Cameroon has only brought them untold hardship and pain. They want a real evaluation of the situation and they are brandishing federalism and secession as possible options. The government has to listen to them if it really wants to come up with a lasting solution. Injustice has caused West Cameroonians to see rebellion as a means of liberation. The government must now come to the table with good policies that will ensure that Cameroon remains one and indivisible. It must shun manipulation and it must embrace political transparency, social justice and genuine unity through a system the people will choose. Cameroon can still be indivisible within a federal structure. The United States, Canada and Germany are all united countries within a federal structure. It is time for the government to take the right measures for Cameroon to be spared the scourge of conflict that has affected many of its neighbors. Cameroon stands to gain if its leaders listen to those who feel marginalized. The Anglophone problem may be a bitter pill, but it should also be seen as the pill that sometimes cures many diseases. If the government can swallow its pride, then it will stop seeing the Anglophone problem as a bitter pill. It will instead view it as an opportunity to redesign the country’s fate and future.

By Dr. Joachim Arrey

Cameroon Concord News Group

About the Author: The author of this piece is a keen observer of Cameroon’s political and economic landscape. He has published extensively on the country’s political and economic development, especially in the early 90s when the wind of change was blowing across the continent. He has served as a translator, technical writer, journalist and editor for several international organizations and corporations across the globe. He studied communication at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom and technical writing in George Brown College, Toronto, Canada. He is also a trained translator and holds a Ph.D.