24, July 2024

Harris leads Trump 44% to 42% in US presidential race ⁰

A new poll has revealed that US Vice President Kamala Harris is taking a marginal lead over Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in the 2024 US presidential election after current president Joe Biden ended his reelection bid.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted on Monday and Tuesday, showed Harris led Trump 44% to 42% among registered voters in the national poll, a difference within the 3-percentage-point margin of error.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll last week showed Biden trailing Trump by two percentage points before his exit from the race.

The latest poll, which was conducted online, surveyed 1,241 US adults nationwide, including 1,018 registered voters.

Harris and Trump were tied at 44% in a July 15-16 poll, and Trump led by one percentage point in a July 1-2 poll, both within the same margin of error.

Some 56% of registered voters agreed with a statement that Harris, 59, was “mentally sharp and able to deal with challenges,” compared to 49% who said the same of Trump, 78. Only 22% of voters assessed Biden that way.

Three quarters of Democratic voters said they agreed with a statement that the party and voters should get behind Harris now, with only a quarter saying multiple candidates should compete for the party’s nomination.

On Sunday, Biden, 81, dropped out of the US presidential election and endorsed Harris as the party’s new nominee.

Biden’s endorsement of Harris was swiftly followed by the influential Congressional Black Caucus and various lawmakers, as well as several key donors and super PACs including Priorities USA and Unite the Country.

A pollster with Trump’s campaign has played down any polling showing an increase in Harris’ support, arguing that she was likely to see a temporary rise in popularity because of widespread media coverage of her new candidacy.

Trump’s camp has already started preparing a plan on how he should compete with the younger female Harris in the upcoming election.

Trump’s team started their attacks by linking Harris to the Biden administration’s failures, saying she is complicit in everything that occurred under Biden’s watch.

Culled from Presstv

23, July 2024

Yaoundé: Biya and Niat taken to Europe in bundles ⁰

President Paul Biya, was scheduled to leave Yaoundé, the nation’s capital, yesterday in what was dubbed as a private visit to an unknown destination in Europe.

Sources at the Unity Palace in Yaoundé have hinted the Cameroon Concord News Group that Mr. Biya, 91, who is going through tough health challenges, was being rushed to his usual destination for health reasons.

“The head of state is in agony. His usual demons have reared their ugly heads and he is in very bad shape. His wife who moonlights as a care giver is already sick and tired of cleaning him up as even the thickest diapers are not a match for Mr. Biya’s incontinence,” our source at the Unity Palace said.

“Mr. Biya is heading to Switzerland where he hopes to find some relief. His body is failing him. He rarely talks these days and his heart and other organs have joined the fight to bring down the long-serving, incompetent and low-energy leader,” our source, which elected anonymity, said.

“Despite his failing health, Mr. Biya is still holding on to power and it is being rumored that the dying Biya is still insisting that he will be his party’s flagbearer in next year’s election. Why can Mr. Biya not learn from Joe Biden who has thrown in the towel because of age and poor health?” Our source quipped.

Meanwhile, the country’s Senate President, Marcel Niat Njifenji, was also rushed to France in a small bundle for emergency health care.

The 90-year-old is in a critical and unstable situation. He was rushed to France in an air ambulance and many of his collaborators thought he might not make it to France as his health had deteriorated very fast.

A source close to Mr. Niat said he might not return to Cameroon in front of the plane. “He might end up in the cargo section of the plane as his health is very concerning,” our source said.

Over the last couple of years, Mr. Niat has been a colony of diseases but he cannot quit his position because he wants to continue having free health care and other perks which come with his position as Senate President.

More will be yours as our correspondents in Europe provide us details about the two Cameroon strong men.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

23, July 2024

“It is becoming increasingly difficult to speak freely in Cameroon” ⁰

In a decree issued on July 16, Emmanuel Mariel Djikdent, the head of the Mfoundi division, where the capital Yaoundé is situated, stated that “anyone who dangerously insults the [state] institutions or the person who embodies them,” could be banned from staying in the division. Djikdent issued this decree to “preserve public order.”

Two days later, René Emmanuel Sadi, the communication minister, issued a press release stating that “it is unacceptable for compatriots […] to use irreverent language” about the president Paul Biya “who was freely and overwhelmingly elected by his fellow citizens.”

The decree has rightly worried media professionals and opposition party leaders who have criticized it as a backwards step for the right to freedom of expression. These announcements are the latest in a series of troubling government decisions that appear to be aimed at stifling opposition and dissent ahead of the presidential elections in 2025.

In March, the territorial administration minister, Paul Atanga Nji, banned two opposition coalitions describing them as “clandestine movements.” In June, gendarmes in N’Gaoundéré, Adamawa region, arbitrarily rearrested Aboubacar Siddiki, known as Babadjo, a prominent artist and member of the National Union for Democracy and Progress (Union nationale pour la démocratie et le progrès), moments after he was released from prison following a three-month sentence for insulting a governor. In July, Cameroon’s national assembly passed a law extending its members’ term in office until March 2026, and postponing parliamentary elections scheduled for February 2025; a move opposition parties argue will make it harder for them to succeed in the presidential elections, which are still scheduled to take place in 2025. The incumbent president, Paul Biya, 91, is serving his seventh term, having come to power in 1982. He was last reelected in 2018 after a contested vote that sparked a wave of political repression.

Under international human rights law, the right to free speech may be restricted only on limited grounds, such as national security or to protect the rights of others, and even then, restrictions must be necessary, proportionate, and not discriminate. The divisional decree includes provisions that don’t meet this threshold and could be used to target critics discriminately and violate rights. As elections approach, authorities should fully respect the freedom of expression of all Cameroonians and revoke this decree.

Source: Human Rights Watch

23, July 2024

Inside the CPDM Crime Syndicate: British American Tobacco appeal and Africa 24 liquidation ⁰

BAT Cameroun has condemned the expropriation of its land in the Bastos district of Yaoundé. The seizure was overseen by lands minister Henri Eyebe Ayissi, and several names linked to the president’s office have been cited.

In France, publishing company A Média, which runs news station Africa 24, has been summoned to appear before the Nanterre Commercial Court in the Paris suburbs on 4 June. The indebted company faces compulsory liquidation proceedings, five years after its takeover by the Cameroonian state.

At the heart of the intrigues at the troubled TV news station is the former owner of the group, Constant Nemale, who never strayed far from the channel.

Culled from Africa Intelligence

23, July 2024

Archbishop Nkea says Catholic teachers should “hand over a culture of peace” ⁰

Catholic teachers have to be peace ambassadors, imparting a culture of peace to learners, Archbishop Andrew Fuanya Nkea of Cameroon’s Catholic Archdiocese of Bamenda has said.

In his homily during the annual celebration of Teachers Day in his Metropolitan See, Archbishop Nkea urged Catholic teachers to exercise their profession, which he said is characterized by dignity, with commitment.

“The vocation you have answered to be a teacher is a very noble one. It is a profession that has dignity,” he said during the July 20 celebration that was held at St. Joseph Cathedral of Bamenda Archdiocese.

The Cameroonian Catholic Archbishop added, “The dignity of this vocation lies in the fact that you take responsibility to do what God does; impart knowledge to others and we know that God, who has called you will not abandon you. He will continue to protect you, especially from the violence that we have in our society.”

“That is why I ask all of you to be pro-peace and to hand over a culture of peace to the children whom you teach,” the Archbishop of Bamenda who doubles as the President of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (NECC) said.

He told the Catholic teachers to “see every child sitting in your classroom as your own biological child.”

“You are transmitters of knowledge and therefore transmitters of truth. You are not going to give your own ideas or what you think. You are going to transmit what is true,” he emphasized.

He also underlined the need to foster moral aptitude, saying, “You are transmitters of the doctrine of our church because our schools remain agents of evangelization. You are transmitters of the moral values of the church which are summarized in the 10 Commandments.”

The 58-year-old Catholic Archbishop, who started his Episcopal Ministry in August 2013 as the Coadjutor Bishop of Cameroon’s Mamfe Diocese called upon the Catholic teachers to find fulfilment in their profession and interaction with learners.

“Be happy, joyful, and proud teachers. Be teachers with dignity,” he said.

Archbishop Nkea added, “Let the poverty you have be known only to your pockets. The more you thank God for what he has done, the more God multiplies what you are. The value of what you do can never ever be quantified or calculated in monetary terms.”

He encouraged the Catholic teachers to be sources of inspiration. When people get to see you, he said, let them be “hungry to be Catholic teachers.”

Source: aciafrica

23, July 2024

France: US rapper Snoop Dogg to carry Olympic torch ⁰

American rapper Snoop Dogg will carry the Olympic flame through Saint-Denis this Friday, marking a significant moment before the Paris Games’ opening ceremony. Joining him are French actress Laetitia Casta, French rapper MC Solaar, and retired Ukrainian pole-vaulter Sergey Bubka.

American rapper Snoop Dogg will be among the carriers of the Olympic flame this Friday as it makes its final rounds before the Paris Games’ opening ceremony.

He will carry it through the streets of Saint-Denis, the ethnically diverse northern Paris suburb that is home to the Olympic Stadium and Aquatics Centre, the town’s mayor Mathieu Hanotin told AFP on Monday.

Other carriers in Saint-Denis Friday will include French actress Laetitia Casta, French rapper MC Solaar and Ukrainian retired pole-vaulter Sergey Bubka.

The Olympic flame has spent two months crossing France, and Friday morning it will be carried through the athletes’ village which straddles Saint-Denis and neighbouring Saint-Ouen, before going to the Olympic Stadium and the Aquatics Centre a few kilometres away.

Snoop Dogg, 52, was born in greater Los Angeles, which will host the next Games in 2028.

The torch relay will not be the rapper’s only appearance at the 2024 Games as he will also be an Olympic commentator for US television station NBC.

Source: AFP

23, July 2024

US: Kamala Harris wins enough support to clinch Democratic nomination ⁰

Vice-President Kamala Harris has attracted the support of enough Democratic delegates to become the party’s nominee for president.

A survey by the Associated Press on Monday evening said Ms Harris had received the endorsement of more than the 1,976 delegates needed to win the nomination in the first round of voting.

Ms Harris said she was “proud” to have secured “broad support” and looked forward to formally accepting the nomination.

Delegates are people who are selected to represent their electoral area at the Democratic National Convention (DNC), the party’s key nominating event.

Such endorsements are non-binding, but if the total holds between now and when delegates cast their votes, scheduled to take place from 1-7 August, Ms Harris would formally clinch the party’s nomination.

Delegations from at least 27 states have issued statements of their full delegations supporting Ms Harris, according to CBS.

The survey is an indication of the groundswell of support for Ms Harris after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race on Sunday.

Since Mr Biden’s announcement, millions of dollars in donations have poured into her campaign and leading Democrats have lined up to support her bid as the Democratic nominee.

Speaking to staff at her campaign’s headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, on Monday evening, Ms Harris told campaign staff: “We have 106 days until Election Day and in that time, we have some hard work to do.”

Ms Harris took the team through her vision of the country and the views that she says separate this campaign from Trump’s, saying she would gladly put her record up against his.

“Our campaign has always been about two different versions of what we see as the future of our country,” she said. “One focuses on the future, the other focuses on the past. Donald Trump wants to take our country backwards… We believe in a brighter future that makes room for all Americans.”

She also noted Mr Biden’s accomplishments, saying her time serving as his vice-president was “one of the greatest honours of my life”.

Ms Harris noted the “roller coaster” of “mixed emotions” they’ve all been on because “I love Joe Biden, and I know we all do”. She promised she’d work hard to earn the nomination for president and unite both Democrats and the country as a whole.

Source: BBC

22, July 2024

US: Vice President Harris kicks off campaign for Democratic nomination ⁰

Momentum is behind Vice-President Kamala Harris to lock up the bid for White House. More leading Democrats are backing US Vice-President Kamala Harris as the party’s new presidential nominee, as her campaign sees a surge in donations

She is due to appear here on the South Lawn later today with college athletes for a pre-scheduled event. But she arrives out of the shadow of the president, with the most scrutinising of spotlights firmly now on her as a potential presidential candidate.

Of course vice-presidents aren’t handed the nomination on a plate. One historical example is Hubert Humphrey in 1968. He won the contentious Democratic Party presidential nomination at the party’s convention, after Lyndon B. Johnson said he wouldn’t seek a second term. He ultimately lost to Richard Nixon and a united Republican Party.

Harris has said she will earn the nomination and it is increasingly looking like no one significant will challenge her for it.

If she seals it, November’s election will be historic in more ways than one.

America will definitely get a new president – either the astonishing return of the criminally convicted Donald Trump or it its first ever female president.

Source: BBC

21, July 2024

US Politics: Biden backs Kamala Harris as Democratic nominee after dropping out of race ⁰

US President Joe Biden said Sunday he was endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for the 2024 election after announcing he was dropping of the race. Biden ended his bid for reelection following a disastrous debate with Donald Trump that raised doubts about his fitness for office just four months before the election.

The octogenarian president spent more than three weeks resisting calls to step down following a disastrous debate against Trump on June 27.

Biden said Sunday he was endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for the 2024 election, saying he was offering Harris his “full support”.

Biden said he would “speak to the nation later this week in more detail” about his decision.

21, July 2024

There are reasons why SNH Board Meetings are now holding at the Presidential Palace ⁰

An extraordinary meeting of the board of Cameroon’s oil and gas corporation (SNH) is scheduled for next July 24 at the Presidential Palace, not at the company’s headquarters. The info is detailed in a letter from the board’s chairman, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, who also serves as the Secretary General of the Presidency.

“Dear Board Member, I am pleased to inform you that the extraordinary board meeting of SNH, originally planned for Wednesday, July 17, 2024, has been rescheduled to Wednesday, July 24, 2024, at 2:00 PM, in Room 8324 of the Secretary General’s Office at the Presidential Palace, maintaining the same agenda,” reads the letter from Ngoh Ngoh to board member Jules Mana Nschwangele. This notice confirms various rumors circulating since July 17, 2024.

The rescheduling confirms that the board meeting initially set for July 17 did not take place. Reports from various digital platforms, later corroborated by board members, indicate that the meeting was blocked due to the closure of the company’s doors, a decision reportedly made by SNH’s current General Administrator, Adolphe Moudiki.

Handover of power

Internal sources suggest that on July 17, 2024, board members were turned away from SNH’s headquarters despite arriving to attend the meeting. The shift of the meeting to the presidential palace highlights the challenges in organizing such events at the company’s main office.

Furthermore, the board’s notification hints at a significant decision expected from this extraordinary session, which has only one item on the agenda, according to the Secretary General’s letter. Various sources indicate that the meeting will likely lead to the replacement of the General Administrator. After 31 years in charge, Adolphe Moudiki is expected to be succeeded by Joseph Dipepa, a prominent RDPC party member from the Littoral region.

It appears that Moudiki’s frustration is not solely with the prospect of being replaced but also with not being informed about his impending departure from the company. Additionally, there seems to be dissatisfaction about not being consulted on a replacement, as Dipepa’s appointment has reportedly stirred discontent among SNH’s old guard. Notably, on March 6, 2024, Moudiki signed a memo hinting at a power transition, though it still left him central to the management structure while delegating significant responsibilities to Igor Emmanuel Soya Bissaya, his second advisor.

Glencore Case

Beyond the anticipated leadership change at SNH, recent developments reflect ongoing tensions between the General Administrator and the Chairman. Disputes have arisen in connection with the Savannah Energy case. This British junior oil company had signed an agreement with SNH on April 19, 2023, to purchase 10% of assets claimed by Savannah in the Cameroon Oil Transportation Company (Cotco), which manages over 90% of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline in Cameroon. This agreement led to a diplomatic crisis between Cameroon and Chad, with Chad contesting Savannah’s claims in Cotco and in Chad Oil Transportation Company (Totco), as well as in Chadian oil fields.

In response, SNH Chairman Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh was dispatched to N’Djamena by President Biya, following Chad’s recall of its ambassador from Cameroon. Ngoh Ngoh announced the resolution of the crisis after meeting with the Chadian President on April 26, 2023. He then chaired an SNH board meeting on June 13, 2023, where the transaction with Savannah Energy was “frozen.” Unusually, the official statement on this decision bore the Presidential Palace’s letterhead instead of SNH’s. Sources suggest this statement bypassed another version being prepared by SNH before being sent to the Chairman for approval.

Additionally, there is the Glencore case, involving the Anglo-Swiss trader sentenced in November 2022 for bribing public officials in Africa, including Cameroon. After SNH publicly denounced such practices, Moudiki reportedly sought a state investigation into SNH’s involvement in the Glencore scandal. This request, though approved by the President, is seen by some as a move to settle scores with close aides of the President.

Source: Business in Cameroon