4, June 2024

South Africa: The ANC dilemma which will determine Mandela’s legacy ⁰

South Africa’s governing African National Congress (ANC) is faced with a tricky dilemma which will determine the future of the country after it spectacularly lost its parliamentary majority in last week’s election.

Having won only 40% of the vote, the ANC needs to find a coalition partner to secure a majority in parliament which will support its choice of president and legislative plans – unless it tries to go alone with a minority government.

One option would be to strike a deal with the second biggest party, the centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA), which won 22% of the vote.

However this would be politically risky, as the DA’s critics accuse it of trying to protect the economic privileges the country’s white minority built up during the racist system of apartheid – a charge the party denies.

Alternatively, the ANC could work with two radical parties that broke away from it – former President Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party or Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

These three parties share the same constituency, the black majority, and their combined vote comes to 65%. Mr Malema has warned the ANC against forming a coalition that would “reinforce white supremacy” and be a “puppet of a white imperialist agenda”.

This was a clear reference to a coalition with the DA, whose policies are diametrically opposed to the ANC’s, but they both agree on the need to uphold the constitution that South Africa adopted at the end of apartheid in 1994.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has made it clear that any coalition agreement would have to be within the framework of the current constitution.

One of the big obstacles to a deal is the DA’s fierce opposition to the ANC’s efforts to create a welfare state – especially a government-funded national health service, which the DA rejects, saying it is too expensive andthreatens the future of the private health sector.

The DA believes in the free market, opposes a minimum wage, and wants to reduce red tape, saying this is the best way to improve the economy and raise living standards for all South Africans.

It is vehemently opposed to the ANC’s black economic empowerment policies, seeing them as discriminating against racial minorities while simply leading to the enrichment of the ANC’s business cronies.

Denying the allegations, the ANC has resolutely pursued these policies, arguing that they give black people a stake in the economy that they were excluded from during apartheid.

ANC chairman Gwede Mantashe has gone as far as to say the ANC’s black empowerment policies are non-negotiable, suggesting that he has ruled out a coalition with the DA.

But, according to some local media, President Ramaphosa is willing to enter into a coalition with the DA, believing that their policy differences could be overcome.

To overcome racial sensitivities, other parties – such as the mainly black Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the Good party, which draws its support primarily from the coloured community, as people of mixed race are known in South Africa – could be included to form a Government of National Unity (GNU).

reuters A supporter of former South African President Jacob Zuma's new political party, uMkhonto we Sizwe, wears a pamphlet during the launch of its election manifesto ahead of a general election on May 29, at a rally in Soweto, South Africa, May 18, 2024 — The recently formed party of ex-President Jacob Zuma caused a shock by coming third in the election

The ANC’s other option is to form a coalition with MK, which was the big winner of the election by securing third spot with 15% of the vote in the first election it contested.

But it is demanding a fresh poll, alleging that it got even more votes but the final result was rigged. The electoral commission has rejected the allegation, and MK has not yet presented any evidence for its claim.

The chasm between it and the ANC is wide, wider than with any other party, partly because of the personal animosity between Mr Zuma and Mr Ramaphosa, who ousted him as the country’s leader.

As well as demanding a new president, MK wants the constitution to be torn up so that South Africa becomes an “unfettered parliamentary democracy” – something the ANC has ruled out.

At first glance, this also rules out the EFF, as it too is demanding a constitutional amendment so that white-owned land can be expropriated without compensation.

Mr Malema, a former ANC youth leader who was expelled by the party in 2012 for fomenting divisions and bringing the party into disrepute, said the EFF was willing to work with the ANC in a coalition government. However, the party’s demand for land expropriation was a “cardinal principle”, and it would not join the government if the ANC rejects it.

The ANC and EFF together have 198 seats – just short of the 201 seats needed for a parliamentary majority, so a smaller party would have to be brought into a coalition.

Or they could team up with Mr Zuma’s MK, which also supports land expropriation, and says there is a need to distribute farmland on an “equal basis among the farming population”.

But to change the constitution, a two-thirds majority is needed and again the ANC, EFF and MK fall just short of the 267 seats needed – they have 256 seats between them.

While the ANC is opposed to constitutional amendments, it accepts that the current land-ownership patterns need to be tackled.

In an interview with South Africa’s Sunday Times newspaper, former President Kgalema Motlanthe, a close ally of Mr Ramaphosa, said the “land question” was a “source of national grievance”.

His comments suggest there could be room for agreement with the EFF, and possibly even MK, on the issue.

The DA strongly opposes a deal between its three rivals, saying it would be a “Doomsday Coalition” that would turn South Africa into a “Zimbabwe or Venezuela”.

“The Doomsday Coalition will plunge this country into ethnic and racial conflict the likes of which it has never witnessed before,” the party says.

But some ANC officials hold the opposite view – that stability would be threatened if MK is excluded, given its electoral success, which has made it the largest party in KwaZulu-Natal.

KwaZulu-Natal is South Africa’s second-most populous province, and is often described as the economic artery of the nation because of its ports.

It is also politically the most volatile province, with a history of violence – more than 300 people died in riots after Mr Zuma was sent to prison in 2021.

He was convicted of contempt of court for defying an order to co-operate with an official inquiry into corruption during his nine-year presidency, which ended in 2018.

ANC members in KwaZulu-Natal point out that with another court case looming – Mr Zuma is due to stand trial next year on charges of corruption over a 1999 arms deal – there is a real risk of a fresh wave of violence.

They therefore feel some sort of deal needs to be reached with him to draw a line under the past, and to recognise his status as a former president – especially as he has demonstrated that he commands 15% of the national vote.

Reuters A woman walks past piles of uncollected trash in the township of Alexandra a day before the national election in Johannesburg, South Africa May 28, 2024 — Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters lost votes in the 29 May general election

ANC leaders in Gauteng – South Africa’s biggest and richest province – are said to favour a deal with the EFF, but their hand has been considerably weakened by the fact that the two parties do not have enough seats for a parliamentary majority.

That increases the prospect of an ANC-DA coalition, especially as it is favoured by the private sector as the best option to guarantee economic stability and to avoid capital flight.

But South Africa’s respected News24 website reports that the ANC is considering the option of forming a minority government, while signing a confidence-and-supply agreement with the DA, and the Inkatha Freedom Party, a mainly black party with support in KwaZulu-Natal, which has 17 seats.

The two would vote with the ANC on crucial issues such as the budget, while the ANC would have to constantly lobby them – or other parties – to support it on other legislation.

This could help the ANC out of its dilemma of choosing a coalition partner, and it may also suit the DA, as a coalition with the ANC could cause it to lose support to parties to its right.

However, there is a risk that a minority government could lead to political instability and “transactional politics” – opposition MPs demanding or being offered bribes to back ANC-sponsored legislation.

It is still too early to say what will happen. All the parties are still considering their options, but many South Africans are hoping that by the time parliament convenes, within a fortnight, there will at least be an outline deal on what the next government will look like.

Culled from the BBC

4, June 2024

Indomitable Lions: FIFA threat hangs over Cameroon ⁰

A FIFA threat is hanging over Cameroon following the FECAFOOT – Ministry of Sports contention.

A source close to both the FIFA and FECAFOOT has hinted that FIFA is contemplating a 3-year ban on Cameroon if the government’s interference does not stop.

It should be recalled that the world governing body had released a statement on May 6, 2024, on this situation calling on both parties to respect agreements which had been signed, underscoring that the appointment of a technical team was FECAFOOT’S prerogative.

Meanwhile, a FIFA delegation is expected in Yaounde by midday today to discuss the situation which has divided the country and brought shame to the government. The delegation, according to our source, will be meeting with the feuding parties.

It is expected that with the arrival of the FIFA delegation, the hatchet will be buried once and for all.

Cameroon is a great footballing nation which brings a lot of fanfare to footballing events organized within and outside the continent. Banning Cameroon will rob the world of that fanfare.

By Besong Eunice Nchong with files

1, June 2024

When A Man Says YES to the Lord, his Yes is Forever ⁰

Homily, Thanksgiving Mass of Rev. Fr. John Tanyi at Ste Anne Church,

Salem MA, Sunday, May 26, 2024

Dear Fr. John Tanyi,

Dear Brothers in the Priesthood, the Diaconate, Religious Women here present,

Dear Holy People of God,

Whenever I have taught the course on Fundamental Theology be at Boston College or at St John’s Seminary, I have always asked the students at the introductory lecture: What are the basic Christian dogmas? The responses have been mixed overtime. Today’s solemnity ranks first on the list of three: The Dogma of Three Persons in One God, namely, the Trinity; the Dogma of the Incarnation of the Son of God; and finally, the Spirit and Grace. If I were to proceed further along the lines of a Thomistic or Rahnerian explanation, then I would be compelled to charge each of you a tuition of $3200 as per Boston College rate for graduate courses in theology. I have no such intentions. Don’t be scared. But what sets us apart as Christians from all other religious expressions, is that only Christians understand God as a community of three persons, of one substance. And because we Christians understand God as a community of persons, Christianity is essentially a communitarian faith, with Baptism as the door that opens us all into this community in which we are all brothers and sisters.

As we thank God for revealing that to us that when we say God, we always mean Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and all the implications of that for our spiritual lives, today’s celebration of the Solemnity of the Trinity at this Church of Ste Anne, Salem, is uniquely marked by another aspect that must be greatly pleasing to our Triune God. Today, we are gathered here as well, to give thanks to God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for the grace of the priesthood that God has bestowed on our brother, John. It is by the power of the Trinity that Fr John will exercise the sacramental ministry as a priest.

“When a man says YES to the Lord, his YES is forever.” In these words of St. John Paul II drawn from the Second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians, 1:19, in which Paul declares that “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, by me, Silvanus, and Timothy, was not “Yes” and “No,” but has proved to be “Yes” in Him,” one finds what can best be described as the Christological aspiration of the inner spiritual disposition of our new priest, Fr. John Tanyi. Today, we thank God for calling one so dear to us, into the company of the YES to the Lord Forever, which is essentially what the Catholic priesthood is, as captured in this declaration by St. John Paul II the Great.

Dear Fr John, God’s grace in your life, has been guided and has unfolded in a loving relationship between you and St. John Paul II. Even the fact that your ordination is marked by you releasing a book, The Cross and the Flag, Papal Diplomacy and John Paul II’s Struggle Against the Tyranny of the Possible, is a testimony to your generous response to the grace that God poured into your heart, through the life and intellectual legacy of St. John Paul II. It is not always the case that a newly ordained priest releases a work of such intellectual, spiritual and cultural magnitude on the day of his ordination! For this, we thank you, for placing your superior intellect at the service of the great legacy of the greatest figure of the twentieth century.

Dear Fr. John, you are certainly more competent on the life and thought of St. John Paul II the Great than I am, and perhaps, than anyone present here today. But given the celebrated friendship between John Paul II and Benedict XVI, marked by a profound mutual respect and cousinship of minds, perhaps you would permit me, from the limits of my intellectual German-Bavarian world, to offer FIVE reminders or lessons from the life of St. John Paul II, that, I believe, might be useful to a new priest who says YES to the Lord forever, today.

First, To Say Yes to the Lord Forever is to Trust in Divine Providence

Dear Fr. John, to St. John Paul II – and he repeatedly articulated this – in the design of Providence, in the design of God, there are no accidents. Everything is a part of the Divine Plan. When we look back with a retrospective glance, we suddenly see all the parts of life that appeared at first glance to be incomprehensible, falling in place, coming together. Decisions, actions, that might not have made sense to us, suddenly appear comprehensible. We see the wider picture, guided, in the words of the great Cardinal Arinze, the Lion of the African Church, by God’s Invisible Hand. Anyone with an intimate knowledge of your journey to the priesthood would clearly see, in hindsight, God’s providential hand at work.

It all began in Tiko, Cameroon, in the home of Mama Angela Bikelle Tanyi whose energy, steadfastness, and faith, I have personally grown to profoundly admire overtime, and Pa Tanyi Francis, of Blessed Memory. There, you were nurtured in the Christian faith, in ways that have never left you. Your love for Christ, the Church, and your family, took root these years and these have remained constant features of your life.

While a student at the legendary St. Joseph College, Sasse, you already showed the gift of an unmatchable intellect, nurtured by the Catholic educational ethos. Your desire for missionary life began developing at this time, with the legendary example of father Fr. Tony Murphy, MHM, whose example of priestly generosity has never left you. Clearly, God had, from very early on, planted the seed of missionary life in you. We just had to find out with time, where God wanted to send you to, as a missionary.

As a young student of philosophy at the Ugandan Martyrs University, Nkonzi, between 2003 – 2006, you were captivated by the thought of the Lithuanian-French phenomenologist, Emmanuel Levinas. Following his lifetime disappointment with Heidegger with his embrace of National Socialism, and under the cloud of the Holocaust, Levinas grounded the possibility of ethics on the reality of face-to-face. To Levinas, the other is not a phenomenon but an enigma, in the sense that the relation to the other cannot be reduced to comprehension. There is the primacy of the other, for whom we have an infinite responsibility.

Fr. John, if you meeting Levinas, who can rightly be considered as the philosopher of pastoral charity was not a part of God’s providential plan, then I am at a difficulty to know how else to characterize it! And the significance is not lost to me, that in the same month of May1980, forty-four years ago, precisely in Paris, Emmanuel Levinas and John Paul II met in person for the first time. A friendship ensued that saw Levinas not only write an article on “The Philosophical Thought of Cardinal Wojtyla,” but even more, Levinas participated at conferences at Castel Gandolfo in 1983 and 1985, under the direction of John Paul II. I pray that your formation in Levinas helps you in your pastoral ministry, to see as Levinas saw, the uniqueness of every person, especially those you might not readily comprehend, for the other is not the crowd, as Levinas maintains.

While in Kenya, Divine Providence, God’s Invisible Hand, continued to be at work in forming you for this hour. You became a Professor of Politics and International Relations. You were fascinated by the world of politics and saw a career path for yourself, at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA), and Mount Kenya University, Nairobi, Kenya, from 2012 – 2018. I believe that you might thought that you had it all worked out. It is difficult to imagine that some young ladies might have seen in you – and here, I am following a prescription expressed to me by a young niece of mine – tall, dark and handsome young professor, the man of their dreams.

But God had other plans, which led you from Nairobi to Boston College. And even while at Boston College, the picture was not immediately clear! I remember during my pastoral time here at Ste Anne, a Cameroonian lady came to the office to see me, and proposed a list with three names she was recommending that we propose to you for future consideration! The list was impressive. No doubt about that. The girls were all African beauty queens of the Cameroon Catholic Community of Boston. I wouldn’t have hesitated to recommend any of them to you, Fr John. But again, God clearly had other plans!

And today, we have finally seen where all of these bits and pieces were leading to, the altar of the Lord: “And I will go up to the altar of the Lord, the Lord, my joy, my delight” (Ps 43:4). Fr John, thank you for being attentive and open to the mysterious designs of God in your life, which remains an example for us, and a lesson worth keeping in mind, as priests today. There are no accidents in our lives as priests. Everything is a part of Divine Providence. It might not be clear to us now. But retrospectively, God’s invisible hand would become visible.

Second, To Say Yes to the Lord Forever is to live the Priestly Life of Victim and Eucharistic Transubstantiation

In the clandestine, underground seminary in which the young Karol Wojtyla was formed under the legendary and unforgettable Adam Stephen Cardinal Sapieha, Metropolitan Archbishop of Krakow, it was customary to recite daily, especially on the eve of priestly ordination, the Litany of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Priest and Victim –, a prayer based on the Letter to the Hebrews. This Krakòw Litany, includes eight invocations of Jesus Christ as the victim of redeeming sacrifice, formed in the young Karol Wojtyla the conviction that dying-to-self, self-gift, or self-immolation, central to the being of the priest (Gift and Mystery, pp. 78 – 82).

Upon completion of his studies at Boston College in the month of May 2020, Fr. John informed me of his intention to discern for the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Boston. Of course, living with him here in Boston, I had grown in my admiration of John’s spirit of sacrifice and generosity. Fr John, your mentor St. John Paul II, taught that central to this victimhood of priestly identity – Iesu, Sacerdos et Victima, is the Eucharist, that you will celebrate daily: Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit (Jn 12:24). Christ himself is the grain of wheat that must die in order to ripen and bear fruit. In a few moments from now, Fr John will hold God’s grain of wheat in his own hands, the bread that is Christ the Lord himself, that has grown a hundredfold from the death of the grain of wheat and has become the bread of the entire world.

For you, Fr John, this bread, this grain of wheat, has a double meaning. The first meaning captures the reality of the cross in priestly life. Every day, as you celebrate the Eucharist, you too must be God’s grain of wheat. Your fate is tied to Christ’s victimhood as well. Transubstantiation is both of species and of life. And both can only come about, like and with Christ, through death and daily dying to the self. But there is always another side to the priest as victim. Benedict XVI refers to this as God’s joy. Priestly cross and priestly joy are intertwined(Ratzinger, Ministers of Your Joy, Scriptural Meditations on Priestly Spirituality, Ann Arbor: Michigan, Servant Publications, 1989: 22). As priests today, it is worth remembering, in the words of the Psalmist, weeping might endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning (Ps 30:5). We must not abandon our priestly calling because of challenges. Even in the midst of our challenges, the Lord still gives us joy. With the Lord, as St. Ignatius of Loyola teaches us, it is never completely desolation. There is always consolation as well.

Third, to say Yes to the Lord Forever in the Priesthood is to Understand the Priesthood as What One Is

On November 1, 1946, in the Chapel of the Archbishop’s Residence in Krakow, the memorable Adam Stefan Cardinal Sapieha ordained John Paul II a priest. In his retrospective recollections of his ordination, John Paul II thought and reminded priests that the priesthood is not simply a matter of what one does. It is more of what one is. As the saintly Pope understood and emphasized in his Holy Thursday Letters to Priests starting April 8, 1979, theontosof the priest, the so-called ontological change, after all said and done, is precisely a question of particular intensity in terms of an existential relationality to and with Christ, that marks priestly life. For the priest, therefore, and for our brother Fr John going forward, Christ becomes the defining metaphysical principle that will give his being is decisive direction, amidst the different tasks that would be assigned to him by his legitimate ecclesial superiors. In effect, priestly ontological change, however one wants to capture that in terms of the sacramental sense, is at best, a metaphysical Christic-existentiality borne from intimate relationality between priest and Christ, outside of which is left a clerical magicism that is lifelessly presumptuous and devoid of any life-affirming realism. Priestly life becomes boring and repetitive, opening the door to pseudo replacements of various modes and tenses.

Fourth, to say Yes to the Lord Forever is to grow in one’s Consciousness of the Hiddenness of Priestly Power

A few days after his priestly ordination, the young Fr Karol Wojtyla, John Paul II, could not make it for the anniversary gathering of his old troupe. The hectic nature of the days following ordination would not allow him to be present. John Paul II wrote a brief letter in which he apologized for his inability to attend the gathering with his peers. I believe that letter contains a germ of wisdom that could be helpful to you, our esteemed Fr John. This is what the saintly Pope wrote:

“Maybe it’s God design that I can’t come to this anniversary meeting. That’s how I understand it – I should be present in your activity, just as a priest should be present in life in general, should be a hidden driving force. Yes, despite all appearances that is the main duty of the priesthood. Hidden forces usually produce the strongest actions” (Witness to Hope, p. 82).

Dear Fr John, hidden forces usually produce the strongest actions! It takes saints to articulate such wisdom. As you begin your priestly ministry with Fr Bob Poitras at St. Mary’s, Franklin, MA, I encourage you to remember this wisdom from John Paul II: Many times, our invisible actions of pastoral charity, produce the strongest and bear the most enduring fruit for Christ and for Christ’s Holy Church.

Finally, to say Yes to the Lord Forever in the Priesthood is to enter into the Eternal Today of Christ

In his reflections marking the Fiftieth Anniversary of his Priestly Ordination titled Gift and Mystery, St. John Paul II wrote:

I am convinced that a priest should have no fear of being “behind the times,” because the human “today” of every priest is included in the “today” of Christ the Redeemer. For every priest, in every age, the greatest task is each day to discover his own priestly ‘today’ in the “today” of Christto which the Letter to the Hebrews refers (Gift and Mystery, p. 84).

Fr. John, in the today of your life, the Lord calls you to holiness. True religion leads to daily conversion, the saintly Bishop Francis Lysinge often reminded me. A remarkable aspect of your life is your translucent simplicity. It has often struck me how synthetic you are. The John one encounters externally is the John who is internally. I sometimes think that if Immanuel Kant had encountered you, he might not have made the distinction between the noumena, the thing in itself, and the phenomena, the thing as it appears to us, so sharp. Build on your natural identity your supernatural priestly calling; in the today of St. Mary’s Franklin, MA, and where ever else God through the Church would mission you to.

Conclusion

Towards the end of his life at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI would always end his homily with a prayer. Recently, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J. Benedict’s longtime Press Secretary, declared that he has begun following that pattern. Permit me do the same here, adapting the Prayer for the Occasion of the 10th Anniversary of the Canonization of St. John Paul II – April 27th, for our beloved and esteemed Fr John Tanyi:

O Saint John Paul, from Heaven’s window give us your blessing! Bless the Church, which you loved so much and courageously served along the pathways of the world, to bring Jesus to everyone and everyone to Jesus. Let us hear again your powerful cry, “Open, open wide the doors to Christ!” Help us open the doors of our hearts to Jesus, so that we may be tireless missionaries of the Gospel today.

From the window of the Father’s House in heaven, we ask for your blessing upon Fr. John Tanyi. Watch over the gift of the priesthood that the Lord has bestowed on him. May Fr John Tanyi’s priestly ministry help to open wide the doors to Christ for us, Christ, who cannot be excluded from any latitude or longitude, for to exclude Christ is to do violence against the human being, for it is Christ who fully reveals us to ourselves. St. John Paul II, pray for Fr John and pray for us. Amen.

May our Mother Mary, whose YES to God at the Annunciation – Ecce Ancilla Domini – always intercede for you, Fr John, so that your YES to God will continue to be creative, dynamic and fruitful, for the greater glory of God, now and always, Amen.

Rev. Maurice Agbaw-Ebai (AMDG)

Boston MA

1, June 2024

BEAC initiates new bond issuance to withdraw CFA150bn from banking system ⁰

On May 27, 2024, the Central Bank of Central African States (BEAC) successfully withdrew CFA41 billion (out of the targeted CFA50 billion) from the CEMAC banking system. This liquidity withdrawal was achieved through the issuance of bonds with a maturity of 28 days, offering a 3.5% return.

This marks the first phase of a series of three operations, with the central bank aiming to withdraw a total of CFA150 billion. Two additional bond issuances, with a maturity of 14 days and a 2.5% return, are scheduled for June 3 and 10, 2024, as per the calendar released by the central bank.

Following the increase in benchmark interest rates, suspension of liquidity injection operations, and intensified weekly liquidity withdrawal operations, BEAC bonds represent the new tool in the central bank’s strategy to deplete bank reserves and restrict access to credit. This move is aimed at reducing the portion of inflation originating from monetary sources within the CEMAC region.

Source: Business in Cameroon

1, June 2024

BIR gunboat capsize during exchange of gunfire with Biafra separatists in Bakassi ⁰

A military gunboat belonging to the Rapid d’intervention Battalions, BIR, have capsized at Idabato high sea during an exchange of gunfire between government forces and the Black Marine. No casualties yet as at the time of this report.

31, May 2024

US: Jury finds Donald Trump guilty on all 34 counts in hush money trial ⁰

A New York jury convicted Donald Trump on all charges in his hush money case Thursday in a seismic development barely five months ahead of the election where he seeks to recapture the White House.

The first criminal trial of a former US president ended with the 77-year-old Trump found guilty on each of the 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a payment meant to silence porn star Stormy Daniels.

Trump — who was released without bail and is all but certain to appeal — initially sat still in the drab Manhattan courtroom, shoulders dipping.

Addressing reporters outside minutes later, though, he branded the result a “disgrace” and “rigged,” vowing that the “real verdict” would come from voters in the November 5 presidential election.

The conviction thrusts the United States into uncharted political territory.

However, it does not bar Trump from his continuing his White House run, even in the unlikely event that Judge Juan Merchan sentences him to prison.

Sentencing was set for July 11 — right before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Trump is due to receive the party’s formal nomination to face Democratic President Joe Biden in the election.

Biden’s campaign issued a statement saying that the trial showed “no one is above the law.” It added that “the threat Trump poses to our democracy has never been greater.”

The 12-member jury deliberated for more than 11 hours over two days before announcing the unanimous conclusion within a matter of minutes.

Merchan thanked the jurors for completing the “difficult and stressful task.”

Their identities had been kept secret throughout proceedings, a rare practice more often see in cases involving mafia or other violent defendants.

Election conspiracy

Trump was convicted of falsifying business records to reimburse his lawyer, Michael Cohen, for a $130,000 payment to Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election, when her claim to have had sex with him could have proved fatal to his campaign.

The trial featured lengthy testimony from the adult performer, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford and who described to the court in graphic detail what she says was a 2006 sexual encounter with the married Trump.

Prosecutors successfully laid out a case alleging that the hush money and the illegal covering up of the payment was part of a broader crime to prevent voters from knowing about Trump’s behavior.

Trump’s defense attorneys had countered that “trying to influence an election” was simply “democracy” and that the former president did nothing wrong.

Campaigning in courthouse

The trial has distracted Trump from his campaign to unseat Biden.

However, he milked the media attention throughout, with daily speeches in front of the cameras outside the courtroom in which he complained about being a political victim.

Yet after teasing the prospect for weeks, Trump — who denied ever having sex with Daniels at a 2006 celebrity golf tournament — opted not to testify.

Keith Gaddie, a political analyst and professor at Texas Christian University, said the political impact of the shocking events has yet to be determined.

“It probably doesn’t move a lot of votes, but in particular states with particular swing votes, it could matter around the margins. So in particularly tight races, it can tip things back from one direction to the other,” she said.

The Republican, who made his name as a brash real estate mogul before a stunning ascent to the nation’s highest office in the 2016 election, now faces prison or, more likely, probation.

In theory, he could face up to four years in jail for each count of falsifying business records but legal experts said as a first-time offender he is unlikely to go behind bars.

An appeal could take months to complete.

Should he win the presidency he will not be able to pardon himself, given that the case was not brought by the federal government but by the state of New York, where only the governor could clear his name.

Trump also faces federal and state charges of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election won by Biden, and for hoarding secret documents after leaving the White House.

Source: AFP

30, May 2024

Cameroon and Azerbaijan explore sports cooperation ⁰

Azerbaijan Deputy Minister Mariana Vasileva held talks with Odette Assembe Engoulou, President of the Cameroon National Badminton Federation and Vice-President of the Cameroon National Olympic and Sports Committee.

During the meeting, Mariana Vasileva informed Odette Assembe Engoulou about Azerbaijan’s achievements and recent developments in sports.

At the same time, Elnur Mammadov, Head of the Sports Department at the Ministry, and Ramil Hajiyev, General Secretary of the Azerbaijan Badminton Federation took part in the meeting.

By Miriam Metchane Ewang with files

30, May 2024

Spain’s parliament approves amnesty law for Catalan separatists ⁰

Spain’s Parliament voted Thursday to give final approval to a controversial amnesty law for hundreds of Catalan separatists involved in the illegal and unsuccessful 2017 secession bid.

The legislation was backed by Spain’s left-wing coalition government, two Catalan separatist parties, and other smaller parties. It passed by a vote of 177-172 in the lower house with the conservative Popular Party and far-right Vox opposing it.

The amnesty could benefit former Catalan regional president Carles Puigdemont, who is a fugitive from Spanish law in Belgium after fleeing his country following the failed Oct. 2017 breakaway bid that he led. It should also help out hundreds more, including former government officials in Barcelona, average citizens who participated in the secession attempt or protests, and some police officers involved in the crackdown on an illegal independence referendum held by Puigdemont’s government.

The passing of the amnesty law, however, does not immediately clear up the legal mess of the separatists.

The law is likely to face legal challenges and will be reviewed by higher courts. It also must be applied by courts on a case-by-case basis. There are experts who question its constitutionality since they say it would create inequality between Spanish citizens by favoring some over others.

Since taking power in 2018, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has focused on reducing tensions in northeast Catalonia and he argues that the amnesty is key to culminating that process.

But the amnesty was also a political necessity for Sánchez, who agreed to the act of pardon when he needed the support of the separatist lawmakers in Madrid to form a new national government in November. It was initially approved by the Parliament’s lower house in March. The Senate, where right-wing parties hold a majority, vetoed it earlier this month, but the lower house pushed it through regardless.

Tensions ran high in the chamber. The vote was by roll call with each lawmaker standing up to vote verbally. An opposition lawmaker shouted “traitor!” at Sánchez after he stood up to vote “yes.”

The Parliament’s session had already taken a nasty turn during the debate when Socialist spokesman Artemi Rallo was interrupted by a lawmaker of Vox, who shouted out several times to call him “sell out” and “corrupt.”

“Europe, Spain and Catalonia have said ‘yes’ to the amnesty, even if you don’t like hearing it,” Rallo shot back. He was referring to the endorsement of the amnesty law by the Council of Europe, a non-European Union institution that promotes human rights.

While the amnesty is popular in Catalonia, even among many unionists, the Popular Party and Vox have led protests against it in Madrid and other cities across the country. There have also been critics of the amnesty within Sánchez’s Socialist party.

Popular Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo tried to shame the Socialists for granting the amnesty in exchange for “seven votes” of Puigdemont’s party that it needed to stay in power. He also warned Sánchez that once it is passed, he should expect little favors from the separatists, whose support is key to keep his fragile government in power.

“This is an exchange of power for privileges and impunity,” Feijóo said.

The long legislative road for the amnesty comes to an end during the runup to European Parliament elections on June 6-9 and when the Socialists are trying to form a government in Catalonia after beating the separatists in regional elections earlier this month.

The parliamentary spokespeople for the Catalan separatist parties had no words of gratitude for Sánchez. Instead, they praised their followers and former leaders who spent time in prison before Sánchez pardoned them and those who left the country like Puigdemont.

“Today truly is a historic day. Today there is no forgiveness. Today a battle has been won in a conflict that has existed for centuries between two nations,” said Míriam Nogueras, of Puigdemont’s Together party.

They also insisted that the next goal for the separatists will be to try to force Sánchez to go back on his pledge to never grant them an authorized referendum on independence.

Gabriel Rufían, lawmaker of the Republican Left of Catalonia, told lawmakers, “Next stop: referendum.”

Source: AP

30, May 2024

FECAFOOT – Sports Ministry Imbroglio: Biya and Eto’o to meet at Unity Palace ⁰

FECAFOOT President Samuel Eto’o will be meeting with President Paul Biya in the days ahead, a source at the Presidency of the Republic has hinted.

According to the source in Yaoundé, Eto’o has been summoned to the Unity Palace following an ongoing crisis in Cameroonian football which began to intensify after the recent Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.

In April, Sports Minister Narcisse Mouelle Kombi appointed Marc Brys as the new coach, a decision that did not sit well with Samuel Eto’o. The FECAFOOT president refused to endorse Brys and the staff chosen by the ministry, but made a dramatic u-turn accepting Brys and imposing his own technical, medical, and administrative staff.

Unity Palace is worried that the issue which has brought shame to Cameroon might lead to FIFA jumping in to take a drastic decision.

Etoudi wants to calm things down by talking to Eto’o for him to make some compromises in the interest of the country.

The Francophone CPDM Crime Syndicate understands that as the president of the Cameroon Football Federation, Eto’o’s action may lead to a normalization committee being formed by FIFA.

The source, which elected anonymity, said that President Paul Biya who is respected by Eto’o will personally convince Eto’o to think about the nation and the new generation who are solidly behind Eto’o.

Mr. Biya, the source said, was worried that Eto’o’s appeal to the country’s youth could be a disaster for the country and his ruling party, especially as presidential elections is on the horizon.

It should be recalled that Mr. Eto’o cannot be dismissed by any authority in Cameroon because he is an elected official.

By Rita Akana in Yaoundé

29, May 2024

Military coups: Yaoundé hosting Francophone lawmakers ⁰

Francophone lawmakers from about 30 African states are meeting in Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde, to find a solution to the political instability in French-speaking African nations — including a string of recent coups, security threats and popular discontent. The lawmakers say among the solutions to the growing crisis are dialogue, a return to democratic principles and an end to foreign influence.

The 150 lawmakers, members of the African region of the Parliamentary Association of the Francophonie, or APF, say many Francophone African countries have suffered deep political and economic instability and security threats.

Within the past four years several former French colonies in which France continued to wield political influence experienced military coups or takeovers, including Niger, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Gabon and Chad.

The group says besides military takeovers French-speaking African states also have a record of long serving leaders.

Cameroon President Paul Biya has ruled for 41 years. Theodoro Obiang Nguema from neighboring Equatorial Guinea has been in power for about 45 years and Denis Sassou Nguesso has ruled the Republic of Congo for 38 years. Nguesso first came to power in 1979 and served until the 1992 election when he finished third. He took power again as a militia leader after a four-month civil war in 1997 and has been president since then.

Canada-born Francis Drouin is the president of the Parliamentary Association of the Francophonie.

Speaking in Yaounde on Wednesday, Drouin said young people in French-speaking African countries complain that political instability remains high, and civilians are disgruntled because their freedoms are suffocated by long serving leaders and military governments. He said poverty, the absence of democracy and security threats plunge civilians into suffering and misery.

Drouin says the region’s youths yearn for the freedom to participate in decision-making.

Lawmakers attending the conference said Senegal distinguishes itself as an example of democracy after the country’s March 24 presidential elections, in which incumbent President Macky Sall was defeated by 40-year-old Bassirou Faye, whom the lawmakers say is a young man with new perspectives.

The lawmakers say France’s influence on its former African colonies is a source of concern among young leaders who want to take control of their national issues.

Djelassem Donangmbaye Felix is a political analyst and coordinator of A New Day, one of Chad’s opposition political parties. He is critical of the presence of French troops in former French colonies. He spoke to VOA via a messaging app from Chad’s capital N’djamena Wednesday.

Djelassem said French troops present in Africa either protect leaders loyal to France or destabilize governments that stand against France’s overbearing influence. He said that is the reason Chad’s opposition and civil society in December 2023 asked France to immediately withdraw troops who arrived in the central African state after being ordered to depart neighboring Niger by that country’s military junta.

Niger officials accuse France of failing to resolve the security crisis that has killed thousands and displaced millions across Niger.

Djelassem said French troops stationed in Chad have never assisted Chad’s government to fight armed groups and rebels destabilizing the central African state.

France has not responded to the accusation. But in March, Jean-Marie Bockel, French President Emmanuel Macron’s envoy for Africa, said after a meeting with Chad’s President that France will keep its troops in Chad. He said the troops will assist in fighting jihadists in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

Angola and Sao Tome and Principe are attending the conference as observers. The lawmakers say permanent dialogue with military leaders and long serving rulers can pave the way for improved political, economic, social and cultural lives in French- speaking African countries.

Source: VOA