29, September 2023

Gabon charges ousted president’s wife with ‘money laundering’ ⁰

The wife of Gabon’s ousted president Ali Bongo Ondimba has been charged with “money laundering” and other offences, the public prosecutor said Friday, a month after a coup toppled her husband.

Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Valentin, who is Franco-Gabonese, and one of the couple’s sons have been accused by the coup leader of having pulled the strings in the oil-rich country.

Their eldest son, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, has already been charged with corruption and embezzling public funds with several former cabinet members and two ex-ministers.

Sylvia Bongo was charged by an investigating judge on Thursday and ordered to remain under house arrest, Andre Patrick Roponat announced on state TV channels.

She also faces other charges including concealment and forgery, he said.

Sylvia Bongo has been under house arrest in the capital Libreville since the coup on August 30.

She has been isolated from her husband and her French lawyers have filed a complaint in Paris against what they said “appears to be a hostage-taking”.

Bongo, 64, who had ruled the central African country since 2009, was overthrown by military leaders on August 30, moments after being proclaimed the winner in a presidential election.

The result was branded a fraud by the opposition and the military coup leaders, who have also accused his regime of widespread corruption and bad governance.

Ali Bongo was elected after his father Omar died in 2009 after nearly 42 years in power.

Corruption

Noureddin Bongo Valentin was indicted earlier this month and placed in provisional detention for alleged corruption.

In all, 10 people were indicted on charges ranging from electoral college operational issues, counterfeiting and use of the seals of the republic, to corruption, embezzlement of public funds and money laundering, Roponat had told a press conference.

Seven including Noureddin Bongo were detained.

Two former ministers — for oil and public works — have also been detained.

Bongo, who was himself under house arrest for several days after the coup, is “free to move around” and go abroad, Gabon’s new military ruler General Brice Oligui Nguema said a week after the coup.

In October 2018, Bongo suffered a stroke that sidelined him for 10 months.

Oligui, in a speech to the Republican Guard this month, accused the former “First Lady” and Noureddin of having “squandered” the president’s power.

“Because since his stroke, they have falsified the signature of the president, they gave orders in his place,” he said.

Immediately after the coup, Oligui summoned around 200 Gabonese business leaders to a meeting, whom he lectured on corruption.

Broadcast on state television, he sternly warned business leaders against “over-billing” and told them to commit to the “development of the country”.

He also vowed to make sure the overcharged money “comes back to the state”.

Source: AFP

29, September 2023

Yaoundé: The Biya regime situation report ⁰

Greetings from Yaoundé which is in a much panicked mood! Minister René Emmanuel Sadi is now saying that any Cameroonian predicting a coup risked being arrested and prosecuted.

In a statement on Monday, Sadi moonlighting as Minister of Communication and government spokesperson stated that “The government therefore urges those concerned to be careful not to draw senseless and preposterous parallels, and to make obscene predictions about the future of Cameroon which could amount to calls for the destabilization of the state.”

With Biya’s time on earth nearly over, it’s time to turn away from the 90-year-old President, who survived a coup attempt in 1984 and has ruled Cameroon for 41 years.

One event to watch is the football friendly between the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon and the Russian Federation in Moscow in mid-October. Cameroon Concord News Group London Bureau Chief Isong Asu calls it “a Biya’s last journey of many dangers” for the Francophone dominated regime in Yaoundé. It will be the first football match between an African team and Russia since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and has been actively encouraged by the 90-year President Biya.

Southern Cameroons business communities in the diaspora are seeing red with the customs-led public auctions in Douala. Goods to be sold are those that have been stored ever since the war started in Southern Cameroons. The customs department says the goods to be sold include various items such as electronics, household appliances, antiques, food products, machinery, etc. The customs estimates their value at tens of millions of FCFA. It is all Southern Cameroons money.

Mr Biya’s back-to-school campaign in Southern Cameroons has not been going according to plan; the actions of Ambazonia restoration forces have successfully erected a stone wall against the reopening of schools. Two head teachers and a female student were killed by Ambazonia fighters and this week a Roman Catholic priest and three teachers sustained gunshot wounds in an attack on CS Kembong in Eyumojock Sub Division in Manyu.

Household final consumption prices in Cameroon went up 0.5% in August. This overall food price trend came with inflation that reached a yearly average of 7.8% at the end of August.

The Biya Francophone regime also has plenty to worry about: The nation’s economy is stalling. Businesses are closing down and major corporations like PAMOL and CDC are filing for bankruptcy protection. Most of the major banks and telecom operators seem to be in difficulty. 90-year-old Mr. Biya says the younger generation should turn to farming. Not surprisingly, many are turning a deaf ear to the stupidity coming from Etoudi

It is evidently clear that the office of prime minister was a creation to appease Southern Cameroonians following the emergence of the late Ni John Fru Ndi! All the Anglophone political men-name them: Simon Achidi Achu, Peter Mafany Musonge, Inoni Ephraim, Philemon Yang and now the celebrated polygamist Dion Ngute have failed to deliver to the people of Southern Cameroons. Dion Ngute’s recent performance has been patchy, and his war of words with Minister Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh has turned into open mutiny within government circles.

It remains extremely difficult to avoid the jailed Southern Cameroons leaders in Kondengui. To avoid a coup in Yaoundé, Biya and his men should start talking to Sisiku Ayuk Tabe. A stitch in time saves nine!!

Thank you for keeping the faith in what we do in Cameroon Concord News and Cameroon Intelligence Report. We of the Cameroon Concord News Group are doing all what we can to move some of you to get in touch. Remember that you are what you read! Regardless, you can reach me at soteragbawebai@gmail.com

28, September 2023

Spanish Football Crises: Police raid football referee HQ over Barca graft probe ⁰

Police on Thursday raided Spain’s football refereeing headquarters as part of a probe into claims FC Barcelona paid for favourable decisions in a fresh blow for Spain’s scandal-hit football association.

The search was ordered by the judge investigating the so-called Negreira case involving payments allegedly made to a firm owned by a former top refereeing official Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira.

Police began the search early on Thursday at the offices of the CTA referees’ technical committee located at the RFEF football federation headquarters on the outskirts of Madrid.

A Barcelona court ordered the search “as part of the investigation into the suspect payments made by the Catalan club” to Negreira, a statement said.

Prosecutors suspect that between 2001 and 2018, Barca paid millions of euros to Negreira’s company Dasnil 95 to secure favourable refereeing decisions from corrupt officials.

While the club admits making payments to Dasnil, it said the firm was paid to advise it on refereeing matters. It denies all wrongdoing.

Also Thursday, magistrate Joaquin Aguirre said he would investigate the club and several of its former directors for bribery.

The fact that Barcelona paid “one of the CTA’s three vice presidents through intermediary companies” is not in dispute, the judge wrote in his decision.

The payments, which lasted about 18 years, grew steadily “from an initial 70,000 euros a year to 700,000 euros” and stopped when Negreira left his position in 2018, he wrote.

“It stands to reason that the payments by FC Barcelona satisfied the club’s interests given their duration and annual increase,” Aguirre said.

“The payments resulted in refereeing decisions sought by FC Barcelona in such a way that must have involved unfair treatment of other teams and consequently systemic corruption across Spanish refereeing as a whole.”

Police investigators were looking into the scope of the graft, he said.

‘Illegal acts favouring Barca’

Prosecutors in March opened a corruption investigation over the affair, naming FC Barcelona and four others: Negreira, his son Javier Enriquez, and two of Barcelona’s former presidents, Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell.

They allege Barca paid more than 7.3 million euros to Negreira who was a vice president at the CTA between 1994 and 2018.

The payments stopped when Negreira left the CTA following a reshuffle at the RFEF.

When the money stopped, Negreira sent a letter to Bartomeu, Barca’s president at the time, threatening to reveal information that would “seriously harm the club” if it didn’t pay up.

It was clear from the letter that Negreira “was aware that there had been illegal acts that favoured FC Barcelona that were quite serious”, the judge said.

The investigation began in spring 2022 when Spain’s tax authorities identified irregularities in payments made by Dasnil 95 between 2016 and 2018.

The raid comes as Spain’s football federation is struggling to manage a crisis triggered by the World Cup kiss scandal in which its now disgraced former chief Luis Rubiales forcibly kissed midfielder Jenni Hermoso.

Source: AFP

28, September 2023

French Cameroun: Douala Customs reopens public auctions after a year off ⁰

Customs-led public auctions relaunch Tuesday, September 26 in Douala, after a year of break. The sales will end on September 28, according to the official timetable.

Goods to be sold are those that have been stored for more than nine months without being cleared from customs warehouses. They include various items such as electronics, household appliances, antiques, food products, machinery, etc. The customs estimates their value at tens of millions of FCFA.

Let’s note that public auctions are held to relieve congestion in ports and customs warehouses, increase customs revenues, and boost the competitiveness of the national economy through better management of goods flows.

By Alain Tabot-Tanyi

28, September 2023

Food prices keep inflation high in Cameroon ⁰

Household final consumption prices in Cameroon went up 0.5% MoM in August 2023, following a 0.4% rise the previous month, the National Institute of Statistics (INS) reports in a recent note. “The price hike is mainly due to a 1.3% MoM increase in food prices and a 1.1% MoM rise in education costs.”

This overall food price trend came with inflation that reached a yearly average of 7.8% at the end of August, way beyond the 3% community threshold tolerated in the Cemac region. “Inflation rose mainly due to a 13.3% YoY increase in food prices, a 10.4% YoY increase in transport costs, and an 8.6% YoY increase in prices for furniture, household goods and everyday cleaning products,” INS said. Compared to the same month in 2022, the overall price level increased by 7.4% in August 2023.

Bread, cereals, meats, fish and seafood, milk, cheese, eggs, oils and fats, fruits and vegetables, and sugar are among the food products that have seen the sharpest price hikes. Transportation costs have also risen by 16.8% YoY.

However, inflation is not only driven by surging costs of fresh produce and energy items, which saw increases of 13.9% and 5.7%, respectively. Depending on the origin of the products, the increase is more pronounced for local products, with prices rising by 8.5%, than for imported products, which saw prices rise by 6.0%, according to reports. The INS report notes that the inflation rate consistently exceeded 7% in nine regional capitals. The highest rate was observed in Bertoua (East), and the lowest in Garoua (North).

Source: Business in Cameroon

27, September 2023

Back-To-School: Catholic priest, 3 teachers shot in Kembong ⁰

A Catholic priest identified by our Mamfe correspondent as Rev. Father Elvis Mbangsi and three Roman Catholic Mission teachers have reportedly sustained gunshot wounds in an attack on CS Kembong in Eyumojock Sub Division in Manyu.

Unconfirmed reports say the wounded are currently receiving treatment in Mamfe.

Cameroon Concord News understands one of the teachers of the school who managed to escape from the attack also sustained gunshot wounds and is being treated in a health centre in Kembong.

Ever since the Biya Francophone dominated government in Yaoundé launched the 2023 back to school in Southern Cameroons, Ambazonia restoration forces opposed to directives from Yaoundé have overrun successive Southern Cameroons academic establishments.

Two head teachers were killed in the North West region while armed assailants stormed a school in Kumba and killed a female student.

By Kingsley Betek in Mamfe

27, September 2023

France’s ambassador to Niger back in Paris after expulsion ⁰

France’s ambassador to Niger landed in Paris Wednesday, the foreign ministry said, after weeks of tensions between Paris and the post-coup regime in the West African country who demanded his expulsion.

It comes two months after a coup in Niger ousted its pro-Paris president and prompted a souring in relations between France and its former colony.

On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced in a TV interview that Sylvain Itte would leave “in the next hours” but gave no details.

Niger’s military leaders – who overthrew the democratically elected president Mohamed Bazoum on July 26 – welcomed the announcement but said they were waiting for it to be followed up by official actions.

They had told Itte to leave the country after they overthrew Bazoum and took away the envoy’s diplomatic immunity and visa.

But a 48-hour ultimatum for him to go, issued in August, passed with him still in place, as the French government refused to comply or to recognise the military regime as legitimate.

Paris had said that only Bazoum’s deposed government could order the envoy out.

Born in the Malian capital Bamako in 1959, Itte has been in the post as ambassador to Niger for a year.

His diplomatic career spans 35 years and he was previously ambassador to Uruguay and Angola.

Military pullout

Macron also announced in his Sunday TV interview that French troops would withdraw from Niger in “the months and weeks to come” with a full pullout “by the end of the year” – another demand of the Niger regime.

The French president, who had sought to make a special ally of Niger, said military cooperation was “over”.

France keeps about 1,500 soldiers in its former West African colony as part of an anti-jihadist deployment in the Sahel.

The coup against Bazoum was the third such putsch in the region in as many years, following similar actions in fellow former French colonies Mali and Burkina Faso in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

They too forced the pullouts of French troops.

Macron said on Sunday that Niger’s post-coup authorities “no longer wanted to fight against terrorism”.

He also reaffirmed France’s position that Bazoum was being held “hostage” and remained the “sole legitimate authority” in the country.

The elected president has remained confined in the presidential palace with his wife and son.

Niger welcomed Macron’s announcement on Sunday as “a new step towards sovereignty” but has said the timeframe for the pullout “must be set out in a negotiated framework and by mutual agreement”.

Niger, like Burkina Faso and Mali, has been targeted by jihadist attacks for several years.

In recent weeks, tens of thousands of people have joined demonstrations and gatherings in Niamey calling for the withdrawal of the French troops from the country.

The United States, which has some 1,100 military personnel in Niger, has said it will “evaluate” its future steps on the crisis following France’s announcement.

Source: AFP

27, September 2023

Mike Tyson helping Francis Ngannou plot Fury ambush ⁰

In a black-walled gym tucked away in a quiet corner of Las Vegas, Mike Tyson looks on approvingly as the unmistakable sound of violent, powerful punches fills the air.

Thirty-seven years after rewriting boxing’s record books by becoming the youngest heavyweight champion in history at the age of 20, Tyson is plotting another ambush.

The 57-year-old has been hired to help train mixed martial arts star Francis Ngannou ahead of the Cameroonian fighter’s money-spinning heavyweight boxing showdown with Britain’s Tyson Fury taking place in Saudi Arabia on October 28.

In the eyes of bookmakers at least, the odds are stacked against Ngannou, who will climb into the ring against the undefeated Fury next month having never boxed professionally. Ladbrokes have installed Fury as a 1/10 favorite; Ngannou a 6/1 underdog.

Yet as the 6ft 4in (1.93m), 264lb (120kg) Ngannou unleashes an array of punches on his heavily padded trainer, Dewey Cooper, the mood is anything but pessimistic.

Occasionally, Tyson, standing to one side, will intervene to correct a movement or suggest a subtle tweak. Ngannou, a long-time fan of the American boxing icon, relishes each suggestion.

“He comes from time to time to lend a hand, to give his expertise,” Ngannou told a group of reporters during a workout.

“I had specifically asked for him to train me four years ago, long before this fight was announced, the first time I met him.

“He has something inspiring, something motivating. If I could ever have just a tiny piece of what he has, boxing would be very easy for me.”

Ngannou, 37, has taken a long and unconventional road to his boxing debut.

He first took up boxing in his 20s in his native Cameroon, later moving to Paris hoping to forge a professional career.

But he would ultimately end up in the rough and tumble world of mixed martial arts, eventually becoming the UFC’s heavyweight champion and one of the circuit’s biggest stars, winning 17 of his 20 fights including 12 by knockout.

‘Nervous? He should be’

Whether Ngannou’s skills in the octagon will translate to the boxing ring remains to be seen. Tyson, however, says he has been impressed by what he has seen during Ngannou’s training camp.

“We’re in a good position over here,” the softly-spoken Tyson tells reporters.

“He’s very dedicated, he put forth the effort and I think people will be pretty much more surprised than they anticipated.

“This is the biggest fight in boxing right now, in all sports. In fact, there’s no doubt about it. It’ll be the biggest upset in the history of entertainment. I think I bring him confidence this could be accomplished.”

Should Fury feel nervous? “I don’t know if he’s nervous or not,” Tyson said. “But he should be.”

The size of the task facing Ngannou however is undeniably gargantuan.

At 6ft 9in, the skillful Fury (33-0-1, 24 knockouts) will take a sizeable height and reach advantage into the ring against Ngannou, where no titles will be at stake.

The British self-styled “Gypsy King” has repeatedly demonstrated his near-superhuman capacity to absorb punches as well as his ruthless instinct for dispatching opponents.

Those in Ngannou’s camp however are adamant that the Cameroonian has a puncher’s chance.

Carlos Takam, the 42-year-old Cameroon-born heavyweight who has been training alongside Ngannou in Nevada, says all bets will be off when the bell sounds for the first round in Riyadh.

“Anything can happen in the heavyweight division,” said Takam, who upset France’s 2016 Olympic superheavyweight champion Tony Yoka in March this year.

“We’re talking about behemoths who can hit you with the full force of 120 kilos,” said Takam. “When that happens, you fall, and you don’t get up, even if you’re stronger. Don’t be surprised if something happens during this fight.”

Source: AFP

26, September 2023

Boxing: Francis Ngannou calls on the international community to check Tyson Fury’s gloves ⁰

Unbeaten since the start of his professional career, Tyson Fury will face Cameroonian Francis Ngannou in the ring on October 28. Ngannou believes that the Briton’s glove strategy is illegal.

With just one month to go before the unprecedented showdown between undefeated boxing champion Tyson Fury and former MMA heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, commentary is running high. Specialists give their predictions, and fans get in each other’s faces on social networks. The two fighters, who are in the home stretch of their preparations, are not to be outdone. Through the media, they don’t hesitate to take jabs at each other.

“Wilder and Chisora complained about Fury’s gloves”.

In mid-week, Tyson Fury, whose atypical physique for a top-level sportsman makes Ngannou fans hilarious, announced that his opponent’s muscles were no asset when it came to his moves. And this weekend, it’s the MMA champion’s turn to attack his future opponent. For the Cameroonian, the British boxer was using an illegal strategy with his gloves. “He’s very cunning with his gloves. I think he’s cheating. I’ve heard a lot of complaints about his gloves, that they have no protection. Even when he fought Deontay Wilder, he complained about that. Derek Chisora complained about it too,” says Francis Ngannou.

“All gloves must be checked”.

Cyril Gane’s MMA faller is putting the pressure on the organizing committee to carry out a thorough check. “We’re going to make it and we need all the gloves to be checked. The commission must check. All gloves need to be checked. If you want us to fight barehanded, let’s do it, but don’t give me 10-ounce gloves, while he’s wearing 8- or 6-ounce gloves because he has no protection.”

Source: Sports News Africa

26, September 2023

Archbishop Andrew Nkea says delegates to Synod on Synodality to give no room for distraction ⁰

Delegates to the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops are not to give “room for distractions” during the meeting scheduled to begin on October 4.

In a September 23 interview, Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya of the Bamenda Archdiocese said deliberations during the Synod that Pope Francis extended to 2024 will focus on the Instrumentum Laboris.

“We are not going to allow ourselves to be distracted by the social media antics; there will be no room for distraction,” Archbishop Nkea said, adding, “The aim of the synod is to reflect on the Church we have and how we want it to be and not to change the doctrine of the Church.”

The metropolitan Archbishop who was appointed member of the Ordinary Council of the synod by Pope Francis highlighted some of the issues to be discussed, saying, “We are going to reflect on the problem of LGBT+ in families and polygamy in marriage but it’s not about changing the teachings of the Church. There is already an Instrumentum Laboris we are working on.”

The Archbishop of Bamenda who doubles as the President of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (NECC) further said, “We have dedicated three years of effort to prepare for this event through questionnaires and a mini-African synod that was held in Ethiopia.”

“We are going to allow ourselves to be guided by the Holy Spirit, allowing the Holy Spirit to work in us,” the Catholic Archbishop who started his Episcopal Ministry in Cameroon’s Mamfe Diocese as Coadjutor Bishop in August 2013 said.

Reflecting on how synodality was lived in Cameroon, he said, “Synodality has, so to speak, caught fire not only in Cameroon but in Africa. The synod is not a new thing to the Church in Cameroon because we have conveyed to our faithful from the very beginning what every Diocese must do to respond to Pope Francis’ call to listen to one another, progress together, share ideas, and remember that, as Christians, we must not leave anyone behind.”

He went on to explain that in Cameroon, the structural approach “begins with decisions made at the grassroot community levels.”

“The spirit of collegiality is our way of functioning. We always start with the population and the community, then proceed to missions, parishes, and the Diocese,” Archbishop Nkea said.

He noted that “when a Bishop contemplates a decision on a particular issue, the consultation process begins with the involvement of the faithful, starting with families … Together with his (Bishop’s) advisors, they make the final decision based on the input received.”

New Pastoral Year Launched in CAR Archdiocese, Cardinal Urges Faithful to “get involved”

In a break with past custom that allowed laypeople to participate in the Synod of Bishops without the right to vote, the Vatican indicated on April 26 that lay delegates to the 16th Ordinary General Assembly that was announced in March 2020 will participate as voting members.

Also speaking to ACI Africa on September 23, Bishop Georges Nkuo of Cameroon’s Kumbo Diocese said, “The Holy Father invites us to engage in dialogue to discern the kind of Church we have and the kind of Church we aspire to build in a truly evangelical spirit.”

“We aim for a Church that is closely connected to the people, one that is recognized at the periphery. While other topics may surface during the synod, the primary focus is on our collective journey and discernment,” Bishop Nkuo, who is not among the delegates to the Synod, said.

He continued, “We are a mature Church. The Holy Father does not endorse ideologies; he embraces individuals. Every human being is precious in the eyes of God. The Holy Father does not engage with organizations or NGOs that have specific agendas. We come to the Church not to change its teachings but to deepen our understanding together.”

Culled from ACI Africa