2, October 2023

Nobel Prize goes to scientists behind mRNA Covid vaccines ⁰

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to a pair of scientists who developed the technology that led to the mRNA Covid vaccines.

Professors Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman will share the prize.

The technology was experimental before the pandemic, but has now been given to millions of people around the world to protect them against serious Covid-19.

The same mRNA technology is now being researched for other diseases, including cancer.

The Nobel Prize committee said: “The laureates contributed to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times.”

Both were told they had won by telephone this morning and were said to be “overwhelmed”.

Vaccines train the immune system to recognise and fight threats such as viruses or bacteria.

Traditional vaccine technology has been based on dead or weakened versions of the original virus or bacterium – or by using fragments of the infectious agent.

In contrast, messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines use a completely differently approach.

During the Covid pandemic, the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines were both based on mRNA technology.

Professor Kariko and Professor Weissman met in the early 1990s when they were working at the University of Pennsylvania, in the United States, when their interest in mRNA was seen as a scientific backwater.

Source: BBC

1, October 2023

Bishop Bibi honored for “exceptional” leadership skills ⁰

Bishop Michael Miabesue Bibi of the Catholic Diocese of Buea in Cameroon has been honored by the country’s NewsWatch Newspaper for his “exceptional skills” in leading the people of God and managing the property of the Cameroonian Episcopal See.

In a statement announcing the award, NewsWatch Editor-in-Chief, Ndi Eugene Ndi, said the Bishop who faced opposition following his appointment to the Diocese had achieved a lot in a short period.

“Bishop Bibi was named winner of the ‘Church Management Torchbearer Award’ for manifesting exceptional skills in leading God’s people in the Diocese of Buea and for tactfully restructuring Catholic University Institute of Buea (CUIB) to fulfill its mission of molding entry-level professionals with moral and spiritual values,” Ndi said in the statement that was shared with ACI Africa on Friday, September 29.

According to Ndi, Bishop Bibi had been announced the winner of the award during the 10th-anniversary celebration of NewsWatch newspaper in Yaounde on August 19. The newspaper has been under the aegis of the Minister of Communication, who was represented at the event by the Inspector General in the Ministry.

The NewsWatch official said that Bishop Bibi and other recipients of various awards were voted by the newspaper’s wide community of readers and the final results were compiled by a jury of experts made up of revered media men and women in the country

The chairman of the jury of experts, Viban Jude, recognized the Bishop of Buea for putting in place “major reforms including the suppression of doubtful Lay Associations of Christ’s faithful.”

“Even with all that Bishop Bibi has achieved in so short a time as chief shepherd of the Diocese of Buea, he has always said that his achievements are not because of him alone but thanks to the marvelous collaboration he has received from his Priests, the religious and the people of God in the Diocese of Buea,” Viban said.

In June 2020, Bishop Bibi made changes at the Catholic University Institute of Buea (CUIB), appointing Professor Victor Julius Ngoh as Vice Chancellor, a position previously held by Fr. George Nkeze Jingwa, whom the Bishop asked to take a sabbatical leave.

Members of the University Council disapproved of the change and dragged Bishop Bibi, then Apostolic Administrator of Buea Diocese, to court.

Source: aciAfrica

1, October 2023

CPDM Crime Syndicate: BEAC governor calls for vigilance against counterfeit banknotes ⁰

Only a few months after their release, forgers have already found a way to make the counterfeit versions of the new range of banknotes put into circulation on December 15, 2022.

Pending the dismantling of the counterfeiting network, Beac Governor Abbas Mahamat Tolli (pictured) called on the population to be more vigilant when handling these banknotes. “I invite users to be very careful every time they make transactions, and to make sure that the bills they receive are genuine”, he said at the end of the FY2023 third session of the Monetary Policy Committee (CPM), held on September 25 in Douala.

Abbas Mahamat Tolli pointed out that the new range of banknotes currently in circulation contains several security features that enable users to detect the real from the fake. “So far, there hasn’t really been a forgery that we’re afraid of. And the level of forgery is very minimal. People are not very vigilant”, he continued.

Indeed, the banknotes put into circulation on December 15 feature numerous security features, between nine and eleven in all, depending on the denomination. These features are visible and sometimes invisible to the naked eye. A special feature of these bills is that they can be identified by the visually impaired, thanks to tactile lines, which can be felt when touched, depending on the notes.

Source: Business in Cameroon

1, October 2023

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Gendarmerie commander killed in Awing ⁰

A Francophone commander of Cameroon’s National Gendarmerie has been killed in the Northern Zone, a source in the governor’s office told Cameroon Concord News.

Commander Betene Manga was in charge of anti Ambazonia operations at the gendarmerie post in Awing.

He was killed when Southern Cameroons restoration forces raided the Awing gendarmerie post on Thursday.

Ambazonia Revolutionary Guards said on social media that they kidnapped another Francophone security official and seized ammunition during the attack on Awing.

Amba fighters have been fighting to create an independent nation in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest since 2017.

By Fon Lawrence in Bamenda

29, September 2023

Old CPDM Tricks: Eto’o investigated by police over match-fixing allegations ⁰

Police in Cameroon have opened an investigation into claims that Samuel Eto’o was part of a match-fixing scandal.

The former Barcelona striker, who has been president of the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) since December 2021, was accused of helping to fix matches in Cameroon’s second tier in July after a recording of him speaking to someone alleged to be Valentine Nkwain, the president of Victoria United and known as ‘Bobdidy’, was made public. According to Camfoot, Eto’o allegedly promised to promote the club from the second division by manipulating matches – a claim denied by the former striker and by Nkwain, who has said it was not his voice on the recording.

Police have confirmed in a letter, seen by the Guardian, that they have opened an investigation into alleged “abuse of authority and corruption”. They are understood to have interviewed several key witnesses involved in the case. The investigation will also look into wider accusations of corruption at Fecafoot during Eto’o’s tenure, which it is believed could involve up to 40 people.

On the recording, Eto’o is alleged to have informed Nkwain that “there are things we can do” regarding a game in which Victoria were beaten 1-0 in December last year “but you have to be very discreet, brother”. “Don’t worry, we’ll give you your three points and we will suspend the referee,” he is alleged to have said. “Opopo [Victoria’s nickname] must go up to the first division. This is our goal. This is our federation. Victoria United will go up.” Victoria went on to be promoted in April.

Eto’o told the Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport in June that he had been “talking to a friend, someone who invests in football and wants to make his club one of the best in Cameroon”. He said: “I just reassured him by saying that I would have done everything possible to avoid any refereeing errors against him.”

The news comes after a group of Cameroon’s football officials called on Fifa to take action against Eto’o after a series of public incidents, including a “violent altercation” with an Algerian journalist at the World Cup in Qatar last year. The group – which includes Pierre Semengue, president of the Professional Football League of Cameroon – have written a letter jointly addressing Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) president, Patrice Motsepe, questioning how the former striker has been allowed to continue “to illegally impose himself on the Fecafoot presidency”.

An investigation into “certain alleged improper conduct” of Eto’o was opened by CAF in early August but no action has been taken.

“Not a word has been heard from Fifa,” the letter reads, “despite numerous complaints and reminders from Cameroonian football actors. How can Fifa continue to remain silent in the face of so many scandals that compromise public confidence in sporting ethics and the sincerity of matches?”

The letter was also critical of Infantino after he and Eto’o were pictured together earlier this month in France to discuss “football development”.

“The sad reality … is that Africa remains a kind of enclave where you can take liberties with the ethics and exemplarity that sports leaders should embody,” the letter says. “Can you imagine Fifa and Uefa remaining silent when the president of a European football federation is suspected of match-fixing, with audio recordings to back it up?”

By Haggai Fung Achuo

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