French President Macron Visit: Bomb explodes in Yaoundé

25, July 2022

French President Macron Visit: Bomb explodes in Yaoundé 0

A bomb exploded in Damas neighborhood in Yaoundé some few hours ago as the nation’s capital awaits the arrival of French President Emmanuel Macron.

French President Macron is expected today in Yaoundé for a meeting to discuss the political future of 89-year old President Biya.

The bomb was placed in a briefcase outside the busy round about in Yaoundé’s sixth district.

The explosion produced a loud blast of noise but caused no injuries.

Yaounde has been hit by a spate of bombings ever since the war in Southern Cameroons started in 2016.

By Rita Akana

Holding referendum involving all Southern Cameroonians, sole solution to Ambazonian issue

25, July 2022

Holding referendum involving all Southern Cameroonians, sole solution to Ambazonian issue 0

The Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government says holding a referendum involving all the people of Southern Cameroons is the sole political solution to the Ambazonia crisis.

Comrade Dabney Yerima made the remarks on Saturday during a war cabinet meeting convened to examine the disturbing situation in French Cameroun and the President Emmanuel Macron visit.

The exiled Southern Cameroons leader noted that he expects the French government of Emmanuel Macron to support the referendum initiative that was registered at the United Nations by the leader of the Ambazonia nation President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe. The plan is based on holding a referendum with the participation of the original inhabitants of West Cameroon.

Yerima went on to say that the happenings in Yaoundé are not related to the Southern Cameroons problem.

Vice President Dabney Yerima further stressed that the people of Southern Cameroons were no longer interested in the politics of French Cameroun and whosoever becomes head of state in La Republique du Cameroun after Biya will sit with the Ambazonia Interim Government and discuss the terms of separation to decide about the fate and future of the two Cameroons.

Yerima said holding a referendum on the fate of Southern Cameroons with the participation of all inhabitants had first been proposed by the late S.T.Muna and the late Dr John Ngu Foncha.

By Isong Asu

Corruption in the PCC: Bad news for Moderator Fonki Samuel

25, July 2022

Corruption in the PCC: Bad news for Moderator Fonki Samuel 0

From:  Brother Jonathan Fru Awasom ( JAF)

To: Rev. Fonki Samuel Forba, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon,

Subject:  Why have you forsaken the Truth?

Dear Rev Fonki Samuel,

In keeping with 1 Timothy 3,I bring greetings to you in the name of Jesus Christ and for the sake of the founding generation of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC).

According to 1 John 2: 21 ” I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth”.

We have known ourselves far back when I was a youth Pastor like yourself some 22 yearsago. You will neither be reading from me for the first time nor foreign to where I stand about corruption in Presbyterian Church in Cameroon and PCC- USA. It is obvious to me that you, your wife and cronies are determined to ruin the PCC taking advantage of the corrupt political regime that has failed to hold corrupt Anglophone leaders accountable thereby enabling the current Anglophone violent conflict.

Instead of being a prophetic voice and the conscience of the state during these tough times in Cameroon, you have become more like the state exploiting God’s people and enabling all the atrocities of the Cameroon regime against the downtrodden, majority of whom are children and women internally displaced and suffering in the bushes and crowded cities across the country. All you care is to gather some of them to exploit.

I am sick to my stomach about how you have become a pestering sore to the church and Christians. Since you were selected by your predecessors to replace them as the next Moderator, your reign has been rat-infested by theft of church funds, accusations of abuse of power, gross violation of the Constitution of the PCC, distortion and tampering with the Constitution to suit you and your cohorts at home and here in the USA.

I have also read articles widely circulated calling upon you to account for private business investments you have carried out while in Office as the Moderator (President of the PCC) whereby you have hijacked the office of the Moderator to hold shares in private businesses using church funds to invest in your name and family members as though PCC is your private owned company.

You have been accused of bullying Pastors and Christians who question your motives when convinced beyond any reasonable doubts that your conduct was/is not in alignment with the execution of your office as Moderator (First amongst Equals). For instance, you were accused of indulging with a war of words with a community of Presbyterian Christians in locations here in the United States to the extent which your actions split the Church. It is alleged that a small group of people loyal to you decided to site with you while majority broke away. I have to wonder what PCC is doing in the United States?

In Cameroon, your propensity to divide and conquer is alarming with detail reports about perpetual conflicts and animosity under your watch and even so orchestrated by your corrupt leadership style. I have been deeply troubled by your corrupt activities within the PCC Community and wanted to address these issues directly with you because they are very serious. The Cameroon Intelligence Report captioned

“PCC Cameroon under Rev Fonki: Corruption runs rampant. Who should we hold responsible? – Cameroon Intelligence Report” is just one of the numerous publications x-raying the culture of corruption you have masterminded in the PCC since you became Moderator.

PCC Cameroon under Rev Fonki: Corruption runs rampant. Who should we hold responsible?

Therefore, I urge you to give me your undivided attention and to consider my letter to you and your entire body of Synod Executives and Synod of the PCC as an appeal to be mindful of these concerns because enough is enough, Rev Fonki Samuel. We cannot be anymore silent and allow you to continue scamming and exploiting Presbyterians.

Whereas “Moderator” the English Dictionary definition states that he or she a mediator and of course “in the Presbyterian church, the officer who presides over a synod or general assembly”

Whereas as Pastor you are expected to serve and tender “God’s people ” consistent with the calling and mission to reflect the mercy, forgiveness, reconciliation and compassion of Jesus Christ

Whereas the church once “reformed is always reforming”

Whereas no Moderator or any other Synod Executives own the PCC except to be guardians and custodians under appropriate biblical standards in the light of John 15, the Constitution, Book of Order and Confession, and in accordance with governing laws of the State

Whereas your prophetic role in the State can only be effective if you are free from the ills of corruption, fraud, embezzlement and in all dictatorship perpetrated by the state

Whereas you are “First amongst Equals, which does not make you above reproach and accountability or any lesser or greater than your fellow Presbyterians

Whereas the PCC is a church of Presbyters and not a church of individuals loyal to Rev Fonki Samuel,

Whereas it is imperative that the global evangelical and missionary focus of Presbyterianism does NOT discriminate on people based on race and culture with respect to the liturgical application of worship geographically and culturally

Whereas the modus operandi of mission is to foster partnership, diversity and inclusion when spreading the gospel

Whereas Christian discipleship and Financial stewardship go hand – in – hand, I will like to call upon you and your entire leadership at the Synod Office levels of the PCC to account for the following;

1. You, the Rev Fonki Samuel and all Synod Officers serving in high ranking positions shall declare your assets including your bank accounts and investments in Cameroon and abroad including businesses where you are shareholders

2. The Rev Fonki Samuel and the Financial Department shall publish the Financial statements of the PCC including sources of income grants, donations, church contribution etc and expenditures on Salaries of Church workers, projects and charity

3. The Rev Fonki Samuel shall give a detail account of his standing with the PCC USA 🇺🇸 with respect to accusations published against him. Mindful of the non- profit tax exemption of the PCC-USA,  I reserve the absolute right to file a complaint to USA authorities against the lack of financial transparency and accountability during the reign of you, the  Rev Fonki Samuel from 2014 – 2022 marked by a culture of theft of church funds to enrich yourselves.

4. The Rev Fonki Samuel shall explain the reasons behind his suspicious tampering of the Constitution of the PCC . Perhaps by your own tyrannical actions the PCC does not need to be taken back into the dark ages of corrupt tyranny

We will not lie low to watch you and your gang ruin the church our forefathers and parents have built with faith, sacrifice, humility, grace, mercy, forgiveness, reconciliation and love. These sacred Christians values embodied by Jesus Christ are not part of the vocabulary of PCC leadership.

You may boast of your flamboyant unholy alliance with corrupt politicians in Cameroon to oppress and exploit God’s people to enrich yourselves.  That practice ends effective immediately. 

Rev Fonki Samuel if your sole purpose is to change the Constitution of the PCC in order to appoint your wifethe Moderator in the same manner you were appointed, so be it but should that not behappening in your own private church in Akwaya or somewhere else.? So long as this is the PCC you shall not oppress and exploit God’s people for so long. It ends effective immediately as appropriate steps are underway to ensure that someone more powerful than you and your regime will end your evil and wickedness against God’s people in Cameroon

Every project you have carried out in the name of PCC is only done so as a calculated means to embezzle most of the money. Why do you close primary schools, unable to pay the salaries of teachers, some who taught you in primary school, yet you are able to increase your salaries in the Synod Office without taking into consideration the plight of others?

That explains why you are now living at large while thousands of children are living in abject poverty around the country due to violent conflict and warfare. It is better for you to resign now from that office   in keeping with the laws that govern your activities here in the USA. Rev Fonki Samuel I cannot imagine that you are so inconsiderate to the pain and suffering of children and families to the point where you shut down primary school in the 21st century. You increased your salary from Moderator to CEO. Let me ask you a simple question? Are you the one who owns the PCC? If you are the CEO of PCC then be prepared to come to court in the USA because you will have to account to this country.   If you insist I will file a complaint against you and against all PCC churches in the USA. Your conduct is despicable and unacceptable.

Finally,  it is important that the Presbyterian Church In Cameroon and PCC-USA be brought to her traditional and historical context as the basis for the present day mission and evangelism by upholding the sacredness of Presbyterian beliefs in the light of   Holy Scriptures.  This is well articulated by this statement and since you are not complying with this Presbyterian belief, please , leave  the PCC .

“Some of the principles articulated by John Calvin are still at the core of Presbyterian beliefs. Among these are the sovereignty of God, the authority of Scripture, justification by grace through faith and the priesthood of all believers. What these tenets mean is that God is the supreme authority throughout the universe. Our knowledge of God and God’s purpose for humanity comes from the Bible, particularly what is revealed in the New Testament through the life of Jesus Christ. Our salvation (justification) through Jesus is God’s generous gift to us and not the result of our own accomplishments. It is everyone’s job — ministers and lay people alike — to share this Good News with the whole world. That is also why the Presbyterian church is governed at all levels by a combination of clergy and laity, men and women alike.”

Theology

Thank you for your cooperation and thoughtfulness to these issues.

Yours truly in Jesus Christ,

Bother Jonathan Fru Awasom

Jonathan_light2000@yahoo.com

Phone: 201-878-5829

CC All Pastors, Elders, Deacons and Christians of the PCC

       PC (USA)

       United States Authoritiesin Cameroon and USA

       Cameroon Authorities in the United States

       All persons of interest in the PCC

Macron to meet President Paul Biya, 89, who has ruled Cameroon for almost 40 years

24, July 2022

Macron to meet President Paul Biya, 89, who has ruled Cameroon for almost 40 years 0

President Emmanuel Macron on Monday begins a three-nation tour of western African states in the first trip to Africa of his new term as he seeks to reboot France’s post-colonial relationship with the continent.

Macron will begin his July 25-28 tour, also the first venture outside Europe of his new mandate, with a visit to Cameroon, before moving on to Benin and then finishing the trip in Guinea-Bissau.

Top of the agenda in the talks will be food supply issues, with African nations fearing shortages especially of grain due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

But security will also loom large as France prepares to complete its pullout from Mali this year, with all countries in the region seeking to head off fears of Islamist insurgencies.

The trip to three countries which rarely feature on the itinerary of global leaders comes with Macron, who won a new term in April, pledging to keep up his bid for a new relationship between France and Africa.

France has also followed with concern the emergence of other powers seeking a foothold in an area Paris still considers parts of its sphere of influence, notably Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan but also increasingly China and Russia.

‘Political priority’

The tour “will show the commitment of the president in the process of renewing the relationship with the African continent”, said a French presidential official, who asked not to be named.

It will signal that the African continent is a “political priority” of his presidency.

In Cameroon, which has been riven by ethnic violence and an insurgency by anglophone separatists, Macron will meet President Paul Biya, 89, who has ruled the country for almost 40 years and is the longest-serving non-royal leader in the world.

Biya has run the country with an iron fist, refusing demands for federalism and cracking down on the rebellion by separatists.

Macron will move on Wednesday to Benin, a neighbour of Africa’s most populous nation Nigeria. The north of the country has faced more deadly attacks, with the jihadist threat now spreading from the Sahel to Gulf of Guinea nations.

He is likely to be lauded for championing the return in November of 26 historic treasures which were stolen in 1892 by French colonial forces from Abomey, capital of the former Dahomey kingdom located in the south of modern-day Benin.

Benin was long praised for its thriving multi-party democracy. But critics say its democracy has steadily eroded under President Patrice Talon over the last half decade. Opposition leader Reckya Madougou was sentenced in 2021 to 20 years in prison on terrorism charges.

On Thursday, Macron will finish his tour in Guinea-Bissau, which has been riven by political crisis at a time when its President Umaro Sissoco Embalo is preparing to take the helm of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Rethink strategy

With all the countries criticised by activists over their rights records, the Elysee has insisted that governance and rights issues will be raised, albeit “without media noise but in the form of direct exchanges between the heads of states”.

Macron’s first term was marked by visits to non-francophone African countries including regional powerhouses Nigeria and South Africa as he sought to engage with the entire continent and not just former French possessions.

Benin is a former French colony, but Guinea-Bissau was once a Portuguese colony while Cameroon’s colonial heritage is a mixture of British and German as well as French.

Macron meanwhile has insisted France’s military presence in the region will adapt rather than disappear once the pullout from Mali is complete.

He announced last week that a rethink of France’s presence would be complete by autumn, saying the military should be “less exposed” in the future but their deployment still a “strategic necessity”.

The pullout from Mali follows a breakdown in relations with the country’s ruling junta, which Western states accuse of relying on Russian Wagner mercenaries rather than European allies to fight an Islamist insurgency.

Source: AFP

The Holy Father Pope Francis arrives in Canada to apologise for Indigenous school abuse

24, July 2022

The Holy Father Pope Francis arrives in Canada to apologise for Indigenous school abuse 0

Pope Francis arrived Sunday in Canada, where he is expected to personally apologize to Indigenous survivors of abuse committed over a span of decades at residential schools run by the Catholic Church.

The head of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics landed at Edmonton’s international airport shortly after 11 am (1700 GMT).

He was welcomed by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mary Simon, the country’s first Indigenous governor general, as well as Indigenous leaders in an airport ceremony that began with drums and chanting.

Afterwards Francis received welcome gifts from Indigenous leaders, shaking or kissing their hands and making conversation with each before the short ceremony ended.

During the 10-hour flight from Rome Francis told journalists travelling with him that “we must be aware that this is a penitential journey.”

The 85-year-old pontiff’s Canada visit is primarily to apologize to survivors for the Church’s role in the scandal that a national truth and reconciliation commission has called “cultural genocide”.

From the late 1800s to the 1990s, Canada’s government sent about 150,000 First Nations, Metis and Inuit children into 139 residential schools run by the Church, where they were cut off from their families, language and culture.

Many were physically and sexually abused by headmasters and teachers.

Thousands of children are believed to have died of disease, malnutrition or neglect.

Since May 2021, more than 1,300 unmarked graves have been discovered at the sites of the former schools.

A delegation of Indigenous peoples travelled to the Vatican in April and met the pope — a precursor to Francis’ six-day trip — after which he formally apologized.

But doing so again on Canadian soil will be of huge significance for survivors and their families, for whom the land of their ancestors is of particular importance.

The flight constituted the longest since 2019 for the pope, who has been suffering from knee pain that has forced him to use a cane or wheelchair in recent outings.

The pope was in a wheelchair Sunday and used a lifting platform to board the plane in Rome, and was also in a wheelchair on the tarmac in Edmonton, an AFP correspondent accompanying him said.

‘Too late’

 After resting Sunday, the pope will travel Monday to the community of Maskwacis, some 100 kilometres (62 miles) south of Edmonton, and address an estimated crowd of 15,000 expected to include former students from across the country.

“I would like a lot of people to come,” said Charlotte Roan, 44, interviewed by AFP in June. The member of the Ermineskin Cree Nation said she wanted people to come “to hear that it wasn’t made up”.

Others see the pope’s visit as too little too late, including Linda McGilvery with the Saddle Lake Cree Nation near Saint Paul, about 200 kilometres east of Edmonton. 

“I wouldn’t go out of my way to see him,” said the 68-year-old.

“For me it’s kind of too late, because a lot of the people suffered, and the priests and the nuns have now passed on.”

McGilvery spent eight years of her childhood in one of the schools, from age six to 13.

“Being in the residential school I lost a lot of my culture, my ancestry. That’s many years of loss,” she told AFP.

After a mass before tens of thousands of faithful in Edmonton on Tuesday, Francis will head northwest to an important pilgrimage site, the Lac Sainte Anne.

Following a July 27-29 visit to Quebec City, he will end his trip in Iqaluit, capital of the northern territory of Nunavut and home to the largest Inuit population in Canada.

There he will meet with former residential school students, before returning to Italy.

In total, Francis is expected to deliver four speeches and four homilies, all in Spanish.

Francis is the second pope to visit Canada, after John Paul II, who visited three times (1984, 1987 and 2002).

Source: AFP

Biya has turned Cameroon into a ticking time-bomb that he cannot defuse

24, July 2022

Biya has turned Cameroon into a ticking time-bomb that he cannot defuse 0

The Civil Cabinet at the Presidency of the Republic released a tentative program on President Emmanuel Macron’s visit saying that Biya or his representative will welcome the French leader at the Nsimalen International airport.

The program clearly reveals that Biya is now an X Factor and his regime is unsustainable.  For the first time in the history of the country, the presidency as an institution is not sure on who is going to receive a visiting French president.

To be accurate, Biya and his regime have no capacity to reform the sinking ship. The Francophone dominated administration is facing growing economic woes, crumbling infrastructure, warring elites and a serious secession crisis in Southern Cameroons.

For more than three decades, the 89-year-old Biya has relied on military action as his government’s prime means of legitimizing its power, something that has only become evident since the Ambazonia standoff exploded in 2016.

Before the Southern Cameroons Crisis, Biya and his criminal gang were looking fairly stable and could last for several years without profound change.

With age telling on Biya and fuel crisis hitting Cameroon’s bottom line, political elites and the military leadership, the only sharp tool in Biya’s box is his kinsmen and women in the military, and Biya is increasingly flexing them in the Far North and in Southern Cameroons.

Now, Cameroon is actively, almost openly aggressively, bolstering activity in the Far North against Boko Haram Camerounaise, rebels from the Central African Republic and armed bandits in the cities of Douala and Yaoundé including Ambazonia Restoration Forces.

Political commentators noted that the last edition of the Africa Cup of Nations hosted in Cameroon was one of the most militaristic in years.

The French have been supplying Biya with outdated tanks, post World War I missiles, expired electronic warfare systems and flying coffins passing for fighter jets. But what is more disturbing for the French now is Cameroon’s next president.

The problem for President Emmanuel Macron is that France doesn’t seem to have a long-term vision any more for its “former” colonies in Africa. President Macron himself has been jumping from solving crisis to solving crisis all over Francophone Africa-Guinea, Mali, Chad, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, and Macron is gradually drifting toward Anglophone Africa where leaders think properly and where political and strategic solutions are constantly being applied rather than military solutions.

It is hard to tell what Biya’s biggest problem right now is! Everything in Cameroon is crashing and fast and even Francophone millionaires are fleeing an economy which now has no room to expand.

And with foreign and local investors running away, Biya now has very limited choices: play nice with the Bamilekes, which means relax the Beti Ewondo grip on the Douala Port and pretend to ignore the Bamileke boycott of the Kribi Port or be replaced as Head of State by a Bamileke. Neither of these sound like options Biya is comfortable with!

So what does this actually mean for the so-called one and indivisible Cameroon? The answer is simple: collapse. Cameroon is indeed is a plane in a tailspin.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Biafra attack kills 5 Cameroon gov’t soldiers in Bakassi Peninsula

24, July 2022

Biafra attack kills 5 Cameroon gov’t soldiers in Bakassi Peninsula 0

Five members of the Rapid d’intervention Battalion (BIR), a Cameroonian military unit, have been reportedly killed by separatists suspected to be militant members of the Biafra Nations League, BnL.

The personnel of a Cameroonian military unit were said to have invaded the camp of the Biafra group on Saturday morning.

Reports say that men of the BIR, before invading the camp, took down two wooden poles with Biafran flags at about two kilometers away from the separatist camp as at 9 o’clock in the morning in Isangele but were swiftly resisted by the separatist militants.

The separatist militants were said to have first opened fire on the soldiers and killed five officers while it lost one man.

Residents who heard gunshots have reportedly fled their communities for safety.

Local reporters gathered that two military drone cameras were seen flying round the communities yesterday evening before the attack this morning.

The leader of BnL Bakassi Chapter, Ita Bassey confirmed the incident to newsmen. He said that the camp of a self defense partner group was invaded by Cameroon forces this morning.

He said the Cameroonian forces came with three gunboats but did not fire a shot until the boys opened fire on them, “they thought that nobody was in the camp, they wanted to go and take all the arms and ammunition but met their waterloo. As the boys opened fire on them a few kilometers from the camp.”

Source: Daily Post

Biya family: Who is really in charge in Yaoundé?

23, July 2022

Biya family: Who is really in charge in Yaoundé? 0

Images of Franck Biya are draped over walls of strategic locations in the run-up to President Emmanuel Macron’s visit in the nation’s capital, Yaoundé. Cameroon has only one tradition embedded in her politics when a foreign head of state is expected in the country- the president’s portrait with the visiting leader.

But events in Yaoundé are now telling a different story which many have painted as the road to a civil war. The message is clear, Paul Biya is the outgoing President and the corrupt and ill-equipped eldest son of Mr. Biya is the President-In-Waiting.

French speaking Cameroonians are about to enter one of the stranger transition periods in their history. It is now evidently clear that Franck Biya is President Paul Biya’s anointed heir outside the ruling CPDM political structure.

Given this Beti Ewondo Francophone political arrangement, there are two burning questions on everybody’s mind: Who is really in charge in Yaoundé? And will this fake transition as many Francophone Cameroonian pundits have dubbed it, lead to civil war?

There are under-the-table talks in Yaoundé that President Emmanuel Macron visit to Cameroon is intended to show the Francophone political elites that the Biya family plans to remain in charge.

“The Franck Biya posters in Yaoundé signal a family planning to continue being a leader” a senior political figure from the Far North region told Cameroon Concord News

Cameroon is not Gabon or Togo. So Franck Biya will not have the accoutrements of power. Franck Biya will not have formal control over the Cameroonian military and security services, and he will eventually escape to France.

Those who are pushing the Franck Biya For President agenda are simply ignoring the fact that Southern Cameroonians already have guns!! It needs only the Far North or the Bamilekes to do same and Cameroon will be worse than Rwanda.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Football: Ronaldo in limbo as Europe’s elite turn their backs on Man Utd star

23, July 2022

Football: Ronaldo in limbo as Europe’s elite turn their backs on Man Utd star 0

Cristiano Ronaldo faces an uncertain future after the Manchester United striker’s attempt to force his way out of Old Trafford failed to spark the expected rush for his signature.

The Portugal superstar shocked United earlier this month with his bombshell exit request after the team’s failure to qualify for the Champions League.

Ronaldo would have anticipated a host of top clubs jostling to sign him.

But for the first time in his glittering career he is no longer a must-have item for Europe’s wealthy elite as Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain all appear to have turned their backs on the forward.

Concerns over Ronaldo’s declining work-rate and his notoriously demanding personality have left the 37-year-old in limbo.

Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly was reported to have spoken to Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes about a deal to mark the new era at Stamford Bridge.

But Blues boss Thomas Tuchel is believed to have concerns about trying to integrate Ronaldo into his plans for a fluid front three after signing Raheem Sterling from Manchester City.

“We focused on our top target Raheem Sterling who we signed and everything else stays behind closed doors,” Tuchel said when asked about Ronaldo.

Selling Robert Lewandowski to Barcelona could have created space for Ronaldo at Bayern, but the German champions’ CEO Oliver Kahn poured cold water on that idea.

“As highly as I rate Cristiano Ronaldo as one of the greatest, a transfer wouldn’t be a fit with our philosophy,” he said.

“I love Cristiano Ronaldo and everyone knows how fantastic he is. But every club has a certain philosophy and I’m not sure if it would be the right thing for Bayern and the Bundesliga if we signed him now.”

United manager Erik ten Hag has repeatedly stated the club’s public position that Ronaldo is “not for sale”.

Yet, although Ronaldo finished as United’s top scorer last season, there is a growing sense in Manchester that his departure could benefit Ten Hag’s chances of building a side more suited to the style he created at Ajax.

United have flourished without Ronaldo on a pre-season tour of Asia and Australia, scoring 11 goals in victories over Liverpool, Melbourne Victory and Crystal Palace.

Dwindling options

A dynamic front three of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Jadon Sancho has shown what they are capable of.

All three of those players struggled last season after Ronaldo’s arrival changed the style of a United side that had finished second in the Premier League the season before.

Ronaldo’s time at Juventus also coincided with a decline in European results for the Italian giants, despite his goalscoring record of 101 goals in 134 games.

After witnessing two European giants struggle to accommodate the ageing five-time Ballon d’Or winner, there are few takers for the veteran goal-scorer.

Ronaldo’s iconic status at United, established in his trophy-laden first spell with the club, has also lost some of its lustre.

Andy Mitten, journalist and editor of the United We Stand fanzine, said: “His arrival was sprung on United at the last minute and the team which had finished third and second had to rip up their tactics and start again.

“They don’t see Ronaldo as United’s future and there are plenty of fans who’d go along with that.”

United’s rivals Manchester City, who won the race for Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland, and Liverpool, who spent a fee that could rise to 100 million euros ($102 million) on Benfica’s Darwin Nunez, both opted to sign younger forwards just entering their prime.

A return to Real Madrid, where Ronaldo starred from 2009 to 2018, seems unlikely given Karim Benzema’s brilliant displays in their Champions League and La Liga-winning campaign last season.

Even PSG, habitual collectors of football’s marquee names, seem to be out of the running.

A switch to Real’s rivals Atletico Madrid remains a possibility, but with his options dwindling, Ronaldo may have to swallow his pride and stay at Old Trafford.

If that is too much for his ego to take, one last payday in the United States or Saudi Arabia could loom as definitive evidence of Ronaldo’s decline.

Source: AFP

President Macron Visit and the CPDM politician wasting government’s money in the most ridiculous way

23, July 2022

President Macron Visit and the CPDM politician wasting government’s money in the most ridiculous way 0

No Cameroonian, not even President Biya enjoys paying taxes and the ruling CPDM has been running the country with taxes and oil revenue from Southern Cameroons. While it’s no fun coughing up those hard-earned FCFA to the corrupt government in Yaoundé, taxes and CPDM waste are the two reasons Cameroonians cannot have quality roads, schools, street lamps, fire departments, and sewer systems, the nice array of conveniences that all make contemporary life a lot easier and definitely more sanitary.

If there’s one infuriating thing that Cameroonians from all corners of the spectrum can agree on is watching the sneaky government officials in Yaoundé snatching up those valuable tax money and spending the dough on something selfish, greedy, or just plain stupid like the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron.

Unfortunately, the wrong politicians in Cameroon have the keys to the national piggy bank and have given the world the most egregious examples of officials wasting government money.

The Government Delegate to the Yaoundé Urban Council Hon. Esimi Evouna has gotten a little too enthusiastic about receiving French President Emmanuel Macron and he is using 10.5 million FCFA of Cameroonian taxpayer’s money to mobilize desperate CPDM militants from the Mfoundi constituency in Yaoundé to line the streets.

The purpose is to mislead President Macron and international public opinion that all is well in the so-called one and indivisible Cameroon. The 10.5 million CFA franc is only for transportation! We do not know how much will be dished out on purchases on wine, makeup, and gift cards.

Nonetheless, spending 10.5 million on only Mfoundi CPDM Section is a bit much, when all the folks involved certainly get paid enough to transport themselves to the ceremonial ground without breaking the piggy bank.

Long Live the ruling CPDM Crime Syndicate

By Rita Akana in Yaounde

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