France formally returns looted Benin artworks at Élysée ceremony

9, November 2021

France formally returns looted Benin artworks at Élysée ceremony 0

French President Emmanuel Macron hosted his counterpart from Benin, President Patrice Talon, on Tuesday to formally seal an agreement to return 26 artworks taken from the former French colony’s Palace of Abomey – today a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The 26 pieces, from a trove of objects snatched by French forces in 1892, were exhibited at the Quai Branly museum in Paris in the run-up to Tuesday’s ceremony. They will be shipped to the West African country in the coming days.

The decision to return them follows growing calls in Africa for European countries to return the colonial spoils from museums.

It is part of a drive by French President Emmanuel Macron to improve his country’s image in Africa, especially among young people.

The treasures are from the kingdom of Dahomey in the south of present-day Benin and include the throne of Dahomey’s last king, Behanzin, as well as three totemic statues, four palace doors, several portable altars and three warrior dance staffs.

The Élysée said Macron’s commitment for Africans to be able see their cultural wealth at home and not just in European museums “marks an important step in building a new relationship between France and Africa”.

Last month, Macron announced that a “talking drum” cherished by Ivory Coast’s Ebrie people, also at the Quai Branly, would be handed back as well.

Some museum directors have criticised the move to return works they deem of “universal” interest.

But Quai Branly president Emmanuel Kasarherou said he welcomed the “soul-searching” that those calls had triggered about the provenance of artworks.

‘Ripped from their cultures’ 

The Quai Branly, which has a vast trove of African artefacts, has begun a sweeping review of its collection of 300,000 objects.

The aim is “to identify works believed to have been taken through violence, without the owners’ consent, or as war booty or through the coercion of the colonial administration”, Kasarherou told AFP.

“Not all objects that are in European collections have been stolen,” he emphasised, but “what proportion were? Our objective is to find out.”

Since his election in 2017, Macron has gone further than his predecessors in admitting to past French abuses in Africa.

In a speech to students in Burkina Faso soon after taking office, he vowed to facilitate the return of African cultural heritage within five years.

An expert report commissioned by Macron counted some 90,000 African works in French museums, 70,000 of them at the Quai Branly alone.

The restitution calls culminated last year in a vote in the French parliament, where lawmakers overwhelmingly backed returning a group of artefacts to Benin and Senegal, another former French colony.

Macron has predicted that the 26 objects taken from the Abomey palace will be “the pride of Benin” when they are returned.

They will be exhibited at various sites in Benin, including a former Portuguese fort in the city of Ouidah, once a slave-trading hub, while awaiting the completion of a museum in Abomey to house them.

Benin’s Talon has previously said he was “not satisfied” with the “small steps” taken by France and called on Macron to go further.

Source:  AFP

Southern Cameroons Crisis:  Troops loyal to Biya receives C-Astral Slovenian drones as war escalates

9, November 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis:  Troops loyal to Biya receives C-Astral Slovenian drones as war escalates 0

Amid escalating tensions in the Anglophone regions, the Cameroonian army has quietly received its first batch of Bramor observation drones from Slovenian manufacturer C-Astral to boost its ISR capacities, Africa Intelligence Reported last week.

While Southern Cameroonians across the globe have been scanning the horizon for five good years in search of ways of ending the war in Southern Cameroons, the Francophone dominated regime has been busy splashing out cash on weapons and ignoring international calls for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

Since the Southern Cameroons crisis hit the global stage some five years ago, some 10,000 Cameroonians have been killed, with army soldiers accounting for close to 35% of the deaths.

Thousands of civilians and soldiers have been maimed and scarred for life in a conflict that could have been addressed through negotiations and genuine dialogue.

Some one million Southern Cameroonians are either  internally displaced or are seeking refuge in a neighboring country due to a conflict many observers say was avoidable.

Thousands of army soldiers whose consciences could not allow them to kill innocent civilians have left the country to escape the harsh punishment the government inflicts on soldiers who do not want to implement the decisions of the top military brass.

By Rita Akana in Yaounde

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Swiss mediators relaunch stalled peace talks with Amba groups

9, November 2021

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Swiss mediators relaunch stalled peace talks with Amba groups 0

The Swiss Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue and the Swiss government are trying to relaunch their stalled mediation efforts for the English-speaking regions of Cameroon, as fighting intensifies there.

The Swiss were part of the Southern Cameroons Retreat that recently held in Toronto, Canada to examine the possiblity of bringing to an end the Southern Cameroons crisis that is in its fifth year and has been spreading death and destruction among the people of Southern Cameroons.

The Toronto meeting organizers included the U.S. State Department, the Vatican, Canada, Ireland, Britain, Switzerland, Norway, the United Nations, and Greenclee which negotiated the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland.

Cameroon Concord News understands that the quality of those who attended the meeting inspired hope to Southern Cameroonians all over the globe including those in Ground Zero and Ground 1.

Since the Southern Cameroons crisis hit the global stage some five years ago, some 10,000 Cameroonians have been killed, with army soldiers accounting for close to 35% of the deaths.

Thousands of civilians and soldiers have been maimed and scarred for life in a conflict that could have been addressed through negotiations and genuine dialogue.

As of today, some one million Southern Cameroonians are either  internally displaced or are seeking refuge in a neighboring country due to a conflict many observers say was avoidable.

Thousands of army soldiers whose consciences could not allow them to kill innocent civilians have left the country to escape the harsh punishment the government inflicts on soldiers who do not want to implement the decisions of the top military brass.

By Isong Asu in London

Inside the Presidency:  Biya’s fragmented family and the fall and fall of Brenda

8, November 2021

Inside the Presidency:  Biya’s fragmented family and the fall and fall of Brenda 0

It was supposed to be a very good week for Cameroon’s first family as the 88-year-old President Paul Biya celebrated his 39 years in office on November 6. Biya, who has been Cameroon’s president since 1982, is rarely seen in public these days. However, it has turned out to be a terrible week for the Cameroonian president. Brenda Biya, the first daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Biya is at war with her parents, presidential aides and has reportedly disowned her parents in a video she posted on social media.

By some strange happenstance, both the Biya family and the communications department at the presidency of the republic are not denying any of the details made public by Brenda Biya and they are also not saying whether the president and Brenda’s mum Chantal Biya are now directly threatened.

The president’s daughter has in the past made disturbing revelations about her parents but this time around she invoked some nasty aspects of her upbringing by parents who are only interested in political power and how to enhance their political image and concluded her story with the crisis in Southern Cameroons blaming all the atrocities on her dad.

Ordinarily, this was supposed to be a family affair but it is now connected to president Biya under whom the ruling CPDM crime syndicate keeping him in power is also in disarray. In her recent outing, Brenda Biya presented herself to the public as a young Cameroonian woman more sinned against than sinning. But her involvement in drugs and alcohol has now escaped the boundaries of personal or family affair to the public domain.

There is no way the Brenda Biya factor would not be used as evidence against President Biya as someone who has always had problems managing every other spaces of leadership. Frankly speaking, the Brenda Biya tragedy demonstrates how Biya’s leadership is leading to the breaking-up of the country. The party level is worse and Biya is the chairman. Today, they tell you the ruling party wants his eldest son Franck Biya to succeed the father and by morning of the following day, they same party tells you the CPDM is appealing for a national consensus for Biya to seek a new term in 2025.

The Francophone Beti Ewondo patriarch is now contending with disarray at both the domestic and international fronts. We of the Cameroon Concord News Group feel sorry for Mr. Paul Biya and we are aware that even the most sympathetic Biya followers know that this is no ordinary crisis.

It is shocking and difficult to understand how all these might be happening to the president’s daughter until she is now being moved to a psychiatric home and the president is totally unable to address the situation.

Very early in the life of the Biya regime, the late First Lady Jeanne Irene Biya made pronouncements that struck the chord with the Cameroonian people. The idea of her husband hijacked by a vicious cabal has since become the staple of the public sphere in Cameroon. Ever since her untimely death, nothing has been done to demonstrate anything to the contrary. The Biya family is crumbling at catastrophic rapidity at a time of grave, generalized insecurity across the Cameroonian nation.

For a leader who spends all his time abroad precisely at the InterContinental Hotel in Geneva to end up like this, is indeed shameful, disgusting and disgraceful. This begs the question:  what is that other thing that takes the little time President Biya has left for governance that disable him from keeping these sorts of creases from spilling over beyond his control to the public square?

To answer this question, you must first of all get an understanding of the mindset of the man on top. Biya enjoys conflict particularly those escalating to the proportion they do under him.

However, mindful of the fact that president Biya has nearly unlimited resources for managing fissures at whatever level, this whole Brenda Biya saga paints a picture of a man who has led himself down. Maybe he thinks history is too distant for him to worry about.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Brexit: Northern Irish bus hijacked and torched

8, November 2021

Brexit: Northern Irish bus hijacked and torched 0

Four men hijacked and set fire to a bus in a pro-British unionist community in Northern Ireland on Sunday evening, authorities said.

Police said they received a report of a hijacking incident in the Church Road area of Newtownabbey, a Belfast suburb, around 7:45 p.m.

“It was reported that four men got onto the bus and ordered passengers off before the bus was then set alight. Church Road is currently closed and diversions are in place and police would ask members of the public to avoid the area,” the Police Service of Northern Ireland said in a statement.

Bus operator Translink said the driver and a small number of passengers safely disembarked.

“Our driver is badly shaken and is currently being supported by colleagues,” the company said in a statement.

“We are very disappointed by this intimidating attack on our member of staff and public transport services in the area. We utterly condemn this behaviour and will be working closely with the PSNI to investigate this incident,” the statement said.

Last week, two masked and armed men hijacked and set fire to another bus in an attack that local media said was linked to tensions over post-Brexit trade barriers.

(Source: Reuters)

US finally reopens land and air borders after 20 months

8, November 2021

US finally reopens land and air borders after 20 months 0

The United States reopens its land and air borders Monday to foreign visitors fully vaccinated against Covid-19, ending 20 months of restrictions on travel from around the globe that separated families, hobbled tourism and strained diplomatic ties.

The ban, imposed by former president Donald Trump in early 2020 and upheld by his successor Joe Biden, has been widely criticized and become emblematic of the upheavals caused by the pandemic.

The restrictions were particularly unpopular in Europe and US neighbors Canada and Mexico.

In an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, US borders were closed after March 2020 to travelers from large parts of the world, including the European Union, Britain and China, India and Brazil. Overland visitors from Mexico and Canada were also banned.

The months of restrictions affecting hundreds of millions of people helped fuel both personal and economic suffering brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It’s been so hard,” Alison Henry, 63, told AFP. “I just want to see my son.”

The British woman plans to fly Monday to see her son in New York, after 20 months of separation.

Families on both sides of the Atlantic are eager to finally reunite with their loved ones.

Although travel from the United States to Europe has been possible since the summer, foreign US residents holding certain visas have had no guarantee of being able to reenter the country.

To cope with surging demand, airlines have increased the number of transatlantic flights and plan to use larger planes, as they work their way out of the pandemic crisis.

Along the border with Mexico, many cities in the US states of Texas and California have faced economic struggles due to anti-Covid trade restrictions.

Meanwhile, Canadian seniors will be able to resume their annual car trips to Florida to escape the bitter northern winters.

But the cost of the PCR tests Canada is requiring for cross-border travel — up to $250 a pop — can be prohibitive.

Ann Patchett, an Ontario resident, told the Ottawa Citizen that it will cost $500 for her and her husband to go south to visit family.

“Do you want to hug your children? Do you want to tuck your grandchildren into bed?… It’s very frustrating,” she said.

New York congressman Brian Higgins, whose district touches the Canadian border and includes the US side of Niagara Falls, plans to hold a news conference Monday with mayors from both countries to urge Canada to drop its testing requirement.

Some restrictions remain

Lifting the travel ban will affect more than 30 countries. But entry into the United States will not be totally unregulated: US authorities plan to closely monitor travelers’ vaccination status and will still require them to present negative Covid-19 tests.

The United States, from Monday, will require air passengers to be fully vaccinated and be tested within three days before travel. Airlines will be required to put in place a contact tracing system.

The land border opening will happen in two phases.

Starting Monday, vaccines will be required for “non-essential” trips — such as family visits or tourism — although unvaccinated travelers will still be allowed into the country for “essential” trips, as they have been for the last year and a half.

A second phase, beginning in early January, will require all visitors to be fully vaccinated to enter the United States by land, no matter the reason for their trip.

US health authorities have said all vaccines approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization would be accepted for entry by air.

At the moment, this includes the AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech, Covaxin, Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines.

The United States has not yet commented on the increase in Covid-19 cases in Europe.

The WHO has expressed “grave concern” over the rising pace of infections in Europe, warning that the current trajectory could mean “another half a million Covid-19 deaths” by February.

But speaking for the United States, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said Sunday on ABC that he’s “cautiously optimistic about where we are,” while adding: “We can’t take our foot off the accelerator until we’re at the finish line.”

But in Berlin, 51-year-old Elisabeth Zours is ready to hit the gas — or as Mick Jagger would say, the “gas, gas, gas.”

A lifelong Rolling Stones fan, Zours had to miss a St. Louis show by the rock supergroup in September due to Covid-19 restrictions and was “frustrated” by the slow US reopening.

Now she plans to make up for lost time. “I’ve got tickets for four (US) concerts,” she said.

“Their music,” Zours added, “is like a good friend.”

Source: AFP

Biya, French Cameroun army soldiers will pay price for crimes in Southern Cameroons

8, November 2021

Biya, French Cameroun army soldiers will pay price for crimes in Southern Cameroons 0

The Ambazonia Interim Government (IG) has stressed that the issue of Southern Cameroons as an independent nation can’t be compromised, warning the 88-year-old President Biya and Cameroon government army soldiers deployed to Southern Cameroons that they will pay the price for their crimes in the Ambazonia homeland.

Vice President Dabney Yerima made the remarks in an IG statement that was issued after the Toronto Southern Cameroons Retreat.

The exiled Southern Cameroons official stressed that the IG is open to dialogue with international partners to end the war in Southern Cameroons but furthered that the people of Southern Cameroons will continue to reject any form of compromise.

Since the Southern Cameroons crisis hit the global stage some five years ago, some 10,000 Cameroonians have been killed, with army soldiers accounting for close to 35% of the deaths.

Thousands of civilians and soldiers have been maimed and scarred for life in a conflict that could have been addressed through negotiations and genuine dialogue.

As of today, some one million Southern Cameroonians are either  internally displaced or are seeking refuge in a neighboring country due to a conflict many observers say was avoidable.

Thousands of army soldiers whose consciences could not allow them to kill innocent civilians have left the country to escape the harsh punishment the government inflicts on soldiers who do not want to implement the decisions of the top military brass.

By Eyere Vera Asu

Southern Cameroons restoration groups stand behind President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and family

8, November 2021

Southern Cameroons restoration groups stand behind President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe and family 0

The Vice President of the Ambazonia Interim Government says all Southern Cameroons restoration groups firmly support President Sisiku Ayuk and his family including all detainees in French Cameroun jails and detention centres.

“I say to you people of Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia: Your Interim Government and all restoration groups in the diaspora, Ground 1 and Ground Zero are standing behind the steadfast leader President Sisiku Ayuk Tabe who continues to defend the interest of British Southern Cameroonians,” the Foreign Affairs Department of the Ambazonia Interim Government quoted Dabney Yerima as saying.

The top Southern Cameroons leader hailed members of the NERA 10 families for their continues support to the Southern Cameroons struggle and for showing a high level of responsibility and awareness.

Dabney Yerima further said that Southern Cameroonians have been lately under a lot of pressure to accept an unjust compromise that would continue to keep them as second class citizens in La Republique du Cameroun.

Since the Southern Cameroons crisis hit the global stage some five years ago, some 10,000 Cameroonians have been killed, with army soldiers accounting for close to 35% of the deaths.

Thousands of civilians and soldiers have been maimed and scarred for life in a conflict that could have been addressed through negotiations and genuine dialogue.

As of today, some one million Southern Cameroonians are either  internally displaced or are seeking refuge in a neighboring country due to a conflict many observers say was avoidable.

Thousands of army soldiers whose consciences could not allow them to kill innocent civilians have left the country to escape the harsh punishment the government inflicts on soldiers who do not want to implement the decisions of the top military brass.

By Chi Prudence Asong

Sudan anti-coup protesters block streets

7, November 2021

Sudan anti-coup protesters block streets 0

Sudanese anti-coup demonstrators built street barricades in and around the capital overnight Saturday following calls for civil disobedience to protest last month’s military coup.

Activists were seen working in darkness to pile up bricks and large slabs to block streets in Khartoum and neighbouring cities, according to witnesses and AFP correspondents.

Their preparation followed calls for civil disobedience made by the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), an umbrella of unions which were instrumental in the 2018-2019 protests which ousted the longtime autocratic president Omar al-Bashir.

The SPA circulated its appeals via text messages to bypass internet outages since October 25, the day of the putsch.

“The Sudanese people have rejected the military coup,” the SPA said on Twitter, vowing “no negotiation, no partnership, no legitimacy”.

“We will start by barricading the main streets to prepare for the mass civil disobedience on Sunday and Monday,” it said, urging protesters to avoid confrontation with the security forces.

Nationwide protests — including by tens of thousands on October 30 — have been met by a deadly crackdown. At least 14 demonstrators have been killed and about 300 wounded, according to the independent Central Committee of Sudan’s Doctors.

By Sunday morning, some shops were still open but others were shuttered in Khartoum and its twin cities of Omdurman and Khartoum-North, according to witnesses.

“Movement on the streets is less than usual but there is not full blockage of streets or closure of shops” after the civil disobedience call, said a witness from Omdurman who declined to give his name fearing reprisals.

Almost two weeks ago Sudan’s top general Abdel Fattah al-Burhan dissolved the government as well as the ruling joint military-civilian Sovereign Council that was supposed to lead the country toward full civilian rule.

He also declared a state of emergency and detained Sudan’s civilian leadership, including Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and members of his government.

Hamdok was later placed under effective house arrest and the military has since Thursday released four civilian members of his government.

The military takeover sparked international condemnation, including punitive aid cuts and demands for a swift return to civilian rule.

Burhan insists it “was not a coup” but a move to “rectify the course of the transition.”

Source: AFP

Researcher in Cameroon develops plant-based leukemia treatment

7, November 2021

Researcher in Cameroon develops plant-based leukemia treatment 0

Hundreds of thousands of people suffer from leukemia in all parts of the world, and many ultimately lose their fight against the disease. While there is currently no cure for leukemia, it is possible to treat the cancer to prevent it from coming back.

A biochemistry researcher at the University of Yaounde Medical School in Cameroon’s capital said she developed a plant-based solution to fight leukemia.

“My solution is to make xenografts by administering an aqueous extract of plant bark powder to mice capable of developing tumors,” Francine Tankeu told Anadolu Agency (AA). “We make them leukemic beforehand and then we follow their evolution.”

The next step is to arrange the remedy in a final physical aspect of the drug as it will be used in a patient and according to its compatibility.

“This other step includes several aspects such as toxicological studies to ensure its safety before moving to the human stage (of trials),” said Tankeu.

She noted results on animals show a significant regression of tumor volume after 30 days.

“The survival rate is good, but the test has not yet been performed on a human patient. The steps to be taken before clinical testing, like human trials, are not complete and I don’t have enough funds,” she said.

The idea to use plants came from her daily life, where she noticed a majority of the population uses traditional plant-based medicine for diseases.

“The beneficial effects of Syzygium Guineense, the plant I use, are not negligible because its activity is anti-leukemic. Beyond being used as a spice for local dishes, it is also used for the treatment of certain cancers,” she said.

‘Improved traditional medicine’

She figured if she could establish a scientific basis for the traditional use and formulate an improved traditional medicine, it would be “very useful.”

The methodology is “in tune with African socio-cultural realities” she said.

Tankeu wants to formulate “an improved traditional medicine” and to study the effects of the leafy forest plant when it is administered in conjunction with anti-cancer drugs to see if there would be a synergistic effect or a reduction in side effects from chemotherapy.

She received the Young Talent Award In 2020 from the For Women in Science in Sub-Saharan Africa program at the L’Oreal Foundation and UNESCO.

This prize allowed her to realize her work is “an effective contribution to the problem of cancer,” she said.

But the fight remains “vast, long and far from being won in view of the growing number of patients in the world as well as the obstacles to scientific research,” said Tankeu.

It is “very complicated in my country” for several reasons she told the Turkish news agency.

Notably, the lack of financial avenues, absence of technical platforms and prejudice against female scientists.

She noted that teachers prefer to work with male researchers because of perceptions that family responsibilities of women present obstacles.

In addition, “many children die before they are even put on treatment because the standard of living of the inhabitants is lower than the cost of examinations for an accurate diagnosis,” she said.

The number of cancer cases is increasing annually in Cameroon and diagnosis times are long – more than 60% of patients arrive at an advanced stage and treatment is expensive – according to the Health Ministry.

Tankeu also lamented about erroneous beliefs and perceptions

“It is a real barrier,” she said.

Despite the situation, the young biochemist said she views the future of her solution with “a lot of optimism, especially given the previous results.”

Source: Daily Sabah

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