Troops carrying out raids in a western region of Cameroon have killed 24 people described as separatists, a general who heads operations in the English-speaking zones has said.

General Valere Nka told state radio Wednesday the army had carried out two major operations in recent days to fight separatists in the Northwest region, where a conflict erupted nearly three years ago, as well as in the Southwest region.

Nka had told CRTV television late Tuesday that 13 “terrorists” were killed in a first raid in the towns of Bali, Batibo and Widikum where separatists had barricaded a road leading to neighbouring Nigeria.

Another 11 were killed at a separatist camp in the town of Mbokam, and soldiers seized about a dozen weapons, Nka said.

He gave no dates for the two incidents.

Rights monitors regularly condemn abuses committed against civilians by both sides in the conflict, which has claimed more than 3,000 lives and forced at least 700,000 from their homes.

Decades of grievances at perceived discrimination by the francophone majority grew into a declaration of independence in October 2017, which was followed by a government crackdown.

Source: AFP

The case between the ailing President of the National Assembly, Cavaye Yeguié Djibril, and his nephew who moonlighted as his aide-de-camp, Captain Bouba Simala, had another dramatic hearing yesterday the 16^th of June 2020 at the Yaoundé Military Court.

The matter which is beginning to attract media attention was again postponed until the 21^st of July at the request of the state prosecutor’s office to enable General Ivo Desancio Yenwo, Director of Presidential Security to testify in front of the presiding judge.

General Ivo whose disappearance from the Yaoundé political and military scenes last year created so much under-the-table talk is expected before the judge to be heard and certainly bring new elements in this thorny case which is far from being over.

Judging from the high and delicate position he occupies among the ranks of President Biya’s closest aides in the Francophone dominated Beti Ewondo structure, it is highly likely that the soldier man will be represented by his counsel rather than responding personally to the Yaoundé Military Tribunal’s call.

It is vital to include in this report that the Cavaye Djibril- Bouba Simala case has been going on for 5 years. To be accurate since June 2015. The Speaker of the so-called French Cameroun lower house of parliament accuses his nephew, who was his bodyguard for more than 15 years, of having tried to kidnap him in complicity with senior army officers serving with the presidential guard.

By Rita Akana with files from Cameroon Info.Net

The U.N. Population Fund says many women are reluctant to seek medical care at health facilities for fear they may be exposed to the coronavirus.  In Cameroon, a nonprofit group of doctors has started to make home visits, the first program of its kind in the country. 

25-year-old Jeanne Ngono said  she has a health condition that requires regular monitoring.

But she’s hasn’t been to the hospital for four months because she’s afraid of being exposed to the coronavirus.

Instead, a doctor from nonprofit group SOS Doctors Cameroon is visiting her at home.

She said she feels safe at home compared to the hospital.  When you go to the hospital, said Ngono, you don’t know who you’re going to meet on the way; the taxis you’ll take; who is sick or not.

Like Ngono, many people around the world are afraid to go to hospitals, according to the U.N. Population Fund.

Medical experts say they understand this but urge patients to continue to stay in touch with doctors and hospitals.

Doctor Jean-Berthelot Zambo is with Cameroon’s National College of Doctors.

He said if there are initiatives that can add value, they should not be rejected.  But in his humble opinion, said Zambo, the hospital remains the best place where diagnosis can be made and the patients well oriented.

The group SOS Doctors Cameroon includes 30 doctors in five cities. Patients can ask for a consultation on the group’s website or Facebook page. A visit costs about $34, twice the price of a hospital consultation.

Despite the cost, SOS Doctors Cameroon said requests for home visits have jumped from about 20 in March to about 100 per month.

And the medical aid group is continuing to find new ways to provide service, said SOS Doctors Cameroon President Dr. Fernand Ombolo.

He said they realized that it was mostly routine consultations. So, it gave them the idea to set up a remote assistance service, which is done by WhatsApp, says Ombolo. It allows patients to chat 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with a doctor, he said, and to ask any type of medical question.

The demand is expected to only grow. Cameroon has confirmed nearly 10,000 COVID-19 cases, one the highest number of known infections in Africa.

Source: VOA

French Cameroun social media users revealed yesterday some very conflicting accounts about the health of Cameroon’s First Lady Chantal Biya who has reportedly vanished from public view ever since her daughter Brenda Biya made disturbing revelations on the situation inside the Unity Palace.

Three sources familiar with the happenings in the Biya family have hinted Cameroon Intelligence Report that things are indeed falling apart for the 86 year old dictator. Other unconfirmed social media reports, attributed to senior Beti Ewondo political elites in Yaoundé, said Chantal Biya had died from an undisclosed illness.

In another version, it was stated that Madam Biya contracted the coronavirus and she is self isolating in Mvomeka’a.

What would happen if Chantal Biya died?

Madam Chantal Biya’s absence is raising eyebrows around the nation’s capital, Yaoundé. But as with all coverage of affairs linked to the first family of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate, the swirl of reports and rumours can be treated only with great caution.

Our Yaoundé city reporter who contributed to this report observed that Chantal Biya was alive and expected to make a public appearance soon, but his comments did not clarify whether she had been suffering from COVID-19.

Questions about Madam Chantal Biya’s whereabouts intensified after her daughter suggested in a recent outing on Face Book that secret service officers at the presidency were planning to kill her.

The corrupt French Cameroun media houses have played down reports on the collapse of the Biya family and no French Cameroun news organisation  has published a story on the numerous videos posted on social media by the twenty-two year old Brenda Biya.

However, speculation about possible power struggles and a transition to the ill-prepared Franck Biya is causing deep alarm in both the northern and southern regions of the country.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai in London