6, February 2020

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Yaounde shocked by the lockdown ⁰

The Yaounde government is terribly shaken by the success of the lockdown declared by various Southern Cameroonian group as a measure to prove that the two English-speaking regions of the country are still being controlled by Southern Cameroonians living abroad.

Over the last couple of months, the beleaguered and cash-strapped Yaounde government has been selling and spreading the illusion that peace was returning to the two English-speaking regions of the country.

Images emerging from many parts of the two English-speaking regions of the country speak to the seriousness of the lockdown, with army soldiers even scared of venturing outside.

In Kumba and Bamenda, the two largest cities in the English-speaking regions of the country, businesses and schools were completely shut down.

Cars and motor bikes were completely out of business and even animals and insects could not be spotted in the towns. The sound of a dropping pin could be heard as both cities had become ghost towns.

In Buea, the capital of Southern Cameroons, not much could be seen on the streets. The city’s three universities have been closed down and despite the arrival of the country’s Prime Minister, Dion Ngute, to the city, not many people showed up to cheer up the disappointed and depressed prime minister who is a native of the Southwest region and has the obligation of proving that the region is solidly behind the bed-ridden president, Paul Biya, who has been in power for 37 years and has nothing to show for his long stay in power.

Under him, Cameroon has made giant strides backwards, with unemployment reaching unprecedented levels.

Despite huge amounts of aid and budget support from international development finance institutions like the World Bank and the African Development Bank, the country’s poorly managed economy has been caught in a downward spiral and the regime’s legendary inefficiency and corruption are pushing the economy down the bottom of the abyss.

Dion Ngute might be in Buea, but his presence will not be swaying the Southwest population that has made up its mind to head in the opposite direction.

The population knows what Dion Ngute is selling, but nobody wants to have anything to do with him. His products are poisonous and nobody needs them.

He is in Buea to campaign for his party, the CPDM that has been ruling the country for 37 years, but the population is fleeing from the party that is being equated to the Coronavirus in China that has claimed close to a thousand lives.

The CPDM is a code name for corruption. It is a crime syndicate chaired by a man whose notoriety is compared to that of Al Capone, a one-time Mafia boss whose corruption and cruelty were unparalleled.

There is not much the CPDM can say that will convince the people of Southern Cameroons. This crime syndicate has presided over the killing of thousands of Southern Cameroonians.

Currently, the party is considered as a terrorist organization in the two English-speaking regions of the country and anybody found to associate with it will face the death penalty.

The people of Southern Cameroons are a dignified people. Despite the intimidation and killings that have become the government’s hallmark, they have continued to support their leaders, especially those who are in the dungeons of East Cameroon.

The Yaounde government has exhausted all the tricks in its book and the weapons in its arsenal just to hoodwink the people, but the results have been unfortunately dismal.

Dignity is a currency that is not designed for everybody, but the people of Southern Cameroons are blessed with it.

They prefer to die of starvation than to change their minds. They have been victims of the Yaounde government’s well orchestrated marginalization and they understand that the time to reverse the evils of the past is now and they have made up their minds to stand with their leaders and to walk the distance with them until they achieve their independence.

Southern Cameroonians do not want to waste their time with worthless projects. They know the elections results are already out. They don’t want the world to think that they will be there next Sunday to rubberstamp the CPDM- manufactured results.

Southern Cameroonians have survived the impossible. Their families and friends have been killed by Mr. Biya’s army. Their businesses have been ruined and their homes have been torched. They are sure they will survive the challenging days ahead.

Mr. Dion Ngute and his fellow senior southwest CPDM officials have never condemned government atrocities in the two English-speaking regions of the country. How does he think the brave people of the rich Southwest will be rushing to welcome him in Buea after the atrocities of his government?

If he had consulted any soothsayer in East Cameroon who had informed him that there would be large crowds to welcome him, then he should know that he was mistaken. The people have made up their minds and the Yaounde regime can just go ahead and validate its own election results like it did in the 2018 presidential elections. The people’s minds have been made up.

Dion Ngute should understand that there is a limit to what the human mind can accept. The human mind sometimes rejects scripts written for it by others and that is what Southern Cameroonians have done. No support for the killer party – the CPDM.

By Rita Akana in Buea

6, February 2020

Two train drivers killed in Italy high-speed rail crash ⁰

Two rail workers are killed and about 30 people injured on Thursday when a high-speed train derailed before dawn near Milan in northern Italy, authorities say.

The crash occurred just after 5:30 a.m. (4:30 GMT) near the town of Lodi, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Milan.

“It was a serious accident that had a tragic end with the death of two rail workers” aboard the train, Lodi Prefect Marcello Cardona told reporters, who added that an investigation was underway.

Cardona said none of the injuries suffered were life-threatening and all casualties had been taken to hospital. The Lombardy region’s health department put the number of injured at 31.

“It could have been a lot worse,” Cardona said, adding that there were only 33 people on board the train. Only one person was in the first car and two people in the second when the accident occurred, he said.

“I thought I was dead,” a survivor told local newspaper Liberta from hospital in Piacenza where he was being treated for minor injuries. “I closed my eyes and prayed.”

“The train was going very fast, perhaps 300 kilometers per hour (around 200 miles per hour),” said the unnamed man in his 20s.

“Suddenly, I felt a violent blow. A really loud roar,” said the man who was traveling with a friend in the second carriage.

“We held hands tightly to avoid falling. The wagon overturned and while waiting for help we went out through a hole to save ourselves,” he said, adding that they were stuck on the crashed train for 15 minutes.

The interior minister has been informed and the prosecutor was already at the scene of the accident, the cause of which was unknown, he said.

Two helicopters, hundreds of firemen, police and other authorities descended on the open farmland area outside of Lodi.

“We are greatly saddened by the two deaths, the two rail workers, and we express our solidarity with the families,” said Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.

“We can’t yet say anything” about the cause of the crash, he told journalists in Rome.

Italian firefighters remove rubbles from the wreckage of a derailed train, outside the city of Lodi, near Milan, northern Italy, on February 6, 2020. (Photo by AFP)

Ripped metal

The Milan-Salerno train was en route to Bologna when it came off the tracks before dawn.

Video images showed ripped metal at the front of the first car, where the engine separated from the train. The first car was flipped on its side and appeared to be still attached to the rest of the train.

The engine car could be seen resting on its side on the other side of a nearby railway building several dozen meters away.

According to initial findings reported by the media, the engine went off the rails and struck a freight wagon on a parallel track before hitting the building.

Italian media reported that work had been done on the track on Wednesday night, but Cardona said it was premature to jump to conclusions on a link between that work and the accident.

“Line maintenance is done continually and it’s much too early to associate the accident to maintenance,” he said.

Dozens of high-speed trains on the north-south route were canceled following the derailment, while other trains were rerouted, adding an hour to the journey, operator Trenitalia said.

Italy’s last serious train accident occurred in January 2018, when three women died and about 100 passengers were injured when a packed train derailed near Milan due to poor track maintenance.

Managers and employees of Italy’s state railway, RFI, as well as two former members of the national railway safety agency were charged with negligent homicide and other crimes.

(Source: AFP)

6, February 2020

Cameroon: PM Ngute Campaigns in Buea ⁰

Cameroon’s Prime Minister, Dion Ngute, arrived in Buea on Thursday, February 6, 2020, where he campaigned for his party, the Cameroon Peoples Dictatorship Movement (CPDM) that has been in power for 37 years with nothing to show for.

The low-energy Prime Minister came to the Southwest regional headquarters in an attempt to demonstrate that there is security in the region.

Before reaching Bongo Square where the long and empty campaign speeches were read, there was gunfire in Muea, some 2 km from where he read his long boring speech. The gunfire was a reminded that the residents of that land were still unhappy with the government he is serving.

As a native of the Southwest region, Dion Ngute is expected to drum up support for his disintegrating party in his region.

But there is nothing that can really make the people of this rich land to admire a government that has killed many of its citizens. Selling the CPDM in the Southwest is like trying to sell a pig to Americans, claiming that it is a beautiful girl.

The people of the Southwest have resoundingly rejected a party they consider as a crime syndicate presided over by a conman they consider to be worse than Al Capone, the once upon a time Mafia boss.

Before visiting the region, some 700 prisoners from the Yaounde Maximum Prison had been shipped to the region to welcome him and to hoodwink the population into believing that Mr. Ngute and his party are popular.

The 700 criminals will be voting in the upcoming twin elections whose results are already known. However, despite PM Ngute’s presence in Buea, it has been reported that the region is in total lockdown.

In Kumba, not even flies could visit some of the corpses that litter the streets after the military went on a killing spree a few days ago.

The same is reported of Ekona, Mamfe, Tiko, and Muyuka where soldiers rounded up all young men on Monday. The young men are being asked to pay CFAF 50,000 if they want to be free.

For those who do not have the money, they are being threatened with death, and many of them have already been taken to Buea and other towns in the region with larger prison facilities.

This year’s election will be taking place in an atmosphere of fear and intimidation, as the government seeks to prove that there is peace across the country.

But there is no peace in the two English-speaking regions of the country. Many soldiers were killed on Wednesday in Manyu Division as Southern Cameroonian fighters threw a grenade into their truck.

Many were wounded and they have been rushed to hospitals in East Cameroon.

Cameroon Concord News Group correspondents on the ground are gathering more information on the slaughtering of army soldiers who had been sent to the region to intimidate the population into submission.

More will be yours as the information becomes available.

By Rita Akana in Buea

6, February 2020

Coronavirus death toll hits 563, over 28,000 infected ⁰

The new coronavirus that appeared late December has claimed 563 lives, infected more than 28,000 people in mainland China and spread to more than 20 countries.

Here is a timeline.

New virus

Health authorities in Wuhan, an industrial city in central Hubei Province, first document the new illness on December 8.

On December 31, China alerts the World Health Organization (WHO) to cases of pneumonia in the city.

Several infections are traced to a Wuhan market, which is shut on January 1.

As infections rise, Chinese officials say on January 7 they have identified a new virus from the coronavirus family. It is named 2019-nCoV.

First death

China announces its first death in Wuhan on January 11.

Two days later the first case outside China is reported in Thailand, originating in Wuhan.

Japan reports its first case, also from Wuhan, on January 16.

The United States, Nepal, France, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam, and Taiwan confirm cases over the following days.

The US starts screening flights from Wuhan, to be followed by Asian countries.

Human transmission

By January 20, nearly half of China’s provinces are affected, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen.

A Chinese infectious disease expert confirms the illness can be transmitted between humans.

Epicenter quarantined

Wuhan is placed under quarantine on January 23, with transport links cut there and in other Hubei Province cities, affecting more than 56 million people.

The WHO says the outbreak is an emergency in China but not yet globally.

Beijing cancels events for the upcoming Lunar New Year. Several landmarks are closed.

The first two deaths are reported outside Hubei.

On January 24, the first cases are recorded in Europe, in France.

Public shutdown

Beijing extends the Lunar New Year holiday to limit travel.

On January 27, the US and Germany tell their citizens not to travel to China.

On January 28, Germany and Japan announce the first two confirmed human-to-human transmissions outside China.

Evacuations

On January 29, the US and Japan become the first of several nations to start evacuating citizens from Wuhan.

The coronavirus emerges in the Middle East, in the United Arab Emirates.

Some international airlines suspend their China flights. Foreign companies shutdown Chinese factories and shops.

International emergency

On January 30, the WHO declares a “public health emergency of international concern.”

Russia shuts its border with China.

On January 31, as Britain, France, and North Korea airlift their nationals, Italy declares a state of emergency.

The US says on February 1 it is banning the entry of foreign nationals who had recently traveled to China, a move followed by other countries.

First deaths outside China

On February 2, Wenzhou — around 800 kilometers from Wuhan — becomes the second city to be locked down.

The Philippines reports the first coronavirus death outside China.

China says it will pump in 1.2 trillion yuan (173 billion dollars) to protect growth. Chinese stocks collapse on February 3, the first day of trading since the holiday.

On February 4, Hong Kong reports a coronavirus death, the second outside the mainland.

Singapore announces its first cases of local transmissions. Gaming center Macao closes its casinos for two weeks.

The WHO says the outbreak does not yet constitute a “pandemic.”

Cruise ship infections

On February 5, Hong Kong announces a mandatory two-week quarantine for all travelers from mainland China.

Millions more on the Chinese mainland are told to stay at home.

Twenty people on a cruise ship off the Japanese coast test positive for the virus, with around 3,700 on board.

Airbus closes an aircraft production facility in Tianjin near Beijing, and Vietnam joins countries banning arrivals from China.

(Source: AFP)

6, February 2020

Football: Drogba agrees with Infantino’s call for AFCON every four years ⁰

Organsing the Africa Cup of Nations every four years, as FIFA proposed “can be a good thing,” according to former Ivorian international and Chelsea forward Didier Drogba.

The Elephants skipper believes it could increase the flavour and rarity of the trophy. Drogba also thinks that this schedule will protect African footballers who play in Europe.

“I think we’re going to have to get to that point [playing in the CAF Africa Cup of Nations every four years] because the African player is quite disadvantaged in relation to his club, and given that there are a lot of African players now playing in Europe, it complicates things a bit.

Already at the time when we played in the African Cup of Nations, which was in January, (a player) to leave for the national team was to jeopardise his place in the starting line-up.

“It was really complicated, not to mention the weather conditions. So it’s going to be an interesting debate and I hope I can contribute to,” Drogba stressed.

The debate over AFCON regularity is not a new one. The most recent case is when FIFA president Gianni Infantino urged the African football organizing body to consider making the AFCON one that happens over four instead of two-years. He says a four-year sequence will give it more impact.

It is one of few major continental competitions that happens every two years as compared to the European and World Cups.

So far, the Confederation of African Football has explained that by organising the event every two years, it encourages the rapid development of infrastructure in the host countries.

Source: Africa News

6, February 2020

Boko Haram Cameroun: Two killed, 20 homes torched in attack ⁰

Suspected Boko Haram jihadists attacked a village in northern Cameroon early on Tuesday, torching homes and killing two civilians just days before legislative and municipal elections, security sources said.

“Boko Haram made an incursion a little before 02:00 in Mozogo village,” in the Extreme-Nord province “killing two people,” a police officer told AFP.

They torched about 20 homes and two motorbikes and stole another five motorcycles, the officer said.

An army officer confirmed the incident.

Security has been tightened in Cameroon ahead of Sunday’s elections. Anglophone separatists are fighting government troops in western Cameroon while the north of the country has come under attack from Boko Haram.

Based in neighbouring Nigeria, Boko Haram has stepped up attacks from bases hidden in the vast Lake Chad area, where the borders of Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria converge.

Cameroon says the group has carried out nearly 13 000 attacks on its territory since 2014, with the loss of “several thousand” lives.

The insurgency has forced more than 250 000 people to flee their homes and triggered an influx of 60 000 people from Nigeria.

Boko Haram was formed in Nigeria but attacks have spread to neighbouring countries. The group has also split and a faction affiliated with the Islamic State group, ISWAP, is particularly active around Lake Chad.

Source: AFP

6, February 2020

Biya still uses the machinery of the state to guarantee a single-party type of political domination ⁰

On 9 February over six million Cameroonians will be called to vote in twin legislative and municipal elections. Initially planned for 2018, the polls were postponed twice for organisational and financial reasons. Voting later this week will still take place under tenuous security and political conditions.

Since 2013, Boko Haram has recurrently attacked in the Far North Region of Cameroon bordering Nigeria and Chad (see map). While the country’s defence and security forces have repelled most attacks, Boko Haram maintains sleeper cells in remote enclaves from where it stages deadly sporadic incursions.

Further south-west, armed groups threaten to prevent the vote from taking place. Since 2017 government forces have been fighting a multitude of separatist factions claiming the independence of anglophone regions from a majority francophone Cameroon.

The fighting has forced about 40 000 people to seek refuge in Nigeria and over 450 000 have been internally displaced. This situation accounts for the 2018 presidential election turnout of just 5.36% and 15.94% of voters in the North-West and South-West Regions respectively (see map).

Political tensions added to the security impasse after the 2018 election, which saw President Paul Biya win another seven-year term. Despite losing his appeal at the Constitutional Court, opposition figure Maurice Kamto – the closest contender who officially secured 14% of the vote – claimed he had won.

In January 2019 Kamto was arrested for sedition, insurrection and incitement to violence. This came after a rally organised by his party, the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MRC), and which had been banned by administrative authorities, ended in violence.

Under pressure internally and externally, Cameroon’s president organised a national dialogue in October 2019 aimed at finding solutions to the anglophone crisis. Among other measures, the dialogue recommended greater autonomy for the anglophone regions.

Two months later a law was passed in Parliament enacting the special status of the North-West and South-West provinces and extending the scope of decentralisation. To further de-escalate political tensions, Kamto was released in October 2019 after eight months of detention. Some have called for the further postponement of the elections until the anglophone crisis is resolved and a more consensual electoral law is passed.

Cameroon’s leading opposition political parties remain ambivalent regarding their participation in the polls. They legitimately criticise the electoral law and the government’s control over the elections’ governing bodies. However, they know that boycotting the polls can affect them negatively.

Biya still uses the machinery of the state to guarantee a single-party type of political domination

In March 1992, at the peak of its popularity, the strongest opposition party at the time – the Social Democratic Front (SDF) – boycotted the legislative elections. It was protesting against the management role in the polls of the Ministry of Territorial Administration. The SDF’s boycott probably prevented the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) from a humiliating electoral defeat, and enabled the emergence of the National Union for Democracy and Progress as the main opposition bloc in Parliament.

The SDF then performed admirably in the October 1992 presidential election. But the party had a relatively weakened institutional position, as the election management rules hadn’t changed much and it had no representatives in Parliament for political leverage. The SDF never really recovered politically from that legislative boycott, and has since always participated in elections.

This partly explains why other political parties haven’t followed the MRC’s decision to boycott this week’s elections. Currently the MRC has only one representative in Parliament, and so will neither be present in the next legislature nor in any of the city councils. This could be a missed opportunity for a party that – though riding on the popularity of its candidate at the last presidential election – has much to lose if it doesn’t secure representation across the country.

Since the re-introduction of multiparty politics in 1992, only seven opposition parties out of over 253 registered political parties have been represented in the 180-seat National Assembly. Biya’s CPDM has won absolute majority since 1997 (see table below) and continues to use the machinery of the state to guarantee a single-party type of political domination.

Despite the extreme centralisation of Cameroon’s political system in which the president supersedes all other institutions and presidential decrees are law, Parliament still plays a crucial deliberative, if less legislative, role.

This is seen in the way the ruling party guarantees its hold on the low threshold of a one-third majority. It uses this position to block discussion of important issues such as the anglophone problem, or seeing bills pass the lower house unopposed, and through the upper house, where the president appoints three out of every 10 senators per region.

Given the difficulties faced by opposition parties to present candidates in all constituencies, the CPDM’s victory is likely in both elections. In the National Assembly, the main issue will be around the designation of the main opposition party, a role currently played by the SDF with 18 seats.

The biggest challenge for these elections remains the capacity of Elections Cameroon (ELECAM) – the national agency tasked with organising, managing and supervising the elections – to organise free and fair elections. Regularly criticised for its perceived bias towards the ruling party and government, ELECAM officials must demonstrate the body’s neutrality and professionalism.

Above all, the 9 February elections are important to renew the legitimacy of Parliament and municipal councils in the wake of a new decentralisation that is expected by many citizens. Unfortunately, the current political and security climate might make that difficult – leaving a permanent marker on the upcoming elections.

Culled from Reliefweb.int

6, February 2020

Israel looking after President Biya’s security with elite forces ⁰

From communication interception technology to physical security, Cameroon’s state security market is entirely in the hands of Israelis.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to call it “Little Tel Aviv.”

The Israelis practically feel at home in the neighbourhood of Bastos in Yaoundé.

Four-wheel drive SUVs with tinted windows abound and the air is rife with rumours about the presence of advisors and/or spies within Paul Biya’s circle.

Abraham Avi Sivan, the Cameroonian president’s former security advisor who died in 2010, was a regular there.

Eran Moas, Etoudi Palace’s current securocrat, and his wife are also frequently spotted in the neighbourhood. Sivan, Moas and their spouses even founded an ape sanctuary in Cameroon.

Indeed, Biya and Israel have close, long-standing ties. The Cameroonian president has been wary of the French intelligence service ever since the attempted coup d’état that nearly overthrew him in 1984.

He thinks that his predecessor, Ahmadou Ahidjo, was the right-hand man of Jacques Foccart and the External Documentation and Counter-Espionage Service (Service de documentation extérieure et de contre-espionnage – SDECE).

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Israel’s imprint on security in Yaoundé

Determined to side-line the French, Biya turned to Israel on the recommendation of the United States. This is how he met Sami Meyuhas, who had worked in Zaire under Mobutu Sese Seko, alongside Shabtai Shavit, who led the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad from 1989 to 1996.

With Shavit (who currently runs Athena GS3, a subsidiary of Mer Group) in Tel Aviv, Meyuhas in the sub-region, and Sivan and former Israeli general Mayer Heres in Yaoundé, the Israelis gradually transformed Paul Biya’s security apparatus.

Their first order of business was to create the Rapid Intervention Battalion (Battalion d’intervention rapide – BIR), now led by Heres.

Then, in Yaoundé, they installed various antennas and technology enabling the interception of telephone and electronic communications.

Sure enough, several buildings in Bastos are outfitted just like the presidential palace roof.

The French have had to deal with this reality. To this day, Cameroon’s security market is considered “inaccessible.”

Source: The Africa Report

6, February 2020

Southern Cameroon Crisis: Minister Rose Mbah Acha convoy attacked in Momo ⁰

The CPDM convoy of the Minister of Supreme State Control (CONSUPE) was attacked by Ambazonia Restoration Forces as she braved the bad roads from Bamenda to Mbengwi to campaign for the so-called twin poll in the Momo County in Southern Cameroons.

Cameroon Concord News correspondent in Mbengwi reported that despite being accompanied by a heavily armed military escort, Minister Rose Mbah Acha’s convoy came under heavy fire for about an hour leaving 9 top CPDM militants injured.

Speaking at the CPDM meeting venue, the French Cameroun surrogate herself confirmed the incident and observed in a scantily attended meeting that “I would like to tell you people of Momo that all the vehicles in my convoy came under attacked. But there were only five slightly injured.”

Minister Rose Mbah Acha added that “Everyone in Momo must vote for the ruling CPDM, the party that guarantees lasting peace in our crisis-torn region.”

Momo County in the Northern Zone of the Federal Republic of Ambazonia is fully under the control of the Southern Cameroons Self Defense Forces.

By Sama Ernest in Mbengwi

5, February 2020

China: African students stranded in coronavirus heartland plead with embassies ⁰

Thousands of African students in Wuhan, the centre of the coronavirus epidemic, face dwindling food supplies, limited information and lockdowns restricting them to their campuses or hostels.

Two weeks after restrictions on movement were imposed, residents are running short of basic necessities, say students in the central Chinese city.Quick guide

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Several people described profound anxiety, insufficient food and a lack of information. Many complained about the lack of assistance received from their own embassies but refrained from criticising Chinese authorities.

There are more than 80,000 African students in China, often attracted by generous government scholarships. About 5,000 are thought to be in Wuhan, where there are scores of further education establishments offering qualifications that are prized in Africa.

A 21-year-old student from Cameroon living in Jingzhou city was reported on Tuesday to be among new cases. He is thought to have contracted the illness on a trip to Wuhan two weeks ago before the lockdown was imposed on the city but is not in any danger, university officials said.

More than 56 students from Malawi, mostly on scholarships, are among those trapped in Wuhan.

Bright Chipao, the president of the Association of Malawians in the city, said the students were desperate. “There is panic among us as we don’t know how long we are going to survive. We are also increasingly running out of foodstuffs,” he said.

Chipao said the students lacked masks, food and water. Prices had tripled in the city, he said.

The students have asked the Malawian government to airlift them out of the city and return them home, citing the example of other countries in Africa. However Chinese authorities have asked local embassies to tell their citizens not to seek to return home to avoid further spread of the disease.

Many educational establishments have imposed rigorous curbs on students, restricting them to their campuses or hostels. A statement from one colleges read: “Considering your safety, please stay inside your dormitory during this period … Most of the materials are in short supply. Please save resources, cherish your life.”

Kondwani Chembezi, a Malawian student at Wuhan University of Technology, said he and his roommate had only 2 gallons (9 litres) of water and some food.

He said: “Wuhan is becoming a death zone each passing day as the numbers of infected persons, as well as death toll, keep rising. There’s a great atmosphere of panic and despair as others have been repatriated to their nations, yet others remain here trying to survive this unpredictable period.

“Going [to buy things] is a grave personal risk as no one knows who has been exposed to the virus – anyone can be a carrier. Prices of commodities have really gone high – three or more times the usual price. It’s a hustle to actually buy what you need as the demand is also high.”

A Kenyan postgraduate student who has been in Wuhan for five years said the biggest problems were a shortage of reliable information and of food.

He said: “The worst part about it all is not knowing what is going on because all the information we are getting is from online sources or from friends from other universities … We have been forced to have one meal a day.

“Our institute gave us some rice, milk, oil and some vegetables but advises we also use them sparingly because when they are over we might not [be able] to get more.”

Many students contacted by the Guardian were reluctant to talk or be named, as they feared expulsion or other sanctions.

A Ugandan doctor in Shanghai said she and her colleagues felt better on Monday after a “worrying weekend”.

“We’re wearing our masks, washing our hands and avoiding crowded places,” she said. “But most importantly we’re trying to be positive and not live in constant fear and panic.”

Source: The Guardian.com