Tuesday 29 April 2014

Front page

Front page of 28 April 2014

29 days and counting abroad

Biya was not gallivanting in Europe after all
The president participated at the EU-Africa Security Summit in Brussels then continued with his presidential itinerary before travelling to the Vatican in Rome for the canonization Sunday, of Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII
By Tanyi Kenneth Musa in Yaounde

President Paul Biya
A source in the president’s entourage in Europe has dismissed as baseless and uninvestigated, press reports that President Biya was busy moving about and enjoying himself in Europe during his marathon stay abroad. The source said apart from the fact that the president is too old to go about gallivanting he had more than enough official work to do while in Europe.
    In fact, our source said ever since the president arrived at the European capital in Brussels, Belgium, he has not had time to rest.
    “The president has been busy working on pressing files and granting audiences. Besides, he has been following events in the country minute by minute,” said the source, who noted that he has never seen someone else who has concern and love for Cameroon than president Biya.

B’da to host pioneer community law centre

-Scottish Lawyers to run and promote the centre
Scotland’s Evening Times columnist Austin Lafferty along with Mike Dailly want to launch Africa’s first community law centre in Bamenda.
    The pair are trying to raise £150,000 (about CFA100 million) to create an African model based on Scotland’s successful law centres. Mike is based at Govan Law Centre in Glasgow, while Austin runs three legal practices in Giffnock, East Renfrewshire, as well as Hamilton and East Kilbride in South Lanarkshire.
    They hope the Bamenda centre will be the first in a network across Africa to help promote justice and drive social change. Mike said: “The law centre would help tackle human trafficking, secure criminal prosecutions, recover unpaid wages and protect the rights of women and children.”

“Etang-ti moh manyang”

Bonu Innocent was “bayangi” after all!
Bonu Innocent
Tribute to a fearless, assiduous, highly intelligent and militant advocate
By Maquens Balemba in Yaounde

Bonu Innocent was in every way a South Westerner, in many ways a North Westerner: He referred to himself as “etang-ti moh manyang” (strong bayangi boy), owing to his up-bringing and his school-boy days in Nchang village near Mamfe town in Manyu Division. Bonu spoke sparkling and impeccable Kenyang (the language of the bayangi people).
    He also imbibed a little from the coastal bakweri people. His Bakweri was lucid and said.

    Whenever Bonu met with his pals and contemporaries he would hardly call them by their names; he addressed them simply as “nkwa’ neh” or “mola”, but rarely as “oo woh” or “iyie’eh”, irrespective of whether they hailed from the North West or the South West region.

To dispel growing anxiety at home

Biya to announce new gov’t and order more arrests
The president is expected back home later today, after close to four weeks stay in Europe
By Ayukogem Steven Ojong in Yaounde

President Paul Biya
When President Paul Barthelemy bi Mvondo Biya returns home hopefully today evening he would have spent exactly 29 days abroad. This prolonged absence from home has raised questions about the president’s physical and mental ability to hold down his job. The consensus within and outside the government is that it is high time the president arranges for a smooth and democratic transfer of power, to a younger and more energetic successor.
    However, regime apologists hold a contrary view. A source in the president’s entourage in Europe has hinted The Median that far from what the public is made to believe, President Biya has been busy working and exercising his official duties throughout his stay in Europe. “The president was not gallivanting as some local press reports speculated,” reiterated the source.
         President Biya participated at the EU-Africa Security Summit in Brussels, Belgium and continued granting audiences to top EU and other officials. The president was also negotiating important deals for the country, the source said.

Cameroonian Female Lawyer Detained In Nigeria for Buying Baby

The Cameroon lawyer (right) carrying the baby and her friend (left)
By Njodzefe Nestor in Bamenda
A Cameroonian Lawyer whose name The Median got as Mrs Ngala Norgu Julia is presently in the dragnet of the Nigerian Immigration for allegedly being in possession of a one-week old baby girl which she claims she was delivered of by a herbalist at Okitikputa, in Nigeria’s Ondo State.
    According to Mr. Samuel Igochi, the Comptroller of Immigration, Cross River State Command as reported by The Vanguard newspaper in Nigeria, Mrs Ngala was arrested by intelligence and an investigation team on service at the Calabar Port, as she tried to smuggle the baby to Cameroon.

First Warning?

Journalist looses car in explosion
 An investigative journalist of no small renown in Cameroon has announced that his car has been destroyed in a mysterious explosion early Thursday morning. Denis Kwebo said the car was parked outside his house in the commercial capital of Douala, and that no one was hurt in the explosion. 

Denis Kwebo's car was destroyed in an explosion Thursday
An investigative journalist of no small renown in Cameroon has announced that his car has been destroyed in a mysterious explosion early Thursday morning. Denis Kwebo said the car was parked outside his house in the commercial capital of Douala, and that no one was hurt in the explosion.
    Kwebo, an editor of the private daily Le Jour, told reporters that acquaintances and his contacts within the government had warned him to be careful in his investigation and coverage of Cameroonian security forces. In an April 15 article, Kwebo said security forces were struggling to stem a spate of kidnappings and armed attacks in the regions bordering unstable Nigeria and the strife-torn Central African Republic.

Massi Gams of CONAC, Lobbying, and Foreign Corruption Networks

By Tazoacha Asonganyi, in Yaounde
Many Newspapers (like The Guardian Post No. 0592 of 16 April 2014 and The Post No. 01522 of 18 April 2014) have carried reports on a seminar for journalists and civil society that held in Douala, 9 – 11 April 2014, on ethics and the fight against corruption in multinational and local enterprises/companies in Cameroon. Rev. Massi Gams of CONAC is said to have denounced foreign corruption networks in enterprises in Cameroon. The seminar came on the heels of a special report by New African Magazine of February 2014 (No. 536) titled “Solving the Great Conundrum…How Africa can own its resources;”  of a special report by Le Messager Newspaper on “The Mining Scandal in Cameroon” (No. 4046 of March 26. 2014); and of the revelation by The Divisional Delegate of Mines of Lom and Djerem that some 90 tons of gold are lost in Cameroon yearly due to illegal mining (La Nouvelle Expression No. 3694 of 25 March 2014).

Financing the media

Visiting Ivorian minister gives lessons to Cameroon 
Affousiata Bamba told prying journalists in the presence of Cameroon’s Communications Minister, Issa Tchiroma, that her country allocates at least FCFA 1.2 billion annually as subvention to private media. Cameroon allocates barely less than FCFA 200 million annually.
By Mbeh Moses Eben in Yaounde

Affousiata Bamba
The Ivorian communications minister was speaking on Friday, at a press conference she granted alongside her Cameroonian counterpart.
    Mrs. Affousiata said her government’s subvention to the press is intended to enable authorized private media outfits to pay salaries of workers, acquire equipment and produce programs among other things.
    She said the subvention in Ivory Coast is shared out to media organs according to well defined criteria. The criteria are not politically motivated.
    She boasted that the media landscape in her country was growing steadily and getting freer by the day.
         “In 2010 Reporters Without Boundaries placed us 156th among 170 countries classified. In 2013 we were 96th,” she said, boasting that the improvement was simply thumps up, and telling of her government’s good intentions.

SW Governor in court with local treasurer

Efase Luma,Municipal Treasurer,Bamusso
By Eddy Bokuba in Kumba
There is anxiety and curiousness in the South West Regional Capital Buea as to what will be the outcome of a court action that has been brought against the South West Governor at the Administrative Court in the South West Holden in Buea with Justice Ngu Augustine Ngwa as presiding magistrate. The petition in suit no ACSWR/PND/001/2013 was filed by a certain Luma Albert Efasse, the Municipal Treasurer  of the Bamunso council through his Counsel Barrister Njilla Stephen, against the  Governor of the South West Region urging the court to annul a decision taken by the Governor suspending Luma Albert Effasse from his position as Municipal Treasurer of Mbonge in 2012.

Donga-Mantung

Tornado renders 70 families homeless in Ndu
The populations of Ntaba-Sop village in Ndu Sub Division of Donga Mantung Division, North West Region are still wondering which crime they committed that the gods poured their anger on them last weekend. Over 70 households were rendered homeless in the agricultural area of Ntaba following a deadly swoop of tornado. Even though no causality was recorded, damages of cash crops and houses are estimated in several hundreds of millions of FCFA.
Speaking to this reporter after a visit to the disaster area, the Mayor of Ndu Council, Bunyui Emmanuel said that the council will donate bundles of zinc to the affected families. He said when he visited the area he discovered the houses were poorly constructed. “You know this is the effect of poverty”, he concluded.
He revealed that over 70 houses were destroyed by the tornado. The roofs of some houses were completely destroyed while others were only partly destroyed.

Nkambe, Donga-Mantung

Man dies, resurrects then dies again 
By a correspondent in Nkambe

The corpse of a man who died recently at the Banso Baptist Hospital has been abandoned at the Mortuary. The family members say they would not take the body because the man had already died several years ago and was long buried.
    Tantoh, as the man was called, died the second time only three weeks ago, after a brief illness. When his death was announced to his family members they expressed shock and disbelief, revealing that he had died long ago and had since been buried in his village, Saah.
    When members of Tantoh’s family expressed doubt about the story of his second death, they were led to the Nkambe Hospital Mortuary and made to see the corpse. And they immediately recognized it as the body of their late brother. But the family members were at the same time visibly confused because Tantoh was already dead and buried.

In Cameroon, CAR Refugees “Malnourished by their flight”

For tens of thousands of Central African refugees, the flight from unrelenting slaughter at home often involves traveling many days across their vast country without food and overcoming armed attackers, said a US official on Thursday.

CAR refugees in Cameroon: By the time they arrive,
 they are in “very. very bad shape”
When they finally cross the border into safer grounds in Cameroon, children, the elderly and adults alike are in “very, very bad shape”, said Anne Richard, US assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration.
    Richard said UN officials were “much more concerned” about the situation of refugees fleeing into Cameroon because their plight was “heightened” compared to that of those moving to Chad – where food was in short supply and housing poor.
    “Often in a crisis, small children and the elderly end up in precarious situations. In this case, [UN staff] saw adults who were malnourished from their flight. That is unusual – that shows a degree of crisis that we do not see in the refugees coming across into Chad.”
    The UN estimates that more than a million people have so far been forced out of their homes and are now either internally displaced people or refugees in neighboring countries. Since December, 110, 000 new refugees have arrived in neighboring countries. While Cameroon and Chad appear to report the largest influxes, some refugees have moved into Congos.

Reinstating lost confidence

CAMPOST grappling with customer apathy
By Mbeh Moses Eben in Yaounde

Campost GM, Herve Beril
23 April 2004 to 23 April 2014; it is exactly ten years since the Cameroon Postal Services Corporation, Campost has been at the service of clients in and out of Cameroon. The General Manager of the state-run company says it is time enough for Campost not only to take stock of its activities but also identify stumbling blocks and devise strategies to turn them into stepping stones. HERVE BERIL says ten years is time enough for Campost to chart a new course for its growth and development.
    The French-born General Manager of Campost was speaking at a press conference in Yaounde, on 22 April 2014. The conference had as objective to announce plans for the celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the creation of Campost and keep the public abreast of the earmarked activities of the celebration.
    But the press conference also afforded Herve Beril occasion to enlighten the public on the strategies that Campost has adopted to surmount its day-to-day challenges; challenges that emanated in the most part from the loss of confidence in the company, after the hard-earned savings of thousands of poor Cameroonians disappeared mysteriously at the Postal Savings Bank sometime at the dawn of the year 2000. Some of the very distressed customers are still yearning for their money until today.

Kumba

Gendarmerie Commander made Church Elder
By Eddy Bokuba in Kumba

The commander of the Gendarme Military Unit in charge of specific missions to maintain law and order in Meme Division, Lieutenant Jean Pierre Thimba has been consecrated as Elder at the Eglise Presbyterienne Cameroonaise du Cameroun in Kumba.The ceremony took place on Palm Sunday at the Adolphus Clemens Good Parish situated at Buea Road, Kumba.

Belated Condolence Message



Biya honours late Namata Elangwe
By Eddy Bokuba in Kumba

At-last the Head of State, Paul Biya and his wife Chantal Biya have extended their sincere words of condolence to the family of the late Tata Okiah wa Bakundu, Henry Namata Elangwe, the Board Chair of the Cameroon Development Corporation (C.D.C) and Paramount Ruler of the Bakundus who died on 5 March 2014.
                The president’s condolence message was read at P.C Mile one, Kake by President Biya's Special Envoy, Professor Peter Agbor Tabi, and Deputy Secretary General at the Presidency, who delivered the message to the congregation of the church where the departed Statesman worshiped prior to his demise.

Fcfa 180m B’da II Town Hall inaugurated


MINATD and FEICOM laud Awah Fidelis’ Managerial Prowess
By Njodzefe Nestor in Bamenda

The Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, MINATD, Emmanuel Rene Sadi accompanied by the General Manager of the Council Support Fund for Mutual Assistance, FEICOM, Philippe Camille Akoa have inaugurated the newly constructed Bamenda II Sub Divisional Council Town Hall.
    The imposing structure funded by FEICOM to the tune of FCFA 180 Million has 25 offices, the Mayor’s apartment, 13 toilets and two kitchens.
   

Caption
FEICOM Boss Camille Akoa(arms folded) flanked by Minadt and FEICOM officials

Magnificent B’da 11 Town Hall
 

    In his inaugural speech, Minister Emmanuel Rene Sadi applauded the General Manager of FEICOM, Philippe Camille Akoa and his staff “for their efforts in helping municipal authorities to meet up with their commitments for the development of their councils and the benefits of their people”.
    “We appreciate every market, every bridge, every town hall, every water or electricity project that bears the mark of FEICOM”.
The crowd-puller ceremony on April 17, 2014 at the council premises was an opportunity for Minister Emmanuel Rene Sadi to laud the managerial prowess of Awah Fidelis, a quality the MNIATD Boss said partly explains why the entire population of the Bamenda II municipality renewed their confidence in him.

Public Works School begins Master’s in Geotechnics and structures

By Mbeh Moses Eben in Yaounde
Director of N.A.S.P. Pr.  Nkeng George
The National Advanced School of Public Works now offers a specialized Master’s program in geotechnics and structures. The new program was launched on 16 April 2014 at the main campus of the school situated at Elig-Effa in Yaounde, during a solemn ceremony to welcome the first batch of students for the Specialised Master’s Programs and those registered for other regular engineering programs offered at the school.
    Welcoming students and guests at the solemn ceremony the director of the school, Prof. George Elambo Nkeng said this years opening was special because it marks the launching of the Specialized Master’s Program in Geotechnics and Structures. Prof. Elambo said the 105 pioneer students of the program will undergo a 2-year training that will culminate in the award of a Master’s in Geotechnics and Structural caculations. He said the new specialty was very important and vital in building construction and road works.
    Prof. Elambo used the occasion to also congratulate the 163 students who succeeded in the competitive entrance exams into the engineering cycle (BAC/GCE ‘A’ Levels + 5) sections of the school. He said the 163 students admitted into the different programs were selected from a total of 2500 candidates who sat for the competitive exams. 25 of the students will specialize in renewable energy, 29 in waste management and 113 in water management and sanitation.

The fight against corruption: Mr. Biya’s perennial joke


(And why no one is laughing)
The arraignment of the Minister of Secondary Education, Mr. Louis Bapes Bapes on charges of misappropriation of public funds and his twenty-four hour detention in the Kondengui Central prison had a numbing sense of déjà vu. That some media still reported the incident as proof that the actually exists a will to fight corruption in this country, and that some Cameroonians continue to believe this regime can seriously fight corruption are both proof of the incredible weakness of the Cameroonian mind. To enlightened and impartial observers of our political system however, this regime’s professed commitment to fight corruption is a bad joke given the seriousness of the issue, because the costs of corruption are immeasurable – injustice, misallocation of resources, economic decay. Corruption at all levels has been denounced by social, religious and political leaders as the primary obstacle for development in Cameroon. Corruption affects a staggering number of livelihoods and lives and erodes the faith of citizens in their governments and in the rule of law*. What’s more, corruption scares away foreign investors, hits the poor the hardest, leads to greater inequality, acts as a regressive tax to the poor while denying them basic services*.
          Cameroon has long established its pre-eminence in corruption on the world stage. Terms like ‘kleptocracy’ - rule by thieves (a form of political and government corruption where the government exists to increase the personal wealth and political power of its officials and the ruling class at the expense of the wider population often with pretence of honest service)* and ‘plutocracy of embezzlers’ have been used at some point or other to describe Cameroon. In 1998 and 1999 Cameroon was ranked the most corrupt country in the word by Transparency International. Using the (TI) 1999 global index, Cameroon had the worst record among 158 countries. Based on the same index, Cameroon was among the world’s 10 most corrupt nations again in 2005. According to the Global Corruption Barometer report released in December 2007 by Transparency International Cameroon was the country with the worst results with 79% of Cameroonians admitting to having paid a bribe to public officials for some service in the preceding year. Cameroon has also fared woefully based on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) which ranks 176 countries from a scale of 100 (very clean) to zero (highly corrupt). Yet these indices only point to the tip of the iceberg. Because acts of corruption are undocumented and hidden, it is almost impossible to rank countries with any degree of certainty. Anyone who has lived in Cameroon knows the country is far more corrupt than any of these indicators may suggest.

Tuesday 15 April 2014

Page 1 of 14 April 2014


End time signals

The New Deal regime collapsing?
Cameroon appears to be heading towards imminent collapse, as growing insecurity has combined with lethargic leadership to create an atmosphere of general malaise and perilous uncertainty.
By Ayukogem Steven Ojong in Yaounde

All is certainly not well with Cameroon. At a time when other African countries such as Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Ghana, Botswana, Rwanda, etc. are making generally acclaimed efforts to move forward and possibly emerge in the shortest time possible, the ‘Giant of Central Africa’ is helplessly at a standstill, if not moving backwards. Today, virtually all the sectors of national life are proving to be problematic owing, in great part, to rampant corruption, impunity and a general sense of lethargy both within government and opposition circles. As someone put it, “It is as if God has written Cameroon in His black book.”

Threatened state coffers
    A major problem the country is currently battling with is that of dwindling state coffers. The government can barely bankroll even the most pressing projects. Though workers’ salaries are paid regularly there is an endless cry by public sector workers for a revalorization of their take home pay, which they say can barely take them home. Contractors and service providers are also grumbling that payment of their bills is either delayed or they are not being paid at all. Evil and morally depraved barons of the regime have, over the years, pilfered the nation’s wealth with impunity, reducing a naturally rich Cameroon to a very poor, beggarly country. Tax collectors, Customs officials and treasury personnel have continued to siphon public money into their private pockets with impunity. Collection of bribes by even the lowest state agent is the order of the day. True, a number of the high-profile culprits have been apprehended and jailed; but not much has been done to retrieve the stolen money, which runs in trillions of FCFA.
    Such money, if recovered, could be used for various developmental projects begging for execution. But because it continues to stay in the foreign accounts of the jailed robbers, the government is obliged in most cases to borrow from foreign donors to realize some of its very pressing projects, that is, for the few that are presently being realized.

Conspiracy or Oversight?

Cameroon Public Service auctioned to foreigners?

Jean Mark Bikoko
The leader of the confederation of public sector workers has described government’s validation of a project to privatize the management of the careers and salaries of state functionaries as a crime against humanity. Jean Mark Bikoko also qualified the SIGIPES 2 project as a time bomb and a weapon of mass destruction. He said after auctioning the countries water and electricity to foreigners the government was now considering giving out the management of the careers of civil servants to foreigners.
    He was speaking at a press conference in Yaounde, on Thursday to launch a strong advocacy against what he described as a conspiracy by some unpatriotic individuals in the ministries of Public service and administrative reforms and that of finance, to defraud the state of billions of FCFA.
    “On the basis of a fake report presented by the MINFOPRA on “the Evaluation of the project to deconcentrate the management of state personnel”, the prime minister has validated the SIGIPES 2 project and endorsed the privatization of the management of the careers and salaries of civil servants and state agents,” noted Jean Mark Bikoko in a printed press statement that he distributed to participants at the conference.

6th Nigeria-Cameroon Joint Commission

Cameroon agrees to synergize with Nigeria over Boko Haram
Paul Biya

Goodluck Jonathan
President Goodluck of Nigeria has expressed his appreciation for the support and cooperation that his Cameroonian counterpart is giving to Nigeria’s efforts to hold back Boko Haram insurgents and terrorists.
    The message was relayed by the leader of the Nigerian Delegation to the 6th Nigeria-Cameroon Joint Commission holding in Yaounde on 9th-11th April 2014.   
    Dr. Nuruddeem Muhamad, Nigeria’s minister of state for Foreign Affairs, said his country could not be indifferent to the cooperation and support that Cameroon was offering Nigeria in addressing the Boko Haram scare.
    This apart, Dr. Nuruddeem hailed the warm hospitality and high aspirations that characterized the 6th session of the Joint Commission.

Revisiting Reunification Jubilee Celebs

Ama Muna “hosted” Biya in Buea!
How emotional it must have been for Ama Tutu Muna returning to her childhood home during the Reunification Jubilee State Banquet at the Buea Prime Minister's lodge. She and no one else, among the members of government and other dignitaries, connected in a personal way with the venue where she lived as a primary school girl. Not even President Paul Biya.

By Franklin Sone Bayen

Paul Biya has had brief stays at the Prime Minister's Lodge in Buea on various visits to the South West Region, none lasting any more than a couple of nights on each occasion.
      Belinga Eboutou, Director of Civil Cabinet and Chairman of the National Organizing Committee for the Reunification Jubilee looked around the building in awe as he inspected
rehabilitation works there towards the grandiose event.
      Other members of government may have stopped by there on one or other of President Biya's visits to Buea.
       But in the government, none other than Ama Muna, the Minister of Arts and Culture, has lived, slept and played around that beautiful, prestigious compound otherwise called the Slodge, built in 1901-02 by the German Governor Jesco Von Puttkamer.

Poliomyelitis still a health hazard in Cameroon

Despite sustained efforts to eradicate the dreaded disease, seven cases were detected between 2013 and 2014
By Mbeh Moses Eben in Yaounde
Andre Mama Fouda
Four cases of children with the wild polio virus were detected in October 2013 and three cases in March 2014. These are the most recent statistics on the incidence of the wild polio virus in Cameroon.
    Before October 2013 the last case was detected way back in 2009 and medics thought Cameroon was on course to achieving the global goal of eradicating poliomyelitis in the country.
    But with the new detections, government is once again called upon to reinforce immunization campaigns against the menacing virus. This is because prevention by immunization is so far the only response available for managing the disease. There is no known treatment for the disease until today. Health officials said the seven cases detected were because the victims either did not receive their vaccines or did not completely take it after birth.

Three killed in car accident

By Njodzefe Nestor
Three persons are reported dead and eight others seriously wounded following a ghastly motor accident that occurred in Bui division of the North West region of Cameroon. Survivors of the accident are currently responding to treatment at the Banso Baptist Hospital in Kumbo.

All Africa Music Awards (Afrima) 2014

Nigeria’s Flavour to storm Y’de on 20 May
The Music star of world renown will be visiting Cameroon as part of Afrima’s project of “harnessing African music for Africa’s development”
By Ojong Steven Ayukogem in Yaounde



Davido
Flavour
Nigerian Music Stars of world renown, Flavour and Davido will be in Cameroon to thrill their Cameroonian fans at the Warda multi-sports complex in Yaounde, on 20 May 2014. The announcement was made by the representative of the All Africa Music Awards (Afrima) for Central Africa, Ewane Ernest Egnou. He was addressing journalists at a press conference in Yaounde on Thursday 10 April 2014.
    Answering questions from curious journalists as to the objectives of Afrima, Ewane explained that Afrima is a multi-national project conceived by a group of persons from different countries of Africa “to foster peace and unity in Africa through the instrumentality of music by regularly gathering all lovers of African music and more, particularly the artistes, to produce music that is appreciated by a global audience.”

1st edition of Limbe FESTAC ends in style

By Eddy Bokuba in Limbe
The maiden edition of the Limbe Festival of Arts and Culture dubbed Limbe FESTAC 2014, has ended with organizers satisfied with the overall output of participants and promising to improve on the general organization in subsequent editions. Organized at the behest of the Limbe City Council and some stakeholder companies in the town’s development notably the CDC and SONARA, this pioneer edition was placed under the distinguished patronage of the Governor of South West Region, Okalia Bilai Bernard.
      Guided by the theme ''Cultural Diversity and Integration'', the FESTAC opened on Saturday 5 April and ended on 12 April 2014 at the Limbe Centenary Field. It brought together Cameroonians from the 10 Regions of the country and representatives from some friendly neighboring nations notably Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana.
    It was a recommendation of the Minister of Arts and Culture, Ama Tutu Muna who suggested during the celebrations marking the 100th
        In his welcome note at the opening of the FESTAC, the Government Delegate to the Limbe City Council, Motanga Andrew who was also the head of the Organizing Committee for the event, thanked participants and guests for accepting to come and be part of a history making event. He called on them to put all hands on deck so as to ensure that the event is crowned by success and becomes an annual event to promote the rich arts and culture of Cameroon.

Mbororos Versus Catholic University B’da

UNO urges Biya to protect minority Mbororos
GENEVA (10 April 2014) – The United Nations Special Rapporteurs on minority issues, Rita Izsák, and on the rights of indigenous peoples, James Anaya, today called on the Cameroon Government and the Catholic University in Bamenda, Cameroon, to urgently review the evictions and demolition of houses of a Mbororo pastoralist community. An estimated 300 people have reportedly been made homeless and evicted from their ancestral lands in the locality of Banjah, Bamenda.
    The location of the evictions is the scene of a long-term land dispute between the Mbororo community and the Catholic University. Mbororo pastoralist communities, who identify as indigenous minorities, account for some 12 per cent of Cameroon’s population and often face conflicts over access to and ownership of land and access to water. The University claims to have paid compensation to community members to acquire and build on the site. Community members claim to have been misled regarding payments and state that they would not voluntarily have agreed to quit their homes and land that they have occupied since 1904. “I urge the authorities and the Catholic University in Bamenda to review these actions and their impact on this community and immediately seek a settlement with them,” said Ms. Izsák, who visited the Mbororo community in Banjah during her 2013 official mission* to Cameroon.

Boy found dead in river in Santa

By Njodzefe Nestor
The remains of an 18 year old boy identified as Ngu Autekus Mbuma has been found in a river in Santa, six days after the boy was suspected to have drown after heavy rains in that community. According to Ngu Andrew, father of the deceased, his son on Friday April, 4, 2014 went to the farm alone in the Achuu neighborhood after school to harvest mushrooms. Unfortunately for him, heavy rains caught up with him while he was still in the farm.

MINADER donates maize seeds to farmers

By Eddy Bokuba in Kumba 
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Esimi Menye Lazare has donated maize seeds to farmers of Meme Division of the South West Region. The donation of the high yielding seed variety code named CMS8704 is aimed to increase production. The minister’s gesture which is in line with the government’s resolve to increase food production and ensure food security was well appreciated by the farmers.

Academic discourse delivered at the Cameroon opportunities industrialisation Center (COIC) on the occasion of its 22nd graduation ceremony on April 03, 2014

Theme: “COIC: an icon of vocational training for an emerging Cameroon 2035”
Barrister Nico Halle
Excellency the Governor of the South West Region;
The Senior Divisional Officer for Fako;
The Divisional Officer for Buea;
The Mayor of Buea Municipality;
Hon Senators;
Hon MPs;
Political, Traditional and Religious Authorities;
The Chairman and members of the Board of Directors of COIC;
Distinguished guests;
Eminent Media Professionals;
Beloved Graduants;
Ladies and Gentlemen.

Glory to God Most High for blessing all of us to be present here at COIC – Buea, a town of legendary hospitality, on the occasion of the graduation ceremony of the 22nd Batch of COIC.   
   
Permit  me extend my compelling gratitude to the B    oard of Directors and staff of COIC for extending the singular privilege to my humble person to deliver an Academic Discourse to this great assembly that is gathered here today for a noble event.
   
May I take the liberty to heartily welcome all of you who have sacrificed very precious pre-arranged and confirmed commitments to be part of this special ceremony to celebrate academic excellence in a society where mediocrity seems to be gaining a stronghold. I congratulate and appreciate the sacrifices that parents/sponsors of the graduants have generously made at a time when people seem to despise the gift of learning. Without your engagement all along, this ceremony will be utterly impossible. Congratulations indeed.

Monday 7 April 2014

Front page of 7 April 2014


Memorandum to his Excellency Paul Biya, Head of State of Cameroon, on the Southern Cameroons question



Excellency
Dr. Simon Munzu
 We the signatories of the present Memorandum, acting in our personal and individual capacities, but believing that we express the feelings of most Southern Cameroonians, have the honour to address this correspondence to you concerning the situation of the Southern Cameroons in the current state of our Nation, Cameroon.
                On 20 February 2014, in the historic Southern Cameroons town of Buea, you presided over ceremonies belatedly commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Reunification of the Southern Cameroons and La Republique du Cameroun on 1 October 1961 which produced a new state in international law, the Federal Republic of Cameroon. That event is arguably the most significant of all events in the political history of our country, as it represented the reunion of two major components of our Fatherland that had, for over 40 years, evolved separately under two distinct colonial administrations, the British for Southern Cameroons and the French for La Republique du Cameroun. The momentous nature of the event becomes even greater when we remember that parts of our Fatherland, such as it existed under German rule from 1884 to 1961, have, through the vicissitudes of colonial history, been irretrievably lost and permanently absorbed into several neighbouring countries.
               
Mr. Azong-Wara Andre
Southern Cameroonians had hoped that, under Your Excellency’s guidance and leadership, the opportunity offered by the 50th Anniversary Commemoration would be taken to examine how our country has evlved since Reunification. They had hoped that such analysis of the situation would lead to the establishment of the urgently needed framework for correcting the multiple wrongs and injustices to which the Southern Cameroons and Southern Cameroonians have been subjected since 1961 and, especially, since the advent of the so-called ‘unitary state’ in our country in 1972. They were disappointed that this opportunity was not taken, considering that the past 42 years have witnessed the unmitigated and systematic dismantling of the Southern Cameroons heritage in all spheres political, administrative, economic, cultural and social.

Brothers against brother: Bafaws want K’ba Gov’t Delegate sacked


K’ba government delegate, Victor Nkelle Ngoh

But commentators question if the Bafaw petition writers would not complain if Biya decides to replace Nkelle Ngoh with a Bakundu or a Barombi native?
By Eddy Bokuba in Kumba
Some Bafaw natives in Kumba have said that they have initiated a powerful lobby for the Kumba Government Delegate, Victor Nkelle Ngoh to be sacked from his post. The Bafaw natives who are mostly CPDM supporters say they are preparing a memo to send to Yaounde urging President Biya to sack Nkelle Ngoh and replace him with some other person who should be more qualified for the covetous job. The petition writers observed that since taking office on 6 March 2009 Nkelle Ngoh has not been able to make his mark as a veritable city builder; if anything he has instead caused Kumba to retrogress from where the former Government Delegate, Nnoko Mbele Caven, left it.

K’ba HTTTC for Anticipating the future, not political grandstanding!



By Tazoacha Asonganyi in Yaounde
The theatrics around suspected brigands and pilferers of the public purse should only amuse, not surprise us. If anything, one should be asking why now, not several years ago when the same names started floating around in all forms. In any case, the important thing is to keep our eyes on the ball. This is why the Kumba HTTTC issue should not be lost in the melee.
                There has been a lot of grandstanding around the creation of Kumba HTTTC, with many politicians auto-proclaiming themselves the legitimate parents, while others have been scrambling to have it situated as near their ancestral compounds as possible. And yet others have been fighting over who would sign “motions of support” or of “thanks and reverence,” since such archaic activities have become the pastime of self-appointed politicians, and an avenue for reminding their God-sent maker of rain and sunshine, of those who need appointment, promotion or other personal favours.  Interestingly, others are even promising their political supporters that they will “pack them into HTTTC Kumba”!

GTHS Ombe crying for attention


Students demonstrating technical know- 
how in auto mobile & applied mechanics workshop

GTHS Ombe is now a shadow of what it was over six decades ago when it was created. The machines and equipment in workshops are still the ones installed in 1952 at its creation. This was the declaration of the principal of the school during the launching of the open door days for technical schools, on March 21, 2014.
By Sarah Nkongho Ojong in Ombe
Created in 1952, Government Technical High School, GTHS Ombe (the mother of all technical schools in West Cameroon) still makes use of the obsolete equipment that were installed at its creation.
                The 62 year old technical institute is in dire need of maintenance and rehabilitation, said the principal of the school, as he launched activities for the open door days for 2014 on campus recently.
                The open door days for technical and vocational education provide a platform for students of technical education to exhibit their technological know-how and demonstrate practical skills they have acquired during their stay at school.  

Public Manifestations authorized in Cameroonian law



By Mbeh Moses Eben in Yaounde
The Cameroon Civil Society Network for Human Rights known by its French acronym RECODH has ended a two-day symposium in Yaounde to evaluate the effective presence of the rule of law in Cameroon and suggest ways and means of strengthening the effective implementation of the laws on freedom of assembly and public demonstration in the country.
                Addressing participants at the forum the National Coordinator of RECODH, Hyomeni Paul guy, said freedom of assembly and public demonstration are covered in Cameroon by national laws and International Conventions that Cameroon has duly ratified. He said RECODH has noticed that people find it very challenging to organize public meetings and peaceful demonstrations for varied reasons including poor mastery of the laws, non respect of law by some administrative authorities and the notion of disturbing public order which is the argument that most authorities often use to prohibit public meetings and demonstrations. But Hyomeni said the notion of disturbing public order is a vague concept that needs to be clarified by the authorities.

5th Prize Awards: K’ba district hospital rewards hard work


Laureates of K’ba hospital Prize Award 
pose with their certificates

By Eddy Bokuba in Kumba
Meritorious personnel of the Kumba District Hospital have been congratulated and rewarded with certificates of merit. The Director of the hospital, Dr. Ebongo Zachs Nanje awarded the certificates to the privileged medics and para-medics of the institution at a solemn ceremony at the hospital. The ceremony was witnessed by the 2nd Assistant SDO for Meme, Yongkuma Nelson Gamsi and attended by all the staff of the hospital.
       The prizes were awarded according to the various departments of the Hospital. The prize for the best worker in the Technical department went to Ntuba Oscar; Bakini Ruth won the prize for hygiene and sanitation; that for the best Pharmacy worker went to Ngalla Sally; Best Paramedical staff was Ngwet Ngwet; best in mother/child care Anne Marie; Tabot Lucy for the medical dept; Fokum Eunice hard the best in surgery; Nfong Rose as best ward servant and Itie Joyce as best administrative staff.

Bamenda: CBC hospital now handles feet deformities



By Njodzefe Nestor
Officials of the newly created Cameroon Clubfoot Care (CCC) program under the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services, CBCHS, have embarked on a media offensive to showcase the importance of the program to the wider Cameroonian public
                Cameroon Clubfoot Care clinical physician, Dr. Ndasi Henry, assisted by the program coordinator, Mr. Benuh Ezekiel and the program officer, Ms Ashiyo Tina have been very present in the media recently educating Cameroonians on issues surrounding clubfoot and its complications.

Coping with darkness in Nguti: All Nguti Conference on Electricity announced



By Eddy Bokuba in Kumba
Mayor of Nguti, Tong George Enoh
Municipal Councilors of Nguti Council in Kupe-Muanenguba Division of the South West Region have announced the imminent holding of a conference to look into the energy problems of Nguti and seek ways for a lasting solution. Dubbed the ''All Nguti Conference on Electricity'' the conference is slated to take place any time this year in Nguti town.
    The revelation was contained in the scripted address of the Mayor of Nguti, Tong George Enoh, during a recent council session to deliberate on the 2013 administrative accounts of the council.
     Highlighting the problems plaguing the municipality, the mayor stated that the absence of electricity is most worrisome. He said urgent and concerted action by all the human forces in the municipality must be taken if the problem must be addressed.

South West region: water crisis blamed on uncontrolled human activities


Fako divisional delegate of water & 
energy accompanied by stakeholders 
at the regional delegation of water & 
energy resources in Limbe

By Sarah Nkongho Ojong in Limbe
In line with this year’s world water day commemorated under the theme “Water and Energy” by the United Nations, a stakeholder panel discussion was held at the conference room of the Ministry of Energy and water resources , Limbe, Thursday March 20, 2014 under the auspices of the South West regional delegate of water and energy.
                With discussions held on topics like the nexus between water and energy, water, food and the ecosystem security, developing information and decision support systems for water and energy, coordinating energy and water policies and governance amongst others, the stakeholders identified problems from the Limbe river via mile two new layout, Busumbu II and III right up to mile 16 in Buea.
In areas like Wututu and Wonga, the problem faced has to do with the use of insecticide by farmers along the water catchments, meanwhile in Busumbu, you find inhabitants constructing along water sources contaminating them. Also, the Limbe river which used to be a drinkable source has now become a toilet for many and a car washing point; the Mutengene water spring at Ekande where the catchment is also situated is being used for farming at the top of the catchment thereby deteriorating the importance of the water.

Reactions



He is a true developer
-Hon. Rose Abunaw Makia, former MP 
Through this project Orock Thomas has proven once again that he is a veritable developer. He has shown to his detractors and admirers alike that with or without politics a man can bring development to his community. I am particularly happy and proud because the FIFA Centre is located in my village…. my quarter, in fact, at my back yard.



A hunter who brought back an elephant
- HRH Chief Tambe Takor, traditional ruler of Besongabang
I lack words to describe my joy for this young man. But all I can say is that Mr. Orock is like a great hunter who went hunting and killed an elephant. This project is like an elephant whose meat would be eaten by the entire Besongabang village and even the surrounding villages. You can see for yourself how happy the children of Besongabang are today.