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Calls for life presidency:

How self-seeking Manyu elite deceive Biya

By AkoPhiliPAshu, a Manyu elite and SDF Y’de V1 district Chairman

 AkoPhiliPAshu

The Manyu CPDM whistle blowers and the front line masquerades of the Biya’s regime are once more animating the political space. The time has come again for the self-seeking individuals of the crumbling empire, who after 34 years of dictatorial rule and economic squander, are shamelessly telling the world that a country like Cameroon with diverse cultures and very intelligent people will crash and subsequently cease to exist after the reign of president Biya.

                In the battle for political positioning, it is but normal and accepted that the Manyu CPDM could not afford to miss the CPDM train that is cruising around the country, calling on president Biya to rule and live for ever. What I differ sharply with my brothers of the CPDM in Manyu is that they give the impression to the world that the Manyu man has lost focus and reasoning; he is very uncivilized and untamed in such a way that he moves only in one direction like a blind man.

                The CPDM political elite in Manyu are ludicrous in that they take the common man as a mendicant, whose survival depends solely on the benevolence of those who hold the purse. That is why they think that the Manyu people are too dull and blind to see and draw the conclusion that Mr. Biya is tired and needs urgent rest. That after serving the country for uninterrupted thirty-four years the president can no longer inspire even an idiot, except perhaps those ass lickers who are ever so desperate for privilege and power.

                To the best of my knowledge, without fear of contradiction, I can not remember any forum where the sons and daughters of Manyu met and unanimously made any minister their spokesperson. The political elite have made it a tradition that once an individual is made minister, he arrogates to himself the title of the spokesperson of the entire Manyu people. At times they make public pronouncements without consulting the base, consequently, showing share disrespect to the people they purport to represent.

The Manyu call and the question of legitimacy

                Manyu Elements Cultural Association [MECA] is an association that was created to conceive and carry out development projects in Manyu Division. The aim was to assemble all the sons and daughters of Manyu to reflect and contribute to this effect. The association is therefore apolitical. The founders of this important organization were very conscious when they mentioned its apolitical nature in its fundamental text.

                It has taken more than twenty years for the Manyu Hall to be at the level where we find it today. This has been thanks to the personal efforts and financial sacrifices of all the Manyu sons and daughters [including this writer], irrespective of their social status, level of income and political opinion. The Manyu man has never wholly or partially relied on the financial benevolence of the CPDM impostors for the completion of the project. Endevours like this are championed by elites of other places. Our brothers on the saddle have never thought of organizing fund raising ceremonies so that they can invite their political friends to help them complete the undertaking. On the contrary, they are always present as guests in such ceremonies to help others develop their areas. That is why ministers and directors from Manyu come and go but the hall remains uncompleted for more than twenty years since the project was launched.

                It is in this hall, the sweat of the Manyu people who cut across the political divide in Cameroon that the Manyu CPDM political heavy weights assembled and read a declaration in the name of the entire Manyu people. Minister Mengot Victor Arrey, who was the master of ceremony, told the world that the Manyu people, elite, traditional rulers etc. are asking Mr. Biya to remain president for life. What Mr. Mengot did was an official transformation of MECA Yaoundé in to a Manyu cultural wing of the CPDM.

                Have the transferred their political base from Mamfe to Yaoundé? Otherwise why is it that at the time when CPDM elites all over the country are rushing back home to their various constituencies to send their hypocritical motions of support to their president, asking him to continue working until he dies in office, the Manyu CPDM bigwigs preferred to remain in Yaoundé to confiscate and transform the Manyu Hall into a CPDM property? Are they not afraid of the wrath of the people they cheated during the CPDM reorganization, where posts were sold and others given to friends and relatives? Are these the people who can morally pretend to speak on behalf of the people of Manyu?

Motions, Calls and the People

By TazoachaAsonganyi, Yaounde

Political discourse is like advertising. Both are meant to have an effect on people. For both, the first effort is to get the attention of the audience; the next crucial one is to get the idea across.

                The political discourse in town is the divisive issue of the next presidential election. Somehow, the CPDM has used motions and calls about the next presidential election to force the more unifying war effort against Boko Haram to the backwoods!

                Their first step was to surprise us at a most unexpected time by presenting the next presidential election supposed to be held in October 2018 as an urgent matter. Bizarrely, they were clamouring to “beg” their natural candidate to accept to be a candidate!  When they were sure that we were all attentive, they put the joker on the table – they called for the election to be anticipated!

                They themselves say that it is their “democratic” right to behave this way. Fair enough for the “democratic” environment that their policy of one strongman with extremely weak institutions has foisted on all of us. It has permitted that their desire can become the rational and the irrational can become their desire.

                Whatever the case, election is the single most important issue that unites the people with its leadership. Curiously, the CPDM takes it seriously only in the effort its leadership makes to detach the people from the outcome of the electoral process.

For firing discordant note:

Biya summons Sultan Njoya in Geneva for explanations

Biya and MbomboNjoya

President Paul Biya left the country on Tuesday 23 February 2016 for a short private stay in Europe. He was accompanied by his wife Chantal Biya and some of his very close aides notably his director of cabinet Martin BelingaEboutou.

                But the Sultan of the Bamum, Ibrahim MbomboNjoya also travelled out of the country at about the same time like the president. It was not however immediately known what was taking the charismatic and very revered monarch out of the country at that time.

                Was it a coincidence that the two personalities were travelling to Europe at about the same time or was it a planned trip?

                What is however, true, is that Sultan MbomboNjoya has been making headlines in the local press and his remarks in Bafoussam have also continued to animate debates on radio and TV and even in bars especially in the capital city Yaounde.

The Sultan’s remarks during the grand rally in Bafoussam organized to call on President Biya to anticipate Presidential election and to be candidate were seen to be both controversial and news-making.

                For the CPDM leader of the West region that he is, Sultan MbomboNjoya, rather than urge the president to be candidate for the election, instead urged him to convene an extra-ordinary session of the CPDM a priori, to look into other pressing issues that are affecting the life of the nation – notably Boko Haram and the drastic fall in oil prices on the world market. He reminded the president that the future of Cameroon rests squarely in his hands and he should not minimize what the opposition can do.

MbomboNjoya exhorted Biya to think of the CPDM party and especially the Cameroon he wants to bequeath to Cameroonians before responding to “The People’s Call”.

The People’s Call:

 MbomboNjoya cautions Biya to be careful

Sultan Ibrahim MbomboNjoya

In a grand CPDM rally that held in Bafoussam last week, Ibrahim MbomboNjoya, the Sultan of Bamum and permanent head of the party’s Central Committee delegation in the West region, showered praises on President Paul Biya but failed to call on him, as other CPDM barons have been doing all over the country, to stand for the upcoming presidential election. Rather, the no-nonsense king of the Bamums in his scripted remarks at the meeting insinuated that the President, after ruling for so long a time (33 years), should take a well-deserved rest. The Median stumbled on a copy of MbomboNjoya’s speech and translated it. It makes for enriching reading. (The subtitles are ours).

In this exceptional circumstance where the pulse of the entire West region beats so harmoniously in our beautiful regional capital Bafoussam, it is a real privilege for me to take the floor, for the first time, in my capacity as permanent regional chief of delegation of the Central Committee for the West, to wish you a warm welcome to this Bafoussam ceremonial ground.

                Before anything else, let me seize this opportunity offered me to express to the National President of our great party, the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM), my very profound gratitude for this mark of confidence which he gave my modest person, as well as my team, to animate the activities of the party in our beautiful region.

                Also permit me to sincerely thank His Excellency NiatNjifenji Marcel, President of the Senate, for this important initiative to assemble us on this memorable day in the political life of our party and of our nation.

                Mr. Senate President, dear comrades, I would not want to hurt your modesty here by declaring loud and strong that the great success of this meeting is by chance; it is clearly your work.

                Mr. Vice-Prime Minister Jean Nkuete, Secretary-General of the Central Committee of our great party, the CPDM…I would tell you that your presence does not only honour us but increases the brilliance of this ceremony, and reassures us through your ever-pertinent advice, that we can always count on you to make us go forward.

Memory lane

YourExcellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

                We can recall that on Saturday, 18 February 2012, we gathered at this same place in Bafoussam for a meeting of thanks to the West population after their massive plebiscite for candidate Paul Biya in the presidential poll of 9 October 2011, at the end of an election which we have justly qualified as historic and eloquent. Yes! 66.22%.

Through this massive adhesion to the President of the Republic’s socio-economic blue-print placed at the time under the sign of “Greater Achievements”, we were demonstrating and this, in an irreversible manner that the President of the Republic had to continue counting on us.

Unalloyed attachment to Biya

                Since then, our militant fervour and our attachment to his person and to the ideals which he so fortunately incarnates at the head of our country have not failed. On the other hand, we have maintained our deferential engagement, and this, once more, illustrated itself through the massive plebiscite of CPDM lists during the parliamentary and municipals elections of 30 September 2013. In fact, if the number of MPs has remained unchanged, that is, 20/25, we have conversely noticed an increase by 18% of regional councillors in the West region, moving from 844 in 2007 to 978 in 2013. This leap of the West translates the will and determination of our region to support His Excellency Paul Biya in the engagement he took together with the Cameroonian people, to lead Cameroon to  democracy and prosperity.

Buea, Capital of The Cameroons:

Churchill Monono Repositions Buea on ‘Map of Unforgettable Cities’

By MbenjuMafany, Yaounde

Buea is a city! Any shot at ridding it of this status, overtly or covertly, will be vile and deceptive. Of course, the Buea-based Centre for Research on Democracy and Development in Africa, CEREDDA, has published an illustrative, revolutionary and visionary book to expatiate this point.

                Churchill Ewumbue-Monono’sBuea, Capital of the Cameroons: Symbol of the Nation and of Reunification rubs out what tinges of doubt there may be on the might of the 120-year-old multi-dimensional capital, which has been pilloried with a string of mean but futile “ruralisation” campaigns.

                He states his case for Buea in three parts: the city’s administrative evolution; important events and dates; and a photo gallery of pre-colonial and post-colonial structures.

                With instructive stats and facts, the 305-page landmark publication weaves Cameroon’s contemporary history, beginning with an overview of Buea, which served as the first religious, educational, and administrative capital of Cameroon.

                However, the kernel of this thoroughly researched piece is the outright debunking of the perception that Buea was a village and only witnessed pockets of urbanisation when it hosted the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Cameroon in February 2014.

South West Region:

TPG frowns at corrupt tollgate

By Ajongakou Santos in Buea

Ayuk Peter Akpoeban, SW Treasury

Pay Master General (TPG)

Public accountants of the South West Region have been urged to shun corruption and misappropriation of public funds as a means towards better managing and protecting the state purse. The call was made by South West Governor, Bernard OkaliaBilai, in Buea on 19 February, as he presided over the Fourth Coordination Meeting of Public Accountants of the South West region for the 2015 financial year.

                 Addressing the treasurers, the governor urged them to among other things speed up production and submission of their accounting reports this so as to permit their hierarchy to better appraise the situation of the respective treasuries..

                For his part, the South West Paymaster General, Mr. Ayuk Peter Akpoeban hammered on the issues that draw the region and its municipalities behind when it comes to project execution. The TPG decried the late presentation of projects files by mayors and contractors which in turn accounts for late disbursement of money for important projects.

                Peter Ayuk also frowned at revenue collectors at tollgates and weighting stations who either delay in depositing their collections at the State treasury or have vamoosed with the money collected.

                While reiterating the fact that weighting stations are not aimed at making any profits but to ensure that vehicles respect their normal weights so as not to degrade the roads, Mr. Ayuk Peter decried the fact that revenues from the weighting stations have witnessed a drastic drop despite the increase in number of heavy duty trucks plying on the roads.

                The Paymaster General therefore called on all those concerned to be accountable and to pay in their collections promptly so as to enable the treasury to cover its recurrent charges before asking for support from Yaounde.

Apprentice Sorcerers Dare Peace at Pamol Unsuccessfully

By AtemnkengEvaristus in Lobe

Chief MekanyaOkon Charles, IGM

PAMOL Plantation PLC

Despite very sustained efforts by the interim management that have put PAMOL Plantations Plc back on the positive growth path, it seems a few within the company have refused to see reality in the face.

                The recent attempts by these few to manipulate workers to go on strike over a supposedly big bag of money given to the Interim General Manager, IGM, Chief Mekanya Charles Okon by President Paul Biya to distribute to workers is a clear indication of intoxication and rumour-peddling intended to rock the harmony and peace in the company.

                An uneasy atmosphere has hovered over Lobe for the past ten days since last February 16 when some eight staff representatives, all of who are harvesters, in one of the company’s divisions – Lipenja- decided to down tools and go on an official strike over unpaid salary increment since March 2015.

                Even though their action did not disrupt company activities such as harvesting and milling, it nonetheless raised a lot of dust.

                The IGM, who was attending a meeting in Yaoundé, had to rush back to Lobe to assess the situation.

                Before his arrival, however, the strike by the few workers had been promptly diffused by leaders of the workers’ union and other management staff on hand who had told the workers that the reasons for their strike were not founded and that management had planned to begin paying the accrued increment as from the end of February 2016 in a phased manner.

                The striking workers claimed that the arrears of the increment were supposed to have been paid on February 15 but that the IGM was withholding their money. They were, however, reminded that PAMOL never pays in the middle of the month but at the end of each month. Since the interim management took over, most often workers are paid a few days before the month wraps up.

Rumour Offers Pamol Workers Huge Money from Biya

                What seemed to have fuelled the ‘strike’ or protest by the few was a diabolical rumour that had made the rounds claiming that President Biya had received the Interim General Manager, Chief Mekanya Charles, twice and that during the last audience he allegedly handed a big bag of money to the IGM to come and pay the pending increment arrears.

                Proof that there was an evil hand behind the actions of the few, a source (Which we are withholding) had called some media houses, not The SUN, to inform them that there shall be a big strike action in Lobe on February 16. To their dismay, there was no serious strike per se but a feeble protest by the few staff representatives.

                Nonetheless, it must be mentioned that the action by the few had a very marginal effect as work in Lipenja and Ngolo divisions from where the disgruntled workers emanated, went on hitch-free.

                Sensing that it was a dangerous rumour that could torpedo the peace in the company, management decided to open investigations at the level of the gendarmerie in Lobe. Four workers were held for questioning on February 24.

                The incarceration of the four workers provided a much wanted platform for the manipulators to use and foment a strike action. They succeeded to an extent as on Thursday, February 25 a group of 100 workers mostly from Lipenja marched to Lobe Estate and after blocking the entrance to the mill yard demanded the release of their colleagues.

                Informed of the situation, the IGM quickly informed the Divisional Officer for EkondoTiti, Edwin NkenyaNgwana and the Board Chair, Chief NafondaIsohItoh. The D.O quickly rallied his etat-major who rushed to the scene. In a meeting with the striking workers at the Kokundu club, the situation was rapidly brought under control especially as the four workers were conditionally released. In fact, we learnt the State Counsel is pursuing with the investigations on the rumour over the alleged presidential largesse.

                In fact in the meeting, while the workers insisted that their grouse was over the detention of their colleagues, the Divisional Officer reminded the workers that they were hiding the real cause of their protest which hinges on the rumour of a presidential largesse.

                Edwin NkenyaNgwana ended on a tough note as he told the workers that his administration will not tolerate any such disturbance of public order especially as there is a procedure to follow for any strike action to be called.

                In a chat with the president of the PAMOL Employees Union, Bongo Jonas Eboka, it emerged that the Union was not informed of the protest.

                Eboka expressed surprise over the workers’ demand for payment of the increment on February 15. He said the Union had held numerous sessions with management over the issue and that at the close of 2015, management had agreed to begin paying the accrued increment which amounts to close to FCFA 100 million at the end of February 2016.

                The latest information we got was that the rumour was peddled by a Francophone worker at the Research department who has been identified and shall help investigators in the days ahead to get to the bottom of the matter.

Ahidjo was a strict disciplinarian, Biya doesn’t care

       -Hon. Albert NgomeKome, former Minister and DG

Minister of Transport under Ahidjo and DG of FONADER under Biya, Albert NgomeKome was a household name in Cameroon from the 1970s up to the mid 1980s. Today this illustrious son of Tombel in KupeMuanenguba Division has gone underground; he is hardly seen any where and  has hardly made a public declaration. Following the 2nd October 2015 cabinet shake-up that saw the appointment of two Ministers from KupeMuanenguba Division, The Median’s Editor, Ojong Steven Ayukogem caught-up with the elder statesman at his home in MimbomanYaounde and sought to know from him how ministers were selected by Ahidjo, how Ahidjo treated his ministers, his opinion about politics in KupeMuanenguba division among other issues. The interview makes for compelling reading. Just read on.

Hon. Albert NgomeKome, former

Minister and DG

Good day Honorable Albert NgomeKome and Happy New Year

Good day to you Steve and Happy New Year 2016 to you as well.

Honorable you look so young and strong that is for a man that was already a big personality in the 1970s and early 1980s. What accounts for this strength and youthfulness?

If truly I look youthful and strong, it may be because of a combination of certain factors. First of all my diet. I control what I eat. My breakfast consists of bits of the following: lettuce, carrots, cucumber, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, lemon, banana and celery. All these are converted into a smoothie which I drink every blessed morning with a slice of brown bread. I conclude my breakfast with a cup of coffee. I also eat a lot of vegetables and fruits-pineapples, oranges, grapes, water melon etc. it is said that you are what you eat.

Secondly, I am at peace with myself and my God! I don’t envy anybody for anything. My God has provided me with almost all my needs! My peace of mind may therefore be a contributory factor to my “strength and youthfulness”.

Honorable, you have hardly made a public appearance or pronouncement for decades now; you are neither seen nor head anywhere. Where have you been for all this while? Why are you so cut-off from the public view?

By nature I am not one who seeks publicity and I don’t speak carelessly. But I speak when I think that what I say will contribute to the advancement of the debate. Contrary to what you imply, I am not cut-off from public view, but I may be cut-off from the political public view because I am not a member of any political party and when political meetings are held – CPDM, SDF, CDU and UNDP – you don’t see me there. But when I feel strongly about a current political event, I express my opinion. Besides, I have aired my opinion about certain issues in your publication – The Median. I am an active member of many cultural and social groups, some of which I am the key foundation member. The problem is that if you are not seen on TV, you don’t exist politically.

Honorable can you tell us a bit about your self, that is your birth, your education, career etc

Albert NgomeKome is a Cameroonian born on the 18th of October 1939 at Mpako, Bakossi in KupeMuanenguba Division. I attended the Native Administrative (N.A) School in Nyasoso and proceeded to Basel mission College, Bali (Now Cameroon Protestant College – CPC) on scholarship in 1955. I graduated with a West African School Certificate in 1959, and after working for two years as a Cooperative Inspector following a one year training course in Ibadan, Nigeria in 1961, I entered as a pioneer student into the newly created Cameroon College of Arts, Science and Technology CCAST Bambili. On graduation in 1964, I proceeded to the United States of America for studies on scholarship under the African Scholarship Program for American Universities (ASPAU). On graduation, I did a six-month internship in the Political and Security Council Affairs (PSCA) department of the United Nations in New York. From there, I left for the University of Lancaster, England to do a master’s Degree on a British Council scholarship. I returned to Cameroon in December 1969 and resumed duty with the West Cameroon government as an Administrative Officer. I came to Yaounde in September 1972 as head of a service in the Ministry of Public Service. When in 1973 FONADER was created, I was appointed Assistant Director of Credit, a post I held till 1977 when I was appointed Director of Credit.

Recalcitrance at sub-regional level:

Cameroon given deadline to comply with CEMAC

Equatorial Guinea and Chad have been given the same “ultimatum” while Gabon and Chad are far advanced in transposing the CEMAC directives in their national texts.

By EssanEkoninyam in Yaounde

Biya

In an interview with the press published elsewhere in this newspaper, Cameroonian born Paul Tasong, the Commissioner in charge of economic, financial and monetary issues of the CEMAC Commission, said his working visit to Cameroon recently was not to give an ultimatum to the government for failing to toe the CEMAC line. However, from what The Median gathered, that was exactly the purpose of the visit of the financial expert.

                Informed sources told us that in a tête-à-tête he had with the minister of finance, AlamineOusmaneMey, Paul Tasong made it clear that the government of Cameroon would no longer be given the opportunity to delay its transposition of the directives of the Economic Community of Central African States (CEMAC) in its finance law. The CEMAC official said the union has given Cameroon up till the end of this year to this sub-regional rule that was adopted by the six member states on 19 December 2011.

                The said directives, it should be noted, are aimed on the one hand at promoting a modern, efficient and transparent management of public finances, and on the other, at improving the comparability of public finance data, with the aim of better managing the procedure of multilateral surveillance on more reliable and comparable data.

                Critics have wondered aloud why Cameroon is dragging its feet in transposing these CEMAC directives in its finance law whereas it knows what benefit such an action entails. It was on account of these advantages that AlamineOusmaneMey said during the annual conference of the central and external services of his ministry which held earlier this month that works on the transposition of the CEMAC directives were far advanced and would be even more so in 2016.

Cameroon is not a recalcitrant member of CEMAC

- Paul Tasong, Commissioner in charge of economic, financial and monetary issues of the CEMAC Commission on mission to Cameroon recently, this financial expert of Cameroonian nationality told the press what he came to do. He did not come to give an ultimatum to Cameroon for not respecting CEMAC directives, as many had believed. Rather, he said Cameroon is doing well as far as its membership in CEMAC is concerned. This and many other pertinent issues constitute the content of this interview given in French, which The Median translated for your reading pleasure.

                Did you come to Cameroon to give an ultimatum to the Cameroon government to follow the directives of CEMAC in terms of public finance?

              

Paul Tasong

  Let me say right away and with precision that no international organization whatsoever can give an ultimatum to a member state. This does not happen because international organizations are not private companies. They are organizations that are put in place, which are created by states. They are properties of the state. They have as objectives to work for the interest of these states. In this regard, I don’t see how an international organization can give an ultimatum to its member state. We can, during the evaluation of different projects which we lead for the interest of states with states, sometimes accompanied by some of our technical partners, bring to the attention of authorities of member states violations of rules that we notice, without however letting these violations to be in the form of ultimatum.

                What do you intend to do to make Cameroon respect the norms of CEMAC? I am asking because everyone who is asked to give an explanation is, of course, a bad student in that domain.

                Let’s talk precisely about the case of Cameroon because for the moment I’m on mission in Cameroon. I would not want to qualify Cameroon as a bad student. Not at all. The objective is, in the first place, to transpose the directives of the hamonised framework of management of public finances in the national legislation of Cameroon. Even if this project did not go as quickly as we had wanted, we are highly satisfied with the technical and political evolution. Much technical work was done at all levels by technicians of Cameroon’s administration. Be it at the legislative or judicial level or at the level of the administration, much technical work was done.

                The transposition of directives in the national legislation is very advanced. Draft texts are already available. All what is left to be done is to transmit these draft texts to the CEMAC Commission so that we can give our notification of conformity to these draft texts with community directives. Technical working sessions that we have had with technicians comfort me in that the preoccupations which are ours, and which are about the disparities between directives and these draft projects, are known and we have no doubt that these authorities can appropriate to themselves these technically validated disparities and proceed to the transmission of texts for notification of conformity.

                Do you think Cameroonian authorities received your message warmly?

                Absolutely. We have a working session with the members of government, with the first officials of institutions such as the National Assembly, the audit chamber which is the financial court of the judicial system in Cameroon. At the evaluation, we have no doubt about the acquired political will of the former to advance the reform of public finances. I should use this opportunity to recall that Cameroon is a precursor in matters of reform in the sub-region.

First, the reforms at the level of Cameroon compared to the sub-region have some specificities. In the first place Cameroon has adopted its framework law, the law which regulates the financial regime of the state even before the community directives are adopted. More so, Cameroon is the first country to move to the execution of the budget in programme mode. We must insist here for it is not only true for CEMAC but also for the 15 countries which use the CFA. So, even at the level of West Africa, Cameroon is first in the passage of a budget of means to a budget of programmes. Those are the salutary innovations at the level of Cameroon.

                The only difficulty we have is to try to transcribe all of this in the community directives by correcting some of the technical and sometimes political disparities that we realize between the law on financial regime and the draft law which ought to improve, correct these disparities in the financial regime of Cameroon. We have no doubt that from now till then, these disparities will be corrected and that Cameroon will join the queue.

                We are not doing this in the form of an ultimatum. No! We are doing a classical evaluation. We are making sure that the political will of authorities remain constant and this was affirmed to me this morning [the morning of Wednesday, 25 February 2016] when the Prime Minister received me. We made an overview. We brought to his attention the evaluation we did and he assured us once more of the constancy and the will of the government, of authorities at the national level, to follow up and especially fulfill their engagements made towards CEMAC.

Preserving Anglo-Saxon sub-system of Education:

Teachers advocate separate educational council for Anglophones

By Njodzefe Nestor and Ngong Song Jean Marie

Some five educational associations in Cameroon have launched fresh calls for government to create separate educational councils in Cameroon that will better manage issues of education from primary to university.

                This was part of the fallouts of a three day workshop organised by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung that grouped the 5 associations namely the Association of Retired Educationist, ARED, Teachers Association of Cameroon, TAC, People Earth wise, Cameroon Educational Forum and the Cameroon Teachers Trade Union, CATTU on February 25 to 27 2016 in Bamenda.

                The separate educational councils which will cater for and reflect on the different sub systems of education in Cameroon according to the pressure associations will redress the reigning cacophony wherein reflections are done in French and just translated wrongly in English.

                In a strong worded statement to the press, Wilfred TassangNfor, on behalf of the five associations noted that they are into nation building hence have been in constant quest to propose an alternative solution to the way things should be done in  Cameroon especially in providing quality education to young Cameroonians.

SHUMAS provides water to communities in North Region

By Njodzefe Nestor

Dobogo, Djafga and OuroBoubi communities in Maga Sub Division, Mayo-Danay Division of the North Region of Cameroon have received boreholes from Strategic Humanitarian Services, SHUMAS.

                The communities received the boreholes recently in a ceremony at Dobogo, Djafga and OuroBoubi communities that saw the population come out in their numbers to thank SHUMAS and her partners for blessing them with what many classified as the best Youth Day gift, water.

                The success of this project is thanks to SHUMAS’ partnership with the government of Cameroon, Gompels Health Care and the communities.

                The need for the project according to SHUMAS officials was identified in a feasibility study carried out in 2015 by the organization wherein they identified that the communities were in dire need of portable water. The projects were launched in        September 2015 and came to fruition in December 2015.

                At the reception ceremony, Feb. 2016 In Dobogo, Djafga just like in OuroBoubi the mobilization was total and the joy complete with the community singing and dancing in recognition of what SHUMAS timely intervention of SHUMAS which many described as a timely intervention to a possible outbreak of cholera.

New Njinikom Market opens to the public

By Jean Marie Ngong Song

Cross section of the new market

The newly constructed Baingeh market in Njinikom co-financed by PNDP and the Njinikom Council has been opened to the public for business transactions.

The keys of the market were handed over to the mayor Njinikom Council on February 19, 2016 in a ceremony that saw the population come out in their numbers to welcome the gift.

                The market made up of 4 blocks of 25 sheds, one manger of twelve stands, a VIP toilet with 6 squatting holes, electricity and portable water has completely transformed the use to be foodstuff dominated little market of Baingeh where business was done in the open.

                Speaking at the handing over ceremony Feb 19, the project owner, the mayor of Njinikom who received the project on behalf of the municipality, described the new market as a new dawn in the economic life of Njinikom sub division.

Canal 2 International:

Jean Bruno Tagne

Jean Bruno Tagne appointed AGM

Senior journalist at “Le Jour” newspaper and member of the National Communication Council NCC, Jean Bruno Tagne JBT has been appointed the Deputy General Manager in charge of information at Canal 2 television.

                He was appointed on Wednesday 24 February 2016 by the General manager and CEO of Canal 2, Joseph Fotso.

                A graduate of the Advanced School of Mass Communication ASMAC, Yaounde, Jean Bruno has spent the better part of his brilliant career in the print media, where he worked as reporter and editor for various French Language Newspapers notably Mutations and Je Jour. Before his appointment JBT was senior editor (editorialist) at Le Jour.

                Having served for barely three months as consultant at Canal 2, JBT admits he know his new working environment only fairly well. But he has pledged to do his work with the same passion like he did at Le Jour in order to surmount any obstacles and challenges that may be incumbent in the exalting tasks that would be he’s.

Caf congratulates new Fifa President Gianni Infantino

Caf President IssaHayatou says new Fifa President Gianni Infantino

has the 'continued support' of Africa.

Issa Hayatou, the head of the Confederation of African Football (Caf), has formally written to Gianni Infantino to congratulate him after being voted in as the new president of football's world governing body Fifa.

                Infantino succeeds fellow Swiss SeppBlatter, after polling 115 votes, 27 more than closest rival Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, at Friday's election.

                Infantino was not the favoured candidate of Caf, who had given its backing to Sheikh Salman.

                Despite that, Cameroon's Hayatou - who had been Fifa's acting president in the lead-up to the election - sent Infantino a letter, dated 27 February 2016, congratulating him on behalf of the Caf Executive committee and 'the African football family':

                "Be assured of the continued support of Caf, African members of the new Fifa Council, as well as our commitment to strengthening the excellent relationship between Caf and Fifa," Hayatou wrote.

                After his victory, Infantino promised to restore the image of Fifa, and Hayatou backed him to fulfil his pledge.

Mount Cameroon race of hope:

Southwestener wins after 13 years of wait

-SimpliceNdungeh 40, from Lebialem division did the race in 4h 26m to finish first

Ngwaya Yvonne

The 21st edition of the Guinness Mount Cameroon Race of Hope has produced a new name in the male category. SYMPLICE Ndungeh from M’mouck-Fossimondi in Lebialem Division of the South West Region maximized full athletic skills in 4 hours 26 minutes to emerge champion of the 2016 edition of the Race on Saturday 27 February in Buea. It was nearly two decades since a Southwestener last won the race. The last time a South westerner won was in 1998 when another son of Lebialem emerged victorious.

                Ndungeh’s victory gives the South West Region 13 victories in the senior male category; behind the North West Region that has 14 wins in the same category.

                Three-time winner, GodloveGabsibuim (2012, 2013, & 2015) came second, closely followed by two-time winner, Mbatcha Eric Mangeh (2011, 2014).

                Talking to The Median Newspaper, SympliceNdungeh could not hide his joy: “I am really excited. It’s a dream come true. I always dreamt of this victory. So many people discouraged me, others encouraged me, but I knew this was certainly going to come someday. I am proud to have given the people of the South West Region the victory they have always longed for. I thank God, I thank the National and South West Regional Athletic Federations, all those who supported me; my family and friends. This trophy is for all of my fans. Long live the South West Region”.

                Yvonne Ngwaya from the North West Region emerged victorious in the female category, while her elder sister TIMBEP Patience Ngwaya and TatahCarine also from the North West grabbed the second and third positions respectively.

                In the relay race, the MOMAJANG Athletics club of Bamenda led by Youssouf Hassan finished first, followed by the EssombeLyonga Samuel led LIFA WILLS Athletics club of the South West Region and runners up FAP-Yaounde led by Voffo MOMO Ernest came third.

                In the male junior category, Adamu Isa Buba, Amadou Ibrahim and AZAH Afa ran unmatched athletics talents to occupy meritorious ranks.

                The imposing uprising talents in the junior female category featured from the first to the third-Claudine Bongben of the Kumbo Destiny Athletics club,JaffLadifatou SHALANYU and Tune MacrinaLenyuy of the Kumbo-based Authentic Athletics Club respectively. The enticing largesse of the Guinness Mount Cameroon Race of Hope,The Median gathered ranged from ten millions FCFA Five millions and two millions five hundred thousands from the first to the third champions.

2016 FEMALE AFCON:

 Contractors given four months to complete jobs

By Ajongakou Santos in Buea

Barely eight months to the Female African Cup of Nations to be hosted by Cameroon in November 2016, the committee set up to supervise local projects in the South West Region have given contractors a four-month ultimatum to complete work on the various pendant projects. Reports suggest that, Limbe and its Omnisport Stadium will host Pool B of the female Nations Cup due for November through December this year.

                The local organizing committee whose primordial task is to mount pressure on recalcitrant contractors so that they speed up works at the various construction sites was formally commissioned into office recently at the South West Governor’ office.

2016 Mt. Cameroon Race of Hope:

Minister BidoungMkpatt crowned by Buea chiefs

MolaEvoumeBidoungMkpatt poses for a snapshot

withBuea Chiefs and other dignitaries

The indefatigable Minister of Sports and Physical Education has been given the title “Evoume”, meaning bulldozer, by the chiefs of Buea. The title is in acknowledgement of his untiring efforts towards imbuing Cameroonian youths with the spirit of hard work and patriotism.

By Ojong Steven Ayukogem back from Buea

Did you say MolaEvoume? Yes I did. That is another name you can now call the Minister of Sports and Physical Education, H.E. Pierre Ismael BidoungMkpatt. The minister was given the new title by the chiefs of Buea, on Friday 26 February 2016, as he presided over the opening of the 21st edition of the Guinness Mount Cameroon Race of Hope, at the esplanade of the MolykoOmnisports Stadium in Buea.

Front page

Suicide bombers kill at least 25 in Far North

By Maliki Danna in Maroua
Two suicide bombers posing as food vendors killed at least 24 people and injured 112 others in a market in Meme, Far North Cameroon, security sources said on Friday.
    It was the first time the town of Meme has been targeted but there have been previous assaults near the town of Mora, which lies near the border with northeastern Nigeria.
    Last week Cameroon's military killed 162 Boko Haram militants and arrested about 100 others in an assault, according to government spokesman Issa Tchiroma.
    A Cameroonian military source said two girls carried out the attack. Girls and young women have carried out a spate of suicide bombings in the region.
    "These two girls took advantage of the fact that it was the woman's market," said another military source. "They came like vendors, except they had explosives in their cooking pots." The death toll may still rise.
    There has so far been no official claim of responsibility for the attack, but officials pointed the finger at Nigerian-based Boko Haram.

Power sharing and succession:

 Northeners want post of Vice President
Some of those who hail from the three northern regions of the country are looking forward to an imminent change of constitution that would usher in the post of Vice President and which would be given to one of theirs.
By Tanyi Kenneth Musa in Yaounde
If there is any one thing President Paul Biya has succeeded to do throughout his 33-year reign, it is to hide the identity of his possible successor at the helm of the state. Although the president of the Senate is President Biya’s constitutional successor, it is evident to Cameroonians that Marcel Niat Njifenji is not the man the President would want to succeed him. First because he is already wearied by age and second because the Bamilékés, one of whom Niat Njifenji is, are not particularly liked or favoured by President Biya.
    For many years running, fingers have been pointing at the sitting minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, Rene Emmanuel Sadi, who, observers says, enjoys an extraordinarily close relationship with President Biya. Not much is said in this light about Sadi these days, but many Cameroonians do not seem to have ruled out the possibility of him succeeding the President.
    Nevertheless, one group of people who are very convinced that the presidential seat must be occupied by one of theirs after President Biya quits power, is the people of the three northern regions. From them power was given to Biya and to them it must be returned, is a philosophy that many of them reportedly pride themselves with.
    Talking to The Median last week on condition of anonymity, a member of the Grand North elite who is very close to power said: “Paul Biya understands that he has to hand this thing back to us. He doesn’t have any reason not to give it to one of us. Ahidjo moulded him and handed power to him on a platter of gold. It would be sheer ungratefulness on his part if he gives it to someone else.”
    Meantime, another northerner, an opinion leader who claimed that his view represented those of the majority of the people of the Far North, North and Adamawa regions, was more confident and analytical. Said he:

34 years of Biya: What balance sheet?

 By Tazoacha asonganyi, Yaounde
Humans in their early age enjoy youthful exuberance and the ability to dare, and to test the many fresh ideas they always have. They work hard, get old by the day, lose the excitement of action and the energy of youth, and by the law of nature, eventually “retire” from active service and rest. This is true of all human institutions. They can age as the persons that incarnate them lose the excitement of action and the energy of youth and fall into complacence. For these reasons, political parties, countries and other human organizations need to renew leadership and strategies regularly or they easily fall into decrepitude.
    Competition is a force that keeps human effort alive, especially when everybody is playing by the same rules and everyone’s effort is rewarded in equal measure. Political parties compete for votes. Regions or states compete in bringing welfare to their people. Countries or flag-bearer companies compete for placement of their goods and services and sometimes manpower in the world marketplace. The countries that do not promote competition at all levels, or do not renew leadership regularly to keep it youthful, creative and innovative, have only themselves to blame for their backwardness and the generalized poverty of their people. It is the same with political parties. In 30 years, the CPDM, the party that has managed the affairs of Cameroon during that timeframe, has left us with an environment that does not promote competition, and is destructive of liberty and the creative and innovative forces of the individual.
    During the 30 long years, the “successes” and “achievements” lined up by the party are mainly on paper, with nothing concrete to show, whether in democracy or economic development. A trip down memory lane will surely show their perpetual leader rubbing shoulders with all types of world leaders, but he will be found nowhere inspecting a new production plant, supervising the construction of a flyover, inaugurating a six-lane road, cutting a ribbon for some cutting-edge made-in-Cameroon good or service to hit the market from some strategic “emerging” industry or some ivy-league institution..

Life presidency agenda:

Paul Biya

Unpleasant surprises that may confront Biya
Paul Biya deserves praise for keeping Cameroon together in peace so far. But no one can be sure of peace anymore in the next few years of the end of the current mandate. The absence of rules of succession within the CPDM will almost for sure push powerful ambitious bureaucrats to acts of disaffection and sabotage to gain ascendancy. Biya’s treatment of this powerful class of ministers and GMs has only prepared them to pounce on him as soon as the opportunity comes. The only way out for Biya to save his head and that of his young and beautiful family is to renounce his own ambition to continue after 2018, and allow free and fair elections within the CPDM on the one hand and at national level on the other hand.

Peace is the one thing that Cameroonians, divided as they are, easily concede to the Biya-regime. It is still a miracle that Cameroon escaped a civil war, given the desperate opposition confrontations with the government in the early 1990s and Cameroon’s history of acrimonious elections. But that peace can no more be guaranteed with the approach of the end-years of the present mandate in 2018. Boko Haram can tell us better.
    The problem is succession. Paul Biya is working on two possibilities neither of which is welcome particularly by the powerful bureaucrats who constitute the pillars of his regime.
    The first is Biya longs to stay in power in defiance of his age and longevity in office. The second scenario is a manipulation of the constitution to create the post of vice-president so that he hand-picks a successor from the ruling CPDM and ram him down the throats of Cameroonians. Either possibility promises trouble for Biya, real big trouble indeed. The opposition and the international community are opposed to his continuing in office with the manipulation of the constitution. Fru Ndi has something to say here.
    Potent as the international community and the opposition are in halting the President it is within the regime itself that Biya will have some of the most unpleasant surprises, betrayals and back-stabbing.

Powerful bureaucrats
    The class of powerful bureaucrats that control both the ruling party and the government will most probably prove to be Biya’s greatest nightmare!
    Another force that the president must reckon with is the wide-spread dissidence within and without the rank and file of the CPDM. It is this group whose outright abstention from successive elections the President should be wary about. They are waiting for him at the turning.
    Three factors make the powerful CPDM bureaucrats potentially deadly to the president. First, there are no rules of succession within the party allowing for a free and fair contest by which a democratically chosen candidate would emerge as the party’s flag-bearer in the event where Biya decides to step aside. This absence opens the way for all forms of intrigues and sabotage against the regime by interest groups to gain ascendancy over other competing groups.
    Second, the relationship between Biya and his aides and subordinates is not always wholesome or self-respecting as with partners functioning at different levels. The president is often high-handed and too much of a chief who sometimes enjoys subservience from collaborators.
    Biya keeps a good distance, partly due to his refusal to receive public officials. His rather punitive and unpredictable use of his appointive powers and other aspects of his style combine to create fear for him rather than encourage trust and loyalty by his collaborators.
    The danger of this pattern of relationship between the Head of State and his subordinates is never apparent until perhaps when there comes a crisis. The chief then suddenly realizes that he stands alone, with collaborators whose loyalty he could swear by having defected.
                                                    

Calls for anticipated election:

When Laurent Esso enters the dance
Laurent Esso is not the kind of minister who would jump on the bandwagon just because others have done so. That he went out this time around to rally the people of his Littoral region of origin to urge President Biya to run for another presidential election is therefore something to write home about. He and his mentor must have examined and dissected the issue of the latter’s participation in the coming presidential election, and arrived at a significant conclusion.
By Essan Ekoninyam in Yaounde

Laurent Esso

The other day in the pages of this authoritative newspaper, we were asking to know if the call for President Paul Biya to stand for the upcoming presidential election and to even organize it earlier than the scheduled date of 2018, made by Paul Atanga Nji and a handful of supposed North West CPDM elite, was a reflection of President Paul Biya’s feelings. We concluded that somehow it did, given that the minister, who doubles as the permanent secretary of the National Council of Security, happens to be one of the few Anglophones in whom the President is well pleased.
    Today, we are saying that there is more evidence of this reflection as seen in the fact that Laurent Esso, the minister of Justice, has joined the dance as well. On 13 February 2016, he and other regime barons of the Littoral region were able to pull a mammoth 10 000-man crowd who gathered at the Bonanjo CPDM party house to call on President Biya to present his candidature in the said election.
    Keen watchers of Cameroon’s political scene would avouch that Laurent Esso, described by a popular musical artiste as “the heart of the nation” (“le coeur du pays”), is not any kind of person in the Biya regime. Not only is he the current longest-serving member of government, he is now at the helm of a very strategic ministry – that which oversees the files of state criminals who are languishing in prison. As well as those who will join the latter sooner or later. For the President to assign such a ministry to you, you must occupy a special place in his heart.
    Secondly, Laurent Esso is not the kind of minister who would jump on the bandwagon just because others have done so. That is why you would hardly see or hear him chanting “Dimabola”-like songs in CPDM rallies and other such occasions or granting interviews just for the sake of it. That is equally why he would never run wild in celebration whenever he is maintained as minister or have his government portfolio changed. He speaks and acts only when it is absolutely imperative for him to.

Anticipated presidential election:

Chief Justice Ayah Paul Abine

Cameroonian journalists are hypocrites - Says Ayah
By Ojong Steven Ayukogem in Yaounde
“The journalist in Cameroon pretends to be against in public, but “for” behind the scenes.” This is the grim picture that the Advocate-General of the Supreme Court who doubles as Secretary-General of the PAP party, Chief Justice Ayah Paul Abine paints of Cameroonian journalists.
    Ayah says he is surprised at the way some Cameroonian journalists are reacting to calls for President Paul Biya to convene early presidential elections as a means towards extending and/or perpetuating his stay in power. The super-scale magistrate who was candidate in the last presidential election in Cameroon in 2011, affirms that the constitutional/legal instances where early presidential elections can be called in Cameroon are so clear and unambiguous, and except President Biya wants to toy with the constitution, it is really so difficult for him to heed the call by his party comrades to convene the electorate for an anticipated presidential vote.

MINFI:

Alamine Mey & Elung Paul: The unbeatable duo!
Perhaps the two most efficient, prescient, competent and transparent ministers appointed so far by President Paul Biya to head MINFI are Alamine Ousmane Mey and Elung Paul Che. Not only are they exemplary technocrats worth their salt, they have the propensity to do honest hard work meant to selflessly advance the nation.  
By Douglas A. Achingale in Yaounde
Every ministry in Cameroon, just as in any other country in the globe, has particular missions which are assigned to them to perform. The accomplished missions of all the ministries put together are what enable the country to raise its head above water and continue its forward march in the battle of development.
    However, there are missions and there are missions. It is an open secret that the missions assigned to the ministry of Finance (MINFI) are special, given their direct concern with the raising and management of the money that every other ministry and the country as a whole need to survive. Otherwise put, MINFI is the livewire of the Cameroon nation. If the country were a human body and the ministries the body parts, then MINFI would undoubtedly be the lungs.
It is because of the strategic importance of MINFI that the ministry has been made to have not only two Ministers but also Directors General to head its Technical Departments; viz, Taxation, Treasury, Budget and Customs.
    Over the years, President Paul Biya has been overly punctilious in choosing the ministers to man this important “money house.” We have seen very efficacious and workaholic ministers come and go – ministers whose unalloyed efforts at serving the state earned them surpassing commendation from the wide public.
    Of course, we have also seen one or two of them who thrived in financial rascality. It was clear to Cameroonians that somehow the President blundered to appoint such giant rats to guard the precious sacs of palatable groundnuts which our nation most badly needs.

Fako Division

Fako Division:
Bureaucrats and professional elite eclipsed in politics
Young Fako administrative and professional elite in the central administration in Yaounde have accused the political class of alienating and completely sidelining them in the politics of the division. These bureaucrats and technocrats say the politics of hate, exclusion and revenge practiced by their political elite only augurs ill for the progress and development of Fako
By Ojong Steven Ayukogem in Yaounde

Mbella Moki Charles

Longman’s Dictionary of contemporary English defines elite as “a group of people who have a lot of power and influence because they have money, knowledge, or special skills e.g political, social, economic, traditional etc elite. It adds that an elite group contains the best, most skilled or most experienced people or members of a larger group e.g an elite group of politicians, artistes, administrators etc.
    So, because of the special qualities and/or skills they possess most communities look up to their elite for guidance and orientation in their quest to grab their fair share of the national cake. It is the elite of any community that represent them at the national stage and at those arenas where decisions that affect the interests of the community are taken.
    But this general rule seems to have an exception in Fako Division of the South West region. Here a section of the elite class, notably the political elite, either by design or by omission, have decided to alienate the professional and administrative elite from the political scene of the division. And this is a potent source of real frustration for these young professionals especially when they see how their peers of other divisions are recognized, respected and given their rightful place in the politics of their areas.
    Interestingly, these young professionals, in their disappointment and frustration, have elected to sit back and watch how their politicians are going and hitting their heads on the wall all the time.
    Many young Fako bureaucrats complained to this reporter that more often than not their opinion is never sought whenever important political decisions are taken in the division. They grumble for instance that unlike in other divisions where decisions affecting the lives of the community are taken by the elite in Yaounde and only implemented at the base, in Fako the local politicians have arrogated this strategic role to themselves; they are the ones that decide for the community, “and most often these politicians do not even master how to go about lobbying for things in Yaounde.”
    Fako administrative elite wondered aloud that despite being one of the most strategic divisions in the SW, Fako has the smallest investment budget package in the region. They say if the administrative elite were recognized, respected and given their rightful place, they would also develop a sense of community and constitute themselves into a strong lobby force for their division, like is the case with bureaucrats of other divisions. Unfortunately this is not the case with Fako.
    “In Fako, unlike in other communities of the SW where elites in Yaounde are looked up to as torch-bearers to fight for and protect their people’s interest in the distribution of the national cake, Fako political elite have carved out the division as a niche reserved exclusively for themselves, to the exclusion of all others,” remarked one of the administrative elite, who opted not to be named here.
    This young professional noted albeit sadly that most of these Fako politicians never had formal university education.             “And this is the bane of politics in our division, But we have decided to sit back and watch them do,” he maintained.    

Prostitute bites off penis of ‘heady’ client

The incident took place in the wee hours of Thursday, 18 February 2016 in the Yaounde Mini Ferme neighbourgood after the client had failed to liberate the sex worker on time.
 By Douglas A. Achingale in Yaounde
There was drama in the Mini Ferme neigbourhood in Yaounde on the morning of Thursday, 18 February 2016. A prostitute, whose only name we got as Régine, bit the tip of one of her client’s penis to the point of almost cutting it off, just because the man refused to liberate her on time.
    The event occurred in the small hours of Thursday in one of the many brothels that are usually rented out to sex workers at Mini Ferme. Eyewitness accounts say the client, a gigantic man who had one of his arms amputated, appeared to have been doing sports that morning. He branched off to the brothel to ‘quench the fire in him’ before continuing his activity.
    Upon arrival at the brothel, he met Régine and sealed a deal with her. After they had spent about 30 minutes in a room to which the lady took him, an altercation broke out between the two that soon resulted in a fight. As they exchanged blows, Régine was heard crying and calling on the man at the top of her voice to pay her money. For his part, the man was heard saying that he would only pay her money if she allowed him to go to the end of the exercise.

Three Wildlife Traffickers Arrested in Dimako

By a correspondent in Dimako

Three people were arrested on 9 February 2016 in Dimako in the East Region for trafficking in protected wildlife species. The suspected traffickers had attempted to sell the wildlife products and fell into the dragnet of wildlife officials. The operation was carried out by the Chief of Forestry and Wildlife Control Post in collaboration with the Gendarmerie Brigade in Dimako and with technical assistance from the Last Great Ape Organisation – LAGA. Five chimpanzee skulls, four gorilla skulls and a live crocodile were recovered from the three traffickers who are presently behind bars.
    The arrests came just hours after Nigerian  was arrested   in Bertoua in the East Region for illegal possession and commercialization of elephant ivory tusks and pangolin scales. Five bags of wildlife products including 12 ivory tusks and over 200 kg of giant pangolin scales were recovered from the 43 year-old man who was arrested during an operation carried out by officials of the East Regional Delegation of Forestry and Wildlife in collaboration with the Gendarmerie

Muea, Buea sub-division

Apostle Divine C. Okafor

Man of God arrested for rape, money extortion
By Ajongakou Santos in Buea
Renowned Buea-based ‘Man of God’, Major Apostle Divine C. Okafor of the Life Transformers Ministry International is under police custody since Monday, February 15, 2015. Arrested by elements of the Buea Judicial Police, he is accused of mass rapes, extortion of money from his female worshipers, and questioned on the legality of his church.
    Reports say, the Self-Proclaimed ‘Prophet’ is accused by over eight (8) girls, aged between 17 and 27, of forceful sexual assault, psychological abuse and extortion from worshipers to whom he has promised jobs as ushers in his ministry. The girls wrote a formal complaint to the Human Rights and Freedoms office in Buea, noting among several other issues that the Apostle has not only been sexually harassing them, but has also demanded money from them, on grounds that they will be given jobs, others promised marriage. The man of God has denied all the allegations, saying they are trials on his faith.
    The Median gathered that over 100 worshipers of the ministry stormed the police cell few hours after he was detained requesting his immediate release or they all be arrested. The church members were forced out of the premises in the late nights of Monday, February 15, 2016.

Notorious Y’de-based counterfeiter nabbed

He was specialized in fabricating fake windscreen licences, international passports and CFA and foreign banknotes.
By Tanyi Kenneth Musa in Yaounde
Brice Zomo, 44, a fabricator of fake windscreen licences, international passports and CFA and foreign banknotes, has been arrested. He was apprehended by elements of the Centre gendarmerie legion on Sunday, 14 February 2016 in his Odza residence, following a tip-off.
    In his residence which also served as his laboratory, Zomo was found in possession of numerous fake windscreen licences of 15 000 FCFA, 25 000 FCFA and 100 000 FCFA belonging to different countries of the Central African sub-region. In all, they amounted to 160 million FCFA.
    He was equally found with fake international passports and banknotes. The forger had counterfeit CFA and American dollar banknotes worth a total of 1 266 000 FCFA.