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SWELA to create village committees

By  Batuo Johnson Mbu 
After witnessing a decline in membership, mostly due to scheming and personality conflicts,  the Southwest Elite Association SWELA has tentatively decided to revamp its activities by creating village coordination committees. 
    The Assistant secretary General of SWELA, Prince Nasako Molondo Daniel made this declaration in a chat with The Median on Monday 6 April 2015.  Talking with this reporter, Prince Nasako who is one of the six assistant secretaries-general of SWELA elected on the occasion of SWELA General Assembly in Limbe on 28 February 2015 said that as one of the SGs of the association representing Meme Division he has the difficult task of giving SWELA a new facelift by introducing some meaningful changes.  Aside from creating village committees to rekindle interest in the association, Prince Nasako also plans to create the Meme divisional committee of SWELA, encourage divisional elite to join the association, and also encourage non Southwest elite doing business in Meme division to support severally the association.   

War on Boko Haram

NW contribution climbs to FCFA 105m
By Njodzefe Nestor
The sum of over FCFA 105 million have been collected in the North West region as part of contributions in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency in the Far North. This was disclosed during an evaluation meeting chaired by the Governor of the North West region Adolf Lele l’Afrique and attended by other actors involved in the collection of the funds. The meeting amongst other things was aimed to examine and tally up the different amounts collected from the different parts of the region.
    The contribution started on March 22, 2015 at a ceremony at the Bamenda Congress Hall chaired by the Prime Minister, Philemon Yang where over FCFA 80 million was raised essentially by politicians of the ruling CPDM party, business barons and elite of the Northwest Region.

Abuse of judicial process?

SCNC leader OBEN Maxwell denied bail again!

Barristers Ajong Stanislaus and Blaise Sevidzem have maintained that the continued incarceration of their client is a violation of both the Cameroon Constitution and international legal instruments duly ratified by Cameroon. They made the remark after the Fako High Court judge adjourned the matter yet again, last week. The matter comes up again on Thursday 16 April 2015.
By Ndifor Kizitu in Buea

Oben Maxwell Eyong

Lawyers defending frontline SCNC activist, Oben Maxwell Eyong, in the matter pitting him against the state of Cameroon have decried the continued adjournment of the case. Barristers Ajong Stanislaus and Blaise Sevidzem Berinyuy have complained that the adjournment of the hearing last week was one too many; and it came despite their insistence for the trial to go on.
    The lawyers noted that the continuous incarceration of Oben Maxwell Eyong is “an abuse of the judicial process by all standards”; it is a violation of not only the Constitution of Cameroon and the Criminal Procedure Code but the various international conventions duly ratified by Cameroon.
    Barristers Ajong and Sevidzem maintained that by virtue of section 45 of the Cameroon constitution, duly ratified international conventions take precedence over local legislation.
    “Barrister Ajong and myself led the team of lawyers present in Court today, whilst our lone witness for the Defense, Mola Njoh Litumbe, was also present and ready to testify. We insisted to go on with the trial but the court instead adjourned the matter to 16th April 2015. The judge said she had to give the Prosecution more time to bring their witnesses and the 2nd Accused person. Our passionate plea for bail was also refused by the judge,” noted Barrister Blaise Sevidzem, who remarked that Oben Marxwell’s continues stay in custody is a cause for real worry and desperation for his family especially given that he is their sole bread-winner.
    Barrister Blaise Sevidzem recalled how Oben was arrested in Buea, in February 2014 with a book titled "Guerrilla Warfare" written by Che Guevara.
    “Apparently the government got terrified by the title of the book and feared that Oben might be recruiting guerrillas for an eventual liberation war.”
    Oben Maxwell was first charged with "planning to disrupt the celebration of the Reunification 50th anniversary and President Paul Biya's planned visit to Buea" and was remanded in custody at the Buea prison. He was later transfered to Yaounde, Barrister Sevidzem noted.

Bamenda III gets New Deputy Mayor

Coonsellor John Fondzenyuy

-Adopts administrative and management Accounts
Senior Councilor John Fondzenyuy from the Foncha street council area of Bamenda III was voted to replace Late Madam Bati Rose Lailam. The elections took place Friday April 10, 2015 during the Administrative and Management account session of the Council.
    Prior to his election, reports have it that four candidates applied for the post amongst whom were Senior Councilor  Rita Ndiagang from Membuh, Julian Tapendri from the GTHS Bamenda area, Fondzenyuy John Foncha street and Miriam Ngweni from Ndzah.
    The other candidates however did not get any nomination during the session due to a decision announced in-camera just before the session by members of the investiture committee of the Social Democratic Front; SDF. For the possible fear of dismissal from the party (Famous Art 8.2) only one nomination came up seconded and closed by the councilors with a 100% vote ending the process.
             Mr Fondzenuyuy John being a Senior Councilor meaning member of the Bamenda City Board under the Government Delegate had to resign the function upon election as First Deputy Mayor. He was immediately replaced at the City Board by Councilor Lucas Ngu Afong who from now will be Senior Councilor Lucas Ngu Afong with the mandate to represent the Bamenda III Sub divisional Council at the Bamenda City Council with Four others.

KIPCCUL extends tentacles to B’da

By Njodzefe Nestor
As part of its nationwide extension plan, the Kimbo Police Co-operative Credit Union Limited, KIPCCUL, Micro Finance Establishment has opened a new branch in Bamenda. The branch situated at S Bend, Mile 3 in Nkwen comes to supplement the already existing full scale Branches in Yaounde and Douala.
    Apart from the branches KIPCCUL has a main office at Kumbo in Mbveh along the Tobin Road and 2 Collection Centers at the Kumbo Squares, adjacent TEXACO Petrol Station; and at Tobin along the Tobin-Mbveh road.
    Speaking to The Median on the future of KIPCCUL in Bamenda amidst stiff competition from other credit unions, KIPCCUL Bamenda branch manager, Ntani Paulinus Tangka said being the mother of most credit unions, they are capable of weathering the storm of competition.

Battles for political supremacy in Bakundu clan:

Justice Benjamin Itoe

Bakundu chiefs sack Justice Benjamin Itoe as President-General of BACDU
- But in a swift reaction, a group of Bakundu Chiefs have also signed a counter decision sacking Hon. Motasse Ngoh as President of the Bakundu Chief’s Conference, BCC.

By Batuo Johnson Mbu in Kumba
The President of the Bakundu Chiefs conference BCC, Hon. Motasse Ngoh has announced the sacking of the President-General of Bakundu Cultural and Development Association (BACDU), Chief Justice Benjamin Mutanga Itoe; the entire BACDU executive committee was also dissolved.  According to the decision signed by Hon. Chief Motasse Ngoh and co-signed by 22 other Bakundu chiefs, Justice Itoe was fined two fat cows, 36 crates of beer, 36 bottles of whisky, 36 heads of tobacco and bags of salt. Meanwhile, the affairs of (BACDU) will henceforth be steered by the Bakundu Chiefs Executive Committee, with Hon. Motasse as president.
    Hon. Motasse told journalists in Kumba that the decision sacking Justice Itoe as President General of BACDU came after a meeting of the BCC that took place in Kumba Thursday 9 April 2015.  He said the meeting was convened to review the state of BACDU under the stewardship of Justice Itoe. 
    The six page resolutions of the meeting was presented to the press on Friday 10 April 2015.  Hon. Motasse used the press outing to also elucidate the performance of BACDU and the reasons that informed the ultimate verdict on Justice Itoe and his exco. 
    Motasse explained that BACDU is a child born of Bakundu chiefdoms, and the various village chiefs lead their respective delegations to BACDU meetings to elect its executive committee.  
    However, Motasse noted that in the past 3 years Benjamin Itoe has taken BACDU hostage with impunity, treating Bakundu chiefs with contempt and disrespect.

Biya, Le Monde, France, Boko Haram

Four signs there is no smoke without fire
Within hours of President Paul Biya returning to Cameroon on 27 March, there were a handful of indicators to support a guess that the rumours and press reports of the past weeks were not totally unfounded. Some analysts had held on to the reasoning that “there is no smoke without fire”.
    Biya “hurriedly” signed strategic military decisions in favour of France; he unusually turned down an airport interview; his airport audiences are visibly fast tracked and… did you see convincing springs in his steps as he walked down the plane?

    FRENCH MILITARY: Minutes after the president’s arrival, the government announced a series of decisions authorizing the stationing of the French military near Cameroon’s warfront with Boko Haram in the Far North. The statement also said Cameroonian officers will integrate the joint military command against Boko Haram stationed in Chad. Other coalition members, especially Chad and Nigeria, were more significantly represented.
    Coming so soon – had he even unpacked his luggage? Had he kicked out his shoes?  – nearly in a hurry after the president’s return to the country, made the decisions look like an emergency, designed to arrest a potentially explosive situation. Which? That’s yet to be fully understood.
    The president’s four-week stay abroad with his wife had been rocked by a report in French daily, Le Monde, raising concerns over his health. The report was seen by the government to be a ploy to cast doubts over the capacity of the president, 82, to lead a country at war.
    Some government apologists said it was meant to steer trouble within the military, especially after a photo-montage on the website of the Presidency suggested that the president was at a ceremony on 6 March to honour soldiers killed in the war against Boko Haram. The president had left the country on 1 March and the government claimed the faked photo was the work of a hacker. Commentators suggested its fomenters wished to push the military into a mutiny.

Limbe FESTAC 2015 ends

By Ajongakou Santos in Limbe

 Fako SDO, L’be Gov. Del. and Sonara GM after FESTAC closing

The 2ndedition of the Limbe Festival of Arts and Culture christened Limbe FESTAC 2015, 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, SONARA, and some key financial institutions, this jiffy edition was placed under the distinguished patronage of the Minister of Arts and Culture, Ama Tutu Muna.
    Guided by the theme ''Cultural Diversity and Integration'', the FESTAC opened on Saturday, April 4 and ended on 11 April 2015 at the Limbe Centenary Field.
    It brought together sundry Cameroonians from the 10 Regions of the country and representatives from some friendly neighbouring countries notably Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana.
    In his welcome message 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 this year’s  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.

Limbe City Council Gets Gifts from France

By Ajongakou Santos in Limbe
Three School buses and a fire fighting van have been donated to the Limbe City Council by the city of Colmar in France.  The reception of the gifts took place at the Manga William Avenue in Limbe in the presence of South West Governor, Bernard Okalia Bilia, officials of the Limbe City Council, those of Colmar in France, as well as traditional authorities in Limbe.
    The gifts are visible and tangible fruits of friendship between the Limbe City Council and Colmar in France existing for the past 13 years. According to the government delegate to the Limbe City Council, Mr Andrew Motanga, the gifts will impact on the lives of the Limbe population. The school buses he said will be used to transport pupils and students to and fro school, while the fire fighting van will be used for emergencies, should there be any time in the future, a fire disaster.

Correction and Right of Reply

False allegations about UNICS PLC

Dear Publisher,

In your Newspaper edition of Monday February 16, 2015 (The Median N° 0143), you published on the top right hand side of the cover page and on page 6 of the same edition an article captioned “Financial Scam rocks UNICS Micro finance, officials accused of manipulation”. Page 6 carried the picture of the Board Chairman of UNICS Plc with the same caption as on the cover page.
   
The above publication contained unfounded and unverified information aimed at tarnishing the image of UNICS Plc and her leaders. The Management of UNICS Plc has outlined a number of frivolous and untrue statements found in the said publication as seen below:

    1.    It is stated in the edition that the leaders of UNICS Plc have sold peoples shares without their knowledge to themselves. This information is very strange to UNICS Plc in the sense that NO shares have ever been sold without the members being informed in due time. As a measure to increase share capital, the Extra-ordinary General Assembly of 28/03/2009 in its resolution 4 resolved that holders of less than 25 shares are given up to the 28/09/2009 to make up their shares to a minimum of 25 failing which the shares will be sold to other members. The proceeds are then deposited into their accounts.
   
    2.    It is stated in the edition that Tshe Median visited the UNICS Directorate on February 13, 2015 to verify allegations whereas the leaders of UNICS never received any such delegation.

FAKLA Elections

Fako Lawyers plebiscite Agbor Balla
By Macquens Balemba in Buea

Nkongho Felix Agbor-Anyor aka Balla

Multi-talented lawyer and Human Rights expert, Nkongho Felix Agbor-Anyor aka Agbor Balla (Showboy) has been plebiscited by lawyers of Fako division to pilot their affairs for the next couple of years. Balla got the FAKLA vote following a hotly contested election that saw him emerge ahead of his two challengers -Njilla Stephen and Fih Davidson. He secured 159 votes out of the 286 votes cast.
    His supporters told this reporter that Barrister Agbor Balla captured their hearts and minds thanks to his well-managed campaign and especially his very convincing manifestoes which he captioned “My vision for FAKLA” and “FAKLA: Why I am involved” respectively.
    “In the manifestoes, Balla literally looked into his own mirror and painted a true picture of himself. He promised FAKLANS that with his rich professional experience at both national and international level, his extensive exposure and enviable academic endowments, he has what it takes to pilot the FAKLA ship and sail it to safer waters,” said a Balla apologist.
    In his manifesto, Balla pledged to among other things reconcile splinter units within FAKLA and federate forces with sister associations notably Mela, Manyu lawyers and Nowela.   
    But he at once admitted that his toughest challenge will be to stall attempts to erode the common law. He however promised he would do all in his power to make FAKLA’s position known on the harmonization of the Cameroon legal systems. He insisted that Cameroon is essentially a bijural and bi-cultural country, and any attempt to undermine the common law sub-system is not only anathema but unacceptable.

Training in renewable energy

UB partners with Addax Petroleum, SW mayors
By Ajongakou Santos in Buea

Donated equipment for energy production

The Faculty of Engineering and Technology of the University of Buea has received some equipment worth over 97 million from Addax Petroleum Cameroon Company. Created since 1993, the faculty only went operational in 2010 with the following programmes; Telecommunication Engineering, Power System Engineering, Soft Ware Engineering and Network Engineering.
    The equipment which comprised of a Programmable Logic Controller (controls machines from distance), Direct Current Power Supply (gives opportunity to choose from a variety of current volts), and Signal Generators come after the faculty addressed its difficulty to get equipment for its modern laboratory.
    It was a twin ceremony of Addax Petroleum’s donation of laboratory equipment to the Faculty of Engineering and Technology and the launching of the University of Buea- South West Mayor’s partnership for renewable energy.
    Present at the twin ceremonies where, the Secretary General at the Ministry Of Higher Education, Mr.Ngomo Horace Manga (representing the minister), the Secretary General at the South West Governor’s office, the S.D.O for Fako, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Buea-Prof. Nalova Lyonga, the 1st Deputy Mayor at the Buea Council (representing the Mayor), some chiefs and other dignitaries of the South West Region.
    The first Memorandum of understanding signed between the University of Buea and Addax Petroleum was lauded by the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology – Prof. Tanyi Emmanuel- who said, UB is lucky to have such equipment and to partner with such an company. To the Vice Chancellor, Addax has answered to UB’s call for the need to effectively educate her technology students by matching theory with practice.

NYACUDA Annual Conference

The first Presbyterian church
 in Nyasoso,1896-1

Nyassoso elite preach fraternity, dev’t
- Also condemn Boko Haram, Idleness, Alcoholism
By Atemnkeng Evaristus in Nyasoso
Sons and Daughters of Nyasoso, in Tombel Sub-division of Kupe Muanenguba Division, Southwest Region, have pledged to reinforce love and brotherhood among themselves and revitalize their cultural heritage this, with a view to promoting the development of their once buoyant and promising but now moribund homeland. They also resolved to revamp the activities of the Nyasoso Cultural and Development Association, NYACUDA and chart a better way forward for the colonial resort clan.
    These were only some of the resolutions of the Annual Festival of NYACUDA that took place on 4 April 2015, in Nyassoso, chaired by its President General, Herbert Apande Ediage.
    Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Ediage underscored the objectives of NYACUDA which is mainly to promote brotherhood and unity among people of Nyassoso extraction, and impart in them a sense of self-reliant development. It was on a firm note therefore that Herbert Ediage called on sons and daughters of Nyasoso especially the youths to eschew idleness, alcoholism and drug addiction, and embrace income generating activities especially agriculture.
    Harping on the theme of the festival: “Come let us rebuild”, Herbert Ediage recalled the many development projects championed by NYACUDA in the past including notably: the construction of a multi-purpose community hall; extension of the age-old Nyasoso water project; procurement of the Nyassoso Community Radio and upgrading of the Presbyterian Health Centre to a fully-fledged District Hospital. He noted that NYACUDA also supervised the construction of more classrooms in schools apart from lobbying for the creation of a police post and a tele-centre in Nyassoso.

“Despite the Noise, Haste, Pamol is Witnessing a Miracle”

Mr. Kamadje Albert

- Kamadje Albert, Dir. Of Finance, Pamol Plc

Newspaper reports recently indicated that Pamol Plantations Plc was at the brink of collapse, marred by corruption, embezzlement and wanton mismanagement, requiring that government appoints a messiah to turn things around before the worst happens. However, in the following interview with the Finance Director of the company, Mr. Kamadje Albert, we rather learn that Pamol is an agro-industrial giant on the go, scoring rather enviable results and aiming at a return to profitability in the nearest future. Below are excerpts of the exchange with the press.

You are the Finance Director of Pamol Plantations Plc; could you brief us on the financial health of your company, is it a structure nearing collapse?

I am surprised at this question because for a long time now, we have never heard that type of thing. Pamol is doing well; Pamol is not heading towards collapse, rather we are looking at the future with pride.  May be there is something else on your mind, but Pamol has no problem for now.

So what is the financial situation of Pamol today?

It is good, but we need money to invest; we are approaching financial houses for that, especially as we look forward to acquiring a brand new oil mill to boost our production. The State which is the owner of Pamol is putting in money to foster our investment plans. The money coming in is not the running capital of Pamol. It is intended to enable us acquire fixed assets. To say the least, we are doing just fine and our plans are unfolding accordingly.

The Interim Management of Pamol has been in place since the demise of your GM on the 28th of December 2012; how was Pamol at the time of the GM’s passing and how is it doing today? We understand that you inherited a huge deficit? How have you coped with it?

It is true the Interim Management was put in place on the 28th of December 2012 when the late boss passed away, may his soul rest in peace, and the result as of December 2012 was a minus 2.6 billion CFA F. It was huge and it is one of the highest we ever had and since then it hasn’t been easy to bring down that deficit, but a lot of hard work and sacrifice has been made. Firstly we have done all it takes to cut down costs. If you look at our financial statements as from the year 2012, you will realize that the labour cost; salary and other related expenses represented more than 50 percent of the turnover of the company. That is not the acceptable ratio; it should be around 20 to 30 percent. Once you get above 50 percent it means you are working just to pay salary which is dangerous. So, the Interim Management had to sit up and bring down that cost. A glance at our records today reveal that from more than 3400 workers that were on our payroll, we now operate with about 2500, representing a reduction of  almost 1000 workers. Note, however, that we did not lay off workers and at no time was such an option on the table because we had to protect jobs.

Our second strategy to bring down the deficit was the control of other costs. This is because if you don’t control costs you will not even know what’s happening. Thus, expenditure is generally looked at critically and approved only by the Interim General Manager himself. Every single Franc going out has to be thoroughly looked at and approved by the IGM, which means that after it has been scrutinized right up to our own level, the Interim General Manager himself takes a final critical look at it and only what is essential is approved. That is very important; making sure waste is minimized and misappropriation is checked.

Another area the Interim Management focused on is human resource management; this is because man is at the centre of everything and the best way to manage your workers is to make them to sit up and work. I insist on these two words “to work” because when I look at the past when some people were working and others were loitering and they collected the same salary or even more in some circumstances; I simply congratulate Chief Mekanya for putting an end to a bad company practice.
You see therefore that one of the most important things the Interim Management did was to tell workers that “the salary you are earning, the counterpart of it is effective work done. So if you don’t work don’t expect salary”.

Nigerian Presidential Election

The Win-Win Outcome! 
By Asonganyi Tazoacha in Yaounde
Democracy is a gradual and laborious process of working out in human interactions, how to reconcile those elements of human thought and behavior which are hardest to reconcile. Elections are usually at the centre of the transformative politics of democratic society because they allow the people to control the steering wheel of society. Elections may be some of the most passionate issues in which humans usually engage in apparently irreconcilable factions, but very few societies can be sustained without them.
    Even political giants like Mahamat Ghandi distrusted elections, mainly because of the unfulfilled promises of those who campaign for votes, but also because of electoral fraud, epitomized by Joseph Stalin’s saying that it is those who count the votes that decide an election, not the people who cast the votes! Yet, when these passions are overlaid on a political culture that sees elections as a necessary “evil” for the transformation of society, they can be easily transcended for the good of society.
    The recent presidential election in Nigeria has brought to the fore the intensity of the passions of factions, and the beauty of the human capacity to transcend them and bow to the will of the people. Because our African environment is strewn with sit-tight presidents, most against the will of the people, the capacity of Nigerians to transcend their passions and allow the people’s will to prevail, has thrust Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari onto the stage as both winners in the court of democracy. This time around, Joseph Stalin was proved wrong.

Beekeeping should be encouraged in Cameroon

Takang Eric receiving certificate from his trainers in Israel

- Eric Ebai Tarkang, Animal Scientist and researcher
By Tanyi Kenneth Musa in Yaounde
A researcher who doubles as Divisional Delegate for Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Husbandry for Mbam and Kim, has urged the government of Cameroon to introduce beekeeping courses in the country’s universities. Mr. Ebai Takang made this recommendation and others at the end of a three-week post-graduate program which he did recently at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot Campus.
    The program, which had a research approach, was organised thanks to fruitful collaboration between the Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Husbandry (MINEPIA) and the Israeli Agency for International Development Cooperation (MASHAV). It aimed at providing participants with modern technical know-how in various aspects of apiary management such as pest and disease as well as their control; pollination; supervision of quality control in various aspects of beekeeping and honey types; standardisation of honey types; supplement nutrition; and queen breeding.

Asian Outing Pulls Cameroon up FIFA Ranking

Cameroon has moved up one place in the April FIFA ranking thanks to their recent outing in Asia where the Lions beat Indonesia and Thialand, 1-0 and 302 respectively.
    The FIFA Coca-Cola ranking released Thursday April 9, 2015 shows some notable changes with Cameroon occupying the 48th position one place up from the ranking released in March 2015.
    The African hierarchy is dominated by Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Tunisia and Senegal for the top five, while at the global level, Belgium climbs on the third position with Germany still on the first position, followed by Argentina.

Gabon to host AFCON 2017

Gabon has been chosen to host the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations finals. The 2012 co-hosts won a vote by the Confederation of African Football's executive committee in Cairo on Wednesday ahead of Algeria and Ghana.
    It will be the second time as hosts for the country, which is located on the west coast of Africa, having previously shared duties with Equatorial Guinea.
    Original hosts Libya, where a civil war has halted football, withdrew last year from staging the tournament.
    Gabon will use four venues for the 16-team tournament, which will be played in January and February.
    They will be in Libreville and Franceville, which were used in 2012, plus Port Gentil and Oyem where the stadiums will be ready in 14 months, Gabon Football Federation officials said.
    All three candidate countries made presentations to the Caf executive committee on Wednesday before the ballot was taken. Caf did not make details of the voting immediately available.

Albert Ebosse

Footballer was murdered, says father
Albert Ebosse, the player who died after a match in Algeria last year, was murdered, according to his father.
    Cameroonian striker Ebosse died aged 25 in August after JS Kabylie lost to USM Alger in the Algerian top division.
    The official Algerian report suggested Ebosse died in hospital from head injuries sustained after objects were thrown from the stands.
    "It wasn't a rock. It wasn't a seizure. My son was murdered," Andre Bodjongo told BBC World Service's Sportshour.
    "Since my son was killed, not the president of JS Kabylie, not even any of his team-mates have sent me their condolences. Nobody has called me from the club, nobody."
    The pathologist who carried out post-mortem tests in Ebosse's home country, Cameroon, said the player died as a result of a beating.
    The post-mortem in Cameroon claimed that Ebosse received "a blow to the head" that caused "an indentation of the skull" and impacted his brain, and that he suffered upper body injuries which indicated "signs of struggle".

Front page

2nd Edition of Limbe FESTAC kicks-off

By Ajongakou Santos in Buea
The second edition of the Limbe Festival of Arts and Culture christened Limbe FESTAC 2015 has kick-started at the Limbe Community Field with organizers and participants promising to make this year’s cultural episode better than the maiden edition. Organized at the bidding of the Limbe City Council and some stakeholder companies to the town’s development; notably the CDC and SONARA, this jiffy edition is placed under the distinguished patronage of the Minister of Arts and Culture, Ama Tutu Muna.
    Launched under the theme ''Cultural Diversity and Integration'', the 2015 FESTAC opened on Saturday April 4 at the Limbe Community Field conveying together Cameroonians from the ten regions of the country and representatives from some gregarious neighbouring countries notably; Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana and others.
    While officially opening the eight-day event (April 4-11), the Minister of Arts and Culture, Ama Tutu Muna emphasised on the need for all participants to value the cultural event and make it a suitable avenue to sell the rich and diverse culture of the Cameroonian people. She was accompanied by South West Governor, Bernard Okalia Bilai who said Limbe’s rich day-tripper potentials afford all it takes for people to come and relief their stress while getting lots of cessation. He noted that tourist attractions such as the Botanic Gardens, the vast Atlantic Ocean, the Nachtigal Falls and giant companies like SONARA, the C.D.C., the Ship Yard and sundry others chain up to make Limbe a prime destination for nationals and foreigners. 
    For his part, the Government Delegate to the Limbe City Council, Andrew Motanga who doubles as 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 for the second time. 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.

Divided we fall:

Otun Ayamba

Graffi/Coastal divide mires SCNC

Since the death of the emblematic leader of the Southern Cameroon National Council SCNC, Ntufam Ette Otun Ayamba, the secessionist movement has been mired in an orgy of endless, fratricidal battles for leadership; the lofty objectives of the movement now risk being sacrificed on the alter of greed, division and inordinate ambition
By Essan-Ekoninyam in Yaounde
With Chief Ayamba now history, SCNC diehards have engaged in an unholy war for power; every one now wants to be the new leader, nobody considers the other as more deserving of the position of National Chairman.
    In the North West region alone, at least four persons have auto-proclaimed themselves successor of Chief Ayamba; they include notably Dr. Chesami, Ngala Nfor Nfor, Simon Nfor Ngwa, Felix Ngalim etc.
    With these northern zoners separately claiming to hold the command baton, SCNC front-liners of the southern zone (SW Region) have also not sat with arms folded; they have gone on the offensive, arguing albeit provocatively, that the claim of leadership by northern zoners is a wasted effort; an effort in futility.
    SCNC front-liners of the southern zone argue that a clause in the SCNC constitution states inter alia that “the position of National chairman shall remain in the southern zone….” this, for very strategic reasons. They however did not explain these strategic reasons to The Median neither did they brandish a copy of the SCNC constitution they were referring to.
  

Kidnapped 7-year old class 5 pupil released on ransom

By Njodzefe Nestor
Inhabitants of Kumbo in Bui division of the North West region are yet to come to terms with a spree of kidnappings that have rocked that town over the years. The recent is that of  a 7 year old girl, Glenda Solii Berinyuy. The class five pupil of Presbyterian School, PS Mbveh was kidnapped on March 16 and only released 5 days after when her parents paid a heavy ransom to the kidnappers.
    According to the child who narrated the ordeal after her release, the incident happened some 100 meters away from their house in Romajaay between 2:30 to 3pm that fateful day when she was returning from school but was unfortunately whisked away by unidentified men armed with knives who threatened to kill her if she screams. She was later taken to an unknown destination where she was kept in a dark room for over five days.
    It was after waiting to no avail for the child that her father immediately decided to start searching for her. According to a close family source who sought anonymity, at the onset the idea of the child being kidnapped was far-fetched until after the third day when the mother of the child who is the private secretary to the Mayor of Kumbo council received an anonymous call asking her to provide FCFA 15 million or else they will kill the child.

B’da Regional Hospital Gets Recreational Garden

The project initiated by the Director of the Regional Hospital Bamenda, Dr. Kinge Thompson Njie was officially inaugurated by the North West Regional Delegate for Public Health. Before proceeding to the cutting of the ribbon of the newly constructed Recreational Garden, North West Regional Delegate for Public Health described the piece as attractive edifice that will go along way boost the image of the hospital.
    “I think this is one of the rare opportunities I have had to inaugurate such an attractive piece of work”, Dr. Ndiforcho Victor continued. He congratulated the Director of the Regional Hospital Bamenda for the initiative and added that every visitor or patient that visits or is leaving the hospital will also feel happy after seeing the edifice.
    To Dr. Ndiforcho Victor, Health is not the mere absence of illness that is why those who provide health services are supposed to be in state of wellbeing. The Recreational Garden, Dr. Ndiforcho concluded has changed the face of the hospital.

Briefs on the economy

ARSEL opens tender for audit of electricity companies
    Cameroon’s Electricity Sector Regulation Agency (ARSEL) has just launched a call for expressions of interest to recruit experts to participate in a restricted bid to “audit the accounts of some electricity sector companies”.
These audits concerns construction works on the Kribi gas plant and the charges determined by the KPDC (which built and now manages the plant) for the 2012 to 2014 period; fuel charges and the irrecoverable debts for the public electricity company (Eneo) for 2015; and the DPDC’s charges in 2009, 2010 and 2014. The DPDC built and manages the Dibamba domestic heating oil plant.

Huawei, Area offer free phone insurance in Cameroon
    Huawei is offering smartphone buyers in Cameroon a 3-month insurance through insurance company Area covering loss and theft. Huawei will provide a replacement handset for a month, enough time for Area to locate and recover the handset thanks to pre-installed software.
    If the phone is found within a month, the customer returns the borrowed phone, but if it is not found, the customer keeps the replacement handset and is reimbursed 85 percent of the purchase cost of the lost or stolen one.

UB poised for all-round Excellence

Prof. Fidelis Cho-Ngwa, poised for more research innovations

DNA test now done in UB
- Prof. Fidelis Chongwa, head, Dept. of Biochemistry UB

The University of Buea in its quest for excellence has stretched out its academic, research and community outreach tentacles to the entire republic, beating the seven other state universities. UB’s participation in a programme to build capacity for a structured institutional approach for training young academics (Early Career Researchers) in research and related skills is beginning to pay-off. After sundry years of research, UB’s Biotechnology Unit, Department of biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Science now delights in the fallouts. The Faculty of Science in the University of Buea has embraced research for some time now and can now tell the success story through its most recent discovery; doing a DNA test on site; a thing only the University of Buea in Cameroon now does. Thanks to the support of research grants from UB itself, as well as from the World Health Organisation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UB’s Biotechnological Unit now writes its success story in the face of academic pangs and tortures. Professor Fidelis Cho-Ngwa - Head of UB’s Biotechnology Unit and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology- recounted the story to The Median’s Ajongakou Santos in Buea. Read-on:
Prof. your laboratory has certainly gone through thick and thin to discover the possibility of conducting a DNA test here on campus, a thing only the University of Buea among state Universities can do. Tell us how you broke the odds
You see, several things converged to make this possible. The first thing is that, we are a department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Therefore, we deal with the biological molecules, including, the DNA. We are the epicentre on works around the DNA. Because we are in that field, and the fact that we also run a professional MSc program called, M.Sc. in Molecular Diagnostic Science, which was recently changed by the last senate of the University to become MSc Molecular Epidemiology and Diagnostic Science, we had no choice, but to develop the test. This is part of the professionalization of Higher Education the Head of State, President Paul Biya has been talking about. We were encouraged to run this professional programme also because of the techniques we learned from laboratories abroad (in Europe, USA and other African countries). The difficulty was first, getting the knowledge and hands-on skills, and secondly getting the equipment. But thanks to a number of research grants that we obtained notably, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the government of Belgium, we were able to gather some equipment that  permitted the development and installation  of this test at UB. However, for us to be able to do analyses on trace or latent (invisible) evidence, such as on a hair or cigarette butt, of a spot that has been touched with fingers at a crime scene,  we need more sensitive machines which we currently don’t have, but are not very expensive.

What is DNA?

DNA is acronym for deoxyribonucleic acid - the hereditary material . It is what people commonly call gene. But in more technical terms, DNA is the carrier of the gene. It is the DNA that makes you look the way you do. So DNA is information for the organism to be what it is. We should also note that no two individuals on earth have the same DNA content, except identical twins. And so if you were to do a DNA test, you won’t be able to differentiate between identical twins, because they have come from the same fertilised egg. In fact, they only differ slightly at times because of environmental factors. Individuals differ in their DNA content by about or less than 0.1%, while the difference between man and the chimpanzee (the closest animal relative of the human being), is only about 1%. That means we are about 99% genetically related to the chimps.

Okay, why is it important to do one’s DNA test?

 The DNA test is used to solve so many problems. Generally, we use it only when there is a problem, given that it is also a test that could stir trouble. Paternity testing is first (two men for instance fighting over a child or a father refusing that a child is not his), where the DNA test will pick out the father very neatly. Maternity testing is second (two women struggling know who owns the child or the case of a stolen baby). DNA will point out the right mother. DNA is also necessary in forensics, (criminology) where somebody commits a crime and becomes a suspect that could be proven innocent or guilty. You just need to go to the crime scene, get some of the things he/she could possibly have touched, or blood spill, fallen hair, etc and check to see if the suspect was at the crime scene. It is also used for person identification. We have successfully used a form of the DNA test in our laboratory to tell the sex of foetuses as from 6 weeks of gestation using few drops of blood from the pregnant woman (ethical considerations are crucial here). This is possible because the foetus's DNA is present in the mother's blood. You could use the test to establish ancestral relationships. Also in establishing that someone has effectively raped a woman.

Kumbo-Nso

Fon of Nso (flanked by Bui SDO, SHUMAS Director
and others) cutting the ribbon

 HUMAS Hands Over Roh Kimbo Bridge
By Njodzefe Nestor in Kimbo
It was an ecstatic population of Kumbo in Bui division that came out in their numbers March 27 to receive the bridge over River Roh Kimbo, constructed by the Strategic Humanitarian Services, SHUMAS Cameroon.
    The massive mobilization coupled with the fanfare and dancing during the occasion was an eloquent testimony that bridge project was timely. Several years ago, the temporary bridge over River Roh Kimbo was a danger to the local population and could not permit the transportation of agricultural products from main crop producing areas to Kumbo town.
    Reports have it that some people lost their lives while crossing this river especially during the rainy season. This is perhaps explains the reason why the second deputy Mayor of kumbo Fai Paul Sunjo was quick to qualify the project as a stitch in time. While lauding SHUMAS for its development strides in Kumbo, he described SHUMAS Director, Nformi Stephen Ndzerem as a refined man made for the development of the people and their environment.
  

Buea

Governor Okalia innaugurates donated classrooms

Classrooms, admin. bloc, computers donated to Liongo village
By Bamnjo Herman in Buea
The Association for Solidarity of  Children has extended its philanthropic  jesture  to Liongo viliage, under the leadership of chief Mafany Njie, by donating three classrooms, an administrative block, books and computers. This was on the 27 of March 2015, at GSS  Liongo in the presence of the Governor of the South West region Bernard Okalia Bilai.
    The  donation worth FCFA 30 million  was done in the presence of beneficiaries from  five regions of cameroon with a call for them to make good use of the materials so that  government will only add to what is already existing .
    One of the patrons of the association, Zanga Louise, former governor of the south west region recalled how two years ago a similar award was done in Ngonsamba with a huge delegation coming from Fako. On his part the representative of the Association Barrister Dr Nana Edimo Ferdinand, said the organization was created in April 2002 with the intension to reward excellent students. He said this year they have launched another  aspect of the award being the action of excellence, culture and talents with the first being in Fako division.     it brought together students from Littoral,  West, Center, East  and Southwest regions.
    The essence of the gesture according to Dr Nana is to contribute to the education of  the children of Cameroon  and the promotion of emergence of talents. He urged the students to  have confidence in what they do and always have the feeling that they have given their best.

Right of self-determination

Do Southern Cameroonians have a right to secede?
“Without a right of secession, there is no peoples’ right of self-determination”. But: “If the right of self-determination included automatically the possibility of secession, there could not be any right of self-determination”.
By Nkongho Felix Agbor Balla*
   

Nkongho Felix Agbor Balla

The right to self-determination is one of the most contentious and complex issues in international law. It challenges some of the core principles of international legal system especially the sovereignty of states and their territorial integrity. In spite of its contentiousness, the right to self-determination plays a vital role today in the New World order. This concept has undergone hibernation from a political or moral principle to becoming a right on its own. Thus it is not uncommon today to talk of the right of self-determination in international law.

The complexity of the right to self-determination is self-evident if one takes a critical look at the implementation of the right to self-determination from its inception up till date. The reason being that self-determination cuts across law, politics and history. Thus when it comes to implementing the right to self-determination, it becomes a herculean exercise; it becomes more of rhetoric than practice. Analysing the right to self-determination is like opening a ‘‘veritable pandora’s box’’, because in all the nooks and crannies of this planet, there are calls for the right to self-determination.
    To those clamouring for self-determination like the Southern Cameroonians, Kurds, Palestinians etc., the right to self-determination is considered a sacrosanct right breach of which is tantamount to violation of the fundamental rights of a people. On the other hand, to the States wherein the various groups or peoples claiming a right to self-determination exist, they are considered as disgruntled and dissatisfied citizens who want to change the status quo. To these States the principle of territorial integrity is considered very important hence any change of the territorial set up is unthinkable.

Do Southern Cameroonians have the right to secede?
    The answer to the question of whether or not the Southern Cameroonians have a right to secession can only be seen in the light of reasons advanced to justify a claim to secede. There is no gainsaying that the right of secession exists in exceptional circumstances. Most of the arguments advanced by legal scholars as reasons for secession are most often than not political and philosophical. Thus in this article, in trying to prove that the Southern Cameroonians have a right to secession, I will not limit my analyses solely on the legal arguments, but I will extend it to include the political, philosophical and historical reasons for secession. The reasons advanced by most secessionist groups vary a lot. However, there are some common justifications that might be advanced for calls for secession. The reasons include the following: human rights violations, cultural protection and preservation, redress of historical wrongs, the right to secession as a legal right, the need to escape from discriminatory redistribution of national wealth.

HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION AND DISCRIMINATION
    The most common reason today for calls for secession from the Mother State is on grounds of oppression, lack of democracy, discrimination and massive human rights violation. This justification is similar to what philosophers call the “just-cause theory”. Here there is a nexus between the right to self-determination and the respect of human rights. Examples were human rights violations have been used as a justification for a right to secession includes the Kurds, Eritreans, Bengalis, and Southern Sudanese. The legal basis for this argument stems from the 1970 Declaration on Friendly Relations. A thorough analysis of the Declaration coupled with the preparatory work leads to the conclusion that secession is allowed if certain stringent conditions have been fulfilled. The fact that secession is impliedly permitted by the 1970 Declaration does not mean that there are no restrictions. Antonio Cassese argues that for there to be a right to secession, there must be continuous refusal from the State concerned to grant participatory rights to the groups or “peoples” claiming the right to secede. Another condition is that there is a gross and systematic violation of their fundamental rights and the fact that there is no hope of having a peaceful solution of the problem within the existing State structure. This was the main reason used by the advocates of American Independence in 1776 since it was clear that there was no possibility of resolving their grievances with Britain in so far as they were a British colony.
    The 1970 Declaration is a classic example for the limitation of sovereignty. The veil of sovereignty can be lifted if it can be proven that the State concerned is committing serious human rights violation and there is no prospect for solving the problem. This does make secession in that case legal and it is left to politicians to decide if it is legitimate or not.
    Discrimination against a particular ethnic group, minority or peoples perpetuated by either the State or the majority population falls under the letter and spirit of the 1970 Declaration. Where the discrimination reaches a level, which threatens the physical existence of the peoples or minority concerned, then secession is their only remedy. In this case there is a right to remedial secession. In most cases, the situation becomes so bad that the State is not even prepared to accept the existence of a substantial minority group or peoples, as is the case in Cameroon. The government is not willing to recognise the fact that there is an Anglophone problem in Cameroon.
  The repression of the population of the Southern Cameroons has always been an unofficial government policy in order to scare to death and deter the Southern Cameroonians from contemplating independence, reminiscent of the Stalinist era during the forlorn days of the Soviet Empire. The said repression reached unimaginable proportion after the March 1997 armed attacks by alleged Southern Cameroonians secessionist in the North-West Province of the Southern Cameroons.
    The fact that the situation of the Southern Cameroons cannot be comparable to that of East Pakistanis should not be an excuse for refusal of the right to secession. After all, human rights violation is not the only reason for secession. Secession can legally take place, and has in fact taken place in the absence of accusations of human rights violations, as was the case in the secession of Slovakia from Czechoslovakia. The initial demands from most secessionist movements are more democracy and respect of human rights. However, as a result of the unwillingness of the State concerned to dialogue with the secessionist group, the initial demand for democracy and respect for human rights evolves into secessionist demands. Cases such as those of the Southern Sudanese, Sri Lanka, the Bengalis in Pre-1971 Pakistan, the Croats and Slovenes are glaring examples. In the case of the Southern Cameroons, the initial demand was for a federation. This can be evident during the AAC held on the 2-3 April 1993 in Buea and the subsequent draft constitutional proposal of a federal form of government. As usual, the government did not consider the proposals. By so doing, the government reneged on its promise to hold an open debate on the constitution and has since been unable to propose any concrete measures for removing the country from its dangerous state of political gridlock.
    With the persistent refusal of the government to adopt constitutional reforms, the Cameroon Anglophone Movement (hereafter referred to as CAM), one of the most important associations affiliated to the AAC, declared the total independence of the Southern Cameroons on the 3rd of December 1993. This Independence Declaration by CAM preceded the Second AAC held in Bamenda from the 29-2 of May 1994. At this conference it was decided that if the government persists in its refusal to engage in substantial constitutional reforms or does not realise it within a reasonable lap of time, the Executive Committee would proclaim the independence of Southern Cameroons. Hence the independence declaration of 30th December 1999 by Justice Mr. Ebong Frederick Alobwede is in line with the Bamenda declaration and the failure of the government to implement constitutional reforms. The fact that independence could be declared without regard to the consequences goes a long way to show how the situation has deteriorated. For what started as a clamour for the return to the federal system that existed prior to re-unification has degenerated to outright secession mainly due to the failure of the government to dialogue with the Southern Cameroonians.

YOSA aims for CAF Champions League

YOSA Co-President

Francis Yong Afumbom, Co-President of Cameroon’s Elite-1 Club, Yong Sports Academy, YOSA, in an exclusive interview granted The Median has asserted that, YOSA is destined for greater achievements this year and is not affected by last year’s players’ exodus. He also stated that the Bamenda population is 100 percent behind the team, as they look forward to emerging among the top three in this year’s Championship. Read on:
    How prepared is YOSA for 2015 football season?
    Last season, we were not as prepared as this season, the point being that we started the last season in a rush because we hard other family activities going on that held us back. But, this season, we had enough time to prepare. We recruited quality players and I believe this will be a great season for us.
    Some years back, YOSA emerged as a strong club in Cameroon by picking up a continental ticket, does the team still have such ambitions or is it just fighting to stay in League I?
    We have never swayed away from our ambitions of becoming an elite club in Cameroon that is why I am confident that this season is going to be very successful for us. This is because we have a blend of quality young players as well as some experienced players under the leadership of an experienced coach who had a wonderful season last year with the club.

Ndassi Ngueni scores in Lions’ debute

The Unisport of Huat Nkam defender,Ngweni Ndassi Kadiang scored on his second international appearance after coming in as a substitute to save Volker Finke’s side from a shock defeat in the hands of Thailand after a 3-2 victory.
    Ndassi was Cameroon’s hero after his debut strike salvaged a 2-3 victory away to Thailand in their latest Asian tour friendly.
    Ndassi, who came on as a second half substitute, grabbed a decisive winner with three minutes remaining to spare his side’s blushes.
    All eyes were on Finke’s men as they looked to keep in winning ways after defeating Indonesia a few days earlier. However, it was the host that took the lead at the 31st minute before Aurélien Chedjou put Thailand 2-0 up with a bizarre own goal.
    Chedjou unaware that he was under no pressure, nicked the ball from his keeper’s arms and directed it goal-wards.

JS Kabylie ends Kooh’s two-year contract prematurely

Algerian club JSK has ended the two year contract of Cameroonian born striker Alain Raphael Kooh Sohna who was signed to replace Albert Ebossé(deceased) prematurely.
    The 25 year-old Cameroonian made only four appearances for Algerian club Jeunesse Sportive of Kabylie and playing a total of 113 minutes.