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Secretariat of Defence, Yaounde:

AkereMuna charged with terrorism, secession, insurrection

But the lawyer of international acclaim and repute says he is not guilty of wrongdoing. Akere says he is ready to face whatever awaits him come what may. He was interrogated at the SED on Friday

By Essan-Ekoninyam in Yaounde

Barrister AkereMuna, now a terrorist?

Former Cameroon Bar President and Internationally acclaimed lawyer and anti-corruption crusader, Barrister AkereMuna has said that his conscience is his judge and he believes he is not guilty of wrongdoing.

                Barrister Muna made the remarks in a statement he issued following his in interrogation at the National Gendarmerie Headquarters in Yaounde, on Friday 24 March 2017.

                The legal luminary had been summoned by authorities at the SED, to come for questioning on Wednesday 22 March 2017. But because of professional imperatives, the highly respected legal mind only availed himself on Friday, 24 March 2017.

                AkereMuna issued the following statement after his hours-long audience with the interrogators at the SED.

                “On March 20, 2017, I received a summons requiring that I show up to the National Defense Secretarial, SED, on Wednesday, 23 March 2017. Due to a prior commitment I informed the SED of my intention to fulfill my professional commitments in South Africa on that day, offering instead to have the hearing on the morning of Friday, March 24.

                I was accompanied to SED on Friday morning by the President of the Cameroon Bar Association, as well as four former presidents of the Bar and many members of the Bar Council. On arrival, I found over a hundred lawyers waiting outside. They waited patiently outside while I was being heard by a Lieutenant of the gendarmerie. These were the charges that were levied against me:

People are deceiving the president to seek particular favors

      -Senator MbellaMoki Charles

Good day senator Mbella Moki

 Senator Mbella Moki

Thank you for this opportunity and I hope that your readers will have the opportunity to be informed about the changes that have taken place in parliament.

I must congratulate you on your brilliant election as the vice president of the constitutional laws committee of the senate. How did you take that election?

Thank you very much once again. To begin with, I think this is one of the most important committees in the house; it is the committee that has to do with the laws and regulations that govern the state. Because this committee has to do with constitutional matters it is considered to be the chief cornerstone of the house. I think i was privilege to have been handed this position by my colleague’s senators. I thank them for this mark of confidence and count on the wisdom of other members of this committee, who are by far older than me, to perform the duties that I have been assigned to perform. I must also note that I have a very trusted president, former Governor and Minister, EtameMassoma, who is going to guide the committee as president. I must say that my election was one of the topical changes that we had during the elective session on Tuesday and you may want to know that as soon as my name was pronounced sit was greeted with a big ovation in the house.

So what is your immediate plan of action after this brilliant election?

It is that I should be able to perform the duties that go with this office and to do so with a lot of serenity, honesty and loyalty this, so as to merit the confidence that my colleagues have extended to me. I hope that by the grace of God a lot of revelations and inspiration are going to come through me to benefit this committee and the senate as a whole.

Another major change is that Senator Tabetando also now becomes the Chief Whip of the CPDM Group of Senators, in replacement of Senator MafanyMusonge. How did you receive that change?

I think it was good news for us. Chief Tabetando was proposed for the position and there was no opposition to that and the house went ahead to unanimously endorse the candidature, though a lone candidature it was. You should know that senator MafanyMusonge had become the president of the National Bilingualism & Multiculturalism Commission that was recently created by the Head of State. And because of the incompatibility of his position in the senate as group leader with the new position as chairman of the Commission, members of the senate had to replace him with someone else. No doubt Chief Tabetando is a legal and political guru; he is also somebody who is versed with the workings of the house. I have no doubt in my mind that he is going to live up to the expectation.

These changes took place at a time when the Anglophone problem is almost causing an earthquake in the country. Did this factor in the elections?

SDF NEC Meeting:

FruNdi disowns runaway Wirba Joseph

- Says the MP for Jakiri who has escaped the country and sought refuge in Britain, put up a good show at the rostrum of the National Assembly. But unfortunately, Wirba acted on his on accord and in violation of party discipline that emphasizes team work

By Nche Jude Mbah in Yaounde

Hon. Wirba Joseph

The stance of frontline, opposition party, SDF, vis-à-vis, one of its MPs, hon. Wirba Joseph, who recently stunned parliament and the entire nation with his “we will resist” speech, is now known. Meeting in Yaounde Saturday for an enlarged National Executive Council, NEC, meeting, leaders of the SDF distanced the party from the solo activities of the MP, who is now on the run.

                Addressing the press after the NEC meeting, SDF chairman remarked that Wirba put up an impressive showing at the National Assembly, but unfortunately he was acting on his own behalf and not on behalf of the SDF that took him to parliament.

                “When Wirba staged his show in parliament I called and congratulated him because he spoke so well. Unfortunately he failed to know when to act for party and when to act for oneself. Wirba is knowledgeable enough to draw a line between party and himself,’ noted FruNdi, arguing that Wirba’s continues use of “I” and not “we” was proof that he was acting for himself.

                FruNdi noted that the SDF is a party governed by laws that must be respected by everyone. “Anybody who violates or undermines the internal rules of the party only does so at his own peril,” Chairman FruNdi said.

Yaounde Military Tribunal:

AgborBalla, Fontem&Mancho case adjourned to April 27

By Nche Jude Mbah in Yaounde

Balla and Mancho visibly in high spirits at Military Court

Barrister Felix AgborBalla, Dr. FontemNeba and ManchoBibixy appeared at the Yaounde Military Tribunal last Thursday 23th of March with high spirits ready to counter claims from a list of government witnesses over charges of terrorism, insurrection, rebellion against the state and secession amongst other crimes.

                But they were stunned when the Prosecuting bench hatched another scheme. Instead of beginning the trial as expected, the bench rather moved a motion to merge the case of some 25 suspects also linked to the upheavals in the Anglophone regions with that of the activists in line with section 6 of the criminal Procedure code. The state prosecutor who launched the bid believes it was normal to put all the cases in one and judge them together since to him the charges are similar and linked to each other.

     The college of defence counsels upon hearing this demanded a 30-minute recess to enable them to concert on the motion.

                When the session resumed, the lawyers used the same legal instrument to counter the prosecuting bench. They made it clear to the presiding judge that it was a miscarriage of justice to treat all the cases as one since they are different from each other.

Vatican City, Rome:

President BIYA meets with Pope Francis

Pope Francis Biya and wife

President Paul BIYA and First Lady Chantal BIYA were on Thursday 23 March received by His Holiness Pope Francis at the Vatican City. This was after the president ended a State visit to Italy that ran from 20 to 22 March 2017.

                The Presidential Couple were welcomed at 9:45 a.m. by the Prefect of the Holy See, at the Saint Damasus Courtyard of the Saint Peter’s Square in Rome.

                Pope Francis warmly greeted the H.E. Paul BIYA in French. They later had a 30-minute in-camera meeting at his private library. The Cameroonian leader told the Sovereign Pontiff that he was very happy and honoured to be received again. Both personalities met for the first time on 18 October 2013 at the Vatican, a few months into Pope Francis’ Pontificate. Mrs. Chantal BIYA was equally received during that official visit.

State visit to Rome, Italy:

Paul BIYA woos Italian investors, receives Gold Medal at Tor Vergata University

President Biya at Tor Vergata University

The third day of President Paul BIYA’s stay in Rome, was marked by two major activities: his presence at the Cameroon – Italy Economic Forum, at the CONFINDUSTRIA, and a visit to the University of Rome Tor Vergata.

                The Head of State was welcomed at the CONFINDUSTRIA headquarters by the President of this organisation of Italian companies, Vincenzo BOCCIA, at 10.30 am. He was led to the main hall where deliberations between Cameroonian and Italian investors were chaired by Licia MATTIOLI, International Vice-President of the CONFINDUSTRIA.

                The Italian entrepreneurs present at this forum, briefly presented their companies to the Cameroonian Head of State, and expressed their interest to invest in the agro-industrial sector, road infrastructure, mining, railway development, and the construction of dams.

32nd Anniversary in Manyu:

Biya exalted in Upper Bayang, Eyumojock, as the ghost visits Akwaya

By EkumtambeEku in Mamfe

NforTabetando managed to rally a few militants at the Mamfe town hall

Supporters of the ruling CPDM party in Manyu division have celebrated the 32nd anniversary of the party despite calls for ghost towns and boycott by “secessionist agitators”. The anniversary celebrations witnessed a resounding success in Tinto, headquarters of the Upper Bayang sub-division, where the CPDM Central committee representative, Hon. EnohTanjong presided over activities. Mitigated fanfare was seen in Eyumojock and Mamfe.

                In his remarks at the Tinto grandstand, hon. Tanjong re-echoed the anniversary message of the CPDM scribe, Jean Kuete, that underlines the virtues of Peace, Unity, reconciliation and living together in harmony. Pa Tanjong also used the opportunity to plead on parents to consider sending their children back to school, noting that education is a fundamental right for children.

                For his part, the section president of the CPDM party in Upper Bayang, Eyong Paul, also reiterated the Central message from the party headquarters in Yaounde, noting that the Unity and Peace that Cameroon enjoys are sacred, inviolable and non-negotiable. Eyong Paul called on parents to send their children to school, arguing that anybody who denies his child education is violating the child’s fundamental human right apart from compromising the child’s future.

CPDM 32nd Anniversary:

Buea militants march for peace, unity and back to school

By Boris Esono in Buea

Hon. Lifaka and GCE Board Registrar lead popular march for Peace in Buea

Thousands of CPDM militants and sympathizers of Fako III Buea and beyond on Friday March 24, 2017 turned out to celebrate the 32nd anniversary of the CPDM party.

                The heavily attended event witnessed the presence among others of Senator MbellaMoki Charles, Buea Mayor Ekema Patrick, Governors representative Julius Tatah, Hon Emilia LifakaMonjowa, GCE Board Registrar, Humphrey Ekema, traditional authorities and a host of other personalities and denizens of Buea.

                They all came out to show their support to their leader, President Paul Biya in his efforts to preserve peace and unity and achieve economic and infrastructural development.

                To the Divisional leader of CPDM Fako, Hon. MonjowaLifaka Emilia, the huge turnout was eloquent testimony to the popular support the party enjoys in Buea.

Anglophone Uprising:

FruNdi requests general pardon to detained activists

-Says only two-states federation would resolve the crisis in NW & SW

By Nche Jude Mbah in Yaounde

Fru Ndi posed at press briefing with press

Members of the National Executive Committee, NEC, of the Social Democratic Frund Party, SDF, have again reiterated their stance that federalism is the only way to solve the current impasse that common law lawyers and Anglophone teachers initiated which has now crippled courts and schools in NW and SW. The NEC members took the stance last Saturday 25 March 2017 at the residence of the party chairman, Ni John FruNdi in Yaounde.

                FruNdi later pointed out at a press briefing after the in-camera NEC meeting, that federalism is what would give local communities greater opportunities in the management of their affairs and in the management of their destiny so that powers could be equitably shared.

                He cited the case of big countries like America, Canada and Germany that practice federalism. To him if brought back in Cameroon, federalism will restore participatory development as was the case in the golden age of West Cameroon.

CPDM 32nd Anniversary:

Mbonge militants celebrate in pump and style

-Militants call for ten decentralized regions to end Anglophone impasse

By Doh Bertrand Nua just back from Mbonge

Militants of the Meme II, Mbonge section of the ruling CPDM party have celebrated the 32nd Anniversary the party at the Mbonge grandstand defying calls for ghost towns in the two Anglophone regions.

                Celebrating the achievements of the party, the militants urged the president to engage in frank dialogue so as to put an end to the crisis that is rocking the two Anglophone regions.

                 According to the WCPDM president, Njimba Hannah, “the women of the section decry the fact that children have been deprived of their right to education. We are begging on politicians to leave our children alone because depriving them of education won’t solve the crisis,” she pleaded, thanking the section president, Senator Otte Andrew Mofa for always coming to the aide of the women of the sub-section.

                On his part, the YCPDM president, Bokwe Martin, pleaded with the head of state to ensure genuine decentralization of the country as stipulated in the 1996 constitution, saying this will give autonomy to the municipal authorities thereby bringing direct development to the various regions.

The ghost visits B’da ahead of CPDM anniversary

The streets of Bamenda were abandoned to the police today

Despite the heavy deployment of troops, Bamenda capital of the Northwest has been plunged into a ghost state, with shops, banks, inter-urban transport agencies, offices, restaurants,

                Markets, taxis, “benskin” and neigbourhood provision stores all shut down in strict respect to the calls for a ghost town in solidarity with the Anglophones (ManchoBibixy, Bar. Nkongho Bella and Dr. FontemNiba) standing trial today March 23, at the Yaoundé Military Tribunal.

                Since the start of the ghost town last January, today’s ghost town could be described as 99.9 % effective, largely due to the recent burning of the Bamenda Food Market which send shivers down the pine of those reluctant to observe it. There is a heavy police presence in all the major junctions of Hospital Round About, City Chemist, Mobi-Nkwen, Custom Junction, Ntarikon with mobile units patrolling, some in plain clothes.

Anglophone Crisis:

UB teachers suspends sit-in strike 

- Present five-point memorandum to government

- Immediate Release of arrested leaders such as Dr. FontemNeba and Barrister Felix AgborBala

- Proper implementation of the resolutions of the Ad Hoc committee

- Reinstating the internet in NW and SW

- Demilitarizing the Academic Milieux

- Readjusting the Academic Calendar to catch up for lost time

By Boris Esono in Buea

President and VP of SYNES UB talking to the press

After four months since Anglophone University teachers called for a sit-in strike action to decry the ill-treatments they experience, officials of the UB chapter of the National Teachers Trade Union Known by its French acronym SYNES-UB Chapter through its leader, Prof James ArreyAbangma, has Friday March 24, 2017 issued a statement suspending the strike. He read the decision to reporters during a press conference he called jointly with his deputy, Dr. Martin Sango Ndeh.

                According to the two officials, they are suspending the strike action in order to give the government adequate time to fully implement the resolutions of the inter-ministerial Adhoc Committee, some of which have already been put in place.

As Anglophone crisis deepens:

NW Governor suggest creation of vigilante groups to curb arson

Adolph LeleLafrique, Governor of the North West Region has challenged Bamenda inhabitants to create vigilante groups to counteract frequent arson attacks in the region.

                LeleLafrique made the appeal while he chaired a security meeting of the region yesterday, Wednesday, March 22. The visibly frustrated Governor expressed concerns that despite the heavy militarization of major towns and villages of the North West, unidentified individuals may still go around burning down public institutions without being arrested. To him the only way curb the problem would be the creation of vigilante groups in neighborhoods.

                The meeting that was attended by security chiefs of the region, regional heads, and traditional authorities also had participation of representatives of political parties.

                After making his appeal, participants took the Governor to task, challenging him to petition the government to reinstate internet in the region, release all detainees and demilitarized the streets of major towns and villages. Some local politicians, who spoke at the meeting including the SDF Youth Wing Coordinator, Ndonwi, challenged the government to bring back the internet and instead of disrupting it, he said gov’t should learn how to counteract hate messages by being proactive communicators.

SW Governor charge Anglophone with educational genocide

By Mbu Johnson Batuo in Kumba

Okalia Bilai

The governor of the SW region, Bernard OkaliaBilai has said that parents in the region can be charged with educational genocide by virtue of their refusal to send their children to school.

                The governor was speaking in Kumba while installing the new SDO for Meme division Ntou’ouNdong Chamberlain, on Thursday 23 March 2017.

                Speaking on the occasion, OkaliaBilai said it is the duty of parents to give their children good education so that they can be equipped to embrace life in future. He therefore urged the new SDO to ensure that schools resume fully today Monday 27 March 2017 throughout the division.

                Okalia also used the occasion to condemn the burning down of schools and other public property by some misguided and diabolic individuals.

Crime of passion in Limbe:

Woman roasts adulterous husband with acid

By Beng Emmanuel in Buea (UB JMC student)

25-year old Sylvie poured acid on her husband in Limbe after suspecting him of having an affair with another woman.

A woman has on Monday March 20, 2017 reportedly killed her husband by pouring acid on him at his residence in Limbe, South West Region of Cameroon. The accident, The Median learnt, occurred at about 5 pm on Monday. a certain Fon Amos.

                The woman whose name got only as Sylvie, was accompanied by her friend Bih Mercy to carry out the inhuman act on her 45-year old husband, by name Fon Amos, we gathered.

                The two women went to the man’s residence where they poured acid on him. He was immediately rushed to Douala for immediate medical attention. But he succumbed to the burns at about 1am the following day, Tuesday, 21st March 2017, we were reliably informed.

Martin Jumbam’s “My Conversion Journey…”:

The compelling testimony of a renewed Christian

By Douglas A. Achingale*

It is often said of well-crafted books that they are usually so enthralling that it would be hard for the reader to drop them until they get to the final word. This observation, to my mind, most conveniently suits Martin Jumbam’s My Conversion Journey with Christian Cardinal Tumi. For, this work of Christian literature, a collection of 16 breath-taking articles and two electrifying interviews, spread over 161 pages, explores the ‘growth’ of the author – from an aficionado of worldly pleasures to a practical believer whose entire being is now animated by the Word of God! Amongst a few other related subjects, of course.

                The icing on the cake is the flavour-filled language in which Jumbam’s lines are so bewitchingly couched. Read them; you will find yourself soaring with the author in such literary altitudes that would make landing a difficult pill to swallow, when it finally happens.

                Having either been first published in Cameroon Panorama or l’Effortcamerounais or not, the articles and interviews are divided into four parts, viz: “The Journey Begins”, “My Prayer Life Firms Up”, “My Interest In Church Governance Grows”, and “The Social Dimension Of My Faith”.

Getting renewed in the Faith

                Martin Jumbam begins his “journey” with an article titled “I marched with Christian Cardinal Tumi”. In it, he recounts his participation in a five-hour march for peace around the city of Douala organized by the Emeritus Archbishop of the Douala Archdiocese, on 1 January 1993. The author, a secular freelance journalist, had as main purpose to cover the event for a media organ. 

                That was his very first encounter with Christian Cardinal Tumi. In the preface to the book, Jumbam enthuses: “Little did I know that the Lord was leading me to him that he may in turn lead me back to the Lord.” 

                As it were, the march was characterized by prayer recitals and singing of religious songs, most of whose wordings and lyrics the deviant Christian (Jumbam) was unfamiliar with. Hear the effect of the march on him: “Five hours and nearly 30 kilometres later…I had stared so long and so deep into my Christian life, or what was left of it, that I took a firm decision to run back for shelter under the canopy of Mother Church…”

                An early fruit of this decision was a resolve he made to go spend some time of rest and meditation in the monastery in Mbengwi, beginning 1 August 1993. Jumbam’s godly experiences during his stay here constitute the bulk of the content of his second article entitled, “I spent a week with the Cistercian monks in Mbengwi”.

                Those seven days clearly served to further his journey to conversion, just as he had expected. The expertly counsel he received from the monks and priests in the monastery, the utter quietude of the place, and the long hours of prayer and meditation brought Jumbam closer to the Lord than ever before.

                While here, he went for confession and received the Holy Communion for the first time in 25 and 30 years respectively! The ensuing relief was glaringly overwhelming. In fact, Jumbam left the Mbengwi monastery an exhilaratingly pensive and transformed man. This is how he captures his feelings when he quit the place: “…I left Mbengwi steeped in prayers. I felt like a newly minted coin.”

Mayor to offer thanksgiving after surviving road accident

By Doh Bertrand Nua in Kumba

The Mayor of Kumba III council, John Kona Makia will in the days ahead organize a thanksgiving service after he survived a road accident along the Kumba-Buea high way precisely at Banga-Bakundu on March 21. 2017.

                Mayor John Kona Makia and his driver were returning to Kumba after a trip that took them out of the division when they bumped into a herd of cattle that hard occupied almost the entire highway. The mayor told this reporter that after his driver struggled to dodge the herd of cattle to no avail, the vehicle ended up in a head on collision with some of the cattle.

Win-Win Partnership:

K’ba City Council partners with the City of Sindelfingen

By Doh Bertrand Nua in Kumba

The Kumba City council has signed a win-win partnership with the German city of Sindelfingenon aimed to enhance the development of the City notably in areas such as town planning, urban development, cultural exhibitions, water resources and sundry development initiatives.

                The partnership was the outcome of a return visit that the government delegate to the Kumba city council, Victor NkelleNgoh and the Mayor of Kumba III council, John Kona Makia had paid to the city of Sindelfingen in June last year.

                The four-man German delegation comprised Martin Hon, coordinator of international affairs, Horst Zecha, Cultural affairs office head, Christiane Honicke, Sewage treatment and management expert and Anjahartmann, in-charge of urban planning and construction.

                Their five day visit which spanned from Monday March 20 to Friday March 24 was rich in presentations, excursions, and tours of various tourist sites in Kumba.

Gov’t urged to implement tobacco restriction laws

-As tobacco kills at least 6 million people every year

By Nche Jude Mbah in Yaounde

Ayong Caleb, C3T, Communications Officer of Coalition for tobacco control

The Cameroonian Coalition for tobacco has tasked the government of Cameroon especially the National assembly to take urgent actions and enact laws that will prevent the tobacco industry from targeting children and protect them from the devastating health and other consequences of tobacco use.

                They made the clarion call recently in Yaounde during a media chat aimed at sensitizing newsmen on the dangers of smoking.

                Because of the very high rate of tobacco consumption nowadays, the Cameroonian Coalition for tobacco has argued with clear evidence that the tobacco industry deliberately and systematically targets children in order to encourage smoking and the use of other tobacco products amongst them.

                It says this is carried out using multiple strategies including marketing, advertising and promotion, very often around schools, leading to experimentation with and addiction to tobacco among children. These children are thus more likely to become addicted, long time tobacco users. They also suffer from tobacco-related diseases later in life which leads to premature death.

                They further revealed that base on a tobacco survey (GYTS) carried out among youths age 13-15 years in Cameroon, 31.2% of smokers were initiated to smoking before the age of 10. The report states that 5.7% currently smoke cigarettes, and 9.5 currently use other tobacco products.

                The tobacco industry accountability (TIA) survey carried out by the Cameroonian Coalition for Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA) aimed at better understanding the practices of the tobacco industry to market, promote and sell tobacco products around schools in Yaounde, Cameroon.

Arms Trade Treaty:

CAMYOSFOP drills gov’t officials

By Nche Jude Mbah in Yaounde

CAMYOSFOP officials posed for family photo with gov’t official

Some key government ministries in Yaounde have received intense training on the use of manuals on the domestication and ratification of the Arms Trade Treaty, ATT, in Cameroon. The Cameroon Youths and Students Forum for peace, CAMYOSFOP, gave them the training recently so that it would enable the ratification process of the ATT.

                The Executive Director, NgalimEugineNyuydine said these key personalities had been part of the inter-ministerial committee on the ratification process and bringing them was to build their capacity on the Arms Trade treaty which will be done through a manual produced by the organization.

Commemorating 5th World Forest Day:

Greenpeace frowns against deforestation by local communities

By Nche Jude Mbah in Yaounde

Eric Ini, Greenpeace Africa Forest Campaigner 

The campaigner of a non-governmental organization, GREENPEACE AFRICA, has called on local communities in Cameroon to shun deforestation, protect and avoid cutting down trees that could serve different purposes. Eric Ini was speaking last Tuesday 21 March 2017 in Yaounde during celebrations marking the 5th edition of World Forest Day.

                To commemorate this day, the Greenpeace volunteers in Cameroon, under the umbrella of Green Ambassadors of Cameroon, organized a series of activities with youths including notably a quiz competition for primary schools, environmental and forest debate for University students, sketches and poetry competition for secondary schools, music and lots more. All the activities were staged in a bid to condemn the felling of trees and to underscore the importance of trees to humans.

ELECAM ramps up Voters’ Registration in the SWR

A press briefing in this light took place Tuesday March 21, 2017 at the board room of the SW ELECAM office in Buea with officials taking stuck of voter registration so far.

By Boris Esono in Buea

Elecam officials at work

Prior to the launching of voters registration exercise for 2017 in the SWR, a preparatory meeting was held bringing together Divisional branch heads and service heads, presided by the regional delegate of ELECM, BaristerOkhaBauOkha, aimed at coming out with a common strategy to step up voters registration in the SW on the basis of lessons drawn from last year.

                To the SW regional delegate of Elecam, Mr. OkhaBauOkha, "women have the right to vote whether it is for the National Assembly, Senate, and Parliament, council or Presidential elections. We are working with civil society organisations to encourage them to make sure that their members get registered and also traditional authorities for them to sensitize women on the need for them to be registered."

Marc Wilmots wants YayaToure to play for Ivory Coast again

New Ivory Coast coach Marc Wilmots wants to persuade YayaToure to come out of international retirement.

Wilmots, a former Belgium player and coach, signed a two-year contract with the Elephants on Tuesday.

                Toure has not played competitively for his country since leading them to the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Cup title.

                "I know how important it is to have experienced players. It's not yet over for Toure, we've got to get him back," Wilmots said of the 33-year-old.

                "The YayaToure case will be one of my first missions."

                Without Toure, the Elephants failed to get past the group stages of this year's Nations Cup in Gabon, failing to win a game.

Cameroon defeat Tunisia 1-0 in friendly

Reigning African Champions have defeated Tunisa 1-0 in their first friendly at the Moustafa Ben Janet Stadium and first game after the Nations Cup two months ago.

                The win for Cameroon is a moral booster as the African Champions needed to reassure themselves of the abilities.

                Aboubakar Vincent known for his spectacular goals connected a free kick past Tunisian goalkeeper to give Cameroon the lead at the 18th minute.

                The Tunisians pushed for an equalizer, but the ball hit the wood work before the break couple with wild shots afterwards.

Fenassco League A games kicks off this Saturday

By Boris Esono in Buea

The 19th edition of the National school games (Fenassco) league A takes center this Saturday April 1, 2107 In Buea, SWR. The event that will run for a week, from April 1 to 8, 2017 brings together over 2000 athletes and delegations from all the ten regions of the country.

                During the draws in Buea, it was revealed that the aim for the games is to detect talents and educate them through sports activities. The number of disciplines this year has increased to ten compared to nine last year, that is, with the inclusion of badminton.

                According to Fenassco A SG, Mr. Fobuzi Richard Cho Barry, "everything has been put in place to make sure the event runs smoothly. The sum of 75 million has been injected in this year’s games as opposed to last year when only 50 million was disbursed.”  The BGS Molyko will serve as the games village, where each region will have its own stand to exhibit their various cultural knowhow."

26 clubs enroll for SW Division Two championship

By Boris Esono in Buea

Eteki Charles, SW Fecafoot boss

It has been made known that the 2016/2017 SW Division 2 football championship will run from April 2 to May 25, 2017 with 26 clubs set to do battle for the chance to ascend professional league 2 football.

                26 clubs have been shared in three pools with pool A and B containing 8 teams each while pool C has a total of 10 teams. At the end of the tournament, 8 teams will qualify for the SW mini interpools. That is, the 1st 2 teams of pool A and B and the 1st 4 teams in pool C.

                Meantime, according to the SG of the Fako league, Joseph Vefonge, a refreshal course for 3rd divisional referees and match delegates comes up on April 7, 2017 in Limbe, while a planning meeting for this year’s Fako third divisional football championship comes up April 3. According to a communiqué dated March 22, 2017 and signed by the SG, April 8, 2017 will be the official launching of the Fako third divisional football championship.

                In a meeting held March 14, 2017, the council resolved that after the relegation of Dynamic FC of Buea, and NjallaQuan Sport Academy (NQSA) Limbe, from elite 2 football, the number of teams to compete this year will rise from 24 teams to 26.

Front page

Yaounde High Court:

 

Ayah Paul Abine

Will AYAH be released tomorrow?

-The Supreme Court advocate general was at the Nfoundi High Court last Thursday. He would be there again tomorrow Tuesday

By Nche Jude Mbah in Yaounde

Ayah Paul Abine, the arrested and detained advocate general of the Supreme Court, may be released tomorrow Tuesday, that is if information from his lawyers are anything to go by.

                Ayah appeared before the judge of the Yaounde High Court on Thursday last week and that was when the court was convened for the first time to examine his application for Habeas Corpus. Ayah and his lawyers had applied to the court to release the Supreme Court advocate general immediately and unconditionally, on grounds that his arrest was unlawful, his detention illegal and the requisite procedure for his arrest not respected.

                Ayah and his lawyers noted in the Habeas Corpus application that was signed by Ayah himself, that his arrest and detention were illegal by virtue of sections 629, 585, 119(4) and 18 of the Cameroon Criminal Procedure Code. They noted that by virtue of these articles of the criminal code the requisite legal procedure for arrest of a senior magistrate of Ayah’s standing or of even an ordinary common law offender was never respected. Because of this Ayah and his lawyers are urging the Hight Court Judge to release Ayah immediately and unconditionally.

                Whilst in court on Thursday, Ayah’s lawyers also reportedly observed that the written submission that was supposed to be presented by the commissioner of government who ordered Ayah’s arrest was never presented. Even though the document renewing Ayah’s remand in custody was presented, his lawyers noted that the absence of the written submissions on his arrest only corroborates their claim that his arrest was unlawful.

                Because no one of these observations by Ayah’s lawyers was ever challenged by the court, the lawyers including Barristers Kisob, Ndong and Maurice Kamto, are hoping that their client could be released tomorrow Tuesday, that is when the hearing on the Habeas Corpus resumes.

                Ayah’s lawyers said they only learnt in court that Ayah had been charged with terrorism, rebellion and disemination of false information.

                Meanwhile, a family source has disclosed that the secretary of state in charge of the national gendarmerie, Jean Batiste Bokam, and the director of central administration at the national gendarmerie, General Elokobi Daniel Njock last week paid a ‘courtesy visit’ to Ayah, at his detention cell at the SED. The two senior officials of the gendarmerie were accompanied by at least six gendarme colonels, it was revealed.

                Though the exact reason for the visit was not immediately known, we learnt that during their stay with Ayah, the officials tried to get Ayah to accept certain conditions for his release. We learned that Ayah declined the suggestion of the officials, instead telling them (Bokam and Gen. Elokobi) that they have betrayed him.  Bokam was Ayah’s classmate at the Government Bilingual Grammar School Man ‘o’ War Bay while Gen. Elokobi was Ayah’s ‘small’ at the same school.

Biya travels to Italy on state visit

Biya shakes hands with Mukete, Tanjong, Yang before flying

The President of the Republic, Paul BIYA, and First Lady Chantal BIYA, have left the country for Italy for a 3-day state visit from 20 to 22 March 2017. President Biya and his wife are responding positively to an invitation from the Italian President, Sergio Mattarela, who was in Cameroon exactly one year ago, in March 2017.

                The Presidential Couple Saturday took-off from the Yaounde-Nsimalen International Airport.

                Present at the airport to bid farewell to Paul and Chantal BIYA were top state personalities including Senator Victor MUKETE ESEMINGSONGO and  Hon. ENOW TANJONG (the Deans of the Senate and the National Assembly respectively); Prime Minister Head of Government, Philemon YANG; the Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic, Ferdinand NGOH NGOH, and the Chargé d’Affaires at the Italian Embassy in Yaounde.

Anglophone Crisis:

Biya invites Commonwealth SG to visit Cameroon

By Nche Jude Mbah in Yaounde

Commonwealth SG Patricia Scotland

Cameroon has assured the secretary general of the Commonwealth that it is doing everything possible to address concerns about alleged human rights abuses against the country’s Anglophone community, which has sparked demonstrations.

                Meeting the Commonwealth Scribe at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London recently, Chief Dion Ngute, Minister Delegate at the MINREX in charge of relations with the Commonwealth, told Patricia Scotland that his government was engaged in dialogue with the protestors to try to resolve their complaints. He said Cameroon fully supported peace building in Commonwealth.

Paris-Yaounde relations:

BIYA talks with French Ambassador

The President of the Republic, His Excellency Paul BIYA has granted a two-hour audience to the French Ambassador to Cameroon, Gilles Thibault. Both personalities met at the Unity Palace on Wednesday 8 March 2017.

                The Head of State and the French Diplomat held talks on a wide range of issues linked to the Franco-Cameroon relationship, which is part of the strategic partnership.

                H.E. Gilles Thibault told journalists at the end of the audience that they had in-depth exchanges on the importance of Cameroon’s security, humanitarian and economic commitment in the CEMAC sub-region. The extraordinary summit of CEMAC Heads of State, hosted by Cameroon in December 2016, was reviewed following a recent IMF mission to Cameroon.

Preponderance of executive power:

Biya

Biya intentionally blocks election of parliament bureaus

The constitution of the bureau of the two houses of parliament (senate & National Assembly) at the beginning of every parliamentary year in March is now uncertain. President Paul Biya who decides the membership of the bureaus has travelled abroad without releasing the names of candidates to occupy strategic posts in the bureaus. Until he sends the list of names from abroad or returns home with it, the two houses of parliament will continue to wait.

By Ojong Steven Ayukogem in Yaounde

The reality about the absolute control of parliament by President Paul Biya is now being felt with the resumption of the new legislative year that began on Tuesday 14 March.

                Every year new bureaus are constituted by President Biya himself for the upper and lower houses of parliament. This is usually done on the first Friday following the resumption of both houses. But this year President Biya has decided to travel abroad without releasing the names of his candidates for strategic posts in the bureaus of parliament. This absence of the president only blocks activities in parliament, as the bureaus of both houses cannot be constituted until the president returns or maybe he decides to send the lists by mail. Also, bills cannot be examined until the bureaus are elected.

                A source at the national assembly said everything depends on the president’s discretion; he either sends the names from abroad or he decides on them when he returns.

                Yet, it is widely believed in parliament circles that the president will have to return home himself before constituting the lists which will permit the elections to hold in both houses. That only keeps the atmosphere both at senate and national assembly very uncertain.

                Usually the president calls a meeting of the polite bureau of the ruling CPDM before he decides on the lists of candidates for positions at the senate and N.A.

Error or oversight?

George NgwaneEssambe

Biya appoints Consortium member

George NgwaneEssambe, one of the 15 members of the National Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism recently appointed by President Biya, was also a member of the outlawed Consortium by virtue of Consortium Press Release no 3 signed on 3 December 2016.

By Ojong Steven Ayukogem in Y’de

Was it deliberate or was it an oversight? It is now confirmed that one of the 15 members of the Bilingualism Commission appointed by President Paul Biya on Monday 13 March 2017 was also an executive member of the now outlawed Consortium of Anglophone Civil Societies, some of whose leaders were arrested and are presently facing trial on charges of terrorism and terrorism-related offences.

                According to Press Release NO 3, issued by the Consortium, on 13 December 2016 and signed by Dr. Fontem A. Neba, Mr George Ngwane was one of the advisers of the Steering Committee of the Consortium. The other advisers included Prof. James Abangma, Barrister Bobga Harmony, MawumFuh J.C and Abia David.

                By virtue of the same release, Barrister Nkongho Felix Agbor-Balla, Dr. FontemNeba, Barrister Eyambe Elias Ebai and Wilfred Tassang were respectively the President, SG, Deputy SG and Program Coordinator of the Steering Committee of the Consortium.

                Observers say it is intriguing and incomprehensible that while some leaders of the Consortium have been arrested and imputed charges that carry up to a death sentence, some others are going about freely and are even appointed by the Head of State.

Visit to the NW:

Was Yang tasting the waters ahead of CPDM Anniversary

By Njodzefe Nestor

PM Yang

From 6 to 10 March 2017, the Prime Minster, Head of Government Philemon Yang led a delegation to the seven divisions of the North West region begging parents to allow their children to go back to school.

                During the tour that started at Bamenda Congress Hall on March 6 and ended on Friday March 10 at the Kumbo Council Hall, the Prime Minster held meetings with education stakeholders comprising of parents, Parent Teacher Associations, Heads of Schools and teachers and elites.

                No sooner did the Prime Minster start his tour did conspiracy theorists start giving another reading to it. Some of these theorists have been quick to say the tour had political ramifications.

                To them the PM, who is also leader of the North West Permanent Regional Delegation of the CPDM Central Committee came to taste the waters ahead of the 32nd Anniversary Celebrations of the party on March 24, 2017.

                Since December 8, 2016 when some rioting youths frustrated an anti federalism march organized by the CPDM in Bamenda, the party has not organized any big event in the region.

                Militants who had braved the odds to the event ground at Commercial Avenue were stripped off and their uniforms burnt while cars of other members were destroyed. In an attempt to bring the situation under control about 8 people were killed.

                According to some political analysts, the popularity of the party and the militants that can openly identify with it has since then dwindled.

War on Boko Haram:

Tchiroma hails Cameroon army, shames Amnesty Int’l

By Nche Jude Mbah in Yaounde

Issa Tchiroma Bakary

The Minister of Communication and government spokesperson has decried and denounced the mode of operation by amnesty international given that their reports are always published without being checked and cross-checked by the government. IssaTchiromaBakary was speaking to newsmen recently during a press conference at the conference hall of his Ministry which aimed at giving synopsis of recent happenings on the fight against the hazardous Islamic group, Boko Haram, with the Cameroonian soldiers.

                To go by Minister Tchiroma, given that amnesty international is putting all efforts to tarnish the image of the Cameroon government with their reports, they too are living no stone unturned to outsmart them. “Whenever they want to go to the field and do their findings, they will always come meet me to show them some directives but after that is done they go ahead and publish their reports without coming to show me what they obtained. This is unacceptable to me, it is with their erroneous report that they go out there and say how the government is this and that,” Tchiroma sustained.

                As the Minister recounted the recent happenings at the war front with Boko Haram, he happily disclosed the victory of the arm forces and vigilante groups that have put in their utmost at the war front and deserve to be hailed.

                Given the recent calm and serenity in the territory, Tchiroma said that those in the Northern Region from recent reports have gone back to their daily preoccupations. He encouraged those in the terrain to remain steadfast and vigilant to avoid the unknown.

                On the positive note that the activities of Boko Haram were being supported by Saudi Arabia, Tchiroma decried and denounced that the activities of Boko Haram can never be attributed and likened to that of Islam, but says Saudi Arabia is rather giving helping hands so that the group could be wiped-out.

                He acknowledged in strong terms that Cameroon has been working in close synergy with the Nigerian Arm force at the border to gain victory. The closeness of this brotherhood enabled some swift operations in some villages around the border near the Cameroonian territory over a 50Km distance in the Mayo-Sava division.

Secondly, the joint task force at the war front undertook to search and weed out the terrorists in their hideouts in the Nigerian territory.

                Hailing the positive balance sheet of operations on the war front, Tchiroma recounted how the enemy incurred huge losses with over 60 terrorists neutralized and 21 suspects arrested and are undergoing investigation with the Nigerian forces and relevant Cameroonian services.

Anglophone Crisis:

FruNdi mocks Philemon Yang’s follies

-Says the PM’s last outing in B’da only exposed him to ridicule and made him a subject of scorn

By Nche Jude Mbah in Yaounde

Fru Ndi

Since the dawn of the crisis that hit the two Anglophone regions in Cameroon which resulted to endless strikes, efforts by the government to resolve the problems so that Anglophone lawyers could go back to courts and children return to the classrooms has proven futile.

                Only recently, the Prime Minister and head of government made another failed trip to the NW region that attracted a lot of criticisms both in Cameroon and the Diaspora. It was the third time the PM was failing to restore peace in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon.

                In his messages Philemon Yang ceaselessly stressed the fact that parents should send their children to school, a plea that failed before his own very eyes.

                "I learned that the Prime Minister was in the city. He did not invite me; it is not by force that teachers and students will return to classrooms. They expected the head of government to come and talk to them and ask for what they wanted. He did not do that. He came to tell them what to do. This is not the way to go about the problem. He should stop ridiculing himself. The Government must engage in frank dialogue," said Ni John FruNdi, SDF Chairman.

CAMYOSFOP Empowers Journalists on Arms Trade Treaty

By Nche Jude Mbah in Yaounde

Movement of Arms must be controlled

There has been a major uproar on reasons why Cameroon would get engaged on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) since its adoption but would not ratify and impliment it. The Cameroon Youths and Students Forum for Peace (CAMYOSFOP) that has been the major player and leading civil society organization in Cameroon on the question of arms trade since 2001 has been sensitizing the public and most especially advocating the government to implement the treaty.

                For the sake of providing some answers to the aforementioned, some journalists from different news organs in Yaounde and Douala have gain skills and knowledge on reporting issues about the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) that was adopted by the United Nations on the 2nd of April, 2013. They familiarized themselves with the concepts and how to report on that during a two-day capacity building workshop in Mbalmayo, near Yaounde.

                CAMYOSFOP had taken keen interest just after 2001 when the UN launched an action plan to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all aspects (PoA). The organization has also been mobilizing, sensitizing and advocating the adoption and ratification of the Kinshasa Convention in Central Africa for the control of SALW, their ammunition and all parts and components that can be used for their manufacture, repair and assembly.

                The newsmen were told that, CAMYOSFOP became involved in the ATT process in 2005, just four years after its creation. The Executive Director, NgalimEugineNyuydine, joined the Control Arms Steering Committee on developing the global principles of the ATT.

Boko Haram:

AbubakarShekau says Tchiroma is a “liar”

- Warns Biya to be careful

Abubakar Shekau

In a video appearance after several months, the leader of Boko Haram says he is responsible for the series of suicide attacks in Northern Nigeria and Cameroon and has denied claims by Cameroon authorities that many of his combatants were killed by Cameroon and Nigeria forces.

                Talking for over 20 minutes in a 27-minute video, Shekau with a sub-machine gun by his side and flanked by two guards took on Cameroonian authorities and President Paul Biya in particular.

                Speaking in Hausa, Kanuri and Arabic, Shekau said he was “in good health”. He rubbished claims he had been badly wounded in battle. Yet his difficult speech and weak voice betrayed some physical frailty.

                Shekau called Biya “a liar” and that far from what Cameroonian authorities claimed, no 60 Boko Harams where ever killed; no 21 others were ever arrested and no 5000 hostages were ever freed by the Cameroon army, as the Cameroon minister of communication had announced.

Externalities of Anglophone crisis:

Francophone teachers to begin strike on March 27

- The teachers are asking for better wages and allowances

By Nche Jude Mbah in Yaounde

You might not have heard that Francophone teachers in East Cameroon are threatening to go on strike on March 27. Sure, their working conditions are terrible; school buildings falling apart, outdated didactic materials, morally depraved and unruly students, extremely corrupt school administrators, and even more corrupt bureaucratic officials in the ministries of basic and secondary education. These are all excellent causes for teachers to walk off the job.

                But do you think any of these circumstances are mentioned in the reasons for the threatened strike? Not even one. The Francophone teachers are simply asking for more money in salaries and other allowances.

All of us are painfully aware that Anglophone teachers have been on strike since November, a large minority of them without pay. Their working conditions are not much better than those of their Francophone colleagues but for the fact that their students are better behaved. But their strike was motivated by moral and ethical principles, not bigger pay packets.

It’s not that Anglophone teachers would not welcome a few more francs in their pockets. But faced with the tide of francophonization that has been threatening to overwhelm and ultimately eradicate the Anglo-Saxon system of education, Anglophone teachers choose to act in a cause greater than their own personal well-being. They chose to defend their system of education whose comparative excellence was drawing an ever-increasing horde of undisciplined, badly brought up Francophone children fleeing the failing East Cameroonian model.

                Our teachers choose to protect our children from the contagion of the corrupt, ineffective Francophone model of education at the expense of their own financial interests, their freedom (their leaders locked up in Yaoundé) and even their lives.

                I’ve stopped myself from feeling sorry for Francophone parents who are flooding even our village schools with their ungovernable children. If they had stood up to the corruption of their authorities and tried to emulate what was going on in West Cameroon, instead of mocking us as an inferior species of humans, they would not now be subjecting themselves to the humiliating spectacle of sending their children to schools in FruKangkang and other such exotic places in West Cameroon. They soiled themselves and thought they could get away from the stink by running to join us, succeeding only to make all of us smell bad.