Fidel Castro of Cuba passes on!!!
The legendary leader of the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro, has died, Cuban state television has announced. He was 90.
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Justice Ayah writes to Biya, calls for a government statement on the Radio Balafon affair
November 24, 2016
AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT PAUL BIYA
Mr. President,
As access to you is so difficult otherwise, we wish to avail ourselves of this means, the most easy open to us, to draw your attention to what your press secretary must have briefed you on already .
If it may please you to permit a little digression, Sir, we are all already aware of the dangerous role Radio Mille Collines played in inciting the terrible genocide in Rwanda. Next door, in Nigeria, similar incitement resulted in the pogrom that befell the Ibos in Northern Nigeria in the mid-sixties. Similar rumours in the era of modern telecommunication technology can set a country ablaze within seconds.
You are not without knowing, Mr. President, that Anglophones have been referred to in Cameroun as the Trojan Horse, and called upon to leave the country if they were dissatisfied with the way they are (mis)treated in Cameroun. With apparent official connivance, the ordinary Camerounese now considers the Anglophone as not belonging here.
When, therefore, Radio Balafon, as reported on the internet, spreads the rumour that Anglophones are chasing Francophones out of Bamenda where Anglophones are seen as mere squatters on their own native land, and your government seemingly connives at it all, no Anglophone feels safe anywhere in Cameroun, let alone, east of the Mungo.
Therefore are we demanding, in consequence, that an official statement be published on the Radio Balafon matter expeditiously so that Anglophones are put on their inquiry, please!
AYAH Paul ABINE
SUPREME COURT, YAOUNDE
PAP NATIONAL PRESIDENT
FOUNDER JUSTICE4ALL
Teachers releases statement amid meeting with Prime Minister
On the instructions of the head of State, the Prime Minister Philemon Yang is meeting with representatives of teachers and lawyers today Friday 25 November 2016 at Ayaba Hotel in Bamenda.
No teacher should enter any school campus today on any one’s orders or instructions for whatsoever reason, staff meeting, class council or whatever.
The meeting with the PM will decide the way forward, including the fate of Principal Mbake of GBHS MUEA who has been detained at the Central Police Station in Buea on the instructions of the Governor Okalia Bilai (a man who should have retired 4 years ago), on trumped up charges of belonging to the SCNC.
The STRIKE CONTINUES and no Regional, Divisional or sub divisional officer or agent of Government should give contrary orders until Anglophones establish in the meeting today that they are welcome in Cameroon.
All Anglophones should be vigilant and ensure that no one intimidates or tramples on their rights anymore. Any such cases should be made known immediately and those playing “the colonial master” will be shamed and ostracized from the Anglophone Community.
ALL ANGLOPHONE TEACHER UNIONS
Cameroon government spokesman insults Anglophones, says they are “extremists and an insignificant minority”
While the public is awaiting the opening of a frank and thoughtful dialogue on the demands of the Cameroon Common Law Lawyers and those of the Anglophone teachers as requested by the opposition and the Cameroonian civil society, the Biya regime seems to have chosen the path of repression and hard-line.
Issa Tchiroma, the Minister of Communication fired the first salvo last night as he denounced British Southern Cameroonians and called them extremist and an insignificant minority. The corrupt Francophone politician stated that a small group of demonstrators defied all the rules required for the preservation of public order and perpetrated acts of vandalism in the North West region.
The Minister of Communication who was a signatory to a document demanding that power be given back to the North noted that the demands of the Anglophones will have no favorable answer from the Biya Francophone Beti Ewondo regime.
Our chief political correspondent in Yaoundé who contributed to this report observed that the Biya regime has declared a war and let every Anglophone be ready with their matching song.
By Rita Akana
Yaounde: Minister wearing a hat receives diplomats
The Ambassadors of Gambia and Austria have presented advanced copies of their letters of credence at the Ministry of External Relations. They were received separately on Wednesday 23rd November 2016 by the Minister Delegate at the Ministry of External Relations in charge of Relations with the Commonwealth, Joseph Dion Ngute who wore a hat indoors.
The Austrian Ambassador before his appointment was the Deputy Inspector-General at the Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs in Austrian capital, Vienna while the new Ambassador of Gambia to Cameroon, Famara Gaye was the Allied Law Chambers Solicitors Lawyer for Immigration, Civil Litigation, Family, Property, Personal Injury and Criminology since November 2015. Both diplomats are resident in Abuja – Nigeria.
CRTV
African Union Chairperson cuts short her stay in Yaounde
South Africa’s Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AU) arrived Yaoundé yesterday Thursday 24 November 2016, for a 72 stay but left immediately due to some modifications on her busy agenda. Madam Zuma had traveled to the nation’s capital on the invitation of the Confederation of African Football for the 2016 women’s Africa Cup of Nations.
Cameroon Intelligence Report was informed that because of a last-minute change of agenda, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma had to shorten her visit to Cameroon originally scheduled for 72 hours. Correspondingly, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission will not be able to watch any of the matches of the 10th edition of the Women’s AFCON as she had hoped.
Some reports suggested that she wanted to meet with players and members of the various delegations and staffs present in Yaoundé at the moment notably Cameroon, Ghana, Mali and Zimbabwe. The South African team that started the first round of the competition in Yaoundé moved the day before her arrival to Limbe. The Banyana-Banyana will play against Egypt in their third and final match of the first round of the competition.
For the past four years, there has been a partnership agreement between CAF and the AU. This partnership aims to use the visibility of CAF competitions, to sensitize and disseminate various messages that can help improve the daily lives of Africans. As part of this 10th edition of Women’s AFCON hosted in Cameroon, CAF and AU have joined forces with UNICEF and Powerplay to campaign against the marriage of girls. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma reportedly met only Prime Minister and Head of Government, Philemon Yang.
By Sama Ernest with cables from CIN
Spanish prosecutors are seeking a prison term of more than 10 years for Samuel Eto’o
Spanish prosecutors are seeking a prison term of more than 10 years for the former Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o for alleged tax crimes committed when he played for the Catalan club. In addition to a sentence of 10 years and six months, prosecutors are also demanding a fine of £12.11m for the four counts of tax fraud for supposedly defrauding Spain’s tax authority of almost £3.21m from 2006 to 09, according to court documents released on Thursday.
Prosecutors are seeking the same punishment for the player’s representative at the time, José María Mesalles Mata. The administrator of a company that facilitated the deals, Manuel de Jesus Lastre Abreu, is facing more than six years in prison and a fine of £1.85m. Prosecutors also want Eto’o to relinquish any possible fiscal incentives for a long period.
Eto’o and his lawyers could not be immediately contacted for comment, but in the past the player denied wrongdoing, saying he was not directly involved in his tax matters. Eto’o is among other current and past Barcelona players facing legal problems in Spain. In July, Lionel Messi and his father were sentenced to 21 months in prison for tax fraud, although they were not sent to jail because sentences of less than two years for first offences are usually suspended in Spain.
Neymar and Barcelona are dealing with the Spanish authorities because of the player’s transfer from the Brazilian club Santos in 2013. Prosecutors announced on Wednesday that they are seeking to punish the Brazilian player and his club, as well as his parents, his Brazilian club and its former president because of an investment group’s claim that they concealed the value of the star’s transfer fee.
In June, Barcelona paid a fine of £4.65m after acknowledging to Spain’s tax authority it made “an error in the fiscal planning of the player’s transfer”. Also this year, the Barcelona midfielder Javier Mascherano was handed a suspended one-year sentence for tax fraud, and the former defender Adriano was also charged with tax irregularities. Eto’o, 35, played for Barcelona from 2004 to 09. The Cameroon striker now plays with the Turkish club Antalyaspor.
Culled from The Guardian
Polisario Front: Morocco quits fourth Africa-Arab Summit in Malabo
Morocco has quit the fourth Africa-Arab World Summit in Equatorial Guinea in protest against the presence of a delegation from the Polisario Front, a group seeking the independence of Western Sahara. The Moroccan delegation made the decision to walk out of the summit in Malabo on Wednesday to protest “the presence of the emblem of a puppet entity in the meeting rooms,” the Moroccan news agency MAP quoted Morocco’s Foreign Ministry as saying.
Morocco is a major investor in Africa. “Morocco has partnerships with Central Africa, West Africa and Southern Africa. We cannot allow such a blow,” said a commentator, whose name was not mentioned in news reports. Equatorial Guinea’s Africa 24 network, which is close to the government, censured Morocco’s decision to leave the summit.
Morocco has made an official request to rejoin the African Union (AU), more than four decades after leaving the pan-African bloc in protest against the membership of Western Sahara. The country withdrew from the AU in 1984, when the mineral-rich and sparsely populated Saharan Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), commonly known as Western Sahara, was accepted as a member.
Morocco annexed Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, in 1975. It maintains that Western Sahara is an integral part of the kingdom, but the international community has not recognized the annexation. Western Sahara is home to the Algerian-backed Polisario Front, a Sahrawi rebel national liberation movement aiming to end Moroccan presence in the territory.
In 1991, Moroccan forces and Sahrawi rebels agreed on a UN-brokered truce and a referendum to settle the status of Western Sahara. However, the vote has never taken place. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Jordan and Yemen as well as Somalia also left the one-day summit.
Presstv
Bamenda: Vice Chancellor says “issues raised by the trade unions were inextricably linked to the survival of the University”
Academic activities at the Bamenda University have been cut short following the hydra-headed strike action that rocked the city of Bamenda. The Cameroon Common Law Lawyers and the Anglophone teachers’ trade unions have issued ultimatums to the Biya Francophone Beti-Ewondo government to meet their demands.
Following the indefinite strike, thousands of students were attacked by Francophone soldiers loyal to the Yaoundé regime. The strike has affected every aspect of the functioning of the University of Bamenda. On Wednesday, students of the institution protested against the storming of their hostels by Francophone servicemen and women.
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Bamenda, Prof. Theresia Nkuo-Akenji made public a statement yesterday Wednesday November 23rd 2016 relating to the happenings in the North West region and the university. Theresia Nkuo-Akenji noted that the staff and students of the university should distance themselves from all acts of incivility that may perturb the proper functioning of the University of Bamenda.
The Vice Chancellor observed that the issues raised by the trade unions were “inextricably linked to the survival of the University and should therefore be appropriately addressed and provided timely solutions.”
Below is a copy of Vice Chancellor Theresia Nkuo’s declaration.
By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with cables from Sama Ernest
Cameroon Common Law Lawyers not interested in the Minister Laurent Esso Deal
Cameroon Common Law Lawyers have blatantly refused to call off their strike action initiated to push the state to yield to their demands which inter alia included the creation of an Anglophone Law School, the creation of a Common Law Bar Council and a return to the Federal system of 1961. Our chief intelligence officer in the nation’s capital Yaoundé has revealed that a frustrated Minister Laurent Esso avoided the 1961 federal structure item in his discussions with the veteran Anglophone lawyers who do not represent the much respected Cameroon Common Law Lawyers.
We understand Justice Minister, Laurent Esso will not be making an official pronouncement this evening as earlier planned despite the fact that there was a communiqué from his department attempting to cajole the lawyers and push them to resume court sessions. The situation has become more intractable as the lawyers are reportedly moving slowly but surely with the Anglophone teachers towards the creation of an enlarged trade union or a consortium of trade unions in British Southern Cameroons aimed at galvanizing the strike action and making it more biting. It is vital to include in this report that Laurent Esso has a history of treating Anglophone judges with contempt.
By Bernard Ngouche Ndim