May 24, 2023

Deuk and Kon-Yambetta still disconnected, three years after ferry breakdown

Mobility from Deuk to Kon-Yambetta and vice versa in the Mbam and Inoubou division of the Centre region remains a veritable misery faced by the populations of these two localities.

The lone ferry that used to transport people, their goods, vehicles, motorcycles, and other materials is still unrepaired since it got bad on 19th June 2020, disconnecting the two localities.

Transportation is now done with the use of canoes powered by engines.

Apart from this issue, Deuk is also confronted by poor road networks. Most of its roads are seasonal and hectic to access during the rainy season.

“The nightmare is that of the roads. We suffer a lot. I can’t count how many times I have fallen from a bike. You understand what it means to live in an area without passable roads.” Mamouda Ibrahim, a native of Deuk recounted.

Electricity in Deuk is as well regarded as a luxury good, including pipe-borne water.

The newly installed D.O of Deuk, OKONG Louis-Phillippe has been challenged to work with the population, traditional leaders, and security forces to give the locality security and a new facelift.

“You must ensure the security of this people by working in collaboration with the traditional rulers, natives, and security forces for peace and security to prevail. Make sure the territory is safe from all sorts of criminal bands.” Addressed, Absolom Monono Woloa SDO for Mbam and Inoubou Division.

The Senior Civil administrator also urged the incoming D.O not to allow politicians to distract him from executing his duties justly. Instead, he should rally with the population, traditional leaders, administrative authorities, and security forces to get Deuk out of underdevelopment.

” When we have a lot to do, it is not necessary to walk on the path of darkness but light. This locality needs one thing, development. Dining with politicians will only send Deuk to the core of the earth.” The SDO added.

Deuk came into existence in 1992 and is one of the nine sub-divisions making up the Mbam and Inoubou Division. Agriculture is the principal activity but unfortunately, the farmers go through hell, to evacuate the farm produce to markets in and out of Deuk.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

May 24, 2023

Business tycoon Aliko Dangote sets up Africa’s largest petroleum refinery

Top business tycoon, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has inaugurated Africa’s largest refinery, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery worth $19 billion which is set to revolutionize crude oil refining in Africa. The first product is slated to be on the market by July 2023.

The refinery was inaugurated by outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari on May 22, 2023, in Lagos Nigeria, and saw the attendance of 5 African presidents notably, President Gnassingbé Eyadéma of Togo, President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, President Macky Sall of Senegal, President Mohamed Bazoum of Niger Republic, President Mahamat Déby of Chad and other bigwigs present.

Reports reveal the inauguration comes a decade after the business tycoon had announced plans for the refinery in September 2013, when he had secured about $3.3 billion in financing for the project.

President Buhari during the inauguration stated that the said facility can process 650,000 barrels a day of crude which would enable Nigeria to achieve self-sufficiency in refined products, and will even have a surplus for export.

“This clearly makes this event a notable milestone for our economy and a game-changer for the downstream petroleum products market, not only in Nigeria but the entire African continent,” the president said, “courtesy the Cable News.

Buhari, reiterating the significance of the project, said Nigeria’s economy has been stressed for many decades by efficiencies in economic infrastructure and over a decade of insurgency.

He says the situation was also severely impacted due to several external crises including the global financial crisis, the collapse of oil prices, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Russia-Ukraine war.

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery, with a capacity to process 650,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), which sits on 2,635 hectares of land in the Dangote Industries Free Zone in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, is said to employ over 100,000 persons.

It is expected that the new refinery would meet 100 percent of the Nigerian requirement of all refined products (gasoline, 53 million liters per day; diesel, 34 million liters per day; kerosene, 10 million liters per day, and aviation jet, (2 million liters per day), and also have a surplus of each of these products for export.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

May 24, 2023

Disgruntled shipyard workers besiege company, demand payment of salary arrears

Workers of the Cameroon Shipyard and Industrial Engineering company staged a strike action on Tuesday, May 23, demanding payment of five (5) months’ salaries owed them, including social and health insurance.

“Workers have gone for five months without salaries, social insurance is not there, and health insurance lacking. People are dying because they fall sick and cannot treat themselves since there is no salary,” one of the protesters, Enow Barnabas, said.

Some of the workers now sleep at the Shipyard’s premises because they have either been chased out by their landlords for unpaid rent or are running away from the landlord.

“Workers are suffering. Some of them now stay here in the shipyard because their landlords have sent them out over unpaid rent. They are managing in the yard, to sleep, and in the morning, they get up and continue working.” Added Enow Barnabas.

According to the disgruntled workers, Chantier Naval which was vibrant and number one to be respected in Africa, is now a shadow of itself, following its collapse.

“Working at Chantier Naval before used to give hope that one day your children will love working there. But where we are today we don’t have that hope due to the ill-treatment. Chantier Naval in the former days paid three months advanced salaries to civil servants. Today the reverse is true. We are instead owed months of salaries. Is it that, the Director General then was better than the current one?”. Asked Barnabas.

While demanding payment of their accumulated five months’ salaries and better working conditions, they also implored the Head of State to use his powers and get the company back on its feet.

“This company was created when he just took over power. So we want him to take the responsibility now to see how this company can come back to life because it is dying.

In a phone conversation with the Director General of Chantier Naval, he said he has been in Yaounde to negotiate with government authorities for the salaries and insurance issues to be solved.

The workers threaten to continue with the strike if quick action is not taken.

It should be underlined this is neither the first nor the 2nd time workers of the National Shipyard and Industrial Engineering company go on strike, demanding payment of salary arrears and decrying poor working conditions.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

May 24, 2023

Namibian asylum seekers in UK still a concern: Moore

The Namibian and United Kingdom (UK) governments are trying to find reasons for the increasing number of young Namibians going to the UK to claim asylum, British High Commissioner to Namibia, Charles Moore, has said.

Speaking to the media during a courtesy visit to State House on Tuesday, Moore said a large number of Namibians are still going to the UK to claim asylum, which remains a concern for the UK government.

In September 2022, Moore raised concern over the many young Namibians turning up in the UK claiming asylum to secure job opportunities, stressing that asylum is not for people looking for employment in the UK and that Namibians are abusing the system.

He noted that at one point in 2022, Namibia had the highest number of people seeking asylum in the UK.

Moore said Namibians are claiming asylum with various reasons, however, after assessment a vast number of cases have no grounds to claim asylum, noting that most people actually see a potential for a better life and economic enhancement in the UK.

“We still see a large number of Namibians claiming asylum in the UK, it has not decreased. We are still working on how we might address this and we have been talking to the Namibian government as well as trying to find reasons for it and see the ways to decrease it. No decision has been taken just yet… but we are still quite concerned about the numbers,” he noted.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

May 24, 2023

SADC to review progress on disaster risk management programmes

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Committee of Ministers Responsible for Disaster Risk Management will meet in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday to review the region’s preparedness to address disaster risks and mitigate disaster impacts.

A statement issued by the SADC Secretariat on Wednesday said the meeting, taking place in Kinshasa, will assess progress on the implementation of SADC programmes aimed at strengthening the region’s readiness to deal with disaster risks and minimising the impact of disasters.

The ministers will also sign an Intergovernmental Memorandum of Agreement among SADC Member States to establish the SADC Humanitarian and Emergency Operations Centre.

The statement said the meeting will receive updates on the implementation of disaster risk management programmes and the status of the implementation of decisions made by the SADC Summit of Heads of State and SADC Council of Ministers.

The meeting will be chaired by Peter Kazadi Kankolongo, DRC’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior and Security, in his capacity as the chairperson of the Committee of SADC Ministers Responsible for Disaster Risk Management.

He will be assisted by Angèle Makombo N’tumba, the SADC Deputy Executive Secretary in charge of Regional Integration, who will be speaking on behalf of the Executive Secretary of SADC.

The ministers will discuss a number of issues, including the development and implementation of the regional disaster risk financing facility and the operationalisation of the SADC Humanitarian and Emergency Operations Centre.

The centre is based in Mozambique and is intended to coordinate humanitarian and emergency support for member states affected by disasters.

The ministers will also consider the Regional Multi-Hazard Planning Framework 2022-2030, the SADC Regional Multi-Hazard Contingency Plan 2022-2023, and the proposed SADC Disaster Risk Management Strategy and Action Plan 2022-2030.

In addition, they will review the status of the activities of the regional vulnerability assessment and analysis programme.

The meeting of the SADC Senior Officials Responsible for Disaster Risk Management is preceded by the meeting of the Committee of SADC Ministers Responsible for Disaster Risk Management held on Wednesday and Thursday.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

May 24, 2023

Sixteen Namibian youth selected for Mandela Washington Fellowship programme

The United States (US) Embassy has announced the selection of 16 participants from eight regions in Namibia for the 2023 Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders.

The six-week professional development programme, hosted by college and university campuses across the United States, will help fellows develop their leadership skills through academic study, workshops, mentoring, networking with US leaders, and collaboration with local community members.

The embassy in a press release on Tuesday said the Mandela Washington Fellowship, which was established in 2014, is the flagship programme of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) and reflects the United States’ commitment to investing in Africa’s future.

YALI was founded in 2010 to assist young Africans in promoting economic growth and prosperity, strengthening democratic governance, and enhancing peace and security across Africa, according to the statement.

“The Mandela Washington Fellowship has brought together approximately 6 000 young leaders from countries in Sub-Saharan Africa since 2014,” it said.

It added that in June, 28 educational institutions in 20 states and the District of Columbia will host Leadership Institutes for about 700 Mandela Washington Fellows.

To date, the US Embassy in Namibia has sent over 140 young leaders to the US to engage in the programme.

The participants selected for the 2023 Mandela Washington Fellowship are Eunice Shapange from the Oshana Region; Ngundambiriko Katire (Otjozondjupa Region); Kina Indongo (Khomas); Joseph Ndondi (Ohangwena); Nelao Immanuel (Khomas); Fredrick Shipipa (Kavango East); Beatrice Schultz (Erongo); Rosalia Joseph (Otjozondjupa); Ellen Nanyeni (Khomas); Ruben Ndatitangi Angala (Khomas); Beverlyn Ganes (Kunene); Romanus Kanyanga (Hardap ); Fillemon Aupokolo (Khomas); Shange-Ndamona Mungoba (Oshana); Mose Ndjarakana (Khomas) and Laina Ndeshitila (Omusati).

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

May 24, 2023

The embassy in a press release yesterday said the Mandela Washington Fellowship

The United States (US) Embassy has announced the selection of 16 participants from eight regions in Namibia for the 2023 Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders.

The embassy in a press release yesterday said the Mandela Washington Fellowship, which was established in 2014, is the flagship programme of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) and reflects the United States’ commitment to investing in Africa’s future.

“The Mandela Washington Fellowship has brought together approximately 6 000 young leaders from countries in Sub-Saharan Africa since 2014,” it said.

In June, 28 educational institutions in 20 states and the District of Columbia will host Leadership Institutes for about 700 Mandela Washington Fellows.

To date, the US Embassy in Namibia has sent over 140 young leaders to the US to engage in the programme.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency