Month: September 2023

Ghanaian actor and musician Kwadwo Nkansah has released another soul-catching and uplifting motivational single titled ‘Y3b3 Y3 Yie.’ The song, which features reigning New Artiste of the Year Lasmid, triggers a spirit of hope for the hopeless and represents a breath of new life. The new single produced by renowned beatmaker Apya comes along with some hard-hitting kicks and is incorporated with guitars, violins, drums, and electronic keyboard sounds. The duet between Lilwin and Lasmid on the new tune sounds refreshing, with the latter dropping some astounding vocals. The lyrics of the song are uplifting, taking one’s spirits from gloomy states to a better understanding of God’s undying love for believers and how he demonstrates his prowess even in difficult times. Accompanying this song is a lyric video for easy consumption and appreciation. The song ‘Y3b3 Y3 Yie’ is available on YouTube and all streaming platforms:

Source: Ghana News Agency

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says the country’s vision of becoming the preferred destination for medical care in West Africa by 2030 is on course. He said the country was working successfully towards that goal with a substantial investment to strengthen health systems performance, infrastructural growth and access to quality healthcare. President Nana Akufo-Addo, inaugurating the St. Michael’s Specialist Hospital (SMSH), at Lapaz, Accra, said the nation’s health target had been buoyed by the progress of work on the ‘Agenda 111’ initiative. The initiative is to provide 100-bed standard district hospitals with accommodation for doctors and nurses, construction of new regional hospitals for the six newly-created regions as well as two new psychiatric hospitals. Giving a breakdown of the percentage of work done so far, the President hinted that the average completion rate of the 89 ongoing projects was 52 per cent, with work on some of the sites being 70 to 80 per cent complete. These comprise 86 district hospitals, two regional psychiatric hospitals and the Western Regional Hospital. The President lauded the founder of the Specialist Hospital, Mr. Michael Banahene, for his vision and complementing the Government’s efforts at achieving universal health coverage. The Hospital is a multidisciplinary state-of-the-art facility providing patient-centred healthcare services, including surgery. It deals with plastic and neurosurgery, cardiology and mental health consultations, surgical care, paediatrics, dental and interventional cardiology care, antenatal and delivery care, amongst others. ‘Beyond the building of these new healthcare facilities, my vision is to help our country become the Centre of Excellence in medical care in West Africa by 2030,’ the President assured. The relevance of the country’s vision, he said, was reinforced by the fact that the sub-Region was projected to have a population of half a billion people by the said year. Consequently, the authorities were leveraging Ghana’s status as the most peaceful country in the Region to upgrade its health facilities and human resource development, he stressed. The agenda is to derive maximum benefits from the health sector for accelerated economic growth. ‘The first wealth is health. Good health is fundamental to all we do and hope to do,’ President Nana Akufo-Addo noted. He reiterated the Government’s commitment to working with the private sector in achieving the nation’s health goals, especially as enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Former President John Agyekum Kufuor , described the SMSH project as monumental, and commended the authorities for the initiative. Mr. Banahene, the Founder, said achieving universal health coverage was a shared responsibility, and urged the Government to work effectively with the private sector to achieve that goal.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Bamenda 3 council hall, situated beside the main Council building in Mile 4 Nkwen, was burnt to ashes on Saturday, September 30, 2023, by 1:30 AM.

Everything in the council hall was razed to ashes, sources told CNA.

No firefighters showed up to put out the flames. Only the military and a few people around the Council premises tried to put out the fire, the source narrated.

The Bamenda 3 council, the lone surviving of the SDF party in the North West region has been doing all it could to restore peace in the municipality, reunite the people separated by the ongoing Anglophone crisis, promote inclusiveness in the socio-economic, and cultural aspects and most essentially to enhance development as well as well-being in the municipality.

A Council worker told CNA that surrounding residents heard noises around the building before it went up into flames. They suspect it was an arson attack.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Many Cameroonians are said to go on for years without ever obtaining a National Identity card after applying for them. Others have been forced to resort to bribes in order to have their cards delivered within reasonable time.

The move to create a new biometric passport center in Douala has been greatly criticized by many who think passports are bring prioritized over Identity cards.

“Identity Cards are the most essential but due to the fact that the passport pays more than the ID cards, they prefer passports first. But why? Not everyone wants to travel,” a Cameroonian said.

“Is it that Cameroonians now need passports more than they need the national identity card, which has been a serious problem for almost a decade now?,” some social media comments read.

While some criticize this move, others are happy about it stating that it will save them the stress of traveling to Yaounde every time they want to make their passports.

During the inauguration of the new biometric center in Doula on September 29, 2023, the Delegate General of National Security Mbarga Nguele announced a 48-hour procedure of establishing and delivering National Identity Cards in Cameroon which he says will in the months ahead go operational.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

During the virtual press conference, held on Saturday, September 30, 2023, the Coalition of Cameroon Federalist Groups and Activists, CCFGA, to sell the federalist agenda, said federalism remains the best solution to Cameroon Anglophone regions hit by an armed conflict and governance challenges faced by all regions. But they insisted that though they are pushing for this agenda, only the people can decide their fate, “We are not here to take decisions on behalf of the public, however, we also understand the importance of what number states a federal system has…Cameroonians will decide on what they will like,” the group’s coordinator, Michael Takie, told the media.

The CCFGA recognized that protests in the North West and South West regions started as a means to express frustration with the mismanagement of the reunification federation and the unconstitutional termination of the federal system in 1972.

“Neither separation nor unitary state can resolve issues affecting Cameroon. No to violence and no to use of force, no to a military solution,” the group expressed its stance.

Return of Normalcy?

The group’s event Coordinator, Philomina Cho, said “Normalcy has not returned because military and other forces continue to violate the human rights of people,” therefore it is time to abandon “failed solutions and embrace the federalism option.”

Separation, an illusion

The CCFGA, also noted that the Ambazonia Separatists, fighting for the independence of the two Anglophone regions in Cameroon, do not have diplomatic support. “They have unrealistic chances of success, inflicting pains on the people of Cameroonians,” complicated by the fragmentation of separatist camps with numerous irreparable lockdowns and conflicting positions on forced school closures.

The Secretary General of the CCFGA, Dr. Ben Akih, noted that the Federalists propose the creation of a truth, justice, and reconciliation commission to deal with crimes and material losses experienced by families in former southern Cameroon.

He insisted that the push for federalism must become and force in the political space though they are not a political party. Dr. Akih expressed worries over voter apathy among Anglophones and Cameroonians in general which he said is also linked with several irregularities and the absence of national identity cards.

ID cards should be a national crisis that demands an urgent solution because people may want to register and vote during political decision-making processes but do not have valid ID cards, he insisted.

Asked by a CNA representative on how the CCFGA plans to convince Anglophone Cameroonians to join the train when in 2019, the late Christian cardinal Tumi said 69% of a 1000 respondent survey, said they wanted independence; Michael reminded that even though Cardinal Tumi carried out the research, he was still a Federalist.

The CCFGA believes that most of the people who supported secession got it all wrong because it was at the peak of the conflict.

“That was at the peak of the conflict and what we are saying is that the positions of the separatists and that of the government are unlawful – there is evidence that the people will join them.”

Created in 2021, the CCFGA hopes to be fully registered in Cameroon as a civil society organization whose main aim is to galvanize support from Cameroonians of all walks of life to push the federalist agenda and call for quick political decisions that will take Cameroon back to the federal system.

Source: Cameroon News Agency