Category: General

The Social Democratic Front Limbe I Electoral District Chairman, Ndenge Godden Zama, has made huge donations of Books and other didactic materials to the school-going children in Alpha Club, a quarter in Limbe I.

Over 3000 kids came out in batches at the Alpha Club Junction where the donations were taking place on Monday, August 21.

Books, Mathematics Sets, rulers, pens, and pencils made up the majority of the donations to the kids.

Parents of kids who are currently on holiday and widows residing in and around Alpha Club and Towe were also beneficiaries of the gesture of the SDF Limbe I Electoral District Chairman, Ndenge Godden Zama.

The donations were facilitated by militants of the Party and friends of Zama who came around to help in controlling the endless crowd of kids and parents as well as help in sharing the items.

Speaking to reporters on site, Zama said the period coincided with when he lost his father some two years ago.

“Since I lost my father, it has been a routine that I donate books and didactic materials to kids in my community who may not have enough to go back to school,” The Politician and Real Estate Businessman said.

He added that as someone who likes education and a proprietor of a school, he knows what parents are going through during this period, and helping out in remembrance of his late father was not a bad idea.

Coming at the time when he had declared his candidacy to run for the position of National Chairman of the Social Democratic Front and quizzed if the move was politically motivated, Zama said no.

“This has nothing to do with politics; it is purely humanitarian and should be considered as such.”

He concluded that “it is back to school period and kids, who lack, should be given the chance to feel like those who have resources, it is not yet time for political campaigns, we are not yet there.”

It should be noted that the 38-Year-Old Ndenge Godden Zama is also involved in other community actions such as running a Football Club known as Livanda Lions and also the Chief Executive Officer of Peddy’s Capital.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Cameroonian female photojournalist, Moma Sandrine has bagged home an award from the Victoria International Media Merit Award, VIIMMA that held in Limbe on August 12.

The 27 year old emerged winner for the media category; Female Photojournalist of the year. This result was gotten after an online voting done by members of the public and proper examination of her works by a jury comprising of journalism heavyweights.

Sandrine earned her bachelor of science degree in journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Buea. She explained that the passion for photography was born in that department. “When I was first introduced to Photojournalism in school, I found the course interesting especially given to the fact that it was considered a thing for men. I did not like the gender discrimination of roles so I challenged myself to do it even better”.

She furthered that practicing photography is challenging especially as a woman. “It has not been easy since the start of this journey from racticing amidst hormonal changes during pregnancy to facing gender discrimination. Sometimes people doubt your output based on your gender. In most cases, it is the results that speak for you. There have been events where the male folk will say give me your camera let me take the images for you, undermining your capabilities. However, I’ve learnt to look beyond all these and pursue my dream”.

Feeling motivated after winning the award, Sandrine Moma says she has been tasked to do more. “This award is a challenge for me to work harder. I am working towards topping my game in photography and journalism with the hope that one day I will venture into wildlife Photojournalism should I get the chance”.

The young journalist equally stated that she is open to receive upcoming female photojournalists and share the knowledge she has acquired. “God blesses us so we can be blessings to others. Am open to whoever wants to learn the little I know, with zero fee.”

She expressed appreciation for those who supported her in achieving this award. “I want to thank everyone who believed in me. My big brother Ndasi Elvis gave me the first push when he bought me my first digital Camera to use during practicals in school. Indeed his investment did not go in vain. My appreciation equally goes to all those who voted for me, to family, friends and colleagues who have always stood by me. My gratitude equally goes to the entire family of Journalism and Mass Communication in the University of Buea, for moulding me”. She said.

The 27 year old had started practicing in the field of journalism in 2012, shortly after her ordinary levels certificate. She started working with Rush FM Bali, then Radio Hot Cocoa, The Sun Newspaper, Hi TV, African News TV, The Herald Tribune Newspaper, amongst other media organs. She has equally served as Communication officer for some non governmental organisations in Cameroon. As at the time of this article, Sandrine Moma is currently working with the Ministry of Communication.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

August 21 marks exactly 37 years since more than 1,500 people died in the Lake Nyos disaster following an explosion at the lake situated in the North West region of Cameroon. Official statistics declared 1,746 people lost their lives and 3,500 livestock were lost.

Reports revealed that A limnic eruption, also known as a lake overturn took place. It is a very rare type of natural disaster in which dissolved carbon dioxide suddenly erupts from deep lake waters, forming a gas cloud capable of suffocating wildlife, livestock, and humans.

Government later evacuated the survivors to settlement camps with one being at the Kimbi river. Over 12,000 survivors were later returned to seven permanent resettlement camps, including Bua-Bua.

The Non-Governmental Organization, the Bua-Bua Area Development Association, BADA, have been working to assuage the plight of survivors who are today scared of the same incident reoccurring.

According to the Vice President of BADA, government abandoned the survivors after two years.

“After the resettlement of the survivors in the camps, government provided food and medications to the survivors. After two years, government abandoned these survivors. The victims had to struggle on their own to send their children to school, feed and cope with all the difficulties in life. The survivors suffered a lot after they were abandoned by the government, we had school dropouts, lack of food because of a new land they were in,” the Vice president explained to CNA.

“Life today is very deplorable especially as the Anglophone crisis has come and worsened the situation. At a certain time, the people in these areas had to run away, houses were burned down, people were killed, slaughtered. Today, even the houses and camps the government reserved for these survivors have all been burnt down,” he added.

He went further to say that they have decided to raise funds and bring the village back to life.

“Some sons and daughters of this area, Bua-Bua, today in celebration of the 37th anniversary of the village, have decided to use the occasion to raise funds to construct a hanging bridge at one of the rivers that is like a stumbling block for them to sell their products to neighboring villages. We are here today in Douala to commemorate this day, raise funds to link Bua-Bua to other neigbouring villages.”

Lake Nyos is one of the only three exploding lakes in the world, the others being lake Monoun, also in Cameroon, and Lake Kivu in Rwanda.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

The Minister of employment and vocational training, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, has reminded foreign companies that one of the requirements for their operations in Cameroon is the payment of two months worth of each worker’s salary into the state coffers.

“Investors who have chosen to settle in our nation, they’re warmly welcome. Let them never be afraid of what we are doing. The law puts in place the collection of two months of salary from all foreign workers here,” Issa Tchiroma said.

He was speaking in Batouri, during a visit to the East region on August 20, where he held working sessions with mining and forestry enterprises in the region.

Tchiroma reiterated that Cameroon has to be given priority in all of their activities. He said each of the foreign companies has to ensure a significant number of Cameroonians are incorporated in the workforce.

He added that those who will fail to comply will not be allowed to leave the country: “You cannot leave the country for as long as you do not present a contract signed by me.”

He said the mechanism which the ministry of employment is working on is based on instructions given by the head of state, with the objective of transforming over 300 rural artisanal centers to up-to-date vocational training centers.

The East region alone has close to 5,000 foreign workers involved in timber and gold exploitation. They are expected make payments during their periods of operation which will be used to upgrade the artisanal centers in the country’s ten regions.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Mines and Energy Minister Tom Alweendo has rubbished allegations that the envisioned green hydrogen project is being developed in secrecy, saying the government continues to consult and inform the public widely about the project.

Speaking at a media briefing here on Friday during a visit by South Africa’s Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, Alweendo said the public is demanding the commercial details of the investments, however, there are certain agreements that have to be commercially confidential.

“Nobody is going to invest in your country if everybody knows investment details. Here I am, signing an agreement with you and clearly telling everyone this is what I have agreed. The other person who is coming to negotiate with the Government now knows exactly what I have negotiated. How does that make us look like a country?” he stressed.

Alweendo noted that what the project means to society and Namibia, the government needs to share with the public, noting that there have been various widely public regional and national consultations on green hydrogen to which everyone was invited.

“Because of the importance of the project and what it means to our economy I understand we have to have continued discussions to make the people understand what it is all about but to claim that it is being developed in secrecy is really not the case,” he said.

He further noted that Namibia and South Africa have agreed upon a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) geared towards the energy sector, including areas of interest in green hydrogen.

Namibia is setting up a large green hydrogen production project in the southern part of the country and has been described by experts as one of the top five locations in the world for the production of low-carbon hydrogen

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

Erongo Governor, Neville Andre Itope has requested the assistance of the church leaders, police and community groups in finding ways to assist the neglected boy child in the region.

Itope during a recent meeting with the three groups said the boy child has been disregarded in society, especially without the guidance of father figures, therefore pushing them into the hands of drug use and other social ills.

“We are leaving the boy child alone and they are taken up by the issues of the world, hence there is an urgent need to address issues faced by the boy child in our communities and this issue requires concerted efforts from all stakeholders.

The boys are not inspired and they tend to become unsuccessful and also personalities that are disturbing our community and societies,” the governor highlighted.

The meeting was held to deliberate on how they can all collaborate to support boys and young men and provide them with the necessary tools and skills to enable them to become valuable members of society.

The governor proposed a regular, structured engagement between community organisations, churches and the police, where he envisions leaders coming to church services to have conversations for about an hour with congregations, to address and discuss these pressing issues.

“It is also vital that we, as parents, support our children to make sure they have the necessary education and support to deal with the challenges they face in life,” the governor added.

Founder of The Blue Project Tangeni Mujoro, who is also a concerned mother of a son, expressed that women face difficult struggles when raising boys in the absence of sufficient male role models.

The project is a platform that invites men to engage, mentor and shape boys into responsible men.

Mujoro noted that as a woman and mother, she is unable to raise her son without adequate male figures in his life.

“We are also struggling to find men to come and mentor our young men and would therefore appreciate it if more take up the responsibility of mentoring our young men,” she said.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

A murder-suicide incident involving a mother and her five-year-old daughter at Otjiwarongo on Saturday, sent shockwaves at the town’s Ombili informal settlement.

Namibian Police Force (NamPol) head of community affairs in the Otjozondjupa Region, Inspector Maureen Mbeha on Sunday said the deceased persons were identified by their close relatives on Saturday as Hileni Vemujendavi Virere, 21, and her daughter Winny Virere.

“It is alleged the deceased mother might have first strangled her daughter to death, and thereafter took a white electrical cable to hang herself around her neck from the corrugated iron roof of her sleeping room,” said Mbeha.

The incident is suspected to have taken place between 16h50 and 17h00 on Saturday at the old Ombili informal area, she said.

Her daughter was found first laying on the floor with injuries on the face, and also bleeding from the nose, while her body was hanging from the roof inside her house, added the police officer.

Mbeha further said the motive behind the incident is still unknown as there was no suicide note left behind.

No foul play is suspected in the matter and police investigations into the matter continue.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency