Category: General

The audio was shocking, the act disgraceful, wicked and unprecedented!

A Cameroonian lady resident in the US called the Immigration service to give the address of some Cameroonians who illegally migrated into the country.

“I want them to be deported because they came illegally. I know many people who are struggling to come to the US the right way , they keep trying to come…and remain patient,” Tchangoum Murielle Amanda is heard in an audio speaking with an Immigration officer.

It is not clear who published the voice notes but her act has been condemned by Cameroonians.

Asked by the Officer where she knew these people, she said, they only met in a gathering on July 4, 2023.

The bad thing the Immigrants did was telling her that they are undocumented and have entered the US twice.

Tchangoum Murielle may not have witnessed poverty in her life. Her father Samuel Tchangoum is the proprietor of a popular hotel in Cameroon.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Members of the Cameroon English Language Newspaper Publishers Association, CENPA, have pleaded with the Head of State, President Paul Biya to create a special fund for English language Newspapers who have been suffering due to the Anglophone Crisis.

They made the plea during the opening of a two-day workshop on August 3, 2023, in Ebolowa.

The workshop was held under the theme ” Rescuing the dying Anglophone Print Media”.

According to the president of CENPA, Ngah Christian Mbipgo, who doubles as Publisher of The Guardian Post newspaper, they have lost their readership in the North West and South West Regions, and most of the companies that used to advertise with them, have been crippled by the crisis which in turn affects them.

” We are barely surviving, that is why we are making a plea to the head of state, to create a special fund to assist the English Language Newspaper,” the CENPA president said.

Ngah Christian went further to say; “While it is an established fact that the media industry in Cameron is facing numerous challenges, the case of English language newspapers is peculiar in that we lack sponsors. It is regrettable that Anglophones, by their nature, don’t have the culture of promoting media organs,”.

The South Regional Delegate for Communication, Marguerite Solange Beko’o while presiding over the workshop on behalf of the Minister of Communication said the government is always ready to assist English language print media.

“We hope that, by the end of this two-day workshop, they will be able to come out with solutions that these English language Newspapers are facing,”. She stated.

Some 30 English-language Newspaper publishers attended the workshop.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Primary, Secondary, and University children in Tubah sub-division embarked on a safe environment initiative in the municipality through the collection of plastic waste. The youths selected from all villages that make up Tubah subdivision in Mezam paraded the streets and quarters to pick up plastic waste that had been blocking gutters and keeping the area unkempt.

“Each of them within the first two weeks of the holiday program had to provide 500 pieces of plastic bottles and now we have a total of 80.000 plastic bottles. For the third week, the children had to provide 5kgs of nylons each and I am glad they did” Martin Tanjong, Mayor of Tubah.

While receiving the plastic waste at the plastic dumpsite of the council, the Mayor of Tubah, encouraged the new climate change ambassadors to extend the good practice in their homes and create an impact. Through the exercise.

The youths were taught how to separate hard waste from soft waste “I have learned that all dirt is not the same so as I go home, I will separate plastic waste from kitchen waste and dump them at the specific sites created by the council to continue in the eco-friendly development initiative of council officials. I now know that it is not good to burn plastic waste as it destroys the ozone layer and affects our crops. ” Maimuna Ngida, participant told reporters.

The Mayor has promised to continue this project which is aimed at reducing plastic pollution in the municipality, hoping other councils copy a good example.

Martin Tanjong added that plastic waste will serve in construction projects” The bottles that are in good shape will be filled with earth ground and used as bricks to build classrooms. Meanwhile, the twisted bottles and nylons will be recycled and blended with road construction materials.”

Source: Cameroon News Agency

The Council on Foreign Relations revealed that the presence of women in positions of leadership and peacebuilding can greatly reduce the likelihood of violent conflict emerging.

The South West Regional Delegate for Women’s Empowerment and the Family, Ediage Lucia Dipita Sona, has enjoined women to adopt the culture of peacebuilding.

She made the call during the National Women’s Convention for Peace which took place in Buea, on August 3, 2023.

The main aim of the Convention was to emphasize women, to embark on a peaceful journey beginning from their homes.

“When women start something, they don’t leave it halfway, they want to do it till the end. I want to believe that, the women of the SW region are not sleeping, because we have already started obtaining the peace, we are building it pace by pace,” Ediage Lucia Dipita said.

The process of peacebuilding through the National Women’s Convention began in Yaounde.

The South West Regional Coordinator for the National Women’s Convention for Peace in Cameroon, Fanny Besem Ako, says the Convention in Buea was to enlighten the women who were not in Yaounde, about what went through there.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Reporters Without Borders, RSF on August 3, 2023, disclosed new exclusive testimonies on the circumstances surrounding the assassination of journalist Martinez Zogo

They revealed that they spoke with several members of the Cameroonian secret service commando involved in the death of journalist Martinez Zogo.

Three out of the 13 members of the Directorate General of Foreign Intelligence (DGRE) who participated in the operation that resulted in the death of Zogo were also interviewed one of which was Justin Danwe who still maintains that he acted on the orders of businessman Jean-Pierre Amougou Belinga, to set up an operation to intimidate Martinez Zogo.

The RSF says they met with another in prison recently who revealed that they took turns in 10 days to monitor Zogo, 24 hours a day. Once kidnapped, Martinez Zogo was taken to Soa, a municipality bordering Yaoundé and it was in this locality, at nightfall, that the acts of torture against the journalist began. He was then transported to the Ekang building owned by Amougou Belinga.

“At first, the goal was not to kill him. At one point, I went to get him some water. When I came back, he had his ear cut off.” The acts of torture follow one another. They are of unprecedented violence: blows, mutilations, sexual abuse, skin of the soles of the feet torn off,”. One of the members of the Commando told RSF.

According to Justin Danwe’s testimony, on the 18 and 19, 48 hours after there is confusion AB is informed of the outcome of the operation. A video of the acts of torture is transmitted to him. What to do with the corpse? Who decides and what are the exchanges on this subject? After two days of hesitation and procrastination, the journalist’s body wrapped in aluminum foil is transported at night, to a wasteland, out of sight, to try to make it disappear with acid.

They stated that the two versions of facts now clash as it was established today in the investigation that the objective of this operation was not to kill the journalist while Justin Danwe reports that the order was given on the phone by the Keeper of the Seals Laurent Esso, to AB, one of his relatives, to “finish the work”.

They went on to highlight that several sources who had access to the judicial file deplore the absence of elements relating to the exploitation of the calls and messages sent by the businessman. And that of a security source very close to the file that leans rather towards a beating that would have degenerated.

Eights months after the assassination of Zogo, the only official charge against the fifteen suspects incarcerated, including AB in prison since last February, is that of “complicity of torture”.

A choice the RSF says quoted a source smells of “arrangement” and “Inexplicable,”.

RSF also stated that many people close to the file are now beginning to doubt the sincerity of the current investigation as some of them point to the absence of certain elements, which have disappeared or have not been transmitted like the telephone information in particular, which has not been included in the file several weeks after the start of the investigation.

with no indication that they are currently there.

To them, it is unthinkable that these telephone records essential to the manifestation of the truth were not made and doubt is beginning to settle on the real will of the authorities to establish the truth.

The Amplitude GM boss was killed in January, shortly after denouncing high profile businessmen, reaping Cameroon’s economy.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

The state of emergency declared to be implemented in the Amhara Region will remain in force for the next six months, Justice Minister Gideon Timotios announced today.

The decree issued to be implemented in the Amhara Region will also be implemented in other areas of the country as needed, he added.

The justice minister gave clarification on the State of Emergency Proclamation No. 6/2015 issued by the Council of Ministers to protect public peace and security at the 23rd regular meeting of the Council of Ministers today.

According to him, it has become impossible to control the armed activity being carried out in the region by the regular law enforcement and has immensely disrupted the economic and social activities of the region.

The minister further pointed out that the Amhara regional administration has faced a breach of security that cannot be dealt with by the regular law enforcement system.

Stressing that the violation of security has caused pressure on the inhabitants of the region, Gideon said the appropriate legal framework was established and the necessary steps taken by the federal government based on the Constitution.

Based on this, federal security institutions and the Council of Ministers have reviewed and concluded that it is necessary to declare a state of emergency in order to protect public peace and order, the minister elaborated.

He explained that it is clearly indicated that the state of emergency is primarily applicable to Amhara region.

However, Gideon pointed out that measures taken to maintain public peace and tranquility will be implemented in any part of the country when necessary to stop any activity that aggravates the security problem at the region or national level.

The minister disclosed that a State of Emergency Command Post has been established for the implementation of the proclamation.

The command post will be headed by the Director-General of the National Intelligence and Security Service, and it will be accountable to the Prime Minister.

The members, structure and organization of the command post will be decided by the Prime Minister, according to the justice minister.

The command post is given the authority to declare curfew, block road for a certain period of time, close down or terminate service facility and transport.

It has also been given the authority to arrest suspects that attempt or prepare to commit crimes against the government and the constitutional system and violate the emergency decree and obstruct its implementation without a court order.

The state of emergency, which will remain in effect for the coming six months, can be terminated before the expiration period if the House of People’s Representatives determine so.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen held talks with European Union Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, Annette Weber, on Ethiopia-EU cooperation and regional issues today.

The officials extensively discussed the peace process in Ethiopia, Ethiopia-EU cooperation, and regional issues of mutual importance, according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Demeke briefed the special envoy on the ongoing post-war peace consolidation efforts of the Ethiopian Government, including the implementation of the transitional justice process in tandem with the tremendous task of rehabilitating the displaced and reconstructing the infrastructure damaged by the war in northern Ethiopia.

In this regard, he reaffirmed the continued commitment of the government to the full implementation of the peace agreement.

International partners such as the EU need to provide support for the overall undertakings of the government, Demeke underscored.

Concerning the situation in Sudan, he noted that Ethiopia, as a neighboring country, strongly believes that sustainable solution could only be brought about through negotiations and dialogue while ensuring that the peace process in the country is owned and led by its people.

Peace efforts should be channeled through the IGAD platform under the auspices of the African Union, the deputy premier and foreign minister stated.

He also pointed out that Ethiopia is hosting 70,000 refugees who fled the war in Sudan and called for support to the humanitarian efforts of the government in this respect.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency