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African Union to send regional protection force to South Sudan

19/07/2016

The African Union (AU) has approved a proposal to send a regional protection force to South Sudan with a “robust” mandate to contain the violence there amid criticisms of the failure of a similar UN mission. “The UN doesn’t have the mandate to impose peace,” African Union Peace and Security Commissioner Smail Chergui said at an AU summit in the Rwandan capital of Kigali on Monday.

“They are there where there is peace to keep. African troops are ready to engage in very difficult situations. It is our responsibility,” he added. The news comes as supporters of South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and rebels backing his deputy, Riek Machar, reached a shaky ceasefire on July 11 after four days of violence. The clashes killed more than 300 people and forced thousands of others to flee.

The violence raised concerns of the revival of a civil war that gripped the nation in December 2013. The UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, UNMISS, has been strongly slammed for failing to stop the recent wave of violence and fully protect people. The new force will be similar to the 3,000-strong Force Intervention Brigade deployed within the UN’s mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to Chergui.

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) east African regional block on Sunday urged the UN Security Council to give it a robust mandate that would allow it to separate the warring sides and “pacify Juba.” Chergui said the international community would have to convince Kiir to agree to the deployment of the new force.

A bloody civil war in South Sudan, the youngest country in Africa, began in December 2013 when Kiir accused his former deputy Machar of plotting a coup against him. The two sides then got involved in a cycle of retaliatory killings that have split the impoverished country along ethnic lines. Thousands of people have been killed and more than three million forced to flee their homes in the war. Nearly five million people are in need of food to survive a famine in South Sudan.

The two sides eventually signed an agreement in August last year to bring the conflict to an end. As part of the deal, Machar returned to Juba in April to take up the post of vice president in a national unity government. Despite the August 2015 peace deal, battles persist across the country. There are numerous militia forces that do not abide by peace agreements and are driven by local agendas.

Presstv

4 killed in Doualare-Maroua following collapse of building

19/07/2016

Four people, a 32 year old adult, two girls 10 and 8 years and an infant were killed on Thursday in the district of Doualaré when their home collapsed, Cameroon Intelligence Report has learnt.

Doualaré is found in the Maroua locality in the Far North region- a region that receives billions of FCFA from the Cameroon government every year to foster development.

The house was built on the side of the el Kossei Bei Mountain. The sad incident occurred when the occupants were still immersed in their sleep.

Sama Ernest (Cameroon Intelligence Report)

CPDM appointed governors to meet in Yaounde today

19/07/2016

Governors from all the ten regions will begin their evaluation meeting in Yaounde today Tuesday July the 19th 2016. Cameroon Intelligence Report is aware that the governor’s bi annual conference will hold at the Yaounde City Hall and will be chaired by the Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, Rene Emmanuel Sadi.

A source at MINAT revealed that the governors will inter alia examine administrative authority, implementation of the three-year emergency plan, local governance and the rule of law. The forum will also provide a capacity building scheme for the CPDM appointed governors.

The governors meeting that will last for three days will in addition review the security situation in the country. Participants will be grilled on how to ensure development and the efficient implementation of public policies included in the Finance Act for better satisfaction of the needs of the community.

Ebong Kingsley (Cameroon Intelligence Report)

Cameroon-Central African Republic Hostage Crisis: Biya not telling the truth!!!

18/07/2016

The CPDM government has officially announced the release of hostages kidnapped in Cameroon in the East region and detained for 16 months in the Central African Republic. In a statement issued by the Head of State dated July 17, 2016, the chief executive stated that Mama Abakaï, Mayor of Lagdo, and ten other Cameroonian citizens abducted on the night of 19th to 20^th of March 2015 in the localities of Gbabio and Yokossiré in the Eastern region by an armed group operating in the Central African Republic have all been freed.

The Biya statement added that the hostages were being given a health assessment and support from the state. President Biya also congratulated the Cameroon army and other security groups that worked in any way to the happy outcome. However, Cameroon Intelligence Report has learnt from a senior military source in the East region that Etoudi has manipulated public opinion in the hostage affair. Our source revealed that the hostages were released on the night of the 8^th and 9^th of July 2016, by elements of the Abdoulaye Miskine, a pro Central African government militia after heavy fighting with the ex-Seleka group who held them.

The Cameroonians were freed and transported to Zikambo. The Cameroon army was never involved in any battle to free the hostages. Our informant added that contrary to what was reported over state radio and television,Mr and Mrs Nene Youssoufa including two other hostages died on January 2016 and on the 11^th of July 2016. A lot of tongues have been wagging on why President Biya had to wait for a week to announce the release of the hostages. A well informed political opinion in the nation’s capital noted that the delay and manipulation were aimed to award the laurels of the liberation of the Cameroonian hostages to the head of state for political reasons.

Rita Akana (Cameroon Intelligence Report in Bertoua)

The Coup in Turkey: President’s popularity Vs Plotters

18/07/2016

Protest in any society arises from discontent with the status quo, unlike a coup, in which there is an armed push to overthrow the state with the help of the military. The recent botched putsch in Turkey simultaneously falls into both categories and neither – something inbetween but with a catch: The true winner of the overnight coup, President Erdogan, is using this “God-given gift” to reinvigorate his version of democracy and further the exact actions that caused the protests in the Turkish society in the first place.

Underneath the facts that we know about the messy and short-lived coup-that-wasn’t, there is a more dramatic series of events yet kept in the dark. Many believe that it was not an actual coup d’état as it lacked the real defining characters of one; and even if we can call it a coup, it was doomed to fail since the very beginning as it was nothing comparable to Turkey’s previous military interventions in politics – in 1960, 1971, 1980, and 1997.

Every novice in politics knows that all politics is about contrast. And to turn a contrasting voice to durable political power in a democracy, you need popular support, which would be garnered if your promised changes to the status quo that capture the essence of what people truly want.

This was not the case in Turkey as the plotters seemed to be following a checklist from a very outdated version of Coup d’etat for Dummies –and very incompetently too. Waiting for the president to leave the town for a holiday. Check. Seizing the main airport, sealing off internationally-significant routes – here Istanbul’s Bosphorus Bridge and Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge. Check. Sending tanks to the parliament. Check. And taking over the offices of Turkish Radio and Television (TRT), the country’s national public broadcaster and broadcasting a statement declaring a curfew. Check.

But the putschists had no planning to capture important figures in the authority or major government buildings, no one to lead the endeavor, no strategy for communication and social media, no popular fan base in society – or even in the military itself, and no coordination among their ranks. Even the creation of their executive body, the Turkish Peace Council, was announced by a news anchor at the TRT news channel during the coup, allegedly at gunpoint.

Istanbul-based military affairs researcher Gareth Jenkins says, “This coup was obviously planned quite well but using a playbook from the 1970s,” and Sinan Ülgen, a Turkish foreign policy scholar with the Carnegie Europe think tank, believes that the plotters’ biggest flaw was their undefined line of authority and lack of control over the key levers of power. He says, “Their blueprint was also ineffective since they failed from the outset to capture any military installations in Turkey or any of the (political) leadership” as they were acting outside the military chain of command.

Erdogan, who is frequently accused of muzzling media and journalists, turned out to be more tech-savvy than the plotters as he managed using the media to change the narrative and outflank his enemy forces on the streets thanks to an app on his smartphone.

*A history of coups in Turkey (Aljazeera)*

Rebel without a cause?

According to claims by some of the soldiers who were detained following the turmoil, they were told by commanders they were part of a military drill, and they only understood that it was an attempted coup when they faced popular resistance. Moreover, as much as he insists on the role of erstwhile ally Fethullah Gulen – living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania – Erdogan has not provided any solid evidence proving his involvement.

Nobody still knows for sure who the brain behind the bungled attempt was, or even whether it was staged by Erdogan or by a cleric from the United States. It is not yet clear how much control the plotters managed to gain over government’s institutions, or how the coup would affect Turkey’s relations with the European countries and the United States – given the fact that a reliable army is of utmost importance for the NATO ally.

With their support, the US and EU – and almost everybody who supported Erdogan against the plotters — sent a signal to the potentate that they prefer a flawed democracy to military rule; that they care more for stability than freedom; that any successful coup would be more disastrous for the region than Erdogan’s existing state of affairs.

Reborn from the ashes of his long campaign to kill and jail Kurds, critics, adversaries, and journos, Erdogan is now hoping that the failed plot would give him the clean slate he desperately needs for a new era in modern Turkey. The plot still seems like an Erdogan-versus-Erdogan tale as he is the sole beneficiary but it may have set in motion another narrative: Can Erdogan keep on selling his democracy to the world?

Presstv

Cameroon says 18 per cent of women suffer from breast cancer

18/07/2016

Cases of breast cancer can be reduced if women ensure regular screening, good nutrition, engage in physical exercise, eliminate stigma and take drugs only on prescription. According to statistics, over 18 per cent of women suffer from breast cancer in Cameroon, with women over 55 years said to be the most vulnerable.

The information was disclosed during a free breast cancer screening at the Mboppi Baptist Hospital in Douala from July 11-13, where some 1,000 women turned up. Organised by Run for a Cure Africa Cameroon (RCAC), the objective was to increase cancer awareness, screening, early detection and care in order to reduce its impact. Virginie Bopda Kontchou, RCAC President, disclosed that her association will pay for the treatment of patients, with support from companies and individuals.

The women were advised to go for screening at least once in three months, ensure continuous breastfeeding for 12 months, consume more vegetables and fruits, do physical exercises and avoid self-prescription of drugs. Such measures, including prevention of body weight and abdominal obesity, are necessary also for the prevention of all other cancers, which are generally on the rise in the country.

Meanwhile, the Michael & Mauritia Patcha Foundation deployed medical experts to Bana, Banka, Bangangte and Bangoulap in the Upper Nkam and Nde Divisions of the West Region for prostate, breast and cervical cancer consultation and treatment. Some 6,000 people benefitted, including other health services such as dental, cardiology, ophthalmology and hernia consultations. Drugs worth over FCFA 2.3 million were used provided to patients freely.

Cameroon Tribune

Cameroon makes public the 2016-2017 academic calendar

18/07/2016

The Ministries of Secondary and Basic Education have published the calendar for the 2016-2017 academic year in Cameroon. According to the new calendar, the 2016-2017 academic for all public and private schools in the Republic of Cameroon shall begin on Monday September 5, 2016 at 7:00 a.m. and end on Friday July 28, 2017 at 3:30 p.m. The school year shall be sub divided into six teaching and evaluation sequences. The sequences shall be interspersed with two periods of break.

The periods of break shall be as follows: from Friday December 23, 2016 to Monday January 9, 2017 for the first break and the second from Friday March 31, 2017 to Monday April 17, 2017. Holidays for boarders shall end on the eve of the school reopening day before 6:00 p.m. The period set aside for officials shall run from Monday June 5 to Friday July 14, 2017 for primary education, from Thursday May 25, 2017 for secondary technical education and from Monday May 29 to Friday July 28 for secondary general and teacher training.

Dates for the conducts of these examinations shall be made public by decisions signed by the Minister of Basic Education or the Minister of Secondary Education, each in their own sphere.

Cameroon Tribune

At AU Kigali Summit: Leaders approve the African passport project amid crisis to succeed Dlamini Zuma

18/07/2016

The 27th summit of the African Union that began on Sunday in Kigali provided an opportunity for the leaders to make public the first African Union passport. The heads of state met previously on camera and discussed the crisis in South Sudan, the succession of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma at the head of the AU Commission and the eventual return of the Kingdom of Morocco. The AU gave the honor to Presidents Paul Kagame and Idriss Deby to present the AU passports. Heads of State and Ministers of Foreign Affairs ministers will probably be the first to be issued the African Union passports in Kigali.

This session of the general assembly is expected to elect a new commission chair to replace Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, whose mandate has come to an end. We understand three candidates are vying to succeed Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and they include the Foreign Ministers of Botswana and Equatorial Guinea and the former vice-president of Uganda Speciosa Wandira-Kazibwe. Cat calls have greeted the choices from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Announced at a previous meeting of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, the passport by the AU is now a reality and President Idris Deby of Chad and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda were the first to receive the document during the opening of the 27th summit of the pan-African organization in Kigali.

The African passport aims to promote the free movement of Africans in their continent. As such, the African passport is a tool in the service of African integration. It is known to all, that the free movement of people and the integration of Africans remains a onerous task. In spite of the ongoing integration process in most regions and at the African Union, the free movement of persons is still hampered by red tape. It is impossible for an African, in most areas, to move from one state to another without a visa.

Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai (Cameroon Intelligence Report)

Buea Molyko Fire: Mayor Ekema Patrick pledges support to victims, moves those rendered homeless to a Bomaka Hotel

17/07/2016

It was at about 6 pm Saturday July 17th 2016 when a huge fire emerged from an unknown business store in Molyko, Malingo junction opposite the police station and spread over the entire building. The storey building with about 20 stores mainly for commercial purposes was reduced to ashes.

Accessories, assorted articles, clothes, electronics and other communication gadgets were destroyed by the fire. As the business community struggled to hand pick a few of their belongings out of the burning shops, some pick pockets were visibly transporting goods to an unknown destination. It took the vigilance of the men in uniform to get the thieves arrested.

The damage reported was enormous but no official statement on the financial lost has been made public. The fire also reduced to ashes some “carabot” houses behind the commercial building. Three families rendered homeless have been moved to a hotel at Bomaka by the mayor of Buea, Ekema Patrick.

Mayor Ekema Patrick pledged support to the victims and their families. The exact cause of the fire outbreak is not yet known but investigations have been opened.

Cham Victor Bama (Cameroon Intelligence Report in Buea)

The trial of National Assembly Speaker’s former body guard: Shameful, Disgusting and Disgraceful

17/07/2016

The trial continued at the Yaounde Military Tribunal on Thursday, July 14, 2016, of Gendarmerie Captain, Bouba Simala, on threats allegedly proffered against his former boss, Hon. Cavaye Yeguie Djibril, Speaker of the National Assembly. Simala, who is the Speaker’s nephew and long-time member of his personal guard for over 20 years, is now accused of simple threats and outrage against him and disobeying instructions.

The charge sheet specifies that the count on disobeying instructions has to do with behaviour capable of tarnishing military honour and dignity. All the offences are punishable under Articles 74, 154 and 301 of the Penal Code and Article 230 of Military Justice Code. The matter was heard by Lt. Col. Meffand, with Mr. Justice Tang Reuben as State Counsel. Of the 10 witnesses listed for the prosecution, four were present, but only Ekono Nkoue’e Joseph, and Monongnok Ebenezer, were led in their testimonies by Tang Reuben. The other prosecution witnesses are Yongwa Jean Nicolas, Mvodo Abah Apollinaire, Abena Richard, Ahanda Bruno, Danladi Garba, Hamidou Jean Paul, Harouna and Akambot Me Mama.

Ekono Nkoue’e Joseph, a Third Grade Inspector of Police, said Captain Simala arrived in the Yaounde residence of the Speaker in the morning of Saturday, June 13, 2015, in sportswear and not armed, and asked some officers on guard duty at the gate if they had replaced the National Assembly number plate on the Speaker’s official vehicle with an ordinary one like he had instructed. Captain Simala reportedly told Warrant Officer Hamidou Jean Paul to inform Cavaye Yeguie Djibril that he will be kidnapped. Bouba Simala allegedly added that he had already contacted Major Gen. Ivo Desancio Yenwo of the Department of Presidential Security to help him with men for the job.

Simala reportedly told the officers that he was responsible for what would happen, warning them to cooperate during the abduction and promising that they will be set free afterwards. Asked what he did on hearing the threat, Ekono said he went back to the Police Post where he was on guard duty and did not make a report about the incident in the post’s “Instructions Register.” He was cross-examined by Barrister Koumaï Bouba, counsel for the civil claimant and Barrister Simh Emmanuel, lawyer for Captain Simala. Lt. Col. Meffand also took time off to cross-examine the First Prosecution Witness.

It emerged from the testimonies that Captain Bouba Simala never had the opportunity to personally meet and threaten Hon. Cavaye nor show any outrage against him. Despite the reported threat against him, the Speaker still went out for sports that Saturday and returned home safely; though he changed itinerary and went to Mfou on the outskirts of Yaounde instead of the Parcours Vita sports ground near Monte Febe Hotel in Yaounde. Asked if the car the Speaker finally used an official or ordinary number plate, Ekono said he could not remember. Neither did Captain Bouba Simala finally accompany Cavaye on his sports exercise.

The Second Prosecution Witness, Police Inspector Monongnok Ebenezer, later took the witness box to narrate almost what his colleague, Ekono Nkoue’e Joseph had earlier said, but could not say what number plate the Speaker’s car used that day, though his security vehicle drove behind that of Cavaye Yeguie Djibril’s, to and from Mfou – a distance of about 50 km round trip.

Questioned who of the guards at the Speaker’s residence informed him of the alleged abduction threat, none of the two witnesses could say – even more than a year after. Lt. Col. Meffand expressed consternation at the fact that Monongnok Ebenezer could not remember if Cavaye’s vehicle used the PAN (Speaker of the National Assembly), AN (National Assembly) or CE ordinary number plate for such a long ride, saying this demonstrated gross negligence by a security officer detailed to protect the country’s third most ranked personality.

There was a mild, but prolonged drama during the sitting when a female lawyer stood up to announce that she had come to stand in for Barrister Fotso Faustine who wanted to join the counsel for the civil claimant. Barrister Koumaï Bouba, who was contracted for the same job and had already begun cross-examining the First Prosecution Witness, expressed shock at the development, saying the colleague, contrary to legal practice, did not inform him. After long arguments with court officials and other lawyers, Barrister Fotso’s letter of intent to defend the civil interests of Hon. Cavaye was accepted.

Hours after, when Barrister Fotso herself finally arrived in the court room, the disagreement continued, especially after she asked for adjournment to enable her study the case file. Her request was finally granted and the matter adjourned to August 11, 2016, for her and another lawyer to join the civil claimant team.

Initially accused of terrorism, robbery and attempted kidnap, the charges against Captain Bouba Simala were changed. The matter has been in the Yaounde Military Tribunal since August 5, 2015. A different team began hearing it until last February when the trial had to be halted following the transfer of members. A new trial team has since taken over, obliged to begin the matter from scratch.

Cameroon Tribune

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