Inside Cameroon

The first set of 80,000 laptops will be distributed to students from the University of Yaoundé I and University of Yaoundé II.

The minister of higher education made the precision earlier in the week amid growing speculation over which institutions or regions would  have the pride of place.

President Biya made the promise in July 2016  to offer 500,000 laptop computers to students in higher institutions of learning.


Earlier in the week there were rumours that the crisis-stricken Anglophone regions of the country would be prioritised.

This was believed to be a good strategy to calm the hostile atmosphere in this area.

The distribution campaign will start on Tuesday for the university of Yaoundé I, and the University of Yaoundé II will follow on Wednesday.

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Rita Akana

23.Dec.2017

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The speaker of the national assembly has satisfied Biya's curiosity with a list of people complicating matters for the president in the Great North.

Top on the list are Honorable Hamadou Adji of UNDP and Honorable Ali Bachir.

This comes as a result of Biya's growing unpopularity in the region, which has always been his stronghold in presidential elections.

Not only are the people  dispersed by the Boko Haram insurgency, there's also the Party for Justice and Development which is pulling together all of Biya's critics.

As observers would have noticed, most leaders of political parties from the Great North support Biya , and are thus given juicy positions in his administration.

Issa Tchiroma of FNSC, Bello Bouba, and Hamadou Moustapha of ANDP are all in Biya's government. 

Even Dakole Daissala of FNSC is a member of the executive bureau of the National assembly.

But today there's trouble. The Great North is wondering why  a worthy son of the soil can't run for president and win their populous votes. This follows Maurice Kamto, Akere Muna and potential Joshua Osih's candidacy.

It's at this backdrop that Mr Biya got troubled and asked Cavaye and Ayang Luc to tell him the masterminds of the drama.

And Mr Cavaye didn't hesitate to table a list of his political enemies, including Honorable Hamadou Adji and Ali Bachir.

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Rita Akana

23.Dec.2017

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Akere Muna, candidate for the 2018 presidential election, has affirmed that the greatest help Cameroon expects from the Commonwealth of Nations is a genuine supervision of elections in the country.

He made the statement following his encounter with the secretary general of the organization who is on a visit to Cameroon.

“I think the biggest support the Commonwealth can give now is through the electoral process; making sure that every voice is heard and counted. The Commonwealth can help the process by bringing observers who make the electoral commission feel protected and make Cameroonians come out to vote in all confidence," he has said.

This comes at a time when the Anglophone crisis is visibly one, if not, the toughest challenges Cameroon is facing.

Foreign observers have overseen elections elsewhere in Africa without significant change.


The recent presidential election in Gabon was conducted under the watchful eye of EU observers 'but it didn't stop Ali Bongo from winning '

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Rita Akana

23.Dec.2017

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The terrorism charges against Ahmed Abba, RFI Hausa correspondent,  have been dropped. This was on Thursday 21 December.

RFI Hausa correspondent in Cameroon, will soon be a free man. This follows the aquitance of the charges that were put up against him. He was accused of collaborating with Boko Haram terrorists and not revealing information as desired by Cameroon's armed forces in Maroua of the Far North Region.

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Emergency Admin

22.Dec.2017

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Six people are reported dead in an accident along the Douala-Edea highway.

The incident occurred when a transport bus from Touristique Express collided with a private car on Thursday night.

It happened at a place called Decharge Alucam, about 7km from Edea.

The collision set the private car ablaze with six persons on board.

The intervention of the fire brigade and the gendarmerie came too late to save the people from the fire.

Several injuries are reported in the bus.

The bus was travelling from Douala to Yaoundé.

Official sources at the scene say it happened when the bus tried to avoid a broken-down truck, parked on the road without any indicators.

The SDO for Sanaga Maritime has opened an investigation into the tragedy.

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Rita Akana

22.Dec.2017

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Togo was the only African country to support the US’ decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

About 30 other African countries including Ghana, however voted in favour of the resolution supporting the longstanding international consensus that the status of Jerusalem – which is claimed as a capital by both Israel and the Palestinians – can only be settled as an agreed final issue in a peace deal.Benin, Cameroon, Lesotho, Malawi, Rwanda, and Uganda, however refrained from voting.

 The voting was done amidst heightened tension as the US had threatened some member countries over voting against the US’s position.

The US was expectant that member countries backed it recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, but that did not turn out as it expected.

The US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, ahead of the votes threatened that the US will remember which countries that “disrespected” it by voting against it.

The US government had also threatened to cut funding to countries that did not back its position.

She said the US “would be taking names…When we make generous contributions to the UN, we also have expectation that we will be respected…What’s more, we are being asked to pay for the dubious privileges of being disrespected.”

“If our investment fails, we have an obligation to spend our investment in other ways… The United States will remember this day,” she said.

Donald Trump, while speaking at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, said “Let them vote against us… We’ll save a lot. We don’t care. But this isn’t like it used to be where they could vote against you and then you pay them hundreds of millions of dollars…We’re not going to be taken advantage of any longer.”

The warning appeared largely aimed at UN members in Africa, Asia and Latin America, who are regarded as more vulnerable to US pressure.

Egypt, which is named among the countries that voted against the US’ position last year alone benefited from over $1 Billion in aid from the US.

Countries that voted in favour of the resolution

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Chad, Chile, China, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Cyprus, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guinea, Guyana, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania and Luxembourg.

Others are Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea (South Korea), Russia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zimbabwe.

Countries that voted in favour of the decision

Guatemala, Honduras, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Togo, United States

Countries that refrained from voting

Antigua-Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Benin, Bhutan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cameroon, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, Haiti, Hungary, Jamaica, Kiribati, Latvia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Rwanda, Solomon Islands, South Sudan, Trinidad-Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu.

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Rita Akana

22.Dec.2017

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