Inside Cameroon

The president of the National Communication Council (NCC) will appear in front of the court of first instance in Yaounde today 13 June 2017.

Esoka is accused by Afrique Media for unjustly meting out sanctions against them. According to the media house, the NCC president has to justify the reasons why their own case out of the other victims of sanctions last year had to be different.

Some months after their sanction last year together with other media organs, Afrique Media’s own suspension was uplifted by the law court on the 1^st of May, a decision which Peter Esoka, was not in accordance with and had to table a complaint against the move a year later.

One of the things that are fuelling up this battle between the regulatory body and the media organ is that, the president of the regulatory organ went as far as asking cable distributors not to broadcast the Panafrican  TV channel. This was a move that painted a very bleak future for the TV station, as that meant they would eventually crumble in Cameroon, if that decision was to be maintained.

To the greatest surprise of Afrique Media, the cable distributors adhered to the instructions that were given to them.

The accused has to prove today that all of the decisions he had been taking, especially towards Afrique media, are legal.

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Rita Akana

16.Jun.2017

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A group of infuriated sex peddlers at Waka Brothel in Yaoundé almost lynched one of their customers for settling his groin bills with counterfeited banknotes.

The man, whose only name this reporter got as Paulo had reportedly received his salary and decided to stop at a gambling hub to catch fun with friends.

As he gambled, luck smiled on him as emerged winner of that round. Since the money was in coins, the cashier at the gambling centre proposed to convert the coins into papers.

This was a ploy by the cashier to include some counterfeited bank notes among the money. He hurriedly received the cash from the cashier with excitement and zoomed off to a pork joint to catch fun over some beer bottles.

As he boozed to stupor, he decided to seek a libidinal gratification from one of the commercial sex workers.

According to the prostitute, after having carnal knowledge of her for the entire night, she expected the man to reward her handsomely.

She said she had to bear the stench of constipated bulge, cigarettes, and the client’s inexperience.

“Moreover, it is during periods like this when salaries are out that we take advantage to squeeze some cash from customers. Business booms when salaries are out as men drink uncontrollably and act senselessly. We take advantage of their drunken state to turn on their love buttons for cash to flow.”

Meanwhile, at dawn, the man removed two 10.000 Frs. banknotes and slotted them into the girl’s hand and rushed out of the brothel.

Just as he stepped foot outside, it started raining. The man hurried back into the lady’s room.

The lady was still jubilating with her 20.000 Frs. that was given to her.

As she jumped round the room rejoicing, a beam of light from her coloured bulb flashed on the banknote and revealed it was counterfeit.

Her bright face fell and she screamed in bitterness. This caught the attention of her colleagues who descended on Paulo like a beehive.

The prostitutes beat the hell out of the sex glutton, tore his pants and uncovered his salary from his trouser. It was only after removing the money that the man’s life was spared. The sex hawkers then pushed the man into the rain to go home his wife.

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Abeh Valery

15.Jun.2017

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Parliament has received a bill that will revive the Economic and Social Council, a structure that has gone comatose for the past 30 years. We learnt the bill is being scrutinized by the Constitutional Laws Committee of the National Assembly who will amend certain provisions of the law creating the body in 1986.

Critics had named the council as a liability consuming 5 billion FCFA a year without any concrete work. Only six members plus an extremely limited technical and administrative staff exist out of the 150 member Council. Raising questions as to why much money is being pumped into a structure which  produces nothing.

Looking at the content of the bill which has 43 sections, issues of environment and sustainable development has been introduced into the competence of ECOSOC.   The council also has the responsibility to advise Government in the domains within its competence.  Government too has to consult the body on socio- economic issues with the exception of the finance bill. Only  the President and the Scribe will receive salaries and other benefits . Other members will be given allowances per session.

Items relating to the appointment of members and their roles and terms of references have been laid out in the proposed bill.

It is expected that when the bill is passed into law, the Economic and Social Council can finally play its role. SDF MPs on their part lament that the membership of the structure be slashed since there are other advisory bodies on socio-economic issues.

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15.Jun.2017

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Members of the National Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multi-Culturalism will converge on Yaounde, Wednesday June 14 for their second since they were installed.

The meeting will dwell principally on the validation of the Commission's action plan, adoption of the internal rules and organigram. The Commission appeared to have gone to oblivion .But we learnt warm up meetings have been ongoing to ensure that Wednesday's meeting is a success.

An Accountant,  Sabine Fouda Mballa, has been appointed to handle the financial administrative zone of the body. In the meantime, Cornelius Chi Asafor, the Secretary General of the Commission will be installed on Thursday.

The Action plan will serve as  a compass that will guide deployment of workers , strengthen the architecture and define the way the Commission operates. With its rules of procedure and organization chart, the Commission will swing to real business.

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13.Jun.2017

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The staff of Government Bilingual High School Atiala in Bamenda were shocked to find  a green snake  in their office on Friday. The animal reportedly escaped without being hurt or hurting anyone.  One of the personnel is said to have chased the snake with his bare hands before a colleague could bring a long bamboo, our source says.
Some people may see this as a banal incident, especially due to the  closeness of the school to bushy grass. However, in the wake of the unrest in West Cameroon every little thing may have a meaning or special importance.
A few weeks ago students taking examinations in the South West Region were violently attacked by bees. Some students were seriously hurt and were hospitalized.
There also have been  rumours that a ghost was spotted in the English-speaking part of the nation recently.
Several students defying protest calls have been hurt, few hurt beyond repair, others  given life-time scars
. Three students had their arms mutilated last week in Bamenda.
This snake visit comes barely three days to start of the controversial GCE examinations in Cameroon. The majority of West Cameroonians are expected to take the exams when they have missed more than half of the school year.
Since the start of the the crisis in West Cameroon in November 2016 classes have been very ineffective in the two regions.
West Cameroonians are demanding the "restoration of their state" or a two-state federation. But the Biya regime has said no, "Cameroon remains one and indivisible"

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Rita Akana

10.Jun.2017

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Two students taking the BEPC examinations in Cameroon died on Thursday after falling into an abandoned pit. Two others are currently in hospital.
The four female students had been taking the examinations at the Government High School Bana in the Upper-Nkam Division of the West Region.
The unfortunate incident occurred at lunchtime when the four students came to rest on the wall of the abandoned pit. The wall reportedly gave way for the girls to fall into the 15m pit. The first two broke their necks and passed on. The others got injured and were rushed to hospital, CRTV reports.
The girls are aged between 16 and 18.
The pit, they say, had been dug as a well . But when water failed to flow, it was abandoned and a wall was built around it.
Local authorities have expressed their condolences.
Cameroon is notorious for negligence. It is common place to see state universities look more like a forest than an institution of learning. The University of Yaoundé I is a palpable example. Some trees have even grown beyond control. Amphitheatres have been dotted with shrubs. That is why engine saws have been crying regularly lately on the campus of our mother university.
Some parts of the campus have been transformed into dreadful toilets. Official toilets have gone obsolete and the doors have been locked. Imagine a state university hosting over 50000 students without a reliable toilet. Recently, they had opened the doors and students were paying FCFA50 or FCFA100 depending on whether they wanted to send liquid or solid waste respectively. But a few days later, the old life had resumed.

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Rita Akana

09.Jun.2017

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