Inside Cameroon

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Thursday that African countries should be careful not to forfeit their sovereignty when they accept loans from China, the continent’s biggest trading partner.

Tillerson is using his first diplomatic trip to the continent to bolster security alliances on a continent increasingly turning to Beijing for aid and trade. [L5N1QP17F]

He may also seek to smooth relations after U.S. President Trump reportedly dismissed some African nations as “shithole countries” in January. Trump later denied making the comment.

“We are not in any way attempting to keep Chinese dollars from Africa,” Tillerson told a news conference in the Ethiopian capital. “It is important that African countries carefully consider the terms of those agreements and not forfeit their sovereignty.”

The United States is the leading aid donor to Africa but China surpassed it as a trade partner in 2009. Beijing has pumped billions into infrastructure projects, though critics say the use of Chinese firms and labour undermines their value.

Tillerson said Chinese investments “do not bring significant job creation locally” and criticised how Beijing structures loans to African government.

If a government accepts a Chinese loan and “gets into trouble”, he said, it can “lose control of its own infrastructure or its own resources through default.” He did not give examples.

The growing Chinese lending to the continent has also attracted criticism from some Africans, who say China’s agenda is to feed its appetite for African raw materials like oil, timber and minerals, and secure contracts for its firms.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, visiting Zimbabwe on Thursday, told reporters it was inappropriate for Tillerson to criticize China’s relationship with African countries.

“It was not appropriate to criticise the relations of his hosts — when he was a guest there — with another country,” he said. Many African governments enjoy close ties with both Washington and Beijing.

Kenya, for example, inaugurated a $3.2 billion railway funded by China last year. For the last three years, Kenya has received more than $100 million annually in U.S. security assistance.

Asked about Tillerson’s criticism of China’s approach on the continent, Kenya’s foreign affairs minister Monica Juma said: “This country is engaging with partners from across the world driven by our own interests and for our own value.”

“OPAQUE CONTRACTS”

Tillerson arrived in Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous nation, on Wednesday and visited the African Union headquarters on Thursday. The complex was funded and built by China and is seen as a symbol of Beijing’s thrust for influence and access to the continent’s natural resources.

Ethiopia is home to some of Beijing’s biggest investments, from a railway to Djibouti that opened last year to factories and industrial parks.

Earlier this week, Tillerson criticised “China’s approach” to Africa which he said encouraged dependency through “opaque contracts” and “predatory loan practices”.

Ethiopia’s prime minister resigned suddenly last month and a state of emergency was imposed but protests in the restive Oromia region have continued.

The secretary of state met Hailemariam Desalegn, who resigned as prime minister but is still acting in the post awaiting a replacement. Details of their discussions were not released.

Tillerson said after meeting his Ethiopian counterpart Workneh Gebeyehu that the answer to political turmoil in Ethiopia was greater freedoms.

“It is important that the country moves on past the state of emergency as quickly as possible,” he said.

Tillerson reiterated previous calls for African states to cut ties with North Korea.

North Korea has more than a dozen embassies on the continent. The Trump administration has said that Pyongyang earns hard currency from arms deals with African government and the trafficking of wildlife parts from Africa.

Tillerson is due to fly to Djibouti, host to military bases owned by the U.S., China, Japan, France, and Italy.

He will then visit Kenya, a key U.S. ally in the fight against al Shabaab Islamist militants in Somalia, before travelling to Chad and Nigeria, which are also battling to contain Islamist insurgents.

Analysts say Trump has focused mainly on security concerns in Africa at a time when China, Turkey and other nations are ramping up diplomatic and business links.

“When you look at the set of countries that are being visited I think it kind of reinforces the perception that security, indeed, is the overwhelming focus,” said Brahima Coulibaly, the director of the Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings Institution.

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Rita Akana

08.Mar.2018

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Rita Akana

08.Mar.2018

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The Electoral Commission of Elecam has published the list of candidates and the list with the majority carries the day. The Electoral Commission of the Elections Cameroon has just published the list of retained candidates for the March 25 Senatorial election. Following the list of 42 deposited by nine political parties by nine political parties that indicated their willingness to participate in the Senatorial election, only 36 were retained and 5 were rejected.

The Social Democratic Front, the main opposition party has withdrawn its list from the Central Region. The list of the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement and her ally,UNDP of Bello Bouba Maigari had retained their list in ten regions. The Social Democratic Front of John Fru Ndi shall contest in 5 regions: Adamawa, Centre, Littoral, North West, South West and West. ANDP( The National Alliance for Democracy and Progress of Hamadou Mustapha has been retained to contest in four regions (Far North, Littoral, South and South West) The CDU ( The Cameroon Democratic Union) of Adamou Ndam Njoya is retained to present candidates in( Littoral and West) UPC( Cameroon's People's Union) The emblematic political party is contesting in two regions ( Centre and Littoral) The National Salvation Front of Isa Tchorima Bakary another ally of the CPDM is contesting in the North.

UDP and UMS that aren't represented in the senate are presenting candidates only in a single region, that is in the North West for UDP and West for UMS. MRC of Maurice Kamto sees it as a miscarriage of justice and chasing of shadows because the present sociopolitical climate does not support such masquerade taking place tagged elections.

It's the only political party represented in the National Assembly that has opted for a boycott of the elections. It should be recalled that the senatorial college had been summoned for the 25th of March, 2018. The Senatorial election in Cameroon only vies for 70 seats as the president of the Republic has the latitude to appoint 30 persons to make up the 100 senate chamber.

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Rita Akana

08.Mar.2018

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The unfortunate victim got missing after the very fierce battle that took place on the 27th of February, 2018 at Ikassa that saw the death of three restoration forces. The corpse of the gendarme was recovered on Friday, the 2nd of March,2018, not far off the locality of Mundemba, Ndian division of the South West Region.

The sub officer of the Gendarmerie was presumably killed by the restoration forces before dumping his corpse into the steam. According to media reports, there was a bloody confrontation between the restoration forces and scouts of LA Republique Du Cameroun in Ikassa. Two Gendarmes were missing since the 27th of February following an attack on the Marine by close to fifty restoration forces.

Gendarmes were therefore deplored in Mundemba. It was after this incident that these two Gendarmes got missing. Three presumed restoration forces were killed on that fateful day. 

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Rita Akana

06.Mar.2018

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The Director of CAMTEL, David Nkotto Emane has been barred from leaving the country. It's been for several months that this rumour about the restrictions placed on David Nkotto Emane had circulated like wild fire across Cameroon. The rumour was collaborated by speculations that he had been served with a restriction order by the Special Criminal Court.

This warrant of arrest has been issued to all the frontier police with instructions to effectuate the arrest, since the 2nd of March,2018. According to the announcements made over the radio, the erstwhile director , David Nkotto Emane and other senior staff have been barred from leaving the Country. Those barred from leaving the Country alongside the erstwhile Director of CAMTEL are as follows:

Richard Maga, Assistant Director of CAMTEL, 

Enow Kenneth Agbor, former Director of Finance and Budget,

Nganou Boris Judicael, program Coordinator of MCN

,Dieutoss Evariste, former Director of Human Resource Management,

Tsaam Gah Marceline, Marketing Expert,

Assouzo'o Benjamin Gerald, Chief of Service for Marketing,

Mfou'ou Jean Claude, in charge of accounts.

Appointed Director of CAMTEL in 2006, David Nkotto Emane is accused by the auditors of the Supreme State Audit and the National Anti corruption Commission between 2010 and 2015, for financial lapses in the management of public funds. For example, in a special report that was published in 2016, the Supreme state Audit mentioned the absence of transparency in the management of public funds at CAMTEL.

Why won't such misappropriation of funds be so common place when officials aren't strictly controlled or rigorously audited by an external auditing Firm? Why won't this happen when state corporations aren't run by experts aimed at generating profits as well as auto funding themselves?

Why won't such occurrence be common place when state gangsters are obliged to forfeit their illicit wealth and mansions, as s deterent to other would be state thieves?

This poor management of CAMTEL has caused enormous financial losses to this Mobile Telephone Company worth billions of francs. It's for embezzlement reasons that Judicial investigation has been formerly been lodged against him by the Special Criminal Court. 

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Rita Akana

05.Mar.2018

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Atangana Kouna stopped net from jumping out of Cameroon for fear of the unknown, mostly believed to be Kondengui central Prison for his embezzlement charges Corruption and total abuse of Finances by Ministers in Cameroon are always that giant trap that catches up with them as nemesis. If Atangana Kouna was told that someday moving out this carelessly drawn triangle, called Cameroon was going to be a near impossibility, he won't have admitted even in his wildest dream.

Today Atangana Kouna was stopped from boarding a plane destined for France. It's saddening that most African Ministers are empty headed and so callous minded, so much so that they fail to understand that they are mere servants, called to serve the state in their various ministerial portfolio.

The case of Cameroon is so pathetic and regretting because most Ministers aren't audited by an external auditing firm so as to ascertain how much was granted as the budget and how much wasn't dispensed for use as credits? Struggling to smuggle himself out using the Turkish Airlines this morning.

It's certainly as a result of the development in the residence of his friend, brother and former minister like him, Mebe Ngo'o that had been placed on super surveillance, that he thought of jumping the boat of turbulent waves and troubled waters. Atangana Kouna has now been placed in a house arrest and prohibited from receiving well wishers in his residence. The entire frontier post and Police have been firmly instructed by the head of state through the Inspector General of National Security to stop these excessively illegal enriched moguls.

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Rita Akana

05.Mar.2018

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