Politics
The Social Democratic Front (SDF) has issued a communiqué signed by the secretary general convening its bigwigs to a special meeting in Bamenda on Saturday 27th May 2017.
The special executive meeting, that features among others mayors and parliamentarians, will be presided over by the national president of the party, John Fru Ndi.
This meeting comes at a time when the atmosphere seems rather unfriendly for the party and the whole political landscape in Cameroon.
SDF, leading opposition party in Cameroon for over two decades now, championed the boycott of National Day celebrations on 20th May.
However, the call has received bitter criticisms from the public, particularly Francophone Cameroonians. They continue to consider the move as being “very unpatriotic”, even if Fru Ndi and his party believe that it is a means of correcting the “current decaying state of our nation.”
And more disturbingly for SDF, two of its mayors defiled the call and acted like Judas Iscariot. Mayors Fideis Balick Awa of the Bamenda II Municipality and Cletus Fongu of the Bamenda III Council were reportedly spotted among other “patriotic” Cameroonians at the National Day feast.
The disturbing attitude of these mayors from SDF followed another troubling move from the vice-president of the Cameroon People’s Party (CPP). The president of CPP, Edith Kah Walla,was reportedly shocked by a media outing by her deputiy, rejecting a previous call for a boycott of the National Day.
The vice-president had issued a communiqué through the state broadcaster CRTV, dismissing the boycott as a “unilateral” decision by the president.
Even so, Kah Walla stood her ground and the boycott was steered towards her own desired direction.
This uneasiness on the political scene is coming up just a few months to the election season in Cameroon, precisely 2018.
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- Tasha Seidou
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As Cameroon's front-line opposition party the SDF observes its 27th anniversary May 26, the ruling party in the country, the CPDM controversially organized a National workshop to imbibe party values to its militants.
Critics have been quick to assume that the timing of the Training workshop is a deliberate act to spoil the already solemn atmosphere surrounding the SDF and her anniversary. Organizing an event on a day its main rival is marking 27 years has been seen as a subtle dig at the SDF for its stance on recent political happenings, considering that the SDF has never held any event on March 24 the day of the CPDM anniversary.
A central Committee member of the CPDM based in Douala who opted for anonymity however refutes the claims , reiterating that the CPDM as a party is not obstructed by any law not to carry out its activities on the birthday of its main rival. With elections around the corner, the diehard militant explains it was important for their party to start inculcating party values so as to, awaken sleeping minds within the fold.
Despite what some SDF militants in Douala call an unpleasant coincidence, reports from some key SDF chiefs indicate a solemn birthday in line with directives from party hierarchy. Militants are using the day to pray for those who have been "unjustly" imprisoned and commune with families who have lost their loved ones to trigger happy security officers.
As the National Vice Chairman, Joshua Osih says, the low key birthday is a pointer to government to begin considering concrete solutions to the plight of Anglophones which till now the party believes has been timid.
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- Rita Akana
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Barrister Agbor Balla last Wednesday 24th May, just before the fifth hearing, was spotted talking to his comrades of the law field about the importance of networking. Instead of being worried on how to get out of detention, the law giant and man of the people seemed to be very relaxed and even more energized. The 4 walls of the prison do not seem to not to perturb his zeal of impacting other comrades on the importance of networking in today’s world.
In the video that went viral on the social media, the leader emphasized that other comrades who are not directly involved with the defense team should exchange contacts with the defense attorneys. He encouraged the defense attorneys and other senior lawyers to contribute to the careers of their younger comrades by ways of references. According to Barrister Agbor Balla, a good reference will only come about as a result of output and networking amongst professionals.
Many Cameroonians have been touched by his positive attitude towards the struggle and applauded the Law Guru on his continuous and never ending concern for the career development of his other comrades.
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- Ndi Derek Giyoh
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The Government Delegate of the Kumba City Council, Victor Nkelle Ngoh, was recently chided by the new Senior Divisional Officer (SDO) for Meme, Chamberlin Ntou'ou Ndong, over the dirty nature of the city.
The SDO feared that the current piles of refuse littered around the metropolis, may trigger a cholera outbreak that may have untold consequences on the population.
Ntou'ou Ndong told the Government Delegate, other mayors, administrative officials and the entire population that they must share in the shame of living in a very dirty city under questionable hygienic conditions.
“Kumba has every resource needed for its development and beauty,” he said.
Ntou’ou Ndong swore that no one would have peace until the city of Kumba is given a facelift in terms of cleanliness.
He said during his stay in Kumba, he has visited the three subdivisions and none is clean.
He castigated the municipal authorities for failing to live up to the expectations of the people whom they are to serve.
Commenting on the administrative accounts of the city council, the SDO lamented that the level of budget realisation and investment do not represent the accounts of a city council.
Kumba City Council budgeted over FCFA 1.8 billion in 2016 but accounts submitted at the session indicate that it realised just over FCFA 800million, representing 46 percent of the budget.
Out of the FCFA 800 million, just a little over 14 percent was used for investment purposes.
In this light, the SDO noted that something is not working right at the City Council in terms of revenue collection. He decried alarming reports of revenue collectors swindling money meant for the treasury of the KCC.
As the administrator jolted those in charge of revenue collection and the municipal treasurer, the SDF grand councillors greeted his pronouncements with deafening ripples of applause.
He charged the treasurer to maintain a firm grip over revenue collectors to block leakages. Besides proffering remedial measures, the administrator expressed the wish to sanction council staff for any form of malpractice especially misappropriation of council funds.
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- Abeh Valery
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This is the fifth hearing since the arrest in January and February 2017 of the three Anglophone leaders and 25 others accused persons arrested during the anglohone crisis.
The fifth hearing of the case against Barrister Agbor Balla, Dr Fontem Neba, Mancho Bibixy and others took placed yesterday in Yaounde Military Tribunal. They are being charged with terrorism, rebellion, unlawful assembly, contempt of public officials among others. The case has been further adjourned to June 7, 2017, where probabilities show they will be granted bail.
Sources say the call for amnesty for the Anglophone leaders is as a result of local and international pressures on the government, whose image has been soiled beyond the national territory.
Sources say the President of the General Assembly of Cameroon Bar, Barrister Nico Halle has pleaded for the release of the detainees with a recent call for amnesty from the Head of State. The argument he puts forth is that an amnesty will be the best option rather than a mercy which can only be given after the judgment and which will feature in their judicial files.
Sources say the state prosecutor of the Yaounde military court is proposing a judicial supervision instead of a bail to the detained leaders.
According to the hearing of yesterday, the judge did not rule out or oppose the bail request, but said if granted bail, they will be put 'under judicial monitoring or control'.
However, the court rejected the bail request for the other 25 persons, who were arrested under the same accusations, including Mancho Bibixy.
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- Rita Akana
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Dr Felix Nkongho Agbor Balla, Dr Fontem Neba, Mancho Bibixy plus 25 other Anglophones will today be told whether they will be freed or face a death penalty for acts of terrorism, secesion, contempt against the state , propagation of false information amongst other charges. This as their trial resumes at the Military Tribunal.
It will the second time this case is heard since the merging of the Balla-Fontem-Mancho affair and that of 25 other anglophones who were whisked top Yaounde in the heart of the crisis. The defense counsel has been pleading for their clients to grant bail to the leaders and those arrested within the heart of what has today been termed Anglophone crisis, but the court had given a deaf ear.
The argument whether to grant them bail or not was at the centre of discussion last April 27 when the trial took place, it was then that judges decided to adjourn the case for May 24, 2017. Several persons have been calling on the state to release the Anglophones arrested including Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle, President of the Bar General Assembly. The detained Anglophones are accused of vandalism, hostility, terrorism, revolution, secession among others.
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- Rita Akana
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