Politics
Cameroon’s new Ambassador to the United States of America had served in Israel for the past 22 years! He was ambassador for 17 years!
Henri Etoundi Essomba was appointed April 11 2016 by Presidential decree same like S. Mvondo Ayolo, Cameroon’s new Ambassador to France.
Etoundi Essomba replaces Joseph Atangana Foe while Mvondo Ayolo who was Ambassador in Gabon, takes over from Le Jeune Mbella Mbella who became Minister of External Relations in October 2015. Both appointees are diplomats by profession and from the Ewondo clan.
Etoundi Essomba was initially sent as Chargé d’Affaires in the early 1990s, to set up the chancery and pave the way for Cameroon’s first Ambassador to Israel.
In the mid-1990s, following the assassination of the then Isreali PM, Yitzhak Rabin, Essomba was summoned home. He was thereafter offered the position of Deputy Chief of Protocol from where he rose to the rank of Ambassador at the Cameroon embassy in Moshe Sharet, Tel Aviv, Isreal.
In 2007, in addition to his post of Ambassador, he became Dean of the Diplomatic Corps;the veteran of all the heads of foreign missions in that Middle East country. No Ambassador has spent that number of years in a single country, not even Israel, reports Isreal’s, Jerusalem Post.
Ambassador Etoundi Essomba inherits an embassy where allegations of corruption and embezzlement have been rife amid other complains. Other Cameroonians conversely appreciated the out-gone Ambassador to the USA, Joseph Atangana Foe who is said to have brought huge changes, and made it easier for Cameroonians have access to services at Embassy in Washington. the The worry about the embassy in France surrounds the use of Cameroon's " two official languages".
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Dictionary.com defines lies telling thus; “a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth; a falsehood, an inaccurate or false statement; something intended or serving to convey a false impression”.
Dr. George Simon says; “lying serves to give a manipulator an advantage over someone else. They want to keep you in the dark and keep you guessing. One of the best ways to do this is by deception. One subtle approach to lying is lying by omission. When someone wants to pull the wool over your eyes, they don’t have to make an obviously absurd or bogus claim. Many times, all they have to do is make sure they don’t tell the whole truth about something. It’s as simple as leaving out a very important detail or something crucial to understanding the whole picture”.
There are several forms of lying, but one approach Dr. George Simon highlights appears to describe vividly what is happening in Cameroon. He says; “Another type of subtle lying is the use of vagueness. When you confront a manipulator about an issue, they may give you an answer, but they might also be so vague about the details that you end up remaining largely in the dark. Sometimes, the disordered character can manipulate you effectively by doing just the opposite — by using specificity in a response in such a way that it may provide a limited answer to the question you’ve asked, but without providing additional detail that would better address the intent of your question”.
The over thirty-year rule of President Paul Biya has, from many perspectives been characterized by the glorification of lies telling to the point that lies telling has virtually been accepted in Cameroon as a way of life. The main thing here is that, as Jean Paul Satre put it; “In politics all means are good, provided they are efficient”.
In the early 1990s when the wind of democracy swept through Cameroon, the government found it hard to contain the thirst of the people for change. The growing unpopularity of the Head of State and his CPDM Party pushed the authorities to chosing the easy wrong against the hard right. That is how people like Prof. Augustin Kontchou Kouemegne rose to prominence, for telling vital lies that bailed the President out of complicated situations.
Prof. Kontchou’s lies were blatant, provocative and ended up being simply amusing, but no one ever found the opportunity to tell the regime a terrible foundation was being laid for the Republic and that the younger generation shall grow up with the notion that telling lies is not only normal, but acceptable. Elsewhere, fact checks would lead to the resignation of such congenital liars, but in our country, Cameroon, it rather attracts rewards at the highest level.
One striking thing is the degree to which public authorities get away with some seemingly ridiculous lies. In 1994, Cameroonians of all social strata contributed money to facilitate the participation of the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon at the FIFA World Cup jamboree, hosted by the United States of America. Contributions came in from truck pushers, market women and even students anxious to see their heroes rekindle the miraculous performance of the World Cup organized by Italy in 1990. The collections were launched because government openly expressed difficulties sponsoring the team due to the raging economic crisis at the time.
Unfortunately for those who contributed, the money never reached the Indomitable Lions, not a single Franc of that money got to the team in the United States of America. The players found it difficult to carry themmselves around to the point where some benevolent American stars even organized concerts to raise funds and assist them. As could be expected, the performance of the squad was far below average and the team went on to concede 6 goals in one encounter against Russia, handing Salenco as many as 5 of those goals, making him by the same token, one of the top scorers at the tournament. It only took the genius of play maker, Roger Albert Milla for Cameroon to at least score a goal against Russia.
While the public expected government to render accounts on the money contributed, the spokeman at the time, Prof. Kontchou reduced the whole thing into a joke. He told Cameroonians on National media that; “The money was in the air between Paris and New York” and that was it until date. Nothing has ever been said again and no one has been brought to book for mismanaging the money.
Today, Minister of Communication, Issa Tchiroma Bakary has been seen widely as having replaced Prof. Kontchou, churning out what many see as blatant lies at every standpoint. The Minister recently received a missive from the Kondengui Maximum prison from one-time Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic, Jean Marie Atangana Mebara who sought to correct what he considered outright lies and fabrications the told the public about the matter relating to the purchase of a presidential jet. The view that the Minister’s press conferences are mainly manipulative is somewhat widely shared and he is often compared to the infamous Prof. Knotchou.
As if that were not enough, members of the National Order of Medical Doctors of Cameroon have made a rare unpopular outing in support of their colleagues and their Minister in the Monique Koumateke affair. The Order corroborated a version, mostly considered as inaccurate, by the Minister of Public Health- Andre Mama Fouda, claiming Monique died at home before being ferried to the Lanquintinie hospital in Douala.
The report unfortunately came amidst press reports that members of the Order were trying to bribe late Monique’s sister who performed the operation to claim was a trained nurse, indict the mortuary attendant and admit that Monique died at home, in exchange of the sum of 50 million CFA F and a visa to any European country of her choice.
Without any surprise, the press reports alleging corruption attempts have been ignored by the authorities. Rather, the major pre-occupation remains the need to conceal the truth as much as possible from Cameroonians. A government that bribes its top ranking officials to manipulate election outcomes and confiscates all civil servants to the service of one man, cannot in any way ever lay claims to accountability, transparency and moral rectitude.
It is for this reason we hold at The Times Journal that the much heralded attainment of emergence by the year 2035 is a fallacy as long as this regime stays in place.
BY AKUROH JOHN MBAH
Senior Journalist(The Times Journal)
Communications Consultant
Cameroon||Media Production
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Boko Haram may have abducted children and young women in Cameroon for sex exploitation and suicide bombing. Internally displaced persons were also vulnerable to human trafficking by militant groups.
Yazan Imra, 18, was abducted from the Nigeria- Cameroon border town of Gambarou and taken to one of the terrorists' hideouts. For two years, Imra was sexually abused and is now a mother of a 16 month-old baby. She doesn't know the father of her child.
Since the insurgency began in the early 2000, thousands of young girls and boys have been abducted by Boko Haram militants. Many have been forcefully recruited as suicide bombers, domestic workers and many as sex slaves. "Boys serve as domestic workers and also trained on the use of guns and explosives," Imra told DW. "Girls we were sexually exploited and we also worked as cooks for the fighters," she added.
In the meeting of police chiefs in Cameroon's capital Yaounde last Friday (08.04.2016), it was revealed that thousands of women, children and men were trafficked from Cameroon, Central African Republic(CAR), Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC) and Equatorial Guinea. The head of Interpol office for central African states, Lawrence Oben Enow, confirmed that the victims were later turned into combatants, sex slaves and spies for the Islamist group.
"Women and children are either sold to rebels in the Central African Republic and Boko Haram terrorists in northern Cameroon or forced to join them," Enow said.
The United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), said in December 2015 that Boko Haram related violence across the Lake Chad Basin has led to the increased number of refugees in the region. At least 75,000 worst affected Nigerians are still hosted in Cameroon's Far North region and 82,000 internally displaced people affected by the spillover of the conflict to Cameroon since 2013. The UN's children education fund UNICEF saysmore than 1 million children in northeastern Nigeria and its neighboring countries cannot attend school due to insurgency.
Former abductees ostracized
The UN provides food, shelter and medical assistance to former abductees and refugees. However, many of those who escaped or freed from Boko Haram bases face stigma. "Sometimes we've got problems because they treat us like terrorists," Elias Yega told DW.
Hamidou Mohamat, 21, was kidnapped alongside his three brothers from the Nigerian town of Kumshe and recruited as a fighter. Mohamat escaped and handed himself to the Cameroonian military, and since then he has been held in Minawao military camp. Analysts however, say that those like Mohamat who escape captivity should not be held at a military base but rather be rehabilitated in recognized centers.
Cameroon's senior military official, Alain Mvogo, said that those who hand themselves in are held there for investigation purposes. He added that those traumatized refugees and victims were given special attention and counseling. "The global objective is to free all those who have been held in bondage by Boko Haram and bring back peace to their communities," Mvogo said.
DW
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The President of the Republic Mr Paul Biya has appointed Samuel Mvondo on Monday, April 11, 2016 , as the new Ambassador of Cameroon in France ,and another compatriot , Henry Etoundi Essomba as head of the Embassy of Cameroon in the United States of America , The appointments come in a tense political atmosphere back in Yaounde as Mr Biya is seeking ways to call for early presidential elections.
The embassy of Cameroon to France has been without an ambassador ever since the nomination of Mr Lejeune Mbella Mbella , the former ambassador as foreign minister of the Republic of Cameroon .
Before his nomination yesterday, Mr. Mvondo Ayolo, was Cameroon’s ambassador to Gabon with residence in Libreville the capital.Meanwhile former Cameroon ambassador to Israel,Etoundi Essomba Henri, took over as Cameroon's ambassador to the United States from Mr Joseph Bienvenu Charles Foe-Atangana.
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Boko Haram is seeking a ransom of nearly £40m for the release of the 219 schoolgirls that it kidnapped from the Nigerian town of Chibok two years ago, sources close to the group have told The Sunday Telegraph.
The terror sect is thought to have issued the demand during secret contacts with the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, who has said he is willing to negotiate for the girls' freedom.
The group's leader, Abubakr Shekau, had previously demanded the release of jailed comrades in exchange for the girls.
But a deal along those lines - brokered by the Red Cross - fell through after Nigerian prison officials said that commanders on a list given to them by Boko Haram were not in their custody.
Details of the new ransom request emerged ahead of the second anniversary of the girls kidnapping on the night of April 14, 2014, when they were abducted by Boko Haram gunmen posing as soldiers.
Despite their case receiving global attention because of the celebrity-backed #bringbackourgirls campaign on social media, diplomats and sources close to the negotiations say they are no closer to knowing the girls' whereabouts.
The Nigerian military has made significant gains against Boko Haram in the last 18 months, raiding a number of the sect’s camps in Nigeria's vast Sambisa forest, and freeing at least 1,000 women and children taken in other mass abductions.
Yet in none of the raids have any rescued prisoners or captured fighters been able to give any convincing accounts of meeting or seeing any of the Chibok girls.
That indicates they are still being kept well away from other captives, and that their kidnappers see them as having huge symbolic value as hostages - thanks partly the publicity given to them by the social media campaign.
"I think they are probably in clusters rather than all in one place, but probably not far from each other," said Shehu Sani, a Nigerian senator and civil rights activist involved in peace attempts with Boko Haram. "Boko Haram knows they are a prized catch."
One source close to Boko Haram said that around three months ago, Boko Haram sent a message saying it would exchange the girls for a ransom of 10bn Naira, the equivalent of around £36m.
"The ransom demand has split the government," said the source. "Some think it would be worth it just to resolve the Chibok situation, but others say it will simply allow Boko Haram to hire yet more insurgent recruits."
The same source also said that a month after the ransom demand, Boko Haram had secretly passed the government a new video tape showing 15 of the kidnapped girls.
"The girls are asked what their Christian names are and what their new Muslim names are," he said, referring to the "conversion" that Boko Haram forces Christian prisoners to undergo. "They are also asked if they have been raped or mistreated, but they say no - they look relaxed."
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All opposition activists detained by police in Yaounde last friday morning while distributing leaflets were released later the same day, according to Kah Walla , President of the Cameroon People's Party (CPP). The opposition leaders numbering 12 in total, mainly belonging to the CPP, were apprehended as they were distributing leaflets in the yaounde city center calling on Cameroonians to dress in black every Friday to demand some basic social services (water, electricity , health, education , etc.) .
After their arrest, emotions were high all over the country and in the diaspora as Cameroon went on social media channels to make public the arrests. As a result the authorities were panicked and i released all of them to avoid wave of demonstrations.
Kah Walla went on her twitter page to thank Cameroonians after her release
Kah Walla Retweeted
Thousands of you acted today & we're free! Democracy took a step forward in
#Cameroon today! We#StandUpForCameroon
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# Paul Biya and his regime
Explore the political landscape of Cameroon under the rule of Paul Biya, the longest-serving president in Africa who has been in power since 1982. Our Paul Biya and his regime section examines the policies, actions, and controversies of his government, as well as the opposition movements, civil society groups, and international actors that challenge or support his leadership. You'll also find profiles, interviews, and opinions on the key figures and events that shape the political dynamics of Cameroon.
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