Politics

The dawn of a new era hovered over Cameroon’s political landscape following the creation of the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, CPDM, in Bamenda, North West Region, on March 24, 1985. After 31 years of seeing through challenges such as multiparty politics in 1990, facing no-nonsense challengers in various local and national elections and consolidating grassroots support, the CPDM party is today at the crossroads of new challenges.

The theme for this year’s 31st anniversary celebration, “Total mobilisation behind the National President, Head of State, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, His Excellency President Paul Biya, in the growth acceleration drive and the war against Boko Haram”, seems to state the first challenge which is that of standing behind its Chairman, Paul Biya, in the war he has been waging as Commander-in-Chief of Cameroon’s Armed Forces against the nebulous terrorist sect, Boko Haram.

In effect, the enemy who is working hard to hamper development efforts promised by the CPDM Chairman, is a major threat to the ruling party’s image and objectives to improve living standards. Due to a realistic and very efficient war strategy, Boko Haram has been weakened, reason why Paul Biya needs even greater popular mobilization, starting with vigilance within CPDM ranks, to deal the final blow.

Connected to this, many political observers say is the necessity for CPDM supporters to rally behind Paul Biya in his drive towards modernisation and progress which entails fast-tracking several development projects already on-course under his Greater Achievements policy. How well CPDM supporters will stand up to these challenges, as they celebrate the 31st anniversary of the party is a wide guess.

But growing enthusiasm, especially after the recent successful operation to renew grassroots executives, indicates that widespread renewed grassroots leadership is a surety for the fresh impetus needed to mobilise anew, in discipline, behind their National Chairman.

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Cameroon Tribune

24.Mar.2016

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The recent closure and rehabilitation of the Douala International airport is critically important and is a matter of deep concern to every Cameroonian. The construction work at the airport is the largest piece of maintenance ever carried out by the Biya regime and cost billions of FCFA. Recently, the Minister of Transport, Edgar Alain Mebo Ngo’o revealed that all is now set for flights to resume at the airport. Minister Alain Mebo Ngo’o noted that work will still continue throughout this year. We of this publication, after a series of visit at the site can now reveal that nothing new has been added to the airport. The operating, supervisory control and data systems are still the old ones that were there before the so called renovation. 

Our Douala Bureau had sounded an early warning even before the closed down concerning the safety of the airport. The ministry of transport ordered a rigorous testing on safety issues regarding the aviation control system. To be sure, the Douala airport authorities were asked specifically about the safety of the runways and whether there were any issues in respect of it. The Douala International airport representatives working on tribal sentiments misled the duly appointed Edgar Alain Mebo Ngo’o committee by not reporting that the airport could still operate with the main runway often used by the military.

We of Cameroon Concord contend that the current leadership at the ministry of transport has no credibility with regard to the transparency of what is going on at the Douala International airport and perhaps even with regard to the truth about what is happening in respect of the maintenance work. The current aviation system which they claim is modern is unable to ensure the required level of safety in take-off and landing. Cameroon Concord Intelligence Unit is aware that there are design and operating deficiencies and a lack of reliability in all what have been done over a one-month period. What Minister Alain Mebo Ngo’o and his gang have there now is completely inefficient to improve and it would create more confusion with the system if there were attempts at upgrading.

Another key issue in this whole Francophone Beti-Ewondo process now taking place at the Douala International airport is the absence of documentation in respect of the award of contracts in the prime minister’s office and even at the level of the Douala airport administration. Without mincing words,documents on how to run the so called new system, what was there and what was not,are still not available at the level of the Prime Minister and Head of Government including the presidency of the republic. It will interest our readers to know that returning workers who were seconded to the Yaounde Nsimalen airport have still not have any list of the alarms system. Our chief economic correspondent was heard murmuring privately that, “This would generate dangerous situations”.

There are very serious problems with the Douala International airport and they have been known to the CPDM regime since the crash of the Kenyan airlines, yet no media outlet in Cameroon had put this into the public domain. Accountability, credibility and, most of all, safety of the Douala International airport are today in the hands of the man they call Edgar Alain Mebo Ngo’o, Minister of Transport. Minister Alain Mebo Ngo’o is not accountable to us-the Cameroonian people nor even to the anglophone Prime Minister and Head of Government on what is happening in this matter. Instead (he) and his men are playing the CPDM game and he has issued a statement saying that work in the airport is being adjusted and improved.

From what our cream of reporters have seen, we have concluded that nothing has been done at the Douala International airport. All the systems have not been improve and will not be able to accommodate the huge air traffic developing in Douala. Nothing has been replaced. The use of components, material and software,adequate for real-time monitoring are still issues that the regime still have to handle. No one gave us satisfactory answers as regard technical options which have been upgraded within this one-month period of work. For instance, we wanted to know the response times for the commands and status reports, reliability of the communication system and data collection system, legibility and efficiency of the control interfaces, list of alarms, multiple windows and highlighting of important information relating to the structure. There is clear evidence of significant problems in the operating safety of the Douala International airport. Minister Alain Mebo Ngo’o has clear knowledge of the matter which he has failed to give to Prime Minister Philemon Yang.

The key points we are making to the CPDM government are these: Has a neutral government body gone to inspect the work done at the Douala airport? What was replaced during this one month period of work? How much did it cost the Cameroonian tax payer? Can the Minister of Transport vouch for the safety of the airport? With regard to the current operation and money spent, we must have an independent assessment.

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Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

24.Mar.2016

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Over 15,000 women have been registered in the one-month campaign to register 30,000 female voters before April 8, 2016 as ELECAM chases women in churches and markets. As of March 18, 2016, 15,419 women have been registered on voter registers by the elections management body, Elections Cameroon, ELECAM, within the framework of its ongoing one-month campaign to register 30,000 women voters. Launched on March 1, 2016, under the theme “March: Women’s Month, ELECAM Targets Women”, the campaign has transformed ELECAM’s teams nationwide into “fishers of women” to meet the target before the campaign ends on April 8, 2016. 

ELECAM officials justify the operation with the argument that women have demographic superiority in the country but, paradoxically, are less present on electoral rolls. The Communication Service Head of ELECAM’s Centre Regional Branch, Michèle Mekeme, said their strategy has known a fundamental shift from awareness messages over mainstream media to proximity “one-to-one” sensitisation, in a bid to bring women towards ELECAM. “We are chasing women wherever we may find them to make them register,” she said. The strategy is paying off, she said, because over 2,579 women have been registered in the Centre Region, as of yesterday, since the start of the operation. In the special deployment, churches, markets, women’s associations and neighbourhoods are priority targets.

However, the operation is marred by several socio-cultural barriers. Embarrassingly, where women are met in their numbers like in the markets, most do not own National Identity cards. More so, registering some women requires passing through their spouses for prior permission. Meanwhile, overall statistics since the start of the 2016 voter registration exercise in January reveal that ELECAM has not been doing poorly. While 16,128 new voters have been registered in the Centre Region, 136,209 voters have been registered nationwide, as of March 17, 2016.

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Cameroon Tribune

24.Mar.2016

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Jeb Bush’s endorsement of Texas Senator Ted Cruz will not “go anywhere” as the former Florida governor is “no longer taken seriously,” says a political analyst. The former presidential candidate who suspended his own campaign last month, announced endorsement for Cruz’s White House bid Wednesday. 

“Jeb Bush has lost popularity and credibility. His endorsement of Cruz isn’t really going to go anywhere because he’s no longer taken seriously as a candidate or politician,” Costantino Rozzo, a candidate for the US House of Representatives said. Cruz, for his part, said he was “very grateful” for the endorsement, calling Bush “a good man.”

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Presstv

24.Mar.2016

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Kuwaiti Members of Parliament led by Saud Nashmi A.M Alhuraiji are in Cameroon. The MPs were received on arrival at the Nsimalen airport by the Senior Vice Speaker of the National Assembly, Hon. Hilarion Etong in the company of other members of the Cameroon-Kuwait Parliamentary Group, the Secretary General of the National Assembly, Victor Yene Ossomba and the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Cameroon with residence in Abuja (Nigeria), Abdulaziz Al-Sharrah. 

After welcoming the Kuwaiti MPs with a bouquet of flower, both delegations moved to the VIP Lounge of the Nsimalen International Airport where they held a brief discussion before the convoy drove to the Hilton Hotel in down town Yaounde. Speaking to reporters in a brief interview at the airport, the leader of the Kuwaiti Parliamentary delegation, Saud Nashmi A.M Alhuraiji, said their official visit is within the framework of reinforcing friendly and cooperation ties between the Republic of Cameroon and the Republic of Kuwait. Kuwait Members of Parliament, he stated, are representative of the people of Kuwait and as such ensure that the relations between the two countries are strengthened in addition to its constitutional role of legislating and ensuring that laws are respected. “As a Member of the Kuwaiti National Assembly, I am leading a delegation of three parliamentarians with an objective to consolidate and strengthen the existing relations between our two countries”, he stated.

Asked whether the ill treatment meted on Cameroonian female emigrants to Kuwait would be discussed during their official visit, Saud Nashmi Alhuraiji who is also Chairman of the First Friendship Group Committee of the Kuwait National Assembly stated briefly that his country attaches a lot of importance and respect for human rights. He said the United Nations considers Kuwait as a nation that respects human rights particularly those of women. The five-day official visit will be marked by a series of audiences and working sessions with Cameroonian authorities.

(Cameroon Tribune)

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Elangwe Pauline

23.Mar.2016

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An umbrella organization representing Shia Muslims in Nigeria has decided not to appear before a tribunal looking into the army's December massacre in Zaria. The decision, announced during a Tuesday press conference by the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), came after Nigerian authorities did not allow IMN's legal team to meet with detained leader Sheikh Ibrahim al-Zakzaky. The legal team said it was "unethical and unprofessional" to represent a client whom it has not seen.

The Nigerian army attacked Shia Muslims attending a religious ceremony in Zaria on December 12, touching off several days of a crackdown in which hundreds of people were killed. The army accused participants in the ceremony of blocking the convoy of its chief of staff and attempting to assassinate him, a charge which they have categorically denied. Nigerian forces later raided Zakzaky’s home and arrested him after killing those protecting him. 

The cleric himself was injured in the attack and was taken into custody along with dozens of his supporters. They are being held incommunicado since then. The attacks led to the deaths of a large number of the members of the religious community, including three of Zakzaky’s sons. The Shia cleric is said to have been charged with “criminal conspiracy and inciting public disturbances.” In a Tuesday interview Zakzaky’s daughter, Suhaila, gave an eyewitness account of the army’s attack on their house.

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Presstv

23.Mar.2016

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