Politics

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Wednesday for urgent talks to avert civil war in Burundi as the central African country defended the actions of its security forces and rejected any idea of stationing foreign troops on its soil. Ban said he would send his special adviser Jamal Benomar to the region for talks with the Burundi government, other countries and the African Union on ways to defuse a crisis that has spurred fears of a return to full-scale ethnic conflict. "An inclusive political dialogue is needed urgently. We must do all we can to prevent mass violence and act decisively should it erupt," Ban told a news conference in New York. "What we have seen over the past few days is chilling."

In the worst clashes since a military coup was foiled in May, insurgents attacked military camps in the capital Bujumbura on Friday, and nearly 90 people were killed in the ensuing violence. U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said on Tuesday the authorities had responded to the attacks with house searches, arrests and alleged summary executions. Burundi, whose crisis pits supporters of President Pierre Nkurunziza against those opposed to his serving a third term in office, rejected the criticism of its security forces. "The security forces intervened with the greatest possible professionalism," it said in a statement late on Tuesday. "It would therefore be irrelevant to talk of bringing foreign forces into Burundi." "Those who recommend it hide many other intentions," said the statement, issued by a government spokesman. The United Nations and the African Union have started preparing for the possible deployment of international peacekeepers in case the violence worsens. Such a move would require authorization by the Security Council.

However, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, president of the U.N. Security Council for December, said on Wednesday there had been "insufficient contingency planning." "Many council members are very eager to see the pace of contingency planning by the U.N. accelerated," Power told reporters. Burundi has accused neighboring Rwanda and some Western nations of meddling in its affairs, saying they are stoking the crisis. Western powers are concerned that Burundi, which only emerged from a civil war in 2005, could plunge back into ethnic conflict, destabilizing a region that witnessed a genocide in Rwanda in 1994. Like Rwanda, Burundi has an ethnic Hutu majority and a Tutsi minority.

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Ngwa Bertrand

17.Dec.2015

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Burundi has moved closer to civil war after insurgents attacked military camps in the capital last week and authorities responded with house searches, arrests and alleged summary executions, the U.N. human rights chief said on Tuesday. Fighting in Bujumbura last week killed almost 90 people, the worst clashes since a military coup was foiled in May. It follows months of sporadic violence and assassinations, mostly in the capital, between supporters and opponents of President Pierre Nkurunziza. The crisis in Burundi alarms Western powers, who worry it may slide back into conflict after emerging from an ethnically fueled civil war 10 years ago. They fear it could destabilize a region where memories of the 1994 genocide in neighboring Rwanda are still raw.

"With this latest series of bloody events, the country seems to have taken a new step towards outright civil war and tensions are now at bursting point in Bujumbura," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said in a statement. After Friday's fighting, security forces launched "intensive house searches" in Bujumbura's Musaga and Nyakabiga districts, he said. Both areas saw protests earlier in the crisis against Nkurunziza's re-election for a third term.

During the searches, the security forces "arrested hundreds of young men, allegedly summarily executing a number of them and taking many others to unknown locations," the U.N. rights chief said in his statement. He urged "all actors in the current crisis, including political leaders and state authorities at the highest level, to take every step possible to stop this deadly escalation and engage in a meaningful and inclusive dialogue." There was no immediate response to from the government, but it regularly dismisses accusations of rights abuses. The government also says it is open to dialogue.

Opponents say the government's offer of talks has been a smokescreen because it has failed to allow discussion of core issues, such as the president's current five-year term in office. Opponents say the president violated a peace deal that ended the civil war by seeking a third term. Officials point to a ruling by the constitutional court that said he could run again

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Ngwa Bertrand

16.Dec.2015

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CERAC is the name of the Chantal Biya Foundation and Chantal Biya is Cameroon's First Lady. CERAC is celebrating this week its 20 years of existence and the association has recruited large media houses and political reinforcements to tell the world that it has honored its humanitarian commitments in 20 years of existence, in the sectors of Health, Education , support to rural women, assistance to vulnerable people and access to clean water. Pro CERAC media gurus have reported that the NGO has achieved over 90% of its development plan in 2014 alone. CERAC constantly brings together the wives of dignitaries from all countries and diplomats accredited to Cameroon. Members also include senior female cabinet ministers and members of parliament including some in the private sector.

To be a member of CERAC, it is not enough to be rich, but to have a caring heart, the spirit of sharing and giving. Above all, you have to be a wife and have some strong political contacts particularly deep within the CPDM crime syndicate. In reality, the wives of all highly placed dignitaries of the Biya regime are all members. Celebrating 20 years of its existence has not been easy recently in Yaounde due to the fact that Paul Biya, 82, including 33 years at the helm of authority is now seeing his estate on the menu of the political discourse. This has culminated to shunning of meetings and financial contributions that were regularly a CERAC private preserve.

Cameroon Concord is aware that the NGO has not received any state subsidy for the celebration. Yet its members use administrative vehicles and other means of state, to browse within the country. CERAC will of course celebrate. However,the wives of some dignitaries feel ostracized, shunned or better still banished as their husbands convicted of embezzlement in connection with the Operation Sparrow Hawk no longer feel the need to appear with Mrs Biya. Also, some women whose husbands current hold high positions in the state apparatus have opted to stay away from CERAC. Happy 20th anniversary CERAC!!!

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Ngwa Bertrand

16.Dec.2015

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US President Barack Obama's approval rating has dropped to its lowest level in a year amid growing public concerns about a possible terrorist attack in the country. A joint poll conducted by the NBC and the Wall Street Journal, released on Monday, shows Obama’s approval rating sinking to 43 percent, down two points from late October.

Forty percent of the respondents ranked national security and terrorism as top priorities following the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and California. "For most of 2015, the country's mood, and thus the presidential election, was defined by anger and the unevenness of the economic recovery," said Democratic pollster Fred Yang of Hart Research Associates, which conducted this survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies. "Now that has abruptly changed to fear."

Fifty-five percent said they are worried that the US won't go far enough to monitor terrorists. Seventy percent also said the US is headed in the wrong direction, which is the highest level since August 2014. The poll was conducted from December 6 to 9 and 1,000 adults participated in the exercise.

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Ngwa Bertrand

15.Dec.2015

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Colonel Abdourahmane Dieng from Senegal, the Executive Director of the interregional coordination Centre (CIC) for maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea, which is headquartered in Yaoundé, has been summoned by ECOWAS for consultation. The office of the Senegalese colonel is currently occupied by a Cameroonian captain, Emmanuel Isaac Bell. A financial scandal has rocked CIC involving a calamitous management of 310 million CFA francs granted by Cameroon including huge amounts that came from international donors. The situation was made public 6 months after the inauguration of CIC in September 2014 in Yaoundé.

The objective was to fight against maritime piracy, terrorism, banditry at sea. Cameroon has been accused by some countries of the Gulf of Guinea for disregarding her commitments in the operation of Centre. President Biya reportedly handed over the sum of 310 131 000 CFA francs to Edgar Mebe Ngo'o the then minister for defense for onward transmission to CIC. It a letter currently circulating in Yaounde, Minister Mebe Ngo'o via his Chief of General Affairs revealed how the amount was distributed: 254 010 000 CFA francs for operation, 14 400 000 CFA francs for premiums of international executives, 1 800 000 CFA francs for the fuel in international frameworks, 5 790 000 CFA francs for the salaries of support staff and 14 131 000 for the acquisition of data-processing equipment. This Money was never delivered to its recipients.

On the 2nd of October, Mebe Ngo 'o was transferred to the Ministry of Transport. That day, he signed another correspondence, concerning the same 310 million. This time around, it was not to the Executive Director of CIC but rather to the 'president of the operational cell of the national follow-up Committee, Rear Admiral Jean Mendoua including Colonel Dieng. A lot of tongues have been wagging on why Minister Mebe Ngo'o had to pay money to Jean Mendoua? and Why was the money not simply transferred in the CIC accounts? It is now widely believed that Minister Mebe Ngo'o, did not pay the money to Colonel Abdourahmane Dieng.

President Paul Biya ordered an inquiry into the matter and all those involved have been heard by investigators. The Senegalese colonel revealed during interrogation that money paid into CIC ended up in the pockets of Mebe Ngoó and Jean Mendoua.This case that has started generating political heat in Yaounde has also attracted concerns from the United Nations, France, the United Kingdom, the United States... and the partners of the countries of the Gulf of Guinea, in the fight against maritime piracy, terrorism and banditry at sea.

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Ngwa Bertrand

15.Dec.2015

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9 people were killed and 21 seriuosly injured in Kolofata by a twin suicide bomb attack on Friday. The explosions occurred near the lamidat of Kolofata. The prefect of the department of Mayo-Sava, Akaou Babila who confirmed the attacks hinted he visited the scene accomapnied by Brigadier General Jacob Kodji, commander of the 4th Joint Military Region (RMIA 4). The attacks were carried out by two teenagers.

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Ngwa Bertrand

14.Dec.2015

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