Politics

Cameroonian born Imbolo Mbue’s book “Behold the Dreamers”, about a Cameroonian immigrant chauffeur working for a Lehman Brothers executive during the firm’s 2008 collapse was snagged by Random House in a book deal for at least $1 million.

Imbolo Mbue burst into the limelight late last year after signing a million dollar deal with Random House for her debut manuscript.

The novel titled Behold the Dreamers follows the travails of a Cameroonian immigrant and a Lehman Brothers executive during the 2008 financial crisis. One million dollar advance? It’s a first for an African novelist. The African literary community lit up. We all lost our minds.

This is huge, we crooned. After the enormity of the news sank in, the nosy blogger in me went in search of a photograph. Who was this brand new voice taking the African literary community completely by surprise? For each of the four posts I have since written about Mbue’s novel, I have had to search high and low, googled left and right for a photograph and found nothing.

She has no profile in any of the social media platforms and stays pretty much under the radar.

But that’s all in the past because thanks to the Wall Street Journal, we can now put a face to Africa’s literary MVP. Mbue’s photograph was included in an article profiling debut novels with seven figure advances. We fell in love with her writing when we read “Emke.” 

(Wall Streeet Journal)

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Ngwa Bertrand

08.Dec.2015

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Nigerian troops have recorded another achievement in their battle against Boko Haram insurgents. Gallant troops of 28 Task Force Brigade today arrested another Boko Haram terrorist suspect, Abdullahi Abubakar Sadiq who is said to be the insurgents' Chief Cameraman and suspect number 58 on the list of 100 suspected Boko Haram terrorists wanted list. 

Sadiq was arrested at Uba town, Askira/Uba Local Government Area of Borno State.Also,the gallant soldiers arrested two other suspected terrorists at Rumirgo and Kilakasa. 
Usman described the arrest as an “unprecedented achievement” and said the suspected terrorist was arrested by vigilant troops of 28 Task Force Brigade.

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Ngwa Bertrand

05.Dec.2015

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An issue which is not going unnoticed here in Paris is that of the future of Africa’s forests which are being depleted at a scandalous rate to meet energy requirements, especially for the low income segments of the African population. The question here is how to stem the trend by considering other energy sources which will, of course be cheaper and also safe the destruction of forests, the main stabilizer of climate in the continent.

African leaders are promoting a robust initiative to turn things around with the creation of the Great Green Wall, a kind of green band to run from Dakar to Djibouti with the aim of building up a kind of physical boundary between the afforested areas south of the Sahara and the Sahel as a way of checking the rapid extension of the Sahara desert. The project is in the works, but even before it really takes off, several issues have to be thoroughly addressed least not being the need to also concentrate on the rich green belt below, especially the Cong basin, humanity’s second largest after the Amazon.

For example, of what use will the initiative be if the wall is constructed without stopping the savage destruction of the forests of the Congo basin? If such destruction is not checked, sooner rather than later the population will once again turn to the new green belt of the Great Green Wall for wood destined for energy and the vicious cycle will continue. It is therefore imperative to turn attention to this important basin by ensuring that its resources are used sustainably.

In this wise, the African initiative on renewable energies recently launched by the African Union and being spearheaded by the Egyptian President Fatta al-Sissi is laudable and provides an extraordinary window of opportunity to provide cheaper, cleaner and more accessible source of energy for African homes. The objective of the initiative is to provide 10GW of energy by 2020 and take up production to 300GW by 2030. This new system will take off the pressure from our existing forests so that they remain not only a source for economic progress but also help in the reduction of carbon emissions as is the case today.

The African initiative is starting within good augurs. In Paris, France pledged to contribute, with immediate effect, some two billion Euros of the projected 10 billion Euros the project will cost. All measures whose overall objectives are to end up preserving Africa’s forests can only be welcome. In Cameroon, for example, the forestry sector accounts for about 22 per cent GNP and with forests covering some 22 million hectares or 46 per cent of total land area, and because Cameroon is Africa’s second largest forest reserve, one can quickly understand President Paul Biya’s regular calls for greater concern from the international community, especially with the financing of projects and contributions to climate change solutions.

At the Copenhagen summit on December 17, 2009 the President summoned the attention of the international community in the following manner: “In a general manner, I think it will be equitable that in future transactions concerning financing and the transfer of technology special attention should be given to the developing countries, notably those of the Congo Basin…They make enormous sacrifices to maintain and regenerate the second world forestry reserve after the Amazon, each of them being the breadbasket of the planet thanks to their capacity to retain carbon and to produce oxygen.” The Paris summit could be a wonderful opportunity in finding solutions to Africa’s forests.

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Ngwa Bertrand

04.Dec.2015

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The former Director of Taxes and ex-Minister of Finance and the Economy, Polycarpe Abah Abah, yesterday, December 3, 2015, failed to turn up at the Yaounde-based Special Criminal Court, SCC. Explaining the reason for Abah Abah’s absence, his Counsel, Barrister Antoine Marcel Mong, said he was not well, tendering the medical certificate as evidence.

He therefore requested for a 45-day absence for his client as recommended by the doctor, without disclosing to the court what Polycarpe Abah Abah was suffering from. Ruling on the matter, the President of the team of three judges, Mr Justice Nyoh Matthias, adjourned the matter to December 28, 215, to first see if Abah Abah’s health would improve before considering any extension.

The former Director of Taxes is accused by Batock Dikanda Daniel and a former journalist, now parliamentarian, William Mandio and the State of Cameroon, of fraudulently obtaining landed property belonging to a cooperative and the State of Cameroon worth FCFA 1.8 billion. The crime was allegedly committed between 1998 and 2005 when Polycarpe Abah Abah was Director of Taxes.

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Ngwa Bertrand

04.Dec.2015

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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says Turkey downed a Russian jet over Syria because Moscow has turned the tide against foreign-sponsored militants in the Arab country. The downing of the warplane "has shown the real intention of [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan who, let's say, lost his nerve just because the Russian intervention has changed the balance on the ground,” said Assad during an interview with the Czech Television channel broadcast on Tuesday. Russia began airstrikes on Daesh positions in Syria on September 30 at the request of the Syrian government. On November 24, Turkey shot down the Russian Su-24 bomber, which it claimed had entered its airspace – an allegation Russia strongly rejects. 

The "failure" of Erdogan's "terrorist groups means his political demise," he added in the interview which was conducted in the Syrian capital Damascus. Assad also said that peace would only return to Syria when “France, the UK, the US, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and some others stop supporting terrorists.” The Syrian president stressed that the only way to defeat the Daesh Takfiri terrorists is to “cut and suffocate their supplies, their armaments and money,” which come through Turkey with the support of Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Also referring to France’s recent commencement of aerial strikes on Syria, he said they were only "to dissipate the feeling of the French" people following the November 13 Daesh attacks that claimed the lives of some 130 people in Paris.

Broaching the subject of elections in Syria, Assad said, "When there's election, the Syrian people will decide if they want me, I'll be happy to be president; if they don't want me, I'll be happy to leave it, I don't have any problem." In a November 14 statement released by senior representatives from 17 countries, the UN, EU and Arab League participating at Syria talks in Vienna, it was agreed that Syria should have a transitional government in six months and hold elections in 18 months.

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Ngwa Bertrand

02.Dec.2015

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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned that another civil war could break out in Burundi amid a surge in violence following a disputed presidential election in the African country. “Burundi stands on the brink of another armed conflict that could unravel years of painstaking work to consolidate and preserve peace and have potentially disastrous effects in an already fragile region,” Ban said in a letter to the UN Security Council (UNSC) on Monday. In the letter, Ban proposed three options to address the situation in the violence-hit country, including the dispatch of a peacekeeping force, a special political mission or a support team to UN special adviser on Burundi Jamal Benomar to push for political dialogue.

The UN chief, however, recommended the council to consider the third option, stressing that there was no need for the immediate deployment of UN peacekeepers to Burundi. Ban also urged the UNSC to “review the mandate of the United Nations presence as the situation on the ground evolves.” The letter came after the council adopted a resolution on November 12, asking Ban to provide options for boosting the UN presence in Burundi. Earlier in 2014, a UN political mission in Burundi was shut down at the request of the Burundian government. 

Hundreds of people have been killed as tens of thousands have fled Burundi since protests began in April against President Pierre Nkurunziza’s ultimately successful quest for a third term. Nkurunziza won the controversial election in July. His third term has widely been censured as unconstitutional by the country’s opposition. The opposition says the move runs counter to the constitution, which only allows two successive terms, as well as the 2,000 Arusha Agreement that paved the way for ending the civil war in the country. Burundi had already been struggling to emerge from a 12-year, ethnic-based civil war lasting from 1993 to 2005, leaving around 300,000 people killed. The country has been plagued by tension between the usually-dominant Tutsi minority and the Hutu majority since independence in 1962.

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Ngwa Bertrand

01.Dec.2015

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