Politics

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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The people of Burkina Faso voted yesterday November 29th to elect a new president and parliament after a year of political turmoil. People formed long lines at voting stations in the capital, Ouagadougou, and other major cities across the West African country on Sunday morning. The government figures show that some 5.5 million people are eligible to cast their votes to choose a new leader for the first time in almost three decades. More than a dozen candidates are standing for the presidency and opinion polls suggest that Roch Marc Christian Kabore and Zephirin Diabre are the front-runners. Hundreds of troops have been deployed across the African country to prevent any incident of violence.

The polls close at 18:00 GMT and electoral commission says provisional results must be known by today evening. If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote in the first round, a run-off vote will be held. The people are hoping to turn the page after a year of turmoil during which they ousted long-time ruler Blaise Compaore and repelled a military coup. He was forced to flee the country following mass street protests in October 2014 against his bid to change the Constitution to extend his 27-year rule. 

Citizens say it could be the most open and democratic vote in the country's history, because no incumbent is on the ballot. "I am happy to vote since there is no outgoing president and the elections bear my hopes of a better future with the president I am going to vote for," Associated Press quoted Tiama Gasse, a 50-year-old trader, who cast his vote at a primary school in Nakebzanga in Burkina Faso's north. The country was thrown into turmoil again in September when members of the elite presidential guard led a short-lived coup and toppled the transitional government. The attempt failed and the guard was disbanded by the security forces.

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Ngwa Bertrand

30.Nov.2015

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Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump has canceled a public event set for Monday where he had planned to announce endorsements from black pastors, after a group of African-American academics and clergy members urged them to reconsider, citing Trump's "racially inaccurate ... rhetoric." Trump sent out word to media outlets last week that he would hold an early afternoon news conference Monday to announce the endorsement of his campaign by "100 African American Evangelical pastors and religious leaders...after a private meeting." He did not reveal the names of the people he expected to meet. On Sunday he tweeted: "Will be meeting on Monday at Trump Tower with a large group of African American Pastors. Many I know-wonderful people! Not a press event." In an open letter published on the website of Ebony Magazine, 114 academics and church leaders warned the pastors that meeting with Trump would be a mistake. "We are concerned that your choice to meet with Mr. Trump, particularly in such a visible way, will not only de-radicalize the Black prophetic political tradition, but will also give Trump the appearance of legitimacy among those who follow your leadership and respect your position as clergy," the letter said. "Trump’s racially inaccurate, insensitive and incendiary rhetoric should give those charged with the care of the spirits and souls of Black people great pause." 

Trump's spokeswoman Hope Hicks, confirmed that the previously scheduled event had been canceled. She did not respond when asked whether the letter directly influenced Trump's decision to cancel Monday's press conference. Hicks said the change had first been made public on Saturday, when an update to the previously announced event described it as an "informal meet and greet" that was "not a press event" and "after which a number of attendees are expected endorse Mr. Trump's campaign." The change of plans comes after a week of setbacks for the billionaire real estate mogul. A Reuters/Ipsos poll on Friday showed a 12-point drop in Trump's poll numbers. He was the favorite of 31 percent of Republicans in a rolling poll in the five days ended on Nov. 27, down from a peak of 43 percent registered on Nov. 22. Trump has found himself on the defensive over his assertions that he saw thousands of Muslims in New Jersey celebrating the destruction of the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001. That claim has been disputed by public officials and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, another contender for the Republican nomination for the November 2016 election. Trump also said he supported the idea of requiring all Muslims living in the United States to register in a special database as a counter-terrorism measure. Trump ignited further controversy when he tweeted a graphic containing false claims about U.S. statistics suggesting black Americans were the overwhelming source of gun violence.

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Ngwa Bertrand

30.Nov.2015

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US President Barack Obama held a closed-door meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, urging him to de-escalate tensions with Turkey after it downed a Russian warplane. On November 24, NATO member Turkey shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer jet, claiming the aircraft had repeatedly violated its air space. One of the Russian pilots was killed by militants after parachuting from the burning jet in Syria, while the second was saved by Syrian forces. One Russian soldier lost his life during the rescue operation. Putin said the aircraft had been attacked when it was 1 kilometer inside Syria. He warned of "serious consequences" and called it a “stab in the back” administered by "the accomplices of terrorists." 

In the meeting held on the sidelines of a climate summit at Le Bourget on the outskirts of Paris, Obama called for an easing of tensions between Russia and Turkey, a White House official said. "President Obama expressed his regret for the recent loss of a Russian pilot and crew member and reiterated the United States' support for de-escalation between Russia and Turkey," the unnamed White House official said. Obama and Putin reportedly also discussed ways to find a political solution to the years-old Syrian crisis and implement a ceasefire there.

Russia has been conducting airstrikes on Daesh (ISIL) positions at the request of the Syrian government since September 30 in Syria, where foreign-backed militants have been wreaking havoc for more than four years. Obama urged Putin to focus Russia's air campaign in Syria against Daesh terrorists and not target Western-backed militants, according to the White House official.

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Ngwa Bertrand

30.Nov.2015

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