Headlines

Gambia's longtime president Yahya Jammeh says only “almighty Allah” can deprive him of victory as he seeks to overturn the results of this month's presidential election.

Opposition candidate Adama Barrow beat Jammeh in the December 1 election. Jammeh graciously conceded defeat at first, but now contends there were voter irregularities, and he has asked the Supreme Court to overturn the results of the vote.

“I will not be intimidated by any power in this world,” Jammeh said on nationwide television. “I want to make sure that justice is done. I am a man of peace but I cannot be a coward.”

Jammeh urged to concede

The U.N. Security Council, the African Union and the economic union of West Africa (ECOWAS) all have urged Jammeh to accept his defeat and turn over power to Barrow.

Jammeh, who took power in a coup in 1994 and has served as president since then, has blasted other West African leaders who urged him to step aside, saying they have no right to tell him what to do.

Hearing set for January 10

The Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing on Jammeh's appeal for January 10, nine days before he is supposed to give up power.

Following the military coup that elevated him to power, Jammeh won four subsequent elections that critics said were neither free nor fair. Human-rights experts say the president has used violence and intimidation to silence his opposition.

Tens of thousands of Gambians have either sought asylum overseas or have taken extremely dangerous sea journeys to try to reach Europe.

VOA

Details

Rita Akana

22.Dec.2016

Hits: 1040

Write comment (0 Comments)

The highest decision-making body of the Cameroon Baptist Convention, CBC, has released a statement re-acting to the on-going strike by Common Law Lawyers and teachers of Anglophone extraction in Cameroon.The statement dated December 9 but which The Cameroon Journal could only lay hold of today, reads in part “Mindful of the preamble of the constitution of the republic of Cameroon which reiterates the resolve of all Cameroonians to harness our natural resources in order to ensure the wellbeing of every citizen without discrimination, by raising living standards,proclaim our right to development as well asthe determinations to devote all our efforts to that end…Conscious of the Mission of the Cameroon Baptist Convention to glorify God by proclaiming the Gospel holistically…convinced of the core values of the Cameroon Baptist Convention which include but are not limited to love, unity, peace , reconciliation and team work…
Aware of the on-going strike by Common Law Lawyers and Teachers Trade Unions and its ramifications… taking cognizance of the issues raised by Common Law Advocates and Teachers’ Trade Unions…
Taking cognizance of the efforts made by government to engage in meaningful dialogue with the striking Common Law Advocates and Teachers and committed to fostering love, peace, unity, reconciliation and development in our beloved country;
The General Council, governing body of the Cameroon Baptist Convention, meeting at the Conference Hall of the Baptist Center, Nkwen Bamenda on Friday December 9,2016 states as follows;
.
1-Condemns the destruction of human life and all forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of human beings.
.
2-Condemns the destruction of property
.
3-Calls on all impostors and opportunists to steer clear of thepresent crisis, which some of them want to use for their personal ends.
.
4-Prays the striking teachers, common law advocates and the government to givepeace a chance by exercising restraint, humility, good faith and objectivity in the present crisis.
.
5-Further prays the parties in the present crisis pursue the ongoing dialogue urgently, meaningfully and faithfully.
.
6-Urges the said parties to make all efforts to restore and keep the peace Cameroonians cherish and to promote peace, love and unity among Cameroonians.
.
7-Undertake to pray without ceasing for the dialogue to be fruitful and for the matter to be laid to rest for God to be glorified.
.
8-Further undertakes as a church to promote peace, unity, reconciliation and love among all Cameroonians as we are all people of one family, namely God’s family ( Mathew 5:9)”
It is signed by Rev. Ncham Godwill, Executive President of the CBC and Yosimbom Mkong John, CBC Chairman.

Cameroontoday

Details

Rita Akana

21.Dec.2016

Hits: 1707

Write comment (0 Comments)

The Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, René Emmanuel Sadi, has summoned the regional governors to the nation’s capital Yaoundé. Nine out of the ten regional heads are participating in the deliberations to take place at the Yaoundé city council hall. The Center region is represented by the Secretary General at the Governor’s office following the passing into eternity of Governor Otto Wilson.

It would be the second semi-annual conference of regional governors for the year 2016 commencing today, Tuesday the 20th of December to Thursday the 22nd of December 2016. The participants will focus on the general theme “Administrative authorities, reform of the budget program and performance of public administration”. But this theme could be overshadowed by the growing upheavals in the English-speaking regions of the country.

Details

Rita Akana

20.Dec.2016

Hits: 2317

Write comment (0 Comments)

After meeting with Baba Danpullo last weekend to discuss the way forward on Lawyers strike, the leadership of Common Law Lawyers who took part in the meeting that ended by 2am, wrote the following communique.

JOINT COMMUNIQUE OF THE LEADERSHIP OF CAMEROON COMMON LAW LAWYERS’ ASSOCIATIONS

To,
The President of the Republic of Cameroon
Presidency of the Republic
Yaounde, Cameroon
Through, Alhadji Baba Danpullo

We, the Leaders of the Cameroon Common Law Lawyers’ Associations note and inform the President of the Republic of Cameroon, and the general public as follows:

i.) The failure of government to respond to our complaints against the erosion of the common law in Cameroon, which complaints began with the resolutions of the inaugural conference of the Common Law Lawyers’ Conference held on May 9, 2015 followed by the Declarations of the second conference of February 13, 2016, running through several communiques up till when the initiative for dialogue was opened between Lawyers and Teachers on the one side, and the Government, represented by the Prime Minister and Head of Government on the other side, which regrettably ended in a stalemate because the Prime Minister believes and acts over dialogue as a process for dictating to the opposing party government’s position that must be swallowed hook, line, and sinker;

ii.) The Attitude of government, through its various representatives, reveals insensitivity that feeds from a constructed culture of fear in the psyche of the governed which has in recent times witnessed a crack from the inspired, courageous, and executed disposition of Lawyers to throw off the glass ceiling of fear and assertion of their rights; 

iii.) The ice-breaking action of Lawyers and Teachers and the government’s unfortunate approach of down playing them, has led to several other groups raising their own issues leading to identification and pursuit of not just sectoral solutions but a holistic framework that assures sustainability of the solicited corrective measures. This has entailed a search back into the constitutional history that reveals the root of all the problems with which we are now confronted in the failure of a projected Two-State Federal Constitutional Foundation for the Union between “La Republiqué du Cameroun” and the United Nations-British Trust Territory of Southern Cameroons;

iv.) Socio-political issues like the irresponsibility of government to complaints of the governed, fuels the growth of the problems horizontally and vertically. This is exactly how the problems that were initially restricted to Lawyers and Teachers have been neglected to grow rapidly and understandably to attract more persons with similar grievances from the wider society, and indeed factored into the solution of the same enabling and sustaining constitutional frame work identified as a two-State Federation;

v.) While silence on the part of government to issues raised by professional groupings was bad enough, it is worse that government security forces should have been unleashed and permitted to embark on killings and maiming of unarmed civilians in Buea, Bamenda, Kumba, and elsewhere, within the Regions of North West, and South West;

vi.) We recall that CPDM Parliamentarians of the North West, and South West, Regions in an unprecedented manner took cognizance of the negative silence that had followed our complaints and which had pushed us to engage peaceful demonstration to attract a response and invited us to a dialogue session which began to opened the doors to concrete response by way of dialogue designed to resolve our issues, indeed ignited government’s action into dialogue which unfortunately was mismanaged by a talk down approached on us;

vii.) The above points reveal that there is a grave systemic problem with the constitutional framework and governance reflexes which require urgent programmed attention wherein some issues need to be dealt with immediately while others can be subjects of discussions within a sincere and transparent dialogue process spread into the medium term and the long term.

Against the foregoing background and informed by the constructive dialogue to which our North West Elite, Alhadji Baba Danpullo invited our Leadership to as a private initiative to thaw the impasse created by the failed attempt at dialogue with some government officials, we present here under the responses expected of government for a focused and productive dialogue with an eye on the time lined framework that would assure sustenance of the results there from.

Details

Peter Nsoesie

20.Dec.2016

Hits: 1345

Write comment (0 Comments)

The incident occurred on the Breitscheidplatz square, near the location of Berlin's iconic Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church along the Kurfürstendamm shopping mile.

Nine people are reported to have died as a result of the incident; however, unconfirmed reports state that there may be more fatalities to come. Up tp 50 people have been reported as injured, according to the daily newspaper "Berliner Morgenpost."  

The police are treating the event as an apparent terror attack. The driver of the truck is believed to have fled the scene; however, no arrests have been made so far.

Several stands at the Christmas market were also destroyed when the truck ploughed into the crowd. The police have cordoned off the area and launched a major investigation.

DW

 

 

Details

Rita Akana

19.Dec.2016

Hits: 1070

Write comment (0 Comments)

The Russian foreign ministry confirmed the death of envoy Andrei Karlov, calling it a "terrorist act". Relations between Moscow and Ankara have long been strained over the conflict in Syria, with the two support opposing sides in the war.

Russia is an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and its air strikes helped Syrian forces end rebel resistance last week in the northern city of Aleppo. Turkey, which seeks Assad's ouster, has been repairing ties with Moscow after shooting down a Russian warplane over Syria last year.  

The Ankara mayor said on Twitter the gunman as a 22-year-old police officer. Two security sources told Reuters he was not on duty at the time.

The attacker was smartly dressed in black suit and tie and stood, alone, behind the ambassador as he made a speech at the art exhibition, a person at the scene told Reuters.

"He took out his gun and shot the ambassador from behind. We saw him lying on the floor and then we ran out," said the witness, who asked not to be identified. People took refuge in adjoining rooms as the shooting continued.

A video showed the attacker shouting: "Don't forget Aleppo, don't forget Syria!" and "Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest) as screams rang out. He paced about and shouted as he held the gun in one hand and waved the other in the air.

A Reuters cameraman at the scene said gunfire rang out for some time after the attack. Turkey's Anadolu news agency said the gunman had been "neutralized", apparently killed.

Reuters

 

Details

Rita Akana

19.Dec.2016

Hits: 1297

Write comment (0 Comments)