Politics

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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Anglophones are now more than ever before shouting from rooftops about their second-class citizenship status politely referred to as “marginalization” in a country they are indigenes. The grumbling about the problem which had over the years been abandoned to the Southern Cameroons National Council, SCNC, is getting to a crescendo with invigorated voices coming from, Anglophone lawyers, South West Chiefs, higher institution teachers of the University of Buea, North West and South West parliamentarians and senators, South West Elite Association, Christian Cardinal Tumi, just to name a few.

The chiefs in particular, have outlined the problem which in a nutshell include the neglect to provide adequate infrastructure in both North West and South West regions which do not only have the least length of tarred roads, but have had the once buoyant Limbe deep seaport abandoned while that of Kribi is developed and Douala river port draining billons in dredging. In terms of public appointments, Anglophones who by the controversial, unwritten Foumban constitutional negotiations are expected to be the second highest personality in the country, if not the first, have been dumped on the fourth position coming after the head of state, senate president and speaker of the national assembly. As if that is not enough, no Anglophone is trusted to have ever held key ministerial positions like territorial administration, finance or defence despite their impressive credentials.

In terms of bilingualism, English language which is constitutionally equal to French as official languages is also being minimized even to a point a Francophone judge had the effrontery to declare that only French should be used in courts in the North West region. But for open protest from the Cameroon Bar Association, the judge would have had his way. The all Anglophone lawyers in joining the struggle for a judicious system want the Anglo-Saxon legal system to be practised in the North West and South West while the French public law model should be effective in the Francophone territories. Both lawyers, traditional rulers and other Anglophone personalities hankering for equality have, unlike the SCNC hawks who want the “restoration of the independence of Southern Cameroons”, advocated a return of two state federation as a solution.

The lawyers gave the Biya regime an ultimatum of six months which has expired. Yet Biya and his bloated government have remained indifferent What is left to be seen is whether the lawyers will bite after that menacing barking. They said local or international litigation will be taken against the government if their ultimatum was pushed under the carpet. It will not be the first time if the Yaounde regime will face litigation over the problem. The SCNC and SCAPO are on record to have dragged the regime to the African Commission in Banjul. Ironically the regime took some four Anglophone traitors led by Theodore Leke the SCNC third in command to claim that it was in negotiation with the group. The commission was unimpressed and ruled that the Yaounde government should engage in dialogue within six months but its ruling fell on deaf ears. If the lawyers have to go to court as they vowed, they will most likely not go to the commission which ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to proclaim Southern Cameroons independent. But as the government argued in Banjul, it remains committed to the OAU resolution that African countries should maintain their boundaries as at independence.

The question then is, was West Cameroon part of La Republique du Cameroun when it had its independence on January 1, 1960? The answer of course is in the negative and that is why President Biya should be patriotic, nationalistic and prime promoter of “national unity and integration” not to continue to ignore the yearnings of Anglophone at a time even his own lackeys have joined the chorus lamenting about marginalisation .

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Ngwa Bertrand

14.Dec.2015

Hits: 2357

Anglophones are now more than ever before shouting from rooftops about their second-class citizenship status politely referred to as “marginalization” in a country they are indigenes. The grumbling about the problem which had over the years been abandoned to the Southern Cameroons National Council, SCNC, is getting to a crescendo with invigorated voices coming from, Anglophone lawyers, South West Chiefs, higher institution teachers of the University of Buea, North West and South West parliamentarians and senators, South West Elite Association, Christian Cardinal Tumi, just to name a few.

The chiefs in particular, have outlined the problem which in a nutshell include the neglect to provide adequate infrastructure in both North West and South West regions which do not only have the least length of tarred roads, but have had the once buoyant Limbe deep seaport abandoned while that of Kribi is developed and Douala river port draining billons in dredging. In terms of public appointments, Anglophones who by the controversial, unwritten Foumban constitutional negotiations are expected to be the second highest personality in the country, if not the first, have been dumped on the fourth position coming after the head of state, senate president and speaker of the national assembly. As if that is not enough, no Anglophone is trusted to have ever held key ministerial positions like territorial administration, finance or defence despite their impressive credentials.

In terms of bilingualism, English language which is constitutionally equal to French as official languages is also being minimized even to a point a Francophone judge had the effrontery to declare that only French should be used in courts in the North West region. But for open protest from the Cameroon Bar Association, the judge would have had his way. The all Anglophone lawyers in joining the struggle for a judicious system want the Anglo-Saxon legal system to be practised in the North West and South West while the French public law model should be effective in the Francophone territories. Both lawyers, traditional rulers and other Anglophone personalities hankering for equality have, unlike the SCNC hawks who want the “restoration of the independence of Southern Cameroons”, advocated a return of two state federation as a solution.

The lawyers gave the Biya regime an ultimatum of six months which has expired. Yet Biya and his bloated government have remained indifferent What is left to be seen is whether the lawyers will bite after that menacing barking. They said local or international litigation will be taken against the government if their ultimatum was pushed under the carpet. It will not be the first time if the Yaounde regime will face litigation over the problem. The SCNC and SCAPO are on record to have dragged the regime to the African Commission in Banjul. Ironically the regime took some four Anglophone traitors led by Theodore Leke the SCNC third in command to claim that it was in negotiation with the group. The commission was unimpressed and ruled that the Yaounde government should engage in dialogue within six months but its ruling fell on deaf ears. If the lawyers have to go to court as they vowed, they will most likely not go to the commission which ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to proclaim Southern Cameroons independent. But as the government argued in Banjul, it remains committed to the OAU resolution that African countries should maintain their boundaries as at independence.

The question then is, was West Cameroon part of La Republique du Cameroun when it had its independence on January 1, 1960? The answer of course is in the negative and that is why President Biya should be patriotic, nationalistic and prime promoter of “national unity and integration” not to continue to ignore the yearnings of Anglophone at a time even his own lackeys have joined the chorus lamenting about marginalisation .

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

14.Dec.2015

Hits: 1741