Politics

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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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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