The Minister of Public Health, Dr Manaouda Malachie has expressed deep concern over the recent increase in COVID-19 related deaths in Cameroon. According to the minister, the country is now experiencing 35 deaths per week from COVID-19. He blames this on the uncivil nature of Cameroonians which he says have to be addressed.
Inhabitants of Bafut Sub-Division in the North West Region who are taking refuge in Bamenda and other towns in Cameroon, remain sceptical about returning to Bafut following cases of continuous insecurity. Speaking today in Bafut, the Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji applauded the bravery of the military by renovating the office of the Divisional Officer. The Minister was in Bafut to inaugurate the newly constructed building housing the Divisional office which was burnt down completely by Separatist fighters some time ago, as they employed scare tactics to chase away civil servants from the area.
“It’s only the State that has absolute legitimacy over violence,“ is a statement made by Paul Atanga Nji, Minister of Territorial Administration today in Bamenda while making yet another call for separatists to lay down arms and surrender to the state. He added that if the fighters are afraid to go to the administration, they can go through traditional and religious activities.
The Mount Cameroon Annual Race of Hope has been scheduled to take place this year on the 27th of February. The usual sting and euphoria that often characterizes this iconic sporting event that has attracted many tourists over the years, has lately been very absent in the most recent editions. The major reason for this is the increased insecurity levels due to the ongoing Anglophone crisis in the region.
Refugees from Central African Republic and Mali living in Douala have been trained in different agricultural sectors as a means of encouraging self-empowerment. According to a non-governmental organisation coordinating the seminar in Douala, training the refugees makes them self-reliant thereby reducing dependency.
Poultry farmers in the West Region of Cameroon have been drilled on how to guard against bird flu. According to Dr Louis Mbaku, Divisional Delegate of Livestock and Fisheries for MINFI, the flu is already in Nigeria and thus the need to take precaution.
Members of the Firefighters Brigade in Maroua have rescued at least 2 persons during a road accident around the Pitoare neighbourhood. These elements reportedly arrived at the accident scene and took a 34-years old man who had been heavily involved in the accident to the Maroua Regional Hospital where he is receiving appropriate medical care. The accident happened as two bike riders met in a head-on collision, causing one of them to have severe head wounds.
Five commercial motorcycles, gas bottles and several electronic gadgets have been confiscated from bandits in Nkongsamba, Moungo Division. Locals have appreciated elements of the gendarmerie for dismantling the network of bandits.
The opposition in Niger says the vote count following the second round of the presidential election on Sunday was being rigged. It has demanded “the immediate suspension of the publication of results”, which are not yet known. In the run-off election, the governing party’s Mohamed Bazoum was being challenged by a former President, Mahamane Ousmane. Outgoing President Mahamadou Issoufou is stepping down after two five-year terms.
Frontline heath workers will be the first people in Mozambique to be vaccinated against coronvirus once national supplies arrive at the end of this week, the health ministry says. Benigna Matsinhe, Mozambique’s Deputy National Director of Public Health, made the announcement at a press conference on Monday, but did not say how many were being delivered. Dr Matsinhe said the consignment was coming from China and there was a long queue of nations all seeking the same supplies.
Senegal is offering The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau 10,000 vaccines each “as a form of African solidarity” with its smaller neighbours, President Macky Sall has said. Senegal recently purchased its first 200,000 doses from Sinopharm and national rollout began on Tuesday. In The Gambia, more than 4,500 people are known to have contracted coronavirus since the outbreak began.
The UN says about 7,000 people have fled rapidly escalating violence in western Ethiopia, seeking refuge in neighbouring Sudan. Different ethnic groups have been fighting over land and resources in the region of Benishangul-Gumuz. More than 100 civilians were killed in a massacre in the area in December. The violence is not related to the conflict in the northern region of Tigray.
A Hutu rebel group, known as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), has denied any role in Monday’s killing of Italy’s ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Luca Attanasio, 43, died in hospital after the United Nations convoy he was travelling in came under fire near the eastern town of Goma. An Italian military police officer travelling with the envoy and a Congolese driver were also killed. DR Congo’s interior ministry accused the FDLR rebel group of being behind the attack. But the group’s spokesman has denied the accusation.
Foreign news: BBC
