President Paul Biya has urged members of the Higher judicial council to discharge their duty with tact, objectivity and discernment. In his opening statement at the Higher Judicial Council session for the year 2020, Biya also recognised new members of the corps.
Lawyers and other political analysts in Cameroon have expressed surprise following pronouncements by the Minister of justice and keeper of the seal who doubles as Vice President of the higher judicial council that the council meeting held today didn’t discuss about sanctions of some Magistrates.
Many have been left disappointed as the armed conflict in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions was ignored at today’s Higher Judicial Council session. Held at the unity palace in Yaounde, members of the council discussed a range of issues but remained mute over the crisis and a possible solution. Thousands have been killed since the conflict turned violent nearly four years ago.
One life was lost today in an accident on the Tiko-Douala road. The stretch of road is known to be a hotspot for accidents often caused by over speeding.
Administrative authorities in Kumba, South West region have sealed shops and businesses that failed to open their doors today. The move comes after an earlier warning, asking all residents to shun ghost towns.
Nembot Calvin will no longer be able to drive again. The bus driver’s license was withdrawn by transport Minister, Jean Ernest Ngalle today following an accident over the weekend that left over 12 dead. Other sanctions were added to the withdrawal.
Inhabitants of Bamenda have condemned the killing of a secondary school teacher last night. The body of the teacher, Pipayo Ibrahim was discovered under the bridge at Mile 4 Nkwen. A witness says bullet wounds have been discovered on the body.
Decentralisation remains on paper in Cameroon 24 years after it was constitutionalised. Cameroonians say power remains in the hands of authorities in Yaounde with little done to transfer resources and competence to councils. Today is African day of decentralisation and local development.
Arsene Kenye popularly known as Nyangono du Sud has proud himself for leading his wife to commit abortion. The declaration on a local TV in Cameroon has attracted social media criticisms with calls for Nyangono du Sud, his wife, the TV presenter and the medical doctor who carried out the illegal act to be arrested.
An Islamic court in northern Nigeria’s Kano state has sentenced a 13-year-old boy to 10 years in prison for blasphemy. The child was accused of making uncomplimentary remarks about God. In a separate case before the court, 22-year-old musician Yahaya Sharif-Aminu was sentenced to death by hanging after being found guilty of making derogatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad in a song.
At least 70 people are feared to have been killed in clashes between civilians and government forces in the northern part of South Sudan, a civil society organisation has said. “The information we are getting from the people on the ground is that the death toll has risen to 70 – [that’s] 40 civilians and 30 soldiers, and over 60 people wounded,” the director of the South Sudan Action Network on Small Arms, Geffrey Lou Duke, told the BBC in the capital, Juba.
French soldiers have joined an operation at a wildlife park in Niger in search of the gunmen who killed six French aid workers along with their local guide and driver. The French humanitarian aid group, Acted, for which the victims worked, described the killings on Sunday as a senseless and cowardly murder. Islamist militants have carried out frequent attacks in Niger as well as in neighbouring Mali, Nigeria and Burkina Faso.
The Tanzanian authorities have banned all domestic broadcasters from carrying foreign-made content without permission from the government. International broadcasters, including the BBC, can currently be seen and heard on local radio and TV. Rights groups say the Tanzanian authorities have in recent years become increasingly intolerant of criticism.
court in northern Burundi has sentenced two men and a woman to 30 years in prison for attempting to assassinate new President Evariste Ndayishimiye after they threw stones at his convoy. The prosecutor requested the court in Kayanza province to jail the three to seven years for causing insecurity for the president, but the court decided to convict them of trying to kill him and sentenced each of them to 30 years in prison, local radio station Isanganiro reported.
An Islamic court in northern Nigeria has sentenced a 22-year-old musician to death by hanging after convicting him of blaspheming Prophet Muhammad. An upper Sharia court in Kano state ruled that Yahaya Sharif-Aminu committed blasphemy in a song he circulated via WhatsApp in March. The singer, who is in detention, can appeal against the verdict.