National And International News Roundup – 15th May 2020

Cameroon has registered another coronavirus treatment progress. Dr Fru Richard has made public four different medicines saying they cure coronavirus and all its symptoms. The traditional herbal doctor presented his coronavirus medicines today to the press saying he is ready to receive the support of the government for massive production.

Two million reusable face masks are to be distributed to commercial motorcycle riders, traders and taxi drivers in Cameroon. The first consignment was handed to the Governor of the Centre Region today by the Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji.

Dr. Ngoula Roger, Director of Marie O Clinic in Douala shutdown yesterday by the SDO of Wouri Division says he did not receive a quarrel letter from the Minister of Public Health as the Minister and failed to reply as stated in a tweet yesterday by the Minister. Despite this, he has accepted the punishment in good faith with a Republic spirit.

Repressive measures against people not respecting coronavirus preventive measures in the Wouri Division start next Monday May 18th. That has been announced by the Senior Divisional Officer for Wouri. Benjamin Mboutou said defaulters will be arrested and charged to pay fines.

Where do most Cameroonians seek medical attention when sick? To many people, they go to government hospitals not because workers work well but because it is relatively cheap. On the reason few people seek the service of private clinic, they say service there is very expensive though they offer quality medical attention .

France wants to know more about the situation of Cameroon’s closed borders as France is due to resume flights next week. France Ambassador to Cameroon – Christophe Guilhou met with the Minister of Public Health in Yaounde today.

Six Survie Cameroon Survival Initiative (SCSI) volunteers arrested on Monday have been released. Their release was announced by SCSI President, Penda Ekoka who thanked all those directly and indirectly involved in their release. After CRM treasurer Alain Fogue was questioned yesterday at the judicial police in Yaounde he promised that the SCSI and its volunteers will continue carrying out humanitarian work as before.

The CPDM Section Youth President of the Mvina 1 in the Adamaoua region of Cameroon says his life is being threatened by some elites of the areas after he requested COVID-19 19 protective material from the Survi Cameroon Survival initiative. The CPDM official said he asked for hand sanitizers, face mask and other protective equipments to destribute to his needy population, given that the quantity recieved from President Paul Biya has been largely insufficient.

Minister Paul Tasong says the Reconstruction of the North West and South West regions of cameroon must unfold irrespective of the current security context. Condemning pupolar view that the presidential plan for the reconstruction of the North and South West regions is putting the cart before the horse, the minister said the the project is part of the process to establish lasting peace in areas.

A 46-year old man has committed suicide in Mujuka village in the Moungo Division of the littoral region of cameroon. The man reportedly died following the destruction of his farm by unknown individuals. Reports say the man travelled to his native Bafoussam only to come back and see his cocoa farm destroyed. The farm was worth millions of francs cfa

Basic Education teachers that have been giving lessons on National Television have been called upon to round off lessons as they prepare to return to classes. Basic education Minister, Laurent Serge Etoudi Ngwa says the Operation “Focus on Exam” ends tomorrow after going on for six weeks. Talking after a visit to state broadcaster, CRTV, he said ending the program will permit instructors involved to resume teaching in their respective schools on June 1st.

The case of jailed Cameroon journalist Samuel Wazizi has been adjourned to May 28th. This was after a second habeas corpus was filed at the Fako High Court in Buea yesterday. The journalist was jailed close to 290 days ago and has since been held incommunicado. The first habeas corpus was thrown out by the Court for “wrongful quotation of the law.”

The former Deputy to the Government Delegate of the Douala Council, Dieudonné Monthé has passed away. Dieudonné served as President of Union de Douala FC from 1983 to 1985 and as Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister in charge of the stabilisation plan from 1992 to 1994. He died today morning.

Over 50 billion FCFA (more than 82,000,000 US Dollars) has been set aside for decentralised local authorities in Cameroon. The decision was made public today in a decree released by Prime Minister Dion Ngute. This will see each of the 360 municipalities in the country get the sum of 100 million FCFA (167,000 US Dollars).

Locals of Bangolan in the North West Region have decried the conditions under which some notables of the village are being held. Arrested on Wednesday by the forces of law and order, they have spent two days in detention. Some sources say their arrest was due an ongoing conflict over the village’s chieftaincy position.

The UN children’s agency, Unicef, says a reduction in vaccination rates in the Democratic Republic of Congo could erase the gains made from immunisation over the past two years. Unicef said vaccinations were already declining at the beginning of this year, and that the effects of coronavirus will make it worse. Health workers lack equipment to protect themselves or the children from Covid-19, and parents are afraid to bring them to vaccination centres.

Zimbabwe’s central bank is to introduce higher bank note denominations next week as the country battles high inflation and cash shortages which have fuelled a currency black market. In a circular, the bank says the Z$10 note (worth about 40 US cents; 30 UK pence) will begin circulating on Tuesday, while a Z$20 note will be introduced in early June. The central bank also revised upwards the daily cash withdrawal limits from Z$300 to Z$1,000 a day. Until now, the highest value currency was Z$5, at a time when a loaf of bread costs more than Z$20.

Israel is set to get its first Ethiopia-born minister, with the nomination of a female MP brought there in a secret operation in the 1980s. Pnina Tamano-Shata has been chosen by incoming deputy prime minister Benny Gantz, who is forming a unity government with PM Benjamin Netanyahu. The new government is expected to be sworn in on Sunday after a delay over ministerial appointments. Israel’s Ethiopian-Jewish community often complains of discrimination.

The Liberian government has released a political activist and critic of President George Weah who was detained on Wednesday for posting an inflammatory statement on Facebook. “We don’t need free bags of rice. I say we the poor in Monrovia need AK-47s so that our leaders can take us seriously,” Menipakei Dumoe had written in the post. He is fiercely critical of the government’s proposed coronavirus feeding programme. Police handcuffed Mr Dumoe after the Facebook post was discovered, then forcibly took him to his house for a security search for possible arms but did not find any.

A Zimbabwean man has appeared in a court in the capital, Harare, for allegedly disclosing the status of a Covid-19 patient on a WhatsApp group, state-owned newspaper The Herald reports. Jimmy Mhlanga, who is a civil servant, appeared in court on Saturday but the newspaper only reported about it on Thursday. He was charged with “disclosing information relating to one’s health status, treatment or stay in health establishment.” He is out on bail.

Three opposition officials in Zimbabwe, including an MP, have been found “badly beaten and dumped along a road”, according to the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party. MP Joanna Mamombe and youth leaders Cecilia Chimbiri and Netsai Marov were reportedly arrested on Wednesday while they held a demonstration over the government’s Covid-19 response. They were protesting about people reportedly going hungry while a lockdown is in place.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has issued a warning about Libya’s ability to fight the Covid-19 pandemic after a number of recent attacks on hospitals. Tripoli Central Hospital was hit on Thursday morning, while 14 civilians were wounded in similar attacks in residential areas of the capital city. The hospital in Tripoli is one of the city’s largest – and is key to the country’s response to coronavirus.

(Foreign news: BBC)