Private health establishments in Douala have been give 72 hours to transfer all coronavirus patients in their keeping to health establishments earmarked by government to host COVID-19 patients across the city. In a letter addressed to Directors of all private hospitals in Douala, the Senior Divisional Officer for Wouri Division Benjamin Mboutou said defaulters will have to face the law. He also said patients who refuse to be tranfered should sign and undertaking.
Members of a family have been arrested in Douala for exhuming the corpse of their father, brother and uncle who died of COVID-19. After his death at the Laquintinine hospital, he was immediately buried but family members refused medical reports tha Mr Lekunze Joseph died of COVID-19. They sneaked to the Kotto Bass cemetery in Bonaberi and dug up his grave, removed corpse and took off for Dschang in the West Region before being intercepted.
As the government of Cameroon and the World concentrate on fighting COVID-19, more lives are being lost to cholera. Official sources in Douala say 4 persons have died of a Cholera outbreak across the city. Same sources hold that 22 confirmed cases have been registered this far. The Japoma health district in the Douala III Sub Division is said to be the highest hit health district.
Administrative authorities in Wouri Division have started the implementation of repressive measures on people not respecting COVID-19 measures. People not wearing face masks will stand the risk of arrest according to Benjamin Mboutou, SDO of Wouri division.
The Governor of the Littoral Region has observed that most people in the Region wear face masks only when they see law enforcement officers. Samuel Dieudonné Ivaha Diboa says people should wear face masks in all public places for their protection. He has distributed face masks gifts from the President to SDOs in the Region.
Christians of Kingship International Ministry in Douala are pointing accusing fingers to the government of Cameroon for killing Prophet Franklin Ndifor Afanwi. They have also denied claims that the Prophet died of coronavirus. This explains their resistance against the immediate burial of the prophet last Saturday.
Cameroonians have described Dr. Chemuta Divine Banda as a real defender of human rights. The President of the national commission for the promotion of human rights and freedom died today in Yaounde after a brief illness. His last public activity was his contribution to the production of Ngarbuh massacre report that found the military guilty of manslaughter.
Militants of Le PURS political party have been mourning their Secretary General, Kelle King François who died yesterday in Douala. He was buried immediately thereby pointing at coronavirus. In a release from Serge Espoir Matomba, 1st Secretary General of the party, his militant died after a brief illness.
Volunteers of Survie Cameroon Survival Initiative have this afternoon distributed more aid to Cameroonians. They did so in Yaounde and Limbe where they gave health kits to the population. Six SCSI volunteers were arrested last week for carrying out a similar exercise and later released.
Civil administrator, Nadourou Yabana is no more. The 46 year old Divisional Officer for Ngaoui in the Adamawa Region passed away yesterday in Yaounde. Reports say he died of a cardiac arrest.
There has been a water crisis in over 20 neighbourhoods in Cameroon’s economic capital, Douala. In a communiqué, Camwater explains that the interruption of water supply is due to a scheduled power cut at the Yato production station. “Service will be gradually restored as soon as the electrical energy returns” Camwater has announced.
A teacher has been shot dead in Cameroon’s restive North West Region. Song Paulinus was killed by unknown gunmen yesterday at the entrance to his home. A source close to his family points accusing fingers at separatist fighters.
Several Cameroonians have taken to social media to express concerns over an outing made by the son of the President, Franck Biya. Usually more discrete than his father, Franck’s public appearance some say may be a sign that he is about taking over some administrative duties.
While Cameroon and the World fight COVID-19, Boko haram is intensifying its attacks in the Far North. In Mujage Village in the Far North Region of the country, two men have been assassinated by members of the terrorist group. In an attack late Sunday May 17th 2020, Boko harram milltants killed 35 -year-old Mahama Habat and Wanda Guidado 50 years old. The men of the underworld left two several properties destroyed in the area.
“La Baleine Snack Bar” at University of Douala neighbourhood of Ange Rapheal has been reduced to ashes following a ravaging fire incident Monday May 18th 2020. The fire broke out near 7 PM from a source yet to be clearly determined. “La Baleine” is located directly opposite Santa Lucia- Ange Rapheal, and it is one of the biggest snack bars in the area
Road transporters in Sangmalima in the Dja and Lobo Division of the South Region of Cameroon downed their tools Monday, May 18, 2020. The transporters plying the Sangmalima Oyem stretch say the move is to denounce financial extortion from police and gendarmerie officers on their roads. The drivers have vowed not to resume work until corrupt security officials are sanctioned.
The people of Bota Land in Limbe 2 say their traditional leader has been selling village land to unscrupulous administrators. They want him dethroned. The people in a peaceful protest today to the office of the DO of Limbe 2 indicated that the land was ceded to them by the Cameroon Development Cooperation.
Kenya’s nurses at a hospital treating Covid-19 patients have taken up Zumba workout lessons to boost morale before returning to wards. The nurses were joined by colleagues working at the infectious disease unit of the Kenyatta University Hospital in the capital, Nairobi. They danced while wearing face masks and maintaining social distance.
Reports from the oil-rich northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado say Islamist insurgents have attacked the village of Miangalewa, killing 10 people. The independent Mozambican electronic paper, CartaMoz, says the latest deadly attack took place on Saturday after the militants attacked the same village a week ago. CartaMoz cites different sources as saying that the latest attack against Miangalewa occurred early on Saturday morning. But it says that unlike the previous attack, the jihadists did not shoot in the air to indicate their arrival. This paved the way for them to surprise many villagers.
A Tanzanian opposition party, ACT, has accused the president of “broadcasting a select few statistics” to falsely claim that there’s been a big drop in the number of coronavirus patients in hospitals. President John Magufuli told an applauding church congregation on Sunday that there had been a “sharp decline”, adding, “God has answered your prayers.” That was despite a report days before by the US embassy in Tanzania saying many hospitals had been “overwhelmed”. On Monday, the ACT said in a statement it “will not simply assume that the president is right in saying we are winning the battle against coronavirus, just because he says so”.
At least 14 people have been killed after a boat capsized on the Congo river in Tanganyika province, in the east of the Democratic republic of Congo, a local official has told the BBC. Thirty-six people have been rescued and the search is going on for other survivors, the official added. Local media are reporting that the boat was overloaded and was hit by a storm.
A 95-year-old Second World War veteran from Ghana has set himself the challenge of walking two miles a day for a week to raise money for coronavirus charities. Private Joseph Hammond hopes to raise $600,000 (£500,000) for frontline workers and vulnerable veterans across Africa. Private Hammond fought with the British army in Burma, in the Gold Coast Regiment of the Royal West African Frontier Force. Now, he says, he has joined the fight in a different type of war to help health workers defeat Covid-19 on the continent. The money he raises will be used to purchase PPE for covid-19 frontline workers and vulnerable veterans in Commonwealth countries.
A pastor in Nigeria’s southern city of Calabar has been arrested for breaching lockdown rules by conducting a wedding in his church. In a video, guests can be seen fleeing as officials entered the building. The pastor, from the Apostolic Church, was arrested on Saturday by members of Cross River state’s Covid-19 taskforce who were on patrol. They got suspicious after seeing an unusual number of vehicles parked in front of the church. “We were patrolling to see the compliance level when we noticed cars parked and it had me wondering where the cars had come from,” Potrait Peterson, the leader of the patrol team told BBC Pidgin.
(Foreign news: BBC)
