National And International News Roundup – 18th February 2021

The Foumban gateway saga maybe taking a different turn as the mayor of Foumban, Mrs Patricia Ndam Njoya has once more threatened to pull down the structure that was renovated and just inaugurated by Sultan Ibrahim Mbombo Njoya. The Sultan and the Mayor had previously clashed over the rehabilitation of the gateway which had gone to flames some months ago with the mayor arguing that it was only within the jurisdiction of the council to repair the edifice.

The Government has offered a cash appeasement of 3 million FCFA to unsettled former Separatist fighters of the Bamenda DDR camp. The ex-combatants took to the streets on 15th February in protest of what they termed as fake promises made to them by the government. They demanded for improved conditions and for necessary reintegration steps to be taken for them to fully return to the society.

The Government has empowered fishermen in the Bakassi Peninsula by offering them sophisticated material that would help them on their trade. They were also handed 60 newly constructed houses to help them speed up setting their developmental projects. This move is set to boost the fishing sector in Bakassi which is said to be dominated by Nigerians.

Ten teachers in a nursery school in Douala have reportedly tested positive to the Coronavirus. The doors of the Ecole Maternel D’Application have remained closed for several days now as no school administrator have been spotted in school ever since these teachers were confirmed infected. It is still uncertain when the school will return to it’s normal activities.

Two babies have been burnt to dead in a house in Bangaté in the West region of Cameroon. Some members of the family have been arrested as people are suspecting a criminal hand.

Cameroon has signed an agreement with Japan for the country to assist financially for the reconstruction of some structures in the embattled South West region of Cameroon. The amount for the Presidential Plan for the reconstruction of the North and South West stands at 90 billion FCFA. The government will provide 10% of the money while other partners are expected to contribute.

Some inhabitants of Ndu Sub-Division in the North West region of Cameroon have expressed wishes for Jean Fai Bongong to be taken to a more advanced hospital for proper medical attention. Though discharged from Nkambe district hospital, the man tortured by military and defence forces on the 11th February says he continues to feel pains in his chest.

A man identified as Julius is receiving medical attention following bullet wounds. He is reported to have been wounded in a crossfire between separatists and the military.

Volunteers of African Football Championship in Douala have received the sum of 100.000 f cfa each from the state as payment for a job well done in the course of the championship. Banarbas Nana; an authority in charge of volunteers in Douala says President Paul Biya increased 70% payment of the initial amount. Earlier before the payments today, volunteers were suspecting cases of embezzlement of their money.

The dismantling of the 7,500-tonne stern of the Japanese vessel that caused a huge oil spill in Mauritius in July is under way, with plans to recycle its parts. The Japanese bulk carrier ran aground on the reefs of Pointe-d’Esny on 25 July 2020 carrying nearly 4,000 tonnes of oil and causing an ecological disaster. It later broke into two and the bow was scuttled while the stern remained on the coral reefs. It is estimated that the dismantling of the wreck of the MV Wakashio will take between 25 and 30 days.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron has said Europe and the US should urgently allocate 3% to 5% of their coronavirus vaccine supplies to developing countries where vaccination campaigns have scarcely begun. In an interview with the UK-based Financial Times newspaper ahead of Friday’s video conference between G7 leaders, he said some African nations were having to buy Western vaccines at over twice the price paid by the European Union. He said that “transferring 3% to 5% of the vaccines we have in stock to Africa” would not affect domestic inoculation programmes.

Zanzibar’s Vice President Seif Sharif Hamad has been buried in his home village in Tanzania’s Pemba Island, following his death on Wednesday at the age of 77. His cause of death has not been officially announced. Mr Hamad’s death came nearly three weeks after his party, ACT Wazalendo, announced that he had Covid-19. Mourners paid their last respects in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar’s main island of Unguja before Mr Hamad’s body was flown to his final resting place.

The Ugandan military says seven soldiers have been given jail sentences by a disciplinary committee for beating up journalists outside the United Nations Human rights office on Wednesday. They were given sentences of between two to three months at a military detention facility. The trial of the four privates, a lance corporal and two captains was not open to the public. Earlier Uganda’s army chief apologised for the violence that left six reporters injured.

US investigators say they have busted a “Ghana-based criminal enterprise”, with the arrest of six of its “ringleaders” in the US on charges of laundering more than $50m (£36m). “The scams we allege in this investigation include romance scams targeting the elderly, business e-mail compromise scams, and even fraudulent Covid-19 relief loans,” the FBI’s William F. Sweeney said in a statement. Four of the accused had between them controlled more than 45 bank accounts in which more than $50m had been deposited between 2013 and 2020, the statement alleged. A vast majority of the deposits consisted of large wire transfers and cheque or cash deposits from various US-based individuals and entities, the statement added.

Foreign news: BBC