National And International News Roundup – 18th June 2020

Barrister Tita, one of the lawyers on the defence counsel for Ayuk Tabe & Co. says he is receiving death threats from the military and state agents. Referring to one of the supposed state agents as commander John, the legal mind says “he told me that they have spies on me and that my activities defending the Anglophones tantamounts to supporting and collaborating with the secessionists.”

The trial of Mamadou Mota, Vice President of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement Party (CRM) has been adjourned to June 26th. This was at the Centre Court of appeal in Yaounde today. Defending lawyers say several irregularities were noticed in the course of the trial.

Jean Mark Bikoko, President of the workers trade union in Cameroon says under a dictatorial regime like Cameroon’s, no one is safe. He said this on Canal 2 International  while making allusion to the arrest of Ernest Obama earlier today.

Cameroon’s Ambassador to France Afred Nguini and collaborators are on a hot seat. This follows an unmasked corrupt  Cameroonian passport production  scandal in France. In a viral video, a group of Cameroonians in France stormed  the premises of a private enterprise, illegally  authorised by some top embassy officials to offer Cameroonian passports. The enterprise in question offers passports within a month for the sum of 300 euros, equivalent to 195 000frs cfa, whereas cameroonians who went through the  legal and normal embassy way have not been issued their passports two years after.

Teachers who taught pupils and students on “Focus on Exams” on the National television (CRTV) when schools were suspended as one of the measures to limit the spread of  Covid-19 say they have not yet been paid. According to reports, it was the Ministry of Basic Education that  was to pay them but the ministry says the idea of teaching came  from the Prime Minister, so he is the one to pay the teachers.

A military man is receiving medical attention in Bafoussam in the West Region of Cameroon. Reports say he was shot in Magba by his colleague who mistook him as a separatist fighter.

Corruption remains overwhelming in Cameroon’s judicial service, a worry Senator Henry Kemende questioned the minister delegate in charge of justice on today in a question and answer session at the Senate. To Jean De Dieu Momo, an inspector general in the ministry is checking that.

Former Vision 4 TV Director, Ernest Obama has regained his freedom after he was arrested earlier today. Allegedly brutalised while in detention at SED, reports say he was arrested on account of mismanagement of funds. He was earlier taken down from his position and out of the TV house and sent to the newspaper “Anecdote” from where he was working before his arrest.

A man has been killed by a stray bullet in Ntarikon, Bamenda in the North West Region. This was during a shootout between soldiers and armed separatist fighters in the area.

The Apostolic Administrator for Buea, Bishop Michael Bibi has announced resumption of classes for the Catholic University Institute of Buea (CUIB) amidst the raging dispute. Acting in his capacity of Chancellor/Pro Chancellor, the Administrator stated that the Douala campus resumes classes on June 29 and the Buea campus on June 30th.

Health Minister, Manaouda Malachie says Cameroon is polio-free. He made the announcement on his twitter handle where he expressed optimism and the belief that this is the start of greater things to come.

Cameroonians in London have carried out street protests against French President, Emmanuel Macron. The protesters also made calls for an end to French interference in Cameroon’s affairs.

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) is still prioritising a January start for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, despite ongoing uncertainty about the continent’s football because of coronavirus. Unclear when many competitions will resume across the continent, where only a handful of leagues are operating, the tournament in Cameroon is shrouded in doubt. Cameroon itself is the sixth worst-affected country in Africa with nearly 10,000 reported cases of coronavirus.

The High Court in Uganda has ruled that prisoners and citizens in the diaspora should be allowed to participate in elections. Lawyer Stephen Kalali filed the petition two years ago and the ruling was delivered on Wednesday. He argued that excluding these two groups was a violation of their fundamental rights.

The hotel industry across Africa is expected to suffer a slowdown of as much as 40%, because of the coronavirus pandemic. It is a complete change compared with the rosy picture the sector had painted in earlier forecasts for this year. At the start of this year, accommodation groups planned to build 408 hotels in Africa, with about 78,000 rooms. However that expansion has been scaled back, with just 90 new hotels now planned.

In the face of a deteriorating economic situation, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has opted to ease lockdown restrictions further even though coronavirus cases are beginning to rise rapidly. In the past week alone, the number has increased by 37%. But in a frank address to the nation, the president highlighted the need to preserve peoples’ livelihoods. As a result, he said that parts of the leisure industry will re-open soon.

A Kenyan policeman who was to appear in court over the killing of a boy in the capital Nairobi during a curfew has been taken for a mental assessment. The prosecution on Thursday said the officer Duncan Ndiema Ndiwah would appear in court on Friday instead. The officer is expected to be charged with the killing of Yassin Moyo. The boy was watching a police patrol enforcing a 7pm curfew – brought in to restrict the spread of coronavirus – from the balcony of his parents’ house when he was shot.

Mali’s opposition has ignored President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita proposal for talks and instead urged people to hold mass protests on Friday. President Keita had on Tuesday said he is prepared to hold talks with the opposition coalition as calls for his resignation grow over his handling of ethnic violence and a jihadist uprising in the north. Influential imam Mahmoud Dicko, one of the opposition leaders, is quoted by AFP news agency as telling local media that the president is ignoring the demands of the people.

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and his former rival, now the country’s vice-president, Riek Machar have ended a stalemate over the selection of governors for the country’s 10 regional states. The formula for allocation of states between the political camps has been a sticking point in the transitional unity government formed in February, with both eyeing control over the oil-rich states. On Wednesday, President Kiir and Mr Machar met at State House in the capital, Juba, and struck a deal.

Two Kenyan security guards have been charged in court after a video of President Uhuru Kenyatta and former prime minister Raila Odinga on a night tour of the capital, Nairobi, found its way onto social media. The two guards, who were employees of a security company guarding a hotel in the city centre, are accused of leaking the video obtained from the hotel surveillance cameras without authorisation. Patrick Rading Ambogo and Janet Magoma Ayonga denied the charges of illegal interception of computer data and were released on cash bail.