National And International News Roundup – 19th January 2021

Two persons are reported to have been injured after an artisanal bomb went off at T Junction in Bamenda, North West region. The explosion comes after a number of similar instances believed to have been orchestrated by separatist fighters in the minority English speaking regions of the country.

Controversy emerges as playing CHAN matches in Limbe in the South West Region, is marked by crisis. To some human rights activists, it is a strategy by the government to minimise the crisis. To pro-regime activists, sovereignty of the state is non-negotiable and thus matches can take place anywhere in Cameroon.

Intermediate Lions of Cameroon are bracing up for their second outing at the ongoing African Nations Championship. The boys of Coach Martin Ntougho Mpile will play against Mali at the Amadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaoundé. In a pre-match press conference, the head coach said the team is ready for a second victory.

Five people presenting themselves as separatist fighters, have surrendered to authorities in Bamenda, North West Region. This was in the presence of Minister Paul Atanga Nji. He equally visited Matazem check Point where five people were killed early this month.

Minister Atanga Nji today also called on parents in the North West region to ask fighters still in the bush to drop their weapons. Those who fail to heed to the calls to get taken into Disarmament centers, he warned, will face the full wrath of the law.

Enormous material damages have been registered at the Dubai Snack bar at Ancienne Route Bonaberi Douala. The bar went up in flames last evening, with a greater part of it getting burnt down.

The Minister of Public Health Dr Malachie Manaouda has noticed problems relating to shortage of hemodialysis machines at the Yaoundé General Hospital. Dr Manaouda held a meeting with kidney patients reassuring them of better days ahead.

Agents of Douala III have demolished structures at Marché Nyalla. The agents carried out the action on the night of Monday breaking Tuesday. They are asking traders to resettle at Japoma Market. Douala III council had earlier given a 15-days period for the traders to relocate, a call they neglected.

The US has imposed visa restrictions on Tanzanian officials it says were responsible for undermining the general elections last October. The outgoing Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo, said those targeted subverted the electoral process and violated human rights. He said the intimidation and arrest of opposition candidates, widespread voting irregularities and internet disruptions meant the polls were neither free nor fair.

The Mozambican police have arrested three Nigerians, a South African and a local on suspicion of belonging to an international network of traffickers of cocaine. According to the spokesperson for the Maputo City Police Command, Leonel Muchina, the five alleged drug traffickers were detained in the in the neighbourhood of Albasine after a tip-off from members of the public. They have not yet been charged in court.

Libya’s olitical Dialogue team have adopted a mechanism to select and appoint the next executive authority that will rule the country for an interim period. It’s a deal that’s been in the making for two months, following an agreement last year to hold presidential and parliamentary elections in December. In a statement, the UN mission to Libya – which is mediating talks – said 72% of the country’s Political Dialogue team voted in favour of the proposal.

Nigeria’s minister of health has said that the country has requested 10 million Covid-19 vaccine doses from the African Union (AU) which has secured millions of doses on behalf of African countries. It’s not clear which of the Covid-19 vaccines Nigeria will get, but the authorities suggested that the country was expecting its first 100,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine by the end of January. Health Minister Osagie Ehanire told a media briefing in the capital Abuja that the 10 million vaccine doses are expected to be delivered in March.

Tanzania’s President John Magufuli has rallied farmers in the country to increase food production, predicting global food scarcity later in the year caused by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. He urged farmers to take advantage of the reduced production by the largest food-producing countries in the wake of health restrictions imposed across the world.

Foreign news: BBC