National and International News Roundup – 19th March 2021

Samia Suluhu Hassan was sworn in as Tanzania’s new president today. The first female president of the East African country, she took the oath of office in the statehouse in Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salam.

Victims of Ngarbuh Massacre say the government is determined to deprive them of their right to justice. This follows a decision by the Yaounde Military Tribunal yesterday to hear the case of suspected killers on the 15th of April either with or without witnesses.

Hundreds of litres of illicit fuel have been confiscated in Mbanga, Moungo Division in the Littoral Region of Cameroon. Elements of the National Gendarmerie after monitoring the activities of the dealers laid ambush and confiscated the fuel. The business is said to be thriving despite its effects on the economy and the lives of people.

Fai Yengo Francis, National Coordinator of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Committee is said to have arrived in Buea in the South West Region of Cameroon following a protest by ex-separatist fighters demanding reintegration into the society. Weeks ago, the same boys blocked the streets in protest but were given some money to quench the protest.

Obagame Express 2021, an exercise where US military experts train military men from other countries in the Gulf of Guinea on how to fight against pirates has been launched in Douala today. The five days exercise, experts say, has to go on despite COVID-19 given that pirates know no rest.

Hon. Jean Michel Nintcheu, president of SDF for the Littoral Region has convened an extraordinary executive meeting for this Sunday, March 21, 2021. The agenda has not been disclosed but pundits say it might have something to do with the war of words between him and SDF first national vice president, Hon. Joshua Osih.

Cameroon’s minister of secondary education has reiterated the need for teachers to check bags of students on daily basis to ensure dangerous weapons are not smuggled into schools. Pauline Nalova Lyonga was speaking at GBHS Ekounou Yaounde today while paying a surprise visit.

Regime apologising, Messanga Nyamding has been relieved of his duty as head of the department of Integration and Cooperation for Development at the International Relations Institute, IRIC. The decision made public by higher education minister Jacques Fame Ndongo comes shortly after the politician was summoned at SED for allegedly spreading fake news.

Reports say ace gospel singer Elizabeth Teke will be making a musical come back in the weeks ahead. She will be expected to make her comeback to the music scene with an album, close to 10 years since her last release.

Residents of Tanzania’s main city of Dar es Salaam have been banned from holding any events or festivities whilst the nation mourns the late President John Magufuli, the privately owned Citizen newspaper quotes the city’s governor as saying. Abubakar Kunenge made the announcement after Samia Suluhu Hassan had been sworn in as president on Friday morning – two days after Tanzanians had been told Magufuli had died of heart complications. “President Samia Suluhu has declared 21 days of mourning and I will issue this order to you that during those days no events will be allowed in the city,” the regional commissioner is quoted as saying.

Nearly 200 people have been killed since January in “an alarming increase in attacks” by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) militia in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN says. According to the UN refugee agency, 40,000 had been forced to flee their homes during the same period in the North Kivu and Ituri provinces. The ADF has increased attacks on civilians since the army launched an offensive against it in October 2019.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Ethiopian Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has sent his congratulations to Tanzania’s newly inaugurated president, saying he hopes they can work together to tackle coronavirus. “I look forward to working with you to keep people safe from Covid-19, end the pandemic and achieve a healthier Tanzania. Together!” he tweeted. Samia Suluhu Hassan has just been sworn-in as the East African nation’s new leader – two days after the death of President John Magufuli.

At least 114 people with albinism have disappeared in Mozambique over the past seven years, the southern African country’s human rights commission says. There are 55 ongoing criminal proceedings related to the disappearances. People with the condition are often killed in East and southern Africa, their body parts used in charms which are believed to bring luck in love and fortune.

South Africa’s apartheid-era President FW de Klerk has been diagnosed with cancer, according to his foundation. It said the former president was found with “mesothelioma, which is a cancer that affects the tissue that lines the lungs”. Mr De Klerk, the last white man to lead South Africa, turned 85 on Thursday. The foundation said he would start a course of immunotherapy next week.

Foreign news: BBC