National And International News Roundup – 1st July 2020

Business activities at Travellers quarter in Bamenda shutdown abruptly this afternoon as some individuals shot and dumped  a body on the street.  Residents say the man was battered at Nitop quarter before taken to Travellers quarter. There are conflicting reports on who is responsible for the incident though many are pointing accusing fingers on restoration fighters.

Bamenda Archdiocese has debunked social media rumours that 50 students of Catholic secondary schools in Bamenda were administered a strange medication at Azam Hotel in Bamenda. In a release, the communication officer of the diocese says Azam Hotel is an authorised centre where covid-19 positive cases are quarantined while accepting that 11 of their students who tested positive are in the center.

A total of 13,711 coronavirus cases  have been recorded in Cameroon with more than 11000 treated. Statistics given by the minister of public health in a video conference today presided by the Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute. The PM says each ministerial department should work to enforce COVID-19 preventive measures.  With over 13.000 COVID-19 cases, it remains unclear if Cameroon has reached the highest level of contamination.

Some 51 people have died of coronavirus pandemic in the North West Region as of June 30th 2020. 497 cases have been recorded. The North West Regional Delegate in charge of public health says the high number of cases is as a result of  massive tests carried out by health officials. Dr. Kingsley Che Soh calls for the respect of preventive measures.

Some meritorious military men have been promoted to higher ranks today. No crowd of relatives and friends to celebrate with the laureates in the course of the ceremonies in different towns in Cameroon as people respected physical distancing to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Infection rate of coronavirus in the Center Region is on a decrease. This has been stated by the Governor of the Center Region, Paul Naseri Bea. He visited centers treating coronavirus patients in Yaounde today. Despite what he calls good news, he reiterated calls for the respect of COVID-19 preventive measures.

Gun battles continue to dictate the turn of events in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon. The installation ceremony of the newly appointed Divisional Officer for Bafut in the Mezam Division of the North West took place amidst a tensed gun battle. Separatist fighters who declared the even unwanted, staged a stiff gun battle against Cameroonian defense and security forces to frustrate the event.

Small businesses and medium size Enterprises  involved in the transformation of food products in the South West region of Cameroon are said to have been  badly affected by the ongoing Anglophone crisis and the coronavirus pandemic. The revelation was made in Limbe, Fako Division, in an event to offer  vouchers to assist them get back to production. The vouchers  distributed by the Small and Medium sized enterprise promotion agency, an arm of the Ministry of small and Medium size enterprises.

Three elements of the National police forces have lost their lives in a ghastly road accident, in Yaounde Cameroon. The three  police officials were reportedly on patrol when their vehicle overturned, leaving them dead. The accident took place few meters away from the Brasseries du Cameroon depot in Yaounde.  The capital city of Cameroon has remained militarised since the explosion of a bomb.

Some soldiers of the Cameroonian defense and security forces  have  Wednesday July 1st 2020, seen their new ranks placed on their shoulders in a strick military tradition. 
In Bamenda-North West Region, six soldiers of the 5th military region received epaulets at a ceremony that took place at the 51command and support battalion. In Douala, four soldiers of the 2nd military legion received epaulets in a similar ceremony at the military base.

Journalists in Cameroon have condemned the jailing and sanctioning of their colleague Chantal Roger Tuile, publisher of the Tribune the L’Est newspaper. Following a court ruling of the Yaounde Court of First Instance, Chantal Roger Tuile will serve a two year  jail term after being found guilty of defamation.  Another shocking and widely criticised outcome of the legal battle, bans him from practicing journalism for life. He was accused of defamation by the Director General of the National social insurance Fund (NSIF) popularly known as CNPS.

An abominable incestuous act was caught in Douala as a boy was discovered to have forcefully taken his younger sister as his lover. The act has been said to be going on for several years without the knowledge of the other family relatives. The boy whom we got the name as Papa Mahop, forced their youngest born of a family of 8 and warned her to remain silent about the issue.

Two suitcases of human bones were seized in Fumbot in the West Region of Cameroon. The cargo was intercepted in the Noun Division by elements of the National Gendarmerie in the hands of two young men aged 26 and 30. They were taking the cargo to Foumban to sell for an estimated amount of 50 million FCFA.

A Cameroonian, Alain Nkontchou has been appointed the Chairman of the Board of Directors of ECOBANK. Nkontchou was promoted to this function at the end of the General  Assembly of the company yesterday in Lagos-Nigeria. He replaces the former Nigerian manager, Emmanuel Ikazoboh who has held the position since 2014.  He is the second Cameroonian to hold the post since Andre Siaka.

The Minister of Employment and Vocational Training, Issa Tchirouma Bakary has signed an order appointing three officials in the decentralised services of his ministerial department. The first decision appoints two new delegates at the head of the Far North and the North West Regions. The other two texts appoint new heads of training centers in the departments, general inspectors and the departmental delegates.

The government of Gabon has instructed it’s diplomatic representations in countries around the world not to issue visas to people from 27 countries within the European Union. In a circular signed by the Secretary General of the country, Gabon exempts people assigned by their government to carry out specific tasks in Gabon.

Somalia’s fishing authorities say the country has submitted a formal complaint about Iranian vessels illegally fishing in its waters. The Somali government accuses Iran-flagged vessels of the deep-sea exploitation of tuna fishing. In an interview with the BBC, Fishing Minister Abdullahi Bidhan said his government had formally submitted a complaint about a “surge of illegal Iranian fishing vessels in the Somali waters”.

The lawyer who represented Malawi’s new president Lazarus Chakwera in annulling the last election has turned down the post of justice minister, according to Malawi’s Daily Times newspaper. Mordecai Msiska was the lead lawyer in the case that annulled the presidential election in December.

Nigerian actress and director Genevieve Nnaji has been invited to be a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organisation which hands out the Oscars. This means she will be able to vote for Oscar winners – and comes months after her own film was disqualified as a submission.

At least 50 people have been killed in Ethiopia’s Oromia region during violent protests over the killing of a popular musician in the country, a local official has told the BBC. Getachew Balcha, the spokesperson for the Oromia regional state said that many others were injured in the clashes, and that there was significant destruction to property.

Zimbabwe has announced it will partially reopen its tourism industry, one of the sectors worst affected by a three-month long lockdown. Restaurants were previously only allowed to serve take-aways. They will now be allowed to serve sitting customers but at only half of their licensed capacity.

Uganda is temporarily opening part of its border to allow at least 3,000 Congolese refugees into the country. They are believed to be fleeing inter-communal violence in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Uganda hosts more than 1,000,000 refugees but closed its borders in March to control the spread of coronavirus.

South Africa’s Economic Freedom Fighters party has called for a return to the strict level-five lockdown in the country as coronavirus cases rise. The party says the only way to prevent further spread is for people to stay home and the government reinstates all lockdown restrictions that were in place before easing started.