Cameroon has recorded 528 new coronavirus cases under 24 hours as of May 21, 2020. According to the ministry of public health, 8 deaths were recorded and 27 recovery cases registered this day. In its daily press briefing in Yaounde, the government notes that much still needs to be done in the sensitisation domain. The government plans to dispatch a COVID-19 sensitisation team to the field.
Archbishop Samuel Kleda says more than 1200 COVID-19 patients have been treated with the use of the medicine he produced. Speaking on state radio today, the Archbishop of the metropolitan diocese of Douala says despite this, he has been calling on Christians to respect COVID-19 preventive measures.
Cameroonians have taken to social media to condemn the viral image of a medic accompanying a suspected coronavirus patient to a hospital on foot. According to reports from Abong Mbang, a town in the East Region of Cameroon, the patient was accompanied on foot because the hospital does not have an ambulance. The viral image has raised questions about government’s readiness to fight coronavirus in the country. On April 28, the World Health Organisation came under fire for donating 14 luxurious vehicles to Cameroon as support to fight coronavirus
After the Lamido of Maroua in the Far North, the Lamido of Garoua in the North Region has cancelled religious prayers marking the celebration of the Muslim feast of ramadan. In a press release published on Thursday May 21st 2020, the Lamido said faithfuls in Garoua must stay away from group prayers in order to curb the spread of Coronavirus. The religious leader said faithfuls could assemble in their private homes with family members, in strict respect of the preventive measures.
Catholic Christians have been told that coronavirus disease is from the kingdom of darkness and only God can put an end to it. A call made by His Grace Jean Mbarga at “Our Lady of Victory Cathedral” in Yaounde. He urged Catholic health workers to actively join the fight against the pandemic.
A joint service was held today in Limbe with people praying against coronavirus pandemic. Christians acknowledged that human intelligence have fallen short to the dangers of COVID-19 thus the need to seek the face of God. The prayer was to mark the feast of ascension today.
Cameroon’s Ambassador to France has invited French citizens and foreigners in Cameroon, wishing to travel back to their respective countries through France to show up in Douala and Yaounde on May 25th 2020 for repatriation.
In a communiqué Thursday May 21, 2020, the Ambassador said a special flight of Air France has been authorised by the Head of state to bring this category of foreigners through France
After the Pope and US Secretary of state, Tibor Nagy, French President Emmanuel Macron has reintroduced pressure on President Paul Biya to resolve the Anglophone crisis immediately through peaceful means. In his message to President Biya within the context of the 48th National Day, Emmanuel Macron said Biya must act now. He also expressed concerns on the security situation in the Far North region
Muslim faithfuls are living the final hours of their one month period of fasting and prayers ahead of the feast of ramadan. Faithfuls are looking to the sky to see moon that will mark the end of fasting and the beginning of the feast of ramadan .
Four men taken in Bafanji village in Ngokentunjia Division the North West remain in the hands of Ambazonia boys. The men are being tortured for selling and drinking brasseries products. Most people continue to decry what they call the dictatorial actions of Amba boys that have been making life unbearable for the anglophones.
Insecurity is on the rise in Dabanga village, Mbe Sub Division in the Adamawa Region of Cameroon. Vigilante group members rescued over a hundred cows and two local guns from kidnappers. Inhabitants say despite the work of vigilante members, kidnappers continue the process of terrorising the people.
End of year examination students in Cameroon have had studies made easier. An 18-year old high school student in Bamenda has developed a platform to facilitate communication between students undergoing end of course examinations. Named “TheNetwork”, Mbah Javis says his aim is “to connect students all over the Country from different institutions so that they can easily share ideas with each other.”
Two Nigerian soldiers are to undergo counselling for mental stress after they were seen in a viral video complaining about being ill-equipped to deal with Boko Haram militants. The army says the video, in which a military vehicle is also seen on fire, was recorded after troops were ambushed by suspected Islamist insurgents while on patrol in the north-eastern state of Yobe.
The World Bank has approved $500m (£409m) in grants and low-interest loans to help countries in East Africa and the Middle East cope after swarms of locusts destroyed vast areas of crops. The worst hit countries – Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda – will receive $160m immediately. The funding is to help farmers, herders and rural households get fertiliser and seeds for new crops. It will also help people buy food for their families and for livestock. A World Bank official said in Kenya locusts were eating in one single day the same amount of food the nation consumed in two days.
Mozambique’s government has revoked a decree passed last July requiring journalists to pay hefty accreditation fees. Foreign correspondents had to pay $2,500 (£2,000) for each trip to the country and those living here had to pay $8,300 a year. Local journalists reporting for foreign outlets had to pay an annual fee of $3,500. Freelancers had to pay $500 each year. The cabinet’s decision followed a ruling by the Constitutional Council, which declared the decree unconstitutional.
Popular Tanzanian comedian and former Big Brother Africa winner Idris Sultan is being held by police for allegedly bullying President John Magufuli. According to his lawyer Bennedict Ishabakaki, Mr Sultan was detained on Tuesday and has been denied bail. The police officially questioned the comedian and reality TV star on Thursday for allegedly violating the country’s controversial Cybercrimes Act, Mr Ishabakaki said.
Dozens of people have been abducted in the north of the Democratic Republic of Congo by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group originally from Uganda. The latest attack near the border with the Central African Republic (CAR) happened on Sunday and comes just days after hundreds of people were forced to flee to South Sudan because of the raids by the LRA. The rebels attacked the village of Bili in Bas-Uele province in the middle of the day.
The Mozambican government has reopened the strategic port of Mocimboa da Praia in the oil-rich northern province of Cabo Delgado, two months after it was destroyed by Islamist militants. The closure of the port had affected the availability of food and fuel in the region. A militant group, known locally as al-Shabab, has intensified its attacks in recent weeks, temporarily seizing towns where it flew Jihadist flags.
Human rights groups have urged the Tanzanian government to end a ban on prison visits that was imposed because of coronavirus as prisoners are being denied access to lawyers. Tanzania’s Legal and Human Rights Centre, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have written to President John Magufuli urging him to ensure all detainees get proper legal representation. The ban was introduced in March over fears that an outbreak in the country’s badly overcrowded prisons would lead to infections in the wider community.
(Foreign news: BBC)
