National And International News Roundup – 24th August 2020

The Cameroon Renaissance Movement President, Professor Maurice Kamto says, Cameroon’s ship is “sailing without a captain”. The opposition leader and President Biya’s main challenger in an outing on Monday said the government has failed its citizens for the past four decades, adding that, this is the defining moment for the people to take their destinies in their hands. Kamto says government’s failures could be perceived in the management of the Anglophone crisis, the coronavirus pandemic, the Boko Haram insurgency among others. He said Cameroonians should rise and eject the regime from power if it forges ahead with regional elections. He said “it should be our common duty to fight for justice….Cameroonians from within and in the diaspora, get ready,” he added.

Paul Biya today signed a decree postponing the retirement of the SDO for Nde, François Etapa by 2 years. He makes the list of the over 60 civilian administrators to have benefitted from the president’s largesse by altering their various retirement ages. He therefore continues to preside over the people of Nde and is equally still eligible for possible transfers.

Following the recent floods in the country’s economic capital Douala, Meteorological centers have predicted heavy rains to hit the economic capital again on August 24 and 26, 2020. Government authorities in the Littoral Region have urged the inhabitants to move away from flood risky zones to safer ones.

The Coalition for Dialogue and Negotiation has announced the holding of forthcoming international Conference in October 2020 to discuss the armed conflict in the two Anglophone Regions of Cameroon. The conference was initially scheduled to happen in March but was pushed forward due to the emergence of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji today paid a visit to the victims of the landslide and floods in Edea and Douala. Most of the blame for these crisis has been on the poor drainage system and town planning that has characterised major Cameroonian cities.

In connection to the Presidents gift to the heroes of the Italian 90 World cup, CRTV journalist Mikado Eboa has demanded he too be rewarded by the President. The journalist claims he was key behind the recall of old Lion Albert Roger Milla into the team, a move which turned out to be a masterstroke in Italy.

Over one thousand families have been rendered homeless at the Bojongo neighbourhood in Bonaberi Douala. The victims say an individual is claiming ownership of the land with government officials standing by him. The victims have blamed the government for allowing what they call greed of an individual to the detriment of thousands of families. Most of the victims are Anglophones fleeing insecurity in the Anglophone regions.

The population of Yoke, Muyuka in the South West region of Cameroon has expressed satisfaction to the actions of army General Eba Eba Benoit apologising for the wrongs committed by some few soldiers on the field. The army General of called on the population to stay as good citizens and collaborate with the military to stop separatist activities.

The Director of the Cameroon disarmament demobilisation and reintegration centre Bamenda Office says information of the escape, arrest and execution of over 130 ex fighters is false. GABSA Sixtus speaking to Mimi Mefo Info today says all what have been written on newspapers and published all along is false. The director fails to explain clearly how ex fighters are handled in the centre.

Part of the road linking Marché des Fleurs and airport has been blocked . This follows the gradual and persistent collapse of the road following heavy rains that have battered the city in the past days. The Governor of the Littoral Region says work will begin immediately to repair the part of the road.

The Minister of sports is asking the Minister of public health to demolish COVID-19 hosting centres set up in some three stadia in Yaounde, Douala and Limbe. The decision has been criticised by experts in administration. Firstly, it’s unthinkable that a fellow minister is giving orders to another. Secondly, Cameroonians are questioning why government spent millions of francs cfa constructing the structures just to demolish without using.

The Ugandan authorities say more than 150 inmates and a warden at a rural prison in the north of the country have tested positive for coronavirus. The recently arrested inmates were tested whilst in quarantine before being transferred to the prison in Amuru District, which borders South Sudan. The Uganda Prisons Service has asked the government to test the country’s more than 60,000 inmates and wardens.

The sinking of the stem of the Japanese bulk carrier that caused a huge oil spill off the coast of Mauritius has been completed. The operation started on Friday, but was slowed down because of rough sea conditions during the weekend. The MV Wakashio’s stem is no longer visible on the sea surface, the National Crisis Committee confirmed to the BBC.

Amnesty International says it has documented an alarming escalation in attacks and abductions in northern Nigeria, with more than 1,100 deaths since the beginning of the year. The rights group says the authorities have left rural communities at the mercy of rampaging gunmen and describes the lack of protection as “utterly shameful”.

Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin’ono, who has been charged with inciting public violence, has been denied bail for a third time. Magistrate Ngoni Nduna said the threat of anti-government demonstrations remained. “He has been advocating for the removal of government from power,” the magistrate added, according to Reuters news agency.

Footage of rats crawling freely in a ward at one of Zambia’s biggest hospitals has landed the facility’s administrators in trouble. The video captured the rats rummaging a plastic bag as a patient lay on a bed next to it at Kitwe Central Hospital in the Copperbelt region. Health Minister Chitalu Chilufya paid an impromptu visit to the hospital after the video went viral on social media. The minister ordered disciplinary action against the hospital’s managers. He said the video was embarrassing to the government and those responsible should be made to answer.

Rwanda recorded 200 coronavirus cases on Sunday – the highest number in a single day since it reported its first case in March. Most of the new cases were reported in the capital, Kigali. The country now has more than 3,000 cases of the virus, with almost 1,000 of them recorded in the last two weeks.

Foreign news: BBC