National And International News Roundup – 24th July 2020

Transportation within Kumbo and between the town and other parts of the North West region has once more come to a standstill. This is as a result of an increase in fighting between separatist fighters and government forces in the town. Kumbo remains one of the hotspots of violence in the ongoing war in the Anglophone regions.

A taxi driver in Douala has died following alleged police torture and brutality during arrest and detention at the 6th police district in the city. Family sources say Mitterand Tchuten was brutally beaten before being  arrested on Monday July 20th 2020 for poor parking of his taxi in a public place. Sick, he was detained at the 6th police district till the acute stage when he was taken in chains to the Nkouloun health center. His family says there, he  died from the wounds sustained.

Some civil servants  serving in Donga Mantung  Division of the North West Region have been summoned to appear before the disciplinary committee of the Ministry of public service and administrative reforms (MINFOPRA) in Yaounde.  According to a document from the ministry, they are expected to report at the disciplinary and division of the ministry. The workers concerned are mainly those serving in secondary school establishments in the Division.

The Mayor of Buea council says he inherited debts worth  1.2 billion frs from his predecessor. Speaking in Buea, Mayor David Namange  called on the business community to pay their taxes to enable the council sail out of these troubled waters.

The Buea council seeks to improve on the living conditions of some vulnerable persons and persons living with disabilities. Today, the council gave them 11 tricycles and the sum of 600,000 FCFA.

Councilors of the Bamenda II municipality have authorised the Mayor to secure land and construct a new market under the ‘Build-Operate and Transfer terms. This was at a midterm evaluation session on Wednesday. During the session, councillors of the Finance Committee also charged the Mayor to look for alternative means to raise revenue for the council whose finance largely hangs on the public investment budget, decentralised funds, subvention from the Bamenda City Council amongst others.

A man is being detained by gendarmes in Souza, Littoral Region for theft. Locals say he entered an MTN Mobile money shop and made away with cash of about FCFA 230,000 and four mobile phones. He later attempted to escape but was shot on the leg by the forces of law and order.

Minister Manaouda Malachie today revealed that there are 16,708 COVID-19 cases in the country. 14539 have been treated with 385 deaths. The Minister added that there are 1784 active cases, 409 hospitalised and 30 on oxygen.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the killing of four aid workers and a security guard in Nigeria’s north-eastern Borno state. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called on the Nigerian authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice. A photograph, published by the Islamic State’s newspaper, shows five men wearing civilian clothing sitting on the ground, blindfolded.

Some 75 government soldiers arrested in Yei, a town in South Sudan’s Central Equatoria state, are being tried by military judges in the capital Juba for alleged human rights abuses. The special tribunal comes after a recent visit by the new Chief of Defence Forces, General Johnson Juma Okot, to Yei and surrounding areas where violence between government forces and rebels have forced civilians from their homes.

Tanzania’s former President Benjamin Mkapa, who died in hospital on Thursday, is to be buried at his village home in Lupaso in the south of the country. A funeral ceremony will take place on 29 July, according to Prime Minister Kassim Majaaliwa.

A Zimbabwean journalist arrested after revealing alleged government corruption has been denied bail by a court in the capital, Harare, for fear he will “incite” others to protest. Hopewell Chin’ono was arrested on Monday on charges of inciting violence. The state accuses him of supporting calls for planned anti-government protests at the end of July, organised by small opposition party leader Jacob Ngarivumhe who also faces similar charges.

Police in South Africa say they have re-arrested “several escapees” who broke out of a prison in the Western Cape on Friday, but others remain at large. “The search party including detectives, on foot and in vehicles, has already covered much ground”, Police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa said. It’s not yet clear how many inmates escaped Malmesbury Prison but video filmed earlier on Friday appeared to show dozens running away.

The authorities in Kenya are yet to trace 13,000 people who came into contact with people who later tested positive for Covid-19, the Daily Nation newspaper reports, citing data from the health ministry. Out of the 14,168 cases recorded on Wednesday, some 10,433 people who came into contact with them are yet to be traced, it reports. The capital, Nairobi, is said to have the highest number of contacts to be traced followed by the coastal town of Mombasa.

Foreign news: BBC