Electricity is fully restored in several Cameroon towns after a widespread blackout earlier today. Electricity distribution company, ENEO said the fault resulted from a major incident on the transmission network. Many took to social media to call out the distribution company, noting that the outage was bad for the country which is currently hosting the African Nations Championship, CHAN.
There has been a blackout in several quarters in the city of Douala this evening. Inhabitants say the electricity provision is epileptic throughout the day. They accuse the lone electricity company ENEO for causing damage to some electronic appliances as a result of constant outages.
Lecturers of some state universities in Cameroon have begun a five-day strike today to end this Friday. They are requesting the Ministry of Higher Education pay research allowances. It remains unclear if lecturers of the universities of Buea and Bamenda will join the strike action from tomorrow. Today, just as in the past three years, there was no school due to ghost town.
A trade union of workers for the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) says it will pull through with a planned strike action despite a meeting organised by the labour delegate. The workers say they have not been paid for several months now, leaving them and their families in misery. The CDC which is the second highest employer after the state is also one of the most hard hit by the armed conflict in the North West and South West regions.
The Bamenda City Council has called on residents along the earmarked road whose construction is to be funded by the World Bank, to begin clearing their property. The City Mayor, Paul Achieving says they were already paid reparations, and thus have no need to ask for compensation.
Geremi Njitap, Rigobert Song, Gael Enganamouït and other Cameroon football legends were present at the U-20 AFCON draw in Yaoundé today. Cameroon was drawn in group A with Uganda, Mozambique and host, Mauritania.
Coach Martin Ndtougho Mpile says the Intermediate Lions settled for a draw against Burkina Faso instead of spectacular display on the pitch. The coach of the Lions appreciated Burkina Faso while insisting that errors will be corrected before their Saturday match in Douala.
Three CHAN group stage matches played, two goals scored and non conceded. This summarises the performance of the Intermediate Lions of Cameroon. Football pundits think the attack line is weak, reason for the few number of goals scored. The coach says they will reinforce the attack line.
Residents of South Sudan’s capital, Juba, have expressed mixed feelings regarding news of a shift to a new time zone. Last week, the cabinet resolved that South Sudan will change to a new time zone by setting the clock back one hour from 1 February 2021. The country’s time zone will change from GMT +3 to GMT+2, which was its previous time zone before it separated from Sudan.
Somalia has foiled an attempt to smuggle “high calibre weapons and ammunition” into the country by local and foreign groups, the country’s information ministry has said. The ministry said the operation was successful because it has a “robust system in the supply chain of weapons and ammunition from point of procurement to post-distribution”, read a statement from the ministry. The government said investigations were ongoing to establish the origin and intended use of the weapons.
The High Court in Malawi has refused to allow former President Peter Mutharika access to his bank accounts which were frozen by the country’s anti-corruption body pending trial. Mr Mutharika’s bank accounts, as well as those of his wife, Gertrude, were frozen last August by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) which accuses him of benefiting from a $6.6m (£4.2m) cement scandal. The former president denies wrongdoing and has applied to the High Court to allow him access his accounts to, among other things, pay for his legal fees in the case.
Heavy fighting broke out at a Somali town near the Kenyan border, leaving at least 11 people dead and 14 others injured, according to eyewitnesses. The fighting in Baled-Hawo town, in the south-western region of Gedo, started late Sunday night and continued until Monday morning. Somalia’s information ministry has accused Kenya of supporting “rebels” to attack federal forces amid rising tensions between the two East Africa neighbours. Kenya has not yet responded to Somalia’s statement.
Foreign news: BBC
