National and International News Roundup: 28 October 2019

The first Monday ghost town in Buea after the death of Mayor Ekema Patrick Esunge was in force today. However, some taxis plied the streets today and some shops too opened. The businesspeople braved the odds to carry out their business activities. Some describe this as the footprints of the fight against ghost town championed by the fallen Mayor Ekema Patrick Esunge.

The Senior Divisional Officer of Fako division is to preside over an important meeting tomorrow Tuesday in Limbe. Following the death of Ekema Patrick Esunge, the SDO Engamba Emmanuel Ledoux has invited top officials of Buea council. The meeting observers say will mark the beginning of a journey of who will replace Mayor Ekema Patrick Esunge.

There have been disturbing reactions on social media following the death of Mayor Ekema Patrick Esunge. Messages, audios and videos of some Cameroonians celebrating the death of the Mayor have been circulating. They blame him for demolishing their shops in Buea. Many have criticised the negative comments on the late Mayor saying the African tradition forbids speaking ills against the dead.

The population of Mbiame, Bui division of the North West Region of Cameroon say they are suffering the continuous side effects of military/amba confrontations on a daily basis. They regret that military men while in their operations against restoration forces do not take into consideration the safety of the population.

John Disong, a quarter head at mile 1 Mbonge road Kumba is still in the custody of gendarmerie elements over a week after his arrest. He was taken for collecting money from people of his quarter to support the activities of Amba boys. On the instructions of Amba boys, the quarter head took 3000 FCFA from women and 5000 FCFA from men. Mile 1 Mbonge road is noted to be one of the bastions of restoration forces in Kumba.

There are growing concerns whether Samuel Wazizi journalist arrested in Buea in August is still alive. The journalist detained and held incommunicado since August has not been brought to court on several occasions despite a habeas corpus application filed by defence lawyers. Journalists continue to call for a public appearance of the detained journalist in court.

The Battle for the control of the container terminal at the Douala Port Authority has taken a diplomatic dimension. Switzerland has now launched an offensive after what observers qualify as a manoeuvre to eliminate Swiss Enterprise Terminal Investment limited from the race. The issue was at the centre of discussion between the Swiss ambassador to Cameroon Ueli Maurer and president Paul Biya today. Terminal investment limited was initially accorded the contract to manage the Douala port container terminal but the French through Bollore SA group protested the decision, causing the presidency of Cameroon to demand a halt in contracting proceedings with Terminal investment limited.

His Royal Majesty Sokoujou Jean of Bemendjou has called on the entire opposition in Cameroon to boycott upcoming elections and push for the revision of the electoral code and the constitution. The traditional ruler thinks it is not logical for people to complain of bad electoral code and continue to contest elections under the same code. He says tribalism in Cameroon is a concept created by politicians as it does not exist in reality.

A set of 25 supporters and sympathisers of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement Political Party have been released. They were released today according to Bibou Nissack, spokesperson of Professor Maurice Kamto. The party’s voice further state that they were arrested within the context of the peaceful protests of the party and later sentenced on the 11 March 2019. The party says it is ready to push further.

Activities have begun normally at the Dschang motor park in Menoua Division, West Region of Cameroon after a tense Monday. Porters of the Dschang motor park today embarked on a strike action that paralyzed circulation in the across the town. They were protesting against what they call low wages by drivers and poor park management.

Rev Father Antoine de Padoue has taken away his own life. The Rev Father of the Douala archdiocese committed suicide today in Gap France. He left Cameroon for Gap France in 2015 and was unwilling to return to Cameroon.

There is uncertainty within the ISIS terrorist group in Syria after the announcement of the death of their leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. US president, Trump announced that the leader was killed by US soldiers in a special operation. In a statement, Donald Trump said “US troops brought the world’s number one terrorist leader to justice “

Nigeria and several other countries in the Lake Chad region are among those suffering from the activities of the Islamic State group (IS) or its affiliates. Many are wondering what impact Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s death will have in the region where Boko Haram and the IS-affiliated group, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), have killed thousands of people and displaced millions, particularly in northern Nigeria.

Crisis talks between student leaders and management at one of Africa’s most prestigious universities have ended without a conclusion, with students vowing further demonstrations. The meeting at Uganda’s Makerere University was called following last week’s student protests against a proposed 15% hike in tuition fees that were violently suppressed.

The authorities in Rwanda have paraded four men suspected to be behind last week’s grenade attack in Kamembe, southwest of Rwanda, Radio France Internationale (RFI) reports. The four suspects were arrested last week in Rusizi District, according to a police spokesperson quoted by RFI. He added that four AK-47 rifles and four grenades were also recovered.

Fourteen hours of rainfall have wrought havoc across parts of Tunisia – with overturned cars swept away, flooded buildings, and sinkholes. It’s prompted no shortage of angry commentary about the country’s poor drainage system and infrastructure.

Rights groups Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have released two new reports warning about “the shrinking space for freedom of expression” in Tanzania. They say new laws passed since President John Magufuli came into power in 2015 have repressed reporting and restricted the work of media, non-governmental organisation, and opposition groups. (Source Foreign News: BBC Africa)

The under 17 lions of Cameroon are set to play against Tadjikistan from midnight Cameroon time and 8 pm in Brazil. The match will be the first outing of the U17 lions at the ongoing FIFA U17 world cup. The boys say they are ready to register their first victory tonight.