National And International News Roundup – 2nd February 2021

Custodians of tradition in Fako Division, South West Region, have pledged total support to the Intermediate Lions of Cameroon as they take on Morocco in their first ever semi-final match in the history of African Nations Championship. The chiefs visited the Lions today in Limbe with traditional blessings.

Some Cameroonians have have been expressing fears that Morocco might possibly defeat Cameroon in the quarter final match billed for tomorrow. To them, the Cameroon attack line is weak going with past matches in the championship. On the other hand, others are optimistic Cameroon will be victorious.

Ambazonia boys continue to threaten to disrupt the match between Cameroon and Morocco. To stop that, the governor of the South West Region convened a security meeting today in Limbe. To Bernard Okalia Bilai, all has been put in place to maintain maximum security. Security forces have been deployed at all angles in Limbe.

Malians living in Douala have been mobilising for total support of Mali as they take on Guinea in a semi-final match tomorrow at Japoma Stadium in Douala. Guineans are also in total preparations to push their team to victory by supporting whole-heartedly.

The Director of the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration Centre in Bamenda says a total of 32 ex-fighters have been empowered financially and established in the society. Gabsa Sixtus was speaking today in a press conference in Bamenda. He equally dismissed rumours that the ex-fighters in the centre were planning to go on strike against the government’s unfulfilled promises.

Seven business structures were burnt at Carrefour Market; Nkie quarter in Yaoundélast night. Victims say poor electrical connection has reduced their lifetime investments to nothing.

A popular leisure spot in Douala caught fire earlier this evening. The cause of the fire remains unknown. The incident happens just days after another popular drinking spot in the city went up in flames.

The National Commission for Human Rights and Freedoms, NCHRF has urged the Cameroon government to cater for all victims of the car accident in Dschang, that has left 55 people dead. The call comes after President Paul Biya called on the Minister of Transport to ensure victims are well-catered for, and their bills paid.

Some media practitioners are being drilled on reporting aspects of nutrition. The four-day training session hosted in Yaoundé by the J&A Oben Foundation started today. The session held in partnership with Unicef, comes as one of other measures to fight against malnutrition and its related illnesses in Cameroon.

Guinea should investigate how four opposition members died in pre-trial detention, Amnesty International says. They were arrested in connection with protests last year against a referendum on a new constitution that allowed President Alpha Condé to stand again in elections, which he went on to won. Those who died in the main prison in the capital, Conakry, include two members of the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG), the main opposition party whose leader Cellou Dalein Diallo came second in last October’s election.

Three opposition parties in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region estimate that more than 50,000 civilians have been killed in the conflict. No official death toll has emerged since the fighting began in early November when Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched a ground and air offensive to oust the region’s ruling TPLF party. This happened after TPLF troops captured federal military bases, but the three opposition parties say it was because Tigray defied federal authorities to go ahead to hold local elections in September – won by the TPLF.

The UK has sent an emergency medical team to Eswatini to help the southern African country deal with a surge in coronavirus cases. The kingdom, formerly known as Swaziland, has a population of a million and seen around 500 people die from the virus. “Earlier last year the local health services coped remarkably well and managed to keep the fatality rate relatively low,” Andy Kent, who is team lead, told the BBC’s Newsday.

Nigeria is set to receive 57 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines over the next few months, the authorities say. They have asked for a four-fold increase on their previous request for 10 million doses from the African Union. “We have applied for 41 million doses of a combination of Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines,” Faisal Shuaib, who heads the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, told the Reuters news agency.

Foreign news: BBC