National And International News Roundup – 30th October 2020

Drama in Touboro as woman chops off her husband’s head in a local drinking joint in the Mayo-Rey Division, North Region. Close sources say before now, the woman had been accusing her husband of infidelity, an issue which failed to be resolved by the couple’s various families. It got to a boiling point when she walked in on her husband with a woman at the drinking spot.

Following his sentence in absentia, Anglophone activist, Mancho Bibixy has slammed the prison sentence as a non-event. He maintained that the Cameroon justice system was completely rotten, arguing that he was deliberately left in jail while at the same time summoned to appear before the judge in court.

The CAF inspection team which is in Cameroon to evaluate the infrastructure that will host the CHAN 2021 and AFCON 2022 has been impressed with the structures in place. Following inspection visits in Yaounde and Douala yesterday, the CAF team was today expected to be in Buea and in Limbe for the same exercise.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudia Arabia, H.E Prince Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saud was received in audience at the Unity Palace on Thursday October 29, to review the range of diplomatic interests between Cameroon and his country, and to reinforce cooperation ties.

Two Cameroonian young journalists are finalists for the Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon scholarship from RFI. Tatiana Meliedje and Charles Abessolo are part of a group of only ten young African journalists engaged in this competition. The winner of the competition will be announced on Monday November 02, 2020.

Archbishop Samuel Kleda of the Metropolitan Diocese of Douala, has concluded that the 2019 National Dialogue failed, reason why manslaughter is still the order of the day in the Anglophone Regions of Cameroon. He was speaking shortly after a mass to pay homage to students killed in Kumba. The mass was partly organised by Stand Up for Cameroon Movement.

“The government of Cameroon has the knife and the yam”. Members of Stand Up for Cameroon say the solution to the Anglophone crisis is in the hands of President Paul Biya. By this, they believe that the continuous killings have been permitted by the regime.

Catholic Christians in Kumba have prayed for the peaceful repose of the souls of students killed. Bishop Agapitus Nfon prayed for peace not only for Kumba but the entire country.

The chairman of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) is expected in Cameroon this weekend after several months of absence. SDF has organised an ecumenical service on Sunday November 1st to pray for the souls of key militants that have died this year and equally victims of the Anglophone crisis. Ni John Fru Ndi has been in US for several months on medical leave.

Artists are to denounce insecurity in Cameroon in a peaceful manifestation this Sunday in Yaounde. The artists say they will appear in different uniforms of primary and secondary schools to denounce attack on schools and children.

Sindika Dokolo, the husband of one of Africa’s richest women, Angolan Isabel dos Santos, has died at the age of 48. Mr Dokolo’s family confirmed that he had died in Dubai on Thursday. Friends said he had been involved in a scuba diving accident.

Confederation of African Football (Caf) President Ahmad is to spend five days in hospital in Cairo, after contracting coronavirus. The 60-year-old tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday, two days after flying into the Egyptian capital from Morocco where he had attended Sunday’s Confederation Cup final. “We have just learned that the president is to be hospitalised for five days on our doctor’s recommendation,” Caf Communications Director Alex Siewe told BBC Sport Africa. The United Nations Youth Association Ghana is pushing for the Ghanaian government to help rescue over 8,000 stranded domestic workers – most of them women – from Lebanon. The Middle East has become a popular destination for African women to move to for work as maids – with an estimated three million women from Africa working in Gulf states.

Bullet casings have been found by the Lagos State Judicial panel at the Lekki Toll Gate, where just over a week ago Amnesty International says the security forces opened fire on peaceful protestors killing and injuring a number of people. Both the police and the army have rejected Amnesty’s allegation.

Incomplete results from Tanzania’s parliamentary election show Tanzania’s ruling party has won 218 out of 220 parliamentary seats declared so far, reports Mwananchi newspaper. There are 264 constituencies in total. Tanzanians also voted for their president in the general election on Wednesday.

Nigeria’s Lagos state judicial panel looking into accusations of abuse made against members of the former Special Anti Robbery Squad (Sars) has started its second day of sitting. The chair of the panel, Doris Okuwobi, has said that they have been “inundated with so many cases and the panel must move faster”. The panel has also been asked to investigate what happened last week at the Lekki Toll Gate where Amnesty International say protesters were shot at by the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Police force.

Tanzanians are for the fourth day having difficulties accessing social media sites. Since Tuesday morning, WhatsApp users have been failing to download photos or videos and can only send and receive text messages via the chat application. Twitter is also down and can only be accessed via VPN. The access to Instagram and YouTube is also restricted as the country’s general election results continue to stream in.

The authorities in Uganda have banned a coalition of more than 60 organisations formed to monitor the country’s 2021 general elections on grounds that it is illegal. Uganda’s National Bureau for Non-governmental Organisations – which regulates the activities of non-profits organisations – said the National Election Watch-Uganda was not registered. It also said some of the organisations under the group were neither registered nor had permits to operate in the country.

Foreign briefs: BBC