National And International News Roundup – 3rd December 2020

The award for the cleanest city in the West Region to henceforth be accompanied by a cash prize of 150 Million FCFA.  This information was disclosed by the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Celestine Ketcha Courtes during a working visit to the West Region for the evaluation of infrastructure in preparation of the upcoming African Nations Football Championship.

The Mayor of Njombe Penja, Paul Eric Kingue has contributed towards to the fostering of education through the creation of a television channel that educates and trains teachers and students. The TV channel, School TV Africa is revealed to have been an inspiration that came to the mayor during his time in jail. Eric Kingue also revealed that he benefitted from a 20 million grant from the Head of State that assisted him buy the equipment.

In Douala, a commercial bike rider was crushed to death today by a vehicle in the Ndogpassi 3 neighbourhood. It is reported that the driver who killed the rider initially tried to escape but he was clamped down and handed to law enforcement by the mob.

Three Cameroonian referees have been enlisted to officiate games during African Nations Championships. International football referee, Sidi Alioum, referee inspector, Elvis Guy Noupue Nguegoue and female assistant referee, Atezembong Fomo Carine  are the three Cameroonians, on a list of 47, selected to officiate matches during the 2020 African championship football games programmed for January 16 to February 7, 2021 in Cameroon.

It has been four days into the strike undertaken by lawyers in Cameroon; yet the government of Cameroon has maintained sealed lips on the issue.  The Minister of Justice has not issued any decision that suggests a good intention of looking into the numerous worries raised by lawyers in Cameroon. The lawyers started boycott of courts on November 30th to end on Friday December 4th. For four days, Cameroonians seeking justice have remained stranded as all court activities have been paralysed.

There are currently no street lights along the second bridge over River Wouri in Douala. Night road users say the situation has given an opportunity for bandits to harass people along the bridge. Since completion, the bridge has not been officially inaugurated by the government.

PWD of Bamenda football club will play against the Kaizer Chiefs of South Africa on Saturday December 5th 2020 beginning at 4pm Cameroon time. This has been stated in a release signed this evening by PWD’s communication department. Earlier scheduled to travel to South Africa yesterday Wednesday, the Abakwa boys will travel tomorrow Friday. The delay is as a result of visa issues experienced by some players.

The Anglophone crisis has aggravated social exclusion of people living with disabilities in the North West and South West Regions. To mark International Day of People Living with Disabilities today, this category of people in Bamenda say they have been sidelined from local governance activities due to their disabilities.

People in the south of Madagascar are eating soil mixed with tamarind to stave off hunger as a drought has destroyed the region’s staple crop, the AFP news agency reports. “We call it survival soil because it allows the acidic taste of tamarind to seep into our mouths, which staves off hunger,” AFP quotes farmer Doday Fandilava Noelisona as saying.

The fighting in the north of Ethiopia is not over, a leading official from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has said on Tigray TV, a station which is controlled by the party. The federal government, which began fighting TPLF troops on 4 November, said the final phase of the conflict was over last Saturday when its soldiers seized the Tigray regional capital, Mekelle. But the TPLF’s Getachew Reda said that the war was continuing on different fronts.

The first of 300 British troops have arrived in Mali to bolster the UN peacekeeping mission there, with the rest due to follow within a week. The UK’s defence ministry says the force will join 14,000 peacekeepers from 50 nations to protect Mali’s population from growing Islamist violence. More than 5,000 French troops have underpinned the operation, but President Emmanuel Macron is under pressure to reduce his forces.

South Africa has missed its first payment to join the World Health Organization’s initiative to help poorer countries get hold of coronavirus vaccines, South Africa’s News24 website is reporting. Anban Pillay, from the department of health, told the website that the payment for Covax was delayed. South Africa has recorded the highest number of coronavirus cases on the continent. Finance Minister Tito Mboweni had set aside $33m (£25m) for vaccines, AFP news agency reports, but it appears that the treasury has not yet released the funds.

The Constitutional Court in the Central African Republic has said that former President François Bozizé cannot run for election in the vote scheduled for 27 December, the AFP news agency reports. The court barred him as he is facing allegations of murder and torture and has had UN sanctions slapped on him, AFP adds. He was president for 10 years until 2013, when his overthrow precipitated years of violent chaos.

Foreign news: BBC