National and International News Roundup – 31 July, 2019

• Chaos in Kikaikom
• RHEDAC wants Justice Minister to
• UN worried about worsening humanitarian situation in Cameroon
• Ambazonia interim leaders on hunger strike.

1 There have been casualties on the sides of pro-independence fighters and the military following a fierce confrontation today in Kikaikom, Kumbo central subdivision Bui Division in the North West of Cameroon. Inhabitants who escaped to the forest for safety have told Mimi Mefo Info that some houses in the village were equally set ablaze.

2 The Network for the defense of human rights in central Africa- REDHAC has called for the resignation of the Minister of Justice and the Secretary to the Minister of Justice In charge of Penitentiary Administration in Cameroon. In a press conference in Douala Wednesday July 31, 2019, REDHAC accused both personalities of being responsible for the mutiny at the Yoaunde central prison Kondengui and Buea central prison July 22, 2019.

3 As of June 2019, UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs says some 530.000 people have been displaced in the North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon since the conflict erupted in 2016. The body stresses that the humanitarian situation keeps deteriorating with incidents of killings, abductions and wide spread violation of international humanitarian laws.

4 The Cameroon Renaissance Movement Party has lost one 9f its prominent militants. Christophe Kamdem, second Vice President of the party in the West region is no more. In a release signed by the CRM National Communication Secretary, the militant died yesterday in Yaounde.

5 It has been a chaotic Wednesday in a village called Banten Nkum Sub division in Bui Division in the North West region. Residents say military men engaged a fierce battle the Ambazonian fighters in a bid to dislodge a camp belonging to the latter. Inhabitants have been expressing fears of heavy civilian casualties.

6 Ayuk Tabe Julius Sisiku and nine other Ambazonian interim leaders are on hunger strike. According to Barrister Fongo Edwin, one of the defending lawyers, the Nera 10 detainees started the strike at 10:00 pm yesterday. They are demanding the Cameroon government to show proof of life of Anglophone detainees taken out of Yaounde Central prison last week to the world. Mancho Bibixy and co were taken out of jail after the prison protest.

7 Lawyers defending Ayuk Tabe Julius Sisiku and others have criticized the number of ‘missing’ detainees of 177 given yesterday by the minister of communication. To the lawyers, 197 anglophone detainees were taken out of Kondengui last week after the mutiny at the Yaounde central prison.To Barrister Fongo Edwin, a total of 197 anglophone detainees were bundled out of the prison on the 22nd and 23rd of July. Unconfirmed reports say some were beaten to death. Government tweeted yesterday that the claims were false.

8 Two men and a woman are on the run in Nkemkem Moungo division of the littoral region for allegedly stealing from a micro finance house.The three are said to have arrived the place on a motorcycle before attacking workers at gunpoint. Commercial motorcycle riders who were alerted a few minutes after could only recover the motorcycle used by the suspected bandits.

9 Dubai beer parlour at the Tsinga neighbourhood in Yaounde remains closed by security forces after a grenade explosion last night. Three persons wounded in the course of the explosion are receiving medical attention in hospitals in Yaounde. Security and administrative officials have not established who is responsible for the incident.The situation caused panic in the nation’s political capital Yaounde.

10 Well placed security, administrative and judicial authorities are taking up apartments in modern low cost houses constructed by the government of Cameroon to assist low–income earners in the country.The Minister of Housing and Urban Development while receiving the keys of newly constructed houses said unscrupulous persons wishing to own the houses will face the law.

11 About 15 people have been arrested in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, for defying a government order not to take to the streets to protest against former international football star and President George Weah. The group insisted on breaking through police lines to assemble, despite the fact that no permit had been issued to stage a protest, police added.

12 A pro-Iranian Shia group in Nigeria has announced that it is temporarily halting street protests to demand the release of its leader Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, who has been in detention since 2015. The announcement by the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) comes days after the government banned it, accusing of it of being violent – an allegation the group denies.

13 The destiny of the African Champions League is uncertain after the Court of Arbitration for Sport overruled the decision to replay the final.Tunisia’s Esperance and Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca lodged appeals after the Confederation of African Football decided to replay the second leg – both felt they should be awarded the win.