National And International News Roundup – 4th December 2021

Kidney patients in the North West Region handicapped by finances and unable to seek medical attention in other regions, are impatiently waiting for when the Haemodialysis Centre at the Bamenda Regional Hospital will be fully operational. The Regional Delegate of Public Health and the director of the hospital have been releasing contrasting views over the functioning of the centre.

Commercial and private motorcycles continue to ply roads in Bonapriso, a residential quarter in Douala, despite a ban imposed by the Senior Divisional Officer for Wouri three weeks ago. Policemen earlier stationed to enforce the ban are no longer on duty.

Classes resumed today for the second term of the academic year 2020/2021. The term will be marked with celebration of Youth Day and other extracurricula activities. Students and pupils resumed school after two weeks of holiday marked by the celebration of Christmas and New Year.

Football lovers in Cameroon are questioning the effective preparation of Indomitable Lions of Cameroon barely 12 days to the start of African Football Championship. The boys of coach Martin Ntoughou Mpile analysts say, have not played collective coordinating football matches in their friendlies. Others criticise the coach for eliminating key players from the den.
Uganda has defeated Zambia two goals to zero in Yaoundé. The match was part of pre-CHAN tournament.

Prosecutors in the Central African Republic have launched an investigation into former President François Bozizé, accusing him of acts of destabilisation and rebellion. Last month, the government accused him of staging an attempted coup as a coalition of rebels marched on the capital, Bangui, ahead of a general election. Mr Bozizé, who was barred from standing in the 27 December poll, denied the allegations but said he supported the rebels.

South Sudan’s Ministry of Health says it has requested five million doses of Covid-19 vaccine as the country continues to witness an upsurge in coronavirus cases. The ministry has already submitted an application to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi), an international organisation which is trying to improve access to immunisation in poor countries. The authorities are hoping to roll out the administration of the vaccine as soon as it arrives in the country – which they hope could be later this month.

A magistrates court in Nigeria’s capital Abuja has ordered activist and publisher Omoyele Sowore be remanded in prison custody. Mr Sowore was charged along with four other activists with Criminal Conspiracy, Unlawful Assembly and Inciting Public Disturbance. They were arrested by the police for holding a protest against bad governance on New Year’s Eve. The police in Abuja said that Mr Sowore organised and led a public gathering in contravention of a police order.

The site Infowakat.net reports that the bodies of four vigilantes have been found in the Sahel region of northern Burkina Faso. Infowakat.net cites local and security sources. The four went missing on 31 December and on Sunday residents of Kelbo village discovered the four fighters’ bodies.

A court in Algeria has sentenced a man who posted satirical cartoons mocking the authorities on Facebook to three years in prison. Walid Kechida has been in detention for the past 10 months after he posted a cartoon criticising the Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune. His Facebook page Hirak Memes is named after the anti-government movement that organised mass protests throughout 2019, which helped force the longtime President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to step down.

Islamist insurgents in northern Mozambique are reported to have attacked a village inside the site of a major gas project run by the French energy company Total. The security forces are said to have beaten back the militants after a battle lasting several hours. The village of Quitunda is less than a mile from the company’s airstrip.

Foreign news: BBC