National And International News Roundup – 4th November 2020

Augustin Tamba has been elected new President of the United Councils and Cities of Cameroon (UCCC). The new President who equally is the Mayor of the Yaounde VII Council was elected during the 5th session of the UCCC General Assembly. It was presided over by the Minister of Decentralisation and Local Developments, George Elanga Obam.He and other new members of the Executive are expected to play a leading role in fast-tracking the process of decentralisation.

Key CRM party bigwigs, Alain Fogwe- National Treasurer and Olivier Bibou Nissack- Spokesperson to Maurice Kamto alongside 7 others for alleged instigation to rebellion on 22nd September 2020, have been sent to the Kondengui Maximum Prison in Yaoundé on a temporary 6-months jail term. The verdict was passed on November 3rd, 2020.

Cameroonians have commemorated today. It was on this day in 1982 that the first President of La République du Cameroun, Ahmadou Ahidjo resigned from power as Head of State, and handed power to then Prime Minister, Paul Barthélémy Mvondo Biya. Paul Biya has since then held tight to power for close to 4 decades and counting. Despite his longevity in power, Paul Biya has ignored all calls for him to relinquish power.

The Union de Douala vs Canon Sportif de Yaoundé game is in serious jeopardy of taking place. The League’s one game came into doubt after the LFPC questioned the legitimacy of FECAFOOT for organising league tournaments in Cameroon. The statement also casts doubt over the validity of the opening match held in Yaoundé on November 1 between Panthère du Ndé and Cotton Sport de Garoua.

About 7 students from GBHS Fundong, Boyo Division in the North West Region of Cameroon have today been allegedly kidnapped. A source in the locality says gunmen took the students surprisingly on their way to school early today morning.This came hours after Kulu Memorial College, Limbe was reportedly attacked by gun men, beating the students and setting a cross section of the school on fire. The people of Fundong expressed satisfaction following the release the kidnapped students later today. The students were saved by the military.

PM Joseph Dion Ngute has arrived Buea in the South West Region. He will take part in the funeral service of seven Form One students of Mother Francisca International Memorial Academy. The students were killed on the 24th of October by unknown armed men.

Cameroon Renaissance Movement party hierarchy says its militants are persecuted in Cameroon. Bar. Ndong Christopher, Secretary General of the party has condemned a decision of the military court placing nine of their militants on a six-months provisional detention at Kondengui prison. The SG says the Judiciary has been reduced to nothing by the Executive that determines verdicts given in court.

Calm has returned to Mile 4 Limbe after armed men who identified themselves as “Omega” stormed a private secondary school. The armed men stripped teachers and students naked before setting ablaze some classes and offices at Kulu Memorial College. The attack in the school has been condemned by Cameroonians including some pro Ambazonia activists.

A private radio station in Liberia, OK FM, has launched a public appeal to raise $500 (£385) to pay for the treatment of a man who had set himself on fire outside the court complex in the capital, Monrovia, in a protest over salary cuts. Archie Ponpon’s father told the radio station that his son was responding well to treatment at the city’s John F Kennedy Hospital after sustaining burn wounds to his head, body and hands.

The final secondary school exams in Malawi have been cancelled after papers were leaked, prompting angry pupils to take to the streets in many parts of the country to protest. The cancellation affects the future of more than 154,000 pupils.

Supporters of one of Africa’s most popular self-styled prophets, Malawian Shepherd Bushiri, have been celebrating outside a court in South Africa after he was released on bail, following his arrest last month on charges of fraud and money laundering. His wife and co-accused, Mary Bushiri, was also freed by a magistrate in the capital, Pretoria, under strict bail conditions, which require the couple to hand over the title deed of a property they jointly own.

More than 40 people are feared to have drowned in northern Mozambique after their boat sank on Sunday. The boat was reportedly carrying more than 70 people who were fleeing the violence in the gas-rich province of Cabo Delagado, which has been hit by an Islamist insurgency. The boat, which capsized in the Indian Ocean between the Ibo and Matemo islands, was carrying people who fled their homes from unrest in Cabo Delgado. Some 74 people were on board when the boat sank on Sunday.

The Somali-American congresswoman from Minnesota, Ilhan Omar, has retained her seat in the US Congress for the Democrats, winning 64.6% of the vote against the 25.9% of her closest contender, Republican Lacy Johnson. Speaking to the BBC after her victory, Ms Omar said her success would mean a lot to young men and women.

A sociology professor in the Egyptian city of Alexandria has been suspended for allegedly insulting Prophet Muhammad while airing his views about the Charlie Hebdo cartoons in a broadcast online. Students at the Higher Institute for Social Work said they were offended by Muhammad Mahdali’s comments and lodged a complaint. They posted footage after the professor deleted his feed and apologised.

Telephone, internet, and banking services are down in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region following the clashes between federal troops and regional security forces. Residents heard bursts of gunfire early on Wednesday morning on the outskirts of the regional capital, Mekelle, where the Northern Command of the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) is stationed.

The suspect in a high profile gold-smuggling case in Zimbabwe has said, through her lawyer, that she picked the wrong bag from her house as she left for the airport, according to the state-run Herald newspaper. Henrietta Rushwaya – the suspended president of the Zimbabwe Miners Federation (ZMF) – said she picked a bag that had gold instead of one packed with her clothes. Her lawyer outlined her position during her bail application after she was arrested carrying 6kg of gold in her hand luggage at the Harare International Airport on her way to Dubai.

Foreign news: BBC