National And International News Roundup – 5th October 2020

There was a timid school resumption in Bamenda, North West Region today. Most schools remained close with teachers, students and pupils respecting ghost town imposed by separatist fighters since 2017. A few schools opened at Up Station where there is relative security. Inhabitants say there have been sounds of gunshots in several places in the city.

Some teachers in the North West and South West regions say insecurity is the main challenge they are facing since 2016. World Teacher’s Day was celebrated today with a focus on what teachers are doing in a crisis situation to reimagine the future. Many teachers in the restive regions formerly teaching in private schools have been rendered unemployed as insecurity has forced many schools to shut down. To them, it is difficult to reimagine the future when insecurity is the order of the day.

In Meme Division, South West Region of Cameroon, there was no school resumption today. In Kumba, people including civil servants have taken it as a habit to respect Monday ghost town.To the inhabitants, schools will possibly resume in some places tomorrow Tuesday. Meanwhile, it is practically impossible for schools to open in some areas in the Division, given that school buildings have been long destroyed.

The SDO for Donga Mantung has pledged to find solutions for internally displaced learners in the division. He made the pledge today while assessing school resumption in his division. Among other aspects, he remarked that a large number of IDP (internally displaced persons) pupils and students, indicated the desire to study despite the shortage in learning facilities.

Lycée Joss in Bonanjo, Douala is poised to implement the two-shift class system authorised by the government for over-populated schools. Officials of the school today emphasised on the need for students to respect COVID-19 measures.

Limbe has been rewarded as the cleanest town in Cameroon. The award was handed to the City Mayor of Limbe today in a ceremony in Douala to mark World Habitat Day. Cameroon’s Minister of Housing and Urban Development presided over the ceremony while announcing that the 2021 edition will take place in Limbe.

Eric Maxim Choupo Moting has joined the German top football club Bayern Munich. The captain of the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon penned his contract today. He will play with the team up to June 2021. Moting left French side Paris Saint Germain after he and his former club failed to lift the 2020 Champions League trophy.

The Popular Action Party (PAP) is calling on the United Nations to deploy a peace-keeping mission in Cameroon’s North West and South West Regions. In a release today, the party says separatists and the military cannot guarantee the security of the population. The party says kids should be permitted to go to school.

Three of South Africa’s big mining companies are still hoping to avoid strikes by their workforces, after one of the country’s biggest trade unions said talks with the official mediation service about wage increases had ended without agreement. The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has threatened to call strikes at De Beers, Exxaro and Petra Diamonds

Schools in South Sudan have officially reopened today after more than six months since they were closed in March as a measure to curb the spread of Covid-19. Two weeks ago, President Salva Kiir ordered the resumption of schools and universities as the country continues to experience a significant reduction in coronavirus infections. The re-opening of schools was backed by a “Back to Learning Campaign” under the theme: “Safe learning during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Nigeria’s police affairs minister says that there will be an investigation into alleged infractions by a notorious unit in the police force that has been accused of atrocities against innocent civilians and routine harassment. On Sunday, Nigeria’s inspector general of police Mohammed Adamu banned the Special Anti Robbery Squad (Sars) from carrying out stop and search duties and setting up roadblocks.

Ethiopia’s dam on the Blue Nile will produce electricity within the next 12 months, the Reuters news agency quotes President Sahle-Work Zewde as saying. She was echoing comments from other officials earlier in the year. There are already 4.9 billion cubic metres in the reservoir sitting behind the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Gerd) after the first year of filling. This means that the water level has reached the height of the first two turbines.

Three lions have died in Kenya’s Masai Mara national park after being trapped in snares laid by hunters try to catch bushmeat, the authorities say. Four hyenas and one eland were also killed. “It is with tremendous sadness that we announce the tragic death of Rafiki, Lenkume [and] one of Lenkume’s sons,” the Mara Predator Conservation Programme said on its Facebook page, referring to the lions.

An event presenting an audit of the first 100 days in office of Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera is under way in the capital, Lilongwe. The secretary to the cabinet, Zangazanga Chikhosi, has outlined the initiatives approved by the cabinet to ease the cost of production for farmers. Vice-President Saulos Chilima said the new administration is in the process of reforming public service to ensure improved service delivery.

Foreign news: BBC