Cameroon joined the rest of the globe today to commemorate the International Women’s Day. Unlike in past editions, there was no march pass owing to the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases across the country. Many women also expressed their discontent with the regime, citing among others, the armed conflicts recorded in the Northern and Anglophone regions, as well as gender-based violence and other discriminatory practices against women.
The group “Mothers of Nation” has used 2021 International Women’s Day to denounce injustices meted on women and Cameroonians by the regime in place. These women put on black and red dresses today to express disapproval of how the government has implanted violence. They called for a political transition.
President Paul Biya has expressed his condolences to Equatorial Guinea through its president, Teodoro Obiang Ngema following an explosion that killed dozens. The explosion was recorded in the armory of a military camp in Bata, which caused a lot of material damages.
Some security agents in Douala say they have impounded half a thousand plastic vessels filled with fuel. According to reports, 501 gallons were heading for Batoke, Limbe in the South West region. They were intercepted and seized by the National Gendarmerie after a tip-off.
The Cameroon Indegenous Women Forum has drilled some Mbororo girls on leadership. The training session also focused on personal development as a tool for emancipation. The event was organised as part of commemorative activities for the 2021 International Women’s Day.
Women’s Day today in Cameroon went ahead without the traditional march pass, a public crowd-pulling ceremony due to concerns on COVID-19. Despite this, women used both traditional and social media to advocate for their rights. Women posted messages held debates on radio and television to educate the public on problems faced by women in Cameroon.
Planks worth millions of francs cfa have been burnt in a timber company called CAFECO SA in Nguti, South West region of Cameroon. Workers say the fire originated from a nearby farm. For sometime now, the timber company has not been functioning as a result of insecurity.
More Nigerian refugees from Minawao refugee Camp in the Far North region are voluntarily returning to their country. Cameroon Minister of Territorial Administration, officials from Nigeria and those of the UN High Commission for Refugees are supervising the exercise. 343 Cameroonian refugees have equally returned to Cameroon from the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Water is flowing again in Mamfe, Manyu Division of the South West region after a month. In the absence of portable water, two children died in River Manyu while trying to fetch water. Families blame the water distribution company.
The Court of Arbitration for Sports has reduced Ahmad Ahmad’s suspension period from five to two years. The decision taken today, March 8th comes after serious examination of managerial lapses he is accused of committing.
A final decision on if Under-17 African Football Championship will hold in Morocco from this Saturday is still being awaited. Members of CAF and Moroccan Football Federation are still brainstorming on how to play despite threats caused by COVID-19. Morocco has of recent tightened COVID-19 security measures making it difficult for delegations to get to Morocco.
The United Nations refugee agency says that several hundred Nigerians have returned home from Cameroon, seven years after they were displaced by Boko Haram jihadists and forced to seek shelter across the border. A spokesman for the UNHCR, Xavier Bourgois, said about 340 returnees were being moved by bus and truck from Minawao camp in Cameroon to their original home town of Banki in Borno State.
At least 31 people are now known to have been killed and more than 600 others injured in a series of explosions at a military camp in Equatorial Guinea on Sunday. State media said three young children had been rescued from the rubble of buildings which were flattened after the explosions. President Teodoro Obang Nguema has blamed the blasts in the city of Bata on stubble burning by farmers and negligence in the storage of explosives.
The family and supporters of Saudi-Australian theologian Usama Hasani have pleaded with the authorities in Morocco not to extradite him to Saudi Arabia where he’s wanted. Dr Hasani, 42, and his wife Hana Hasani, have also appealed to the Australian government to intervene. The theologian was arrested on 8 February when he arrived in the city of Tangier to visit his wife and four-month old child.
The authorities in Kenya have banned maize imports from neighbouring Uganda and Tanzania over safety concerns, media outlets in the three countries report. They cite a letter from Kenya’s Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) as saying maize imports from Uganda and Tanzania were found to have “high levels of mycotoxins”. “Mycotoxins, particularly aflatoxins and fumonisins, are known to be carcinogenic. Over the years, a number of acute and chronic aflatoxins related illness cases have been recorded in Kenya including deaths,” the letter from AFA chief Kello Harsama is quoted as saying.
The authorities in Zambia say they are considering deporting a Chinese national after a video shared online showed him riding on a trolley being pulled by a local. In the clip shared on Twitter the Chinese man is captured locking up his shop and then climbing on the trolley which one of his workers starts pulling. He is then confronted by two people, one of them asks him: “Can you not walk?” They then force him to step down.
