The United States is due to release its 2019 Human Right Report Thursday. US Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Democracy, Human rights, and Labor Robert Destro, and the Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Scott Bushy will tomorrow hold a telephonic press briefing to that effect, the US Embassy in Yaounde, Cameroon has announced. The press conference kicks off at 2 PM Cameroon time. The report is expected to shed light on among other aspects, the Human Right situation in Cameroon. Late last year, the US cut Cameroon off its beneficiary list for AGOA citing human rights violations.
The European Union has condemned the Bamenda women’s sad attack and that in Galim over the weekend. In a message on its social media platform, the EU delegation in Cameroon says it “firmly condemns the attack on a peaceful parade of women on March 08”, as well as the “attack on a gendarmerie station in Galim which claimed the lives of civilians and members of the defence and security forces.”
Sisiku Ayuk Tabe has reiterated his stance for the total independence of British Southern Cameroons. This was in an interview with French-language newspaper, Le Messager in which he discussed a range of issues including the conditions under which they were held when arrested, as well as the actions of armed groups in the North West and South West regions. Sisiku Ayuk Tabe also talked about diaspora activists, noting that they share “the same objectives, a common purpose and a common fate.” The Ngarbuh massacre he said should serve as an eye-opener to the international community regarding the atrocities in the conflict-hit regions.
A curfew has been introduced in the Mezam Division, North West Region. The administrative head of Mezam, Simon Émile MOOH has restricted the hours of travel between Bamenda and Bafoussam in a notice compelling travellers leaving Bamenda to Bafoussam to all take off at once both in the morning and evening. Henceforth, inter-urban transport vehicles he explains will also be escorted by security forces in and out of the town. The region has been hit by attacks lately.
Two accidents have been recorded in Buea in the Southwest Region. The first occurred last night at Razel Street when a private car at high speed collided with a motorbike. The driver reports say is currently between life and death. The second accident occurred at Bostal Junction when a car lost its brakes last night and drove into a wall. The injured driver is currently receiving treatment at the Buea Regional Hospital.
The government of Cameroon has launched an international call for tenders in order to recruit a consultant for a “diagnostic study” at SONARA. The invitation to tender specifies that the duration of the study will be 90 days and will be financed by the state budget to the tune of 500 million FCFA. The study is set to assess the amount of damage that has occurred to the refinery. Months back, SONARA lost 3 of its 13 production units in a fire incident.
Social media users in Cameroon have raised worries over the prolonged silence of Minister Momo Jean De Dieu. The government official is known for frequent outings on aspects of national life and government policy on Facebook has for several days today been missing in action, raising doubts as to whether he has been prohibited from posting by high quarters. The government official had at times used his Facebook account to regularly respond to insults to attacks from Internet users.
Four people including a woman have been killed in Babessi, North West region for allegedly spying for soldiers. Locals say the soldiers had invaded the village in a bid to retrieve weapons seized in an attack allegedly carried out by Ambazonia fighters from Ngoketunjia. “After a serious battle between the military and the boys, the military retrieved some and the boys returned killing 3 civilians suspected of helping the military,” a resident tells MMI.
A man whose names MMI got as Ako Joseph has been shot dead in Muyuka in the South West Region. Talking to MMI, a family member said Ako Joseph was to travel out of the country in the days ahead and was heading to Buea to get a yellow fever card from the hospital. In another incident in Muyuka, five persons have been killed in Ikata, still in Muyuka in the South West region. “The military invaded the village early at about 5:30 a.m., went to a new settlement in the bush and burnt all the buildings, killing 5 and wounded 4 others,” a source has told MMI.
Two journalists in Ethiopia have been suspended by the state-owned news agency for publishing a photoshopped image of the prime minister and his wife in a bedroom. The doctored image shows Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed lying on the floor covered with a duvet, while his wife, Zinash Tayachew, is on a nearby bed smiling. The image has been trending on social media in Ethiopia since it was published on Monday in an article about the timetable for elections – expected in August.
Police in Zambia have arrested a teenager for insulting President Edgar Lungu on Facebook. The 15-year-old boy has been charged with defamation of the president, which carries a maximum sentence of three years in jail.
Uganda’s government has introduced a mandatory 14-day period of self-quarantine for travellers arriving from 16 countries to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The countries include the UK, the US and several European nations.
Ivory Coast has confirmed its first case of coronavirus. The West African nation’s health ministry said he was a 45-year-old Ivorian man who had recently been in Italy. Those he had been in contact with had been identified and were being followed up, the ministry said.
Football’s world governing body Fifa has postponed its congress in Ethiopia, scheduled to take place in June, by three months owing to the outbreak of the coronavirus. The congress has been set to take place in the capital, Addis Ababa in the first week in June.
Tanzanians have so far raised more than $100,000 (£78,000) to help pay a fine of $150,000 handed down to nine opposition leaders found guilty of illegally holding a rally two years ago. At the rally, a female student died after being hit by a stray police bullet, fired as officers tried to disperse the crowd.
Former top Sierra Leonean rebel Gibril Massaquoi has been arrested in Finland. According to Civitas Maxima, a Swiss organisation that works to ensure justice for victims of war crimes, he is being held over alleged crimes committed in Liberia, which neighbours Sierra Leone, between 1999 and 2003. The crimes he allegedly committed include homicide, sexual violence, and the recruitment and use of child soldiers. (Source Foreign News: BBC Africa).
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