Cameroon President Paul Biya has announced the discontinuation of legal proceedings against some militants of the CRM political party who were facing charges before a military tribunal. The militants, among which is Professor Maurice Kamto and Barrister Michele Ndoki, have been held in detention for almost a year, for challenging the results of the 2018 presidential elections. It is yet unclear who will make the list of those that will be eventually released.
It is reported that 148 Anglophone detainees have been released from the Buea central prison. They were set free by the Buea military tribunal this Friday, October 4, 2019, following the decision of president Paul Biya ordering the discontinuance of proceedings against 333 detainees of the Anglophone crisis.
In Douala, some of the 54 anglophones released this Friday maintained that they were wrongly accused and unjustly arrested. Their released order was signed by Colonel Abou’ou Aka’a, Vice President of the Douala military tribunal. The 54 detainees were held at the Douala central prison in New Bell.
Some detainees of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement Political party were equally released in Yaoundé. It is however not certain if this release of the tens of supporters and sympathisers of the Maurice Kamto lead CRM party is linked to the recent presidential decision to free 333 detainees of the Anglophone crisis.
Ex-separatist Fighter Yanick Kawa Kawa has stated that only politicians in Cameroon can answer questions relating to the real identity of other ex-separatist fighters presented throughout the course of the national dialogue in Yaoundé. Over thirty ex-fighters were presented as having abandoned the bushes to regain normal life for peace. Six other new ex-fighters were presented today.
The Archbishop Emeritus of Douala Metropolitan Archdiocese. Christian Cardinal Tumi has called for the creation of a follow-up committee that will ensure the implementation of resolutions taken during the national dialogue. To the Cardinal, failure to do so will mean the national dialogue has failed.
Barrister Agbor Felix Nkongho (Balla) has expressed disappointment over the non-inclusion of a resolution calling for a full-fledged federation. To the president of the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy In Africa, a special status for the North West and South West Regions is not entirely a bad idea but Anglophones needs more than that.
The reconstruction of the war-torn Anglophone regions of Cameroon has been recommended as part of a process to heal the wounds of war for lasting peace. The process will equally encourage internally displaced persons and refugees to return home. This is one of the resolutions proposed by the reconstruction and development committee of the national dialogue.
It has been recommended that two educational systems in Cameroon should operate independently. This recommendation at the national dialogue has been saluted. Many say it will put to rest measures taken to distort the English system of education.
The chairman of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) has stated that a special status for the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon is a step forward towards a federation. Ni John Fru Ndi accepts that the targets of anglophones in the dialogue have not been attained. He holds firmly that further strides will be taken for a full-fledged federation.
Cameroon Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute says the official national dialogue ends today but his office is still open for more ideas on how to solve the problems plaguing the English-Speaking Regions. The PM has saluted those who contributed to the success of the national dialogue.
The inhabitants of Bonaberi in Douala IV municipality in the Littoral Region of Cameroon, say calm has returned to their neighbourhood after the arrest of members of a gang of thieves believed to have been terrorizing them. The gang of four were presented to the public this Friday, October 4, 2019, by the third police district of the city of Douala.
Member countries of the Economic and monitory community of Central Africa (CEMAC) have agreed to change banknotes currently in circulation. Meeting in Yaoundé, ministers of CEMAC member countries agreed to replace the 500, 1000 and 2000 FRS CFA banknotes, currently in use since 2003.
Italy’s Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio has said that all asylum seekers who are not entitled to stay in Italy will be repatriated within four months. He has unveiled a revised list of countries considered safe for migrants to be sent back to. It includes Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Senegal. Many migrants who are crossing the Mediterranean Sea from Libya often head for Italy.
The people behind the kidnapping of six female secondary school students and two members of staff in Kaduna state in the north of Nigeria have demanded a ransom, the state governor is quoted by the AFP news agency as saying. The kidnappings happened before dawn on Thursday at the Engravers College – a boarding school near Kakau Daji village south of Kaduna city.
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has described the recent outbreak of xenophobic violence in South Africa as an “embarrassment to the continent”. The president, who is on a state visit to South Africa, made the comments during a meeting with Nigerians living there, according to his official Twitter account. Nigerian-owned businesses, among others, were targeted in a bout of violence last month.
Tanzanian President John Magufuli has praised a senior government official for caning a group of secondary school students who were accused of setting fire to their dormitories. A widely shared video shows regional commissioner Albert Chalamila administering beatings to a group of students who were lying face down. A Tanzanian official has admitted to caning secondary school students after a video of the beating was widely shared.
Health workers in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo say the 1,000th person to have recovered from Ebola during the current outbreak has returned home after being cured. More than twice as many people have died since the outbreak began over a year ago partly because suspicion and mistrust have undermined efforts to stop the virus spreading.
A royal palace in Nigeria has announced that its resident tortoise has died following a short illness, saying it was a remarkable 344 years old. The tortoise, named Alagba, meaning ‘elderly one’, lived in the palace of Ogbomoso in Oyo state. BBC Yoruba’s Abdulwasiu Hassan said Alagba had at least two personal attendants to see to her needs and would eat only twice a month. (Source Foreign News: BBC Africa)
