National and International News Roundup: Thursday 06 February 2020

Prime Minister Joseph Dion has called on the population of the South West region of Cameroon to vote for the CPDM party. After visiting football infrastructure in Limbe and Buea, he later chaired a mega rally at Bongo Square in Buea where he called on the people not to boycott the polls.

Hon. Jean Michel Nintcheu says his Social Democratic Front, SDF, party in Wouri East will create the Brigade Anti-Fraud (BAF) to track down all those planning to rig elections in the constituency this Sunday. The legislative election candidate says election rigging has been the habit of some political parties over the years.

The incumbent Mayor of the Douala 2 Council has called on the population of quartier Bafia, Bois de Singe and Youpwe to vote for the Cameroon People Democratic Movement – CPDM. Denise Fampou was speaking this afternoon as he promised the rehabilitation of some streets in the quarters and other areas.

The quest to withdraw voters’ cards from ELECAM offices in Douala is on the rise as the day of the election draws near. Some politicians in their campaign rallies have been encouraging Cameroonians to get their cards and vote.

A Cameroonian student suffering from coronavirus is currently responding to treatment. This was announced by the Chinese ambassador to Cameroon. The government of Cameroon on its part has continued to call for vigilance as a major factor in preventing the virus.

Forwang Lawrence, Senior Divisional Officer for Ndian Division is threatening civil servants in his division with sanctions if they fail to vote on the 9th of February.  In a release signed yesterday, the administrator instructed divisional delegates and service heads to forward names of civil servants that will not vote, to his office.

Campaigns ahead of the February 9 twin elections went violent between SDF and CPDM supporters in Loum in the Mungo Division of the Littoral region. SDF supporters accused those of the CPDM of attempting to disrupt their campaign rally. In a fight that followed, some militants on both sides were injured.

Magistrate Donald Esembe Malomba, CPDM candidate for the Buea Urban Constituency says cities are the way of the future and his dream for Buea is to advocate for and promote legislation that will enable the development of a Technopolis.

Buea has been officially recognised as the Silicon Mountain and he will use his mandate to seek frameworks and normative that will permit the tech industry to shine

Journalists wishing to cover February 9, 2020, municipal and legislative elections in Cameroon have until 8:30 am Friday, February 7, 2020, to deposit their requests for accreditation. The information has been made public by the Ministry of Communication.

Drivers plying the Douala-Bamenda, and the Douala-Buea-Kumba highways say the separatist imposed lockdown of the English-speaking regions has left them desperate. They say their vehicles have remained parked as travelling to the regions has become near impossible. At the Bonaberi car park, little or no circulation is witnessed between Douala and the restive regions.

At least two persons have been killed in another Boko Haram attack in the Mayo Tsanaga Division of the Far North region of Cameroon. The two, reports say, were gunned down as they attempted to defend villagers from a Boko Haram attack. Boko Haram has intensified its resurgence in the Far North region of Cameroon in the past days.

Long queues were today formed in front of the Ministry of Sports and Physical Education in Yaoundé by young Cameroonians willing to be volunteers for the CHAN 2020. The massive and desperate response comes shortly after the call to receive interested volunteers was made by the Ministry.

An Ethiopian graduate who is stuck in Wuhan, the epicentre of the new coronavirus outbreak in China, says it is scary living in a city in lockdown. Soliana Aregawi has told the BBC that she orders food and groceries online and that her family call frequently as they are worried. “They call me every day, sometimes twice, and I keep telling them that I’m fine,” she said.

The two cases of suspected coronavirus in Ghana have tested negative, medical officials say. Two men – an Argentine and a Chinese national – were quarantined after displaying symptoms of the virus after going to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in the capital, Accra, for treatment.

Two gold miners have died and 20 others are trapped underground in Zimbabwe after a shaft collapsed on Wednesday night, the state-run Herald newspaper reports. They were working illegally at the Globe and Phoenix gold mine in the central town of Kwekwe, around 200km (120 miles) west of the capital, Harare.

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa is hosting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the capital, Pretoria, for a business summit. South Africa is Germany’s largest economic partner in the continent.

The authorities in Kenya have declared that Tuesday 11 February will be a national holiday for people to attend the state funeral of former President Daniel Arap Moi. Mr Moi died on 4 February at a private hospital in the capital, Nairobi, of an unspecified illness. He was 95 years old. He was Kenya’s longest-serving president after spending 24 years in power.

Former Netherlands international Hesterine De Reus wants the investment in women’s football in Cameroon to match the fans’ passion for the sport. The 58-year-old former Australia coach says that the sport can thrive if there are collective efforts and some fundamental changes. She was talking after a recent trip to Cameroon as part of Uefa-Assist a program set up by European football’s governing body. (Source Foreign News: BBC Africa)