National and International News Roundup: Tuesday 17th December 2019

The SDO for Meme Ntou’ou Ndong Chamberlain says some 20 Ambazonian fighters have dropped their arms in Kumba, South West Region this Tuesday, December 17, 2019. Speaking from Kumba, the SDO indicated that the ex-combatants will be taken to the Disarmament demobilisation and Reintegration Commission centre in Buea

Several shops have been looted and properties destroyed in Buabua in Bum Subdivision of the Boyo Division, North West Region of Cameroon. The shops, according to local sources, were destroyed by armed Fulani (Mbororos) who accused owners of collaborating with Ambazonian fighters.

The Yaoundé Diocese says the armed robbery attack suffered by the church today did not take place inside the church building. In an official statement, the Yaoundé Archdiocese says the armed robbery attack took place at the office of the church accountant, few meters away from OUR LADY OF VICTORY Cathedral Yaoundé. The church authorities confirmed that a huge sum of money and valuables were taken away by the men of the underworld. Meantime, close sources say the sum of FCFA 8 million cash was taken away.

Some striking Doctorate and PhD holders are currently receiving medical treatment at the Yaoundé Emergency Center following police brutality. Police today used force to disperse them in front of the Ministry of Higher Education where they have been striking for days. They were on a sit-in strike at the Ministry of Higher Education denouncing an obscure process by which the ministry recruited 2000 PhD Holders into the public service.

Dr Lekane Mvomo Brigette is receiving medical attention at the Yaoundé General Hospital. The Doctorate holder is one of four Doctorate Degree holders who attempted committing suicide today in front of the Ministry of Higher Education. She drank a poisonous substance to show her disapproval in the manner the Ministry of Higher Education is handling a sit-in strike. Over 150 Doctorate Degree holders are striking to denounce what they call dubious recruitment carried out while demanding their names be added on the recruitment list.

The Minister of Higher Education says the recruitment process of 2,000 university lecturers does not include those over 45 years as of October 2019. In a statement this evening, Jacques Fame Ndongo explains that there are minor errors on the first list published but they will be corrected.  He ordered policemen this afternoon to disperse the protesters leading to attempted suicide by some of those striking.

The Mayor of Yabassi Council says Cameroon has tried to solve the Anglophone crisis to no avail and the international community should come in and help. Speaking on Equinox television, Jacques Mabola says all the local people want is a halt in bloodshed, and the UN should do all it can to stop it.

Messages and direct phone calls threatening candidates for the 2020 twin elections in the North West have been recurrent. Persons who identify themselves as ‘Amba boys’ say candidates will be kidnapped and kept hostage until the February 9, 2020 elections are over.

A list of over three hundred candidates of municipal elections in Bui Division in the North West is circulating on the social media purportedly compiled by Separatist fighters. The fighters have threatened to attack their family members and property if they do not withdraw from the elections.

Fuel scarcity is still being witnessed in Bamenda, North West region of Cameroon. For two days, taxi drivers, car owners and commercial motorcycle riders say fuel is scarce. Filling stations that still have fuel are crowded with people buying in bulk to avoid acute shortages.

Prof. Dorothy Limunga Njeuna has pointed some translation irregularities in the bill on the decentralisation code and special status. In a note, the Board Member of ELECAM says measures need to be put in place to prevent the administration from grabbing land from the local population in the regions. According to her, the bill is comprehensive as it covers recommendations of the national dialogue.

Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame has cast doubt on whether he will run for a fourth term in the 2024 elections, Bloomberg news agency reports. He has been president since 2000 and won a controversial third term in office in 2017 with 99% of the vote after the two-term constitutional limit was lifted.

The UK and the US have told the UN Security Council that West African governments were not doing enough to end escalating violence in the Sahel. Despite the presence of thousands of regional and international troops in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, there has been a surge in attacks by militants linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) group. France, which has 4,500 soldiers across the Sahel, is expected to hold a security summit in January to discuss their presence in the region.

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has agreed to a deal on the formation of a unity government with his rival Riek Machar, Reuters news agency reports quoting the president. According to a 2018 peace deal aimed at ending the six-year civil war, the two should have formed the government in November, but they gave themselves another 100 days. The two have formed a unity government once before in 2016, but that fell apart within months.

The charity, Save the Children, says more than 100,000 children have been displaced by the recent conflict in Mali. A third of a million children are not being educated as insecurity has forced hundreds of schools to close.

Liberia’s 73,000-strong Civil Service Union, which represents lower-level government employees including teachers, says it has called off a strike over pay and benefits that had begun on Monday. Union leader Moibah Johnson told the BBC that the decision was reached after consultations with religious officials and senior civil servants. The union was urged to reach an agreement with the government.

The lawyer for the Kenyan music star under fire for a controversial song and video that highlight government corruption has said he should not give in to threats of legal action. King Kaka’s Swahili song Wajinga Nyinyi, meaning “You Are Fools”, talks about a number of high-ranking officials. County governor Anne Waiguru has said she will sue him for defamation if he does not remove the video from YouTube

Angola’s justice minister says the country has so far this year recovered more than $5bn (£3.8bn) stolen from the state. Francisco Queiroz said this included $3bn siphoned off from the sovereign wealth fund.

(Foreign News Source: BBC Africa)