National And International News – 25th September 2020

Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM) party has decried the maltreatment of people arrested in Douala on September 22nd. To CRM party, those arrested are cramped at the judicial police in Bonanjo Douala. The party is calling on the international community to bear witness of human rights violation. They equally frown at the continuous house arrest of their leader Prof. Maurice Kamto.

Book shops in Douala remain seemingly empty less than two weeks to the start of the school year. Parents complain of financial difficulties following prolonged lock down as a result of COVID-19. They equally complain of the refusal of most banks to give loans to parents to purchase school materials for their kids.

The government of Cameroon is considering possibilities of implementing a two shift school session beginning from the 2020/2021 school year. To the Minister of secondary education, the measure is to ensure that just 50 students are in a class to maintain physical distancing. The decision has been criticised by some teachers who think it will be an additional burden on them to teach the whole day for the same meagre salary.

The Mayor of Bamenda city has acquired and deployed six buses in the city as a means of solving the problem of transportation faced by the people due to the numerous administrative and the separatists restrictions. Mayor Paul Tambeng Achombong has revealed that the buses will be stationed in all three Sub Divisions of Bamenda.

Oliver Bibou Nissack, Spokesperson of the President of the CRM party, Maurice Kamto has been transfered to the Secretary of State for Defence (SED) in Yaounde. He has however not been officially charged, given that he was arbitrarily taken from his house by elements of the Gendarmerie on September 22, 2020.

Elements of the National Gendarmerie today apprehended over 350kg of marijuana on transit into Yaounde. The Gendarmerie chief has revealed that the marijuana belonged to an organised cartel which has been smuggling illicit drugs into the capital, Yaounde from Bamenda. Some of the smugglers have already been apprehended with investigations to follow suit.

Cameroon Indomitable Lion, Stephan Bahoken has been left frustrated with the head coach of the Cameroon national football team after being snubbed from his latest call ups. The striker said in an interview he didn’t understand the coache’s decision given the fact that he has been prolific for his club and for the country whenever he has had the chance to.

Yaounde will host the first edition of the “Part’âges” festival from October 8 to 10, 2020. It is an international festival of performing and speaking arts with the aim of sharing and transmitting cultures through theatrical performances, dance, Story telling and music.

Football lovers in Cameroon say the power struggle between Cameroon Football Professional League (LFPC) and Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT) on which body is qualified to organise local football championship is destroying football in Cameroon. LFPC’S President Pierre Semengue insists that the decision of the court of arbitrary for sports giving powers to LFPC organise football championship should be maintained.

Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio has said an investigation into allegations of corruption into the administration of his predecessor, President Ernest Bai Koroma, will lead to a large amount of property being confiscated and stolen money being returned to the state. President Maada Bio said the commission of inquiry, led by foreign judges, was as a major breakthrough that would help make corruption unfashionable and risky.

The bodies of three migrants have been recovered after a vessel sank off the coast of western Libya. The International Organization for Migration said another 13 people were unaccounted for. Twenty-two survivors were rescued and brought back to Libya by fishing boats. Many migrants set out from Libya, from where they try to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe – often aboard dangerously overcrowded and unseaworthy boats.

Mali’s new president has been sworn into office, five weeks after the overthrow of Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta. Former Defence Minister Bah Ndaw, 70, was picked by the coup leader, Colonel Assimi Goita, to head a transitional government until elections, which are expected in 18 months. Col Goita will be his vice-president. The appointment of a civilian president was a condition for the West African regional group, Ecowas, to lift the sanctions it imposed after the coup.

West African regional group Ecowas says it will not lift the sanctions it imposed on Mali after the military coup there five weeks ago until a civilian prime minister has been nominated. The announcement came shortly after Mali’s new president was sworn in. Bah Ndaw, a former defence minister, was picked by the coup leader, Colonel Assimi Goita, to head a transitional government until elections are held.

The United States and Nigeria’s Centres for Disease Control are to conduct a household survey to determine the extent of coronavirus infections in Nigeria. People in four states including the biggest city, Lagos, will be asked if they wish to volunteer in the research which will include an antibody blood test to find out who has had the virus. The exercise aims to help health professionals understand the transmission patterns and to find out how many people with the virus have shown no symptoms.

Ten migrants from the Comoros, including a seven-year-old child, have drowned while trying to make their way to the island of Mayotte – a French territory in the Indian Ocean. Police said their bodies were found washed up on the beach, with their boat appearing to have capsized in a strong swell. Rescuers picked up survivors perched on coral reefs.

Foreign news; BBC