National And International News Roundup – 15th January 2021

In a few hours, the African Nations Championship, CHAN will kick off in the nation’s capital, Yaounde. Despite being in the capital, President Paul Biya will not be taking part and has mandated the PM, Dion Ngute to chair the ceremony.

The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Celestine Ketcha Courtes has signed a communiqué urging Cameroonians to maintain top-notch hygienic conditions throughout the period of the CHAN. The Minister said taxi drivers should drive around town with great diligence. She also mentioned in the communiqué that parents should make sure not to send kids to go dump refuse especially on the streets like they have been doing.

Citizens in the South West towns of Buea and Limbe have decried harassment from policemen ahead of the upcoming African Nations Championship. In Limbe, elements of law and order were seen seizing bikes from commercial bike riders. Many say the move by the security agents is a preventive measure in anticipation of the upcoming CHAN.

Residents of Buea in the South West region have decried frequent powercuts shortly before CHAN. The outages, locals add, are stalling businesses and other daily activities.

Hours after the annulation of the FECAFOOT 2018 election by the Court of Arbitration for Sport CAS, Cabral Libii in a tweet has announced that he will want to be the leader of the normalization committee. With the presidency of Seiydou Mbombo Njoya annulled, it is not yet clear who will be at the head of the Cameroon Football governing body.

The US embassy has condemned the recent spade of attacks in the North West, Far North, and Southwest regions. The embassy has expressed particular concern with the attacks by both separatist and government forces in Mbengwi, Mautu, Bachua, and Matazem. The embassy has extended its condolences to the affected families and urged the government to open an investigation on the killings.

The National Commission for Human Rights and Freedoms, NCHRF has laid its roadmap for 2021. In a release, the Commission, taking stock of its 28th ordinary session said 2020 was a tough one for human rights in Cameroon. It also pledged to put up a more direct fight for rights this year.

A total of 10 suspected robbers were arrested today by Gendarmes in the city of Yaoundé. The group was arrested following continuous unrest caused by these thugs in the College la Gaiete neighborhood and it’s environs. The group was arrested after an operation launched today morning at about 5 a.m.

Health officials in Nigeria say they’re worried that fake coronavirus vaccines are being sold in the country. The Director-General of Nigeria’s National Agency for Food Drug and Administration Control, Mojisola Adeyeye, said no drugs had been approved, and any being marketed could cause serious illness. She urged people to be sensible, and careful.

A court in Scotland has rejected an appeal by the family of a Libyan man found guilty of the bombing of an airliner over the town of Lockerbie more than 30 years ago. Abdelbaset al-Megrahi – who died in 2012 – always maintained his innocence, and his relatives have been trying to clear his name.

Algeria says it will share some of the doses of coronavirus vaccine it has ordered with neighboring Tunisia by the end of the month. It is not clear how many doses Algeria has ordered, nor how many each country needs to battle the virus effectively. But we do know where they will be coming from: Algeria has ordered Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine – with 500,000 doses due in the first delivery – as well as another vaccine from China.

The UN refugee agency has reported a sharp increase in refugees fleeing the violence in the Central African Republic. Some 60,000 people have left the country in the past week according to UN data – that’s twice as many as the preceding week. Most are crossing the Ubangi river south into the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Opposition parties in Ivory Coast want the electoral body to postpone legislative elections due to be held on 6 March as they say they need more time to prepare for them. Presidential elections held last October were boycotted by the opposition as they were angered that President Alassane Ouattara, who won the vote, was standing for a third term. But the different parties want to participate in the parliamentary vote – and say in previous years they had more time to get ready.

Foreign news: BBC