National And International News Roundup – 31st August 2020

Bambili Town in the North West Region of Cameroon remained calm throughout today contrary to media reports that several students were killed by separatist fighters. People stayed in their houses respecting Monday traditional ghost town. General Nkah Velere; commander of the 5th military legion in the North West Region says separatist fighters have been killed and some suspected ones arrested in Boyo Division in a six days military operation. He was speaking to the population of Fundong yesterday at the end of the operation

. The Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa, CHRDA has catalogued a series of rights violations in the Anglophone regions from May to August 2020. Blaming the military for the violations, it has called on the government to carry out an investigation and make amends. It also cited the need to heed to the UN Secretary General’s calls for a ceasefire. Cameroon’s Minister of public health has called on traditional medicine practitioners in Cameroon to form a united front to research medicine and assist in treating patients in Cameroon. Dr Manaouda Malachie was speaking today to mark African day of traditional medicine. He called on the practitioners to instil sanity in their profession and fish out fake people. The number of people that have registered on the electoral list this year has witnessed a decrease as compared to previous years. Board members of elections Cameroon mentioned that recently pointing accusing fingers on COVID-19. Today marks the end of electoral revision.

The process takes place from 1st January to the 31st August each year. His Majesty Jean Rameau Sokoundjou says the regime of Paul Biya has nothing new to propose to Cameroonians. The paramount ruler of Bamendjou says Cameroonians are suffering because of poor governance where leaders are reaping and looting the state treasury for their families while poverty remains the order of the day.

The business climate in Cameroon remains repelling to investors. The country has been ranked 167th by world Bank Doing Business classification 2020. Cameroon scores 46.1 points on 100. Cameroon occupies the 26th position on the African continent and the first in Central Africa. The power supply has been interrupted in the greater part of Maroua, Far North Region of Cameroon. This follows the collapse of several electric polls in the course of heavy rains last night. A bridge equally collapsed interrupting the free movement of people in the city.

Thirty home-based players have been shortlisted for a two weeks training session in Yaounde ahead of the African Football Championship (CHAN) to take place in Cameroon in January 2021. The intermediate Lions’ head coach, Yves Clement Aroga says the final selection will be based on their performance. South Africa’s governing African National Congress (ANC) has fallen in step behind President Cyril Ramaphosa’s fight against corruption. In a strongly-worded statement, the party’s top decision-making body agreed that any member who is formally charged with corruption should step down from all leadership positions in the party. The decision is seen as a blow to powerful figures linked to the country’s former President Jacob Zuma. A woman and her child are believed to have drowned after the boat they were on were swept by currents on the River Nile in Uganda towards the open spillways of a hydro-power station in the eastern district of Jinja. The woman, Super Shakirah, her husband Hassan Alwi and their two children, along with a tour guide, were on their way to view the source of the Nile on Sunday evening when the engine of their boat failed. Power generator Eskom-Uganda said in a statement that another sailor who tried to rescue the family was also washed through the spillway.

The decision by the government of Uganda to introduce a fee for voluntary tests for Covid-19 threatens to disrupt travel and the resumption of tourism, as well as trade. It will even affect the return of Ugandan citizens from abroad. On Sunday evening, the government issued a directive requiring agencies to charge $65 (£50) per test. It affects cross-border truck drivers, visitors to the country and Ugandans who go home. Ethiopia’s government has demanded an explanation from the US over a report that it has reduced its funding of Ethiopia as the dispute continues over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Gerd). Last week, Foreign Policy magazine reported that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has approved the withholding of up to $130m (£98m) in a bid to pressurise Ethiopia into coming to a deal with Egypt over the Gerd. For nearly a decade, Ethiopia and Egypt have been negotiating over the dam, which sits on the Nile’s main tributary, the Blue Nile. The transitional government of Sudan has signed a peace deal with five rebel groups at a ceremony in neighbouring South Sudan. The deal is aimed at ending 17 years of conflict in the western region of Darfur and southern states. This is a significant step towards ending multiple conflicts in the country, reports the BBC’s senior Africa correspondent Anne Soy. Foreign news: BBC