Cameroonian artiste Tenor has been transferred to the Douala New-Bell prison where he has spent his first night following the accident he had on July 15 in Douala that led to the death of a 22-year-old girl identified as Erika Mouliom aboard the vehicle he was driving.
According to unconfirmed reports, Tenor will be serving a six month renewable provisional detention for involuntary manslaughter in connection with the accident last July 15 at the Feu rouge Bessengue neighbourhood in Douala.
Few days ago, Douala-based television channel, Equinoxe television reported that the family of the girl had deposited a complaint against the artiste who was just recovering from severe injuries he sustained during the said accident.
They say he is responsible for their daughter’s brutal exit from this world. Unconfirmed reports have it that on that faithful July 15, Tenor was driving back from a party in an intoxicated state.
When he got to Feu Rouge Bessengue, he missed his track and hit an electric pole, after which the car rolled before catching fire.
In the course of this, Erika Mouliom was projected from the back seat where she was through the front screen, on to the road where she hit her head violently and died on the spot.
The family had later on stormed the Douala Laquintinie Hospital where her corpse had been deposited to demand for explanations.
The same day, the father who was in Douala took his daughter’s corpse to their native Bamoun that same day. Talking to journalists, Georges Mouliom said Tenor would pay the dowry of his late daughter.
S.K.
The restive South West region of Cameroon has come first on the classification table of percentages recorded by all ten regions of the country in this year’s Baccalaureat General Examination amid acts of violence and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Though writing in a double context marked by the deadly COVID-19 pandemic and the close to five years long socio-political crisis rocking the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon, one of these regions, the South West topped the classification chart with 83.73%.
This classification follows the publication of results by the Office du Baccalaureat some two days ago. According to these results, the national success rate stands at 52.72%, a decrease as compared to last years’ that stood at 57.14%.
The registration rate increased with 104 692 candidates as compared to 90 759 last year, making an additional 13 933 candidates who sat for the exam this year.
After the South West region comes the North West, equally hard hit by the Anglophone crisis and the COVID-10 pandemic just like any other region in Cameroon.
The third region is the Littoral with 58%, followed by the Adamawa with 51, 41%. Some regions like the West witnessed a drop in position. It passed from the third position in 2020 to the sixth this year with a success rate of 50,67%.
S.K.
Cameroon’s chances to back home a medal at the ongoing Tokyo Olympic Games in Japan are becoming very slim as four times Africa Judoka, Hortence Mballa Atanga bows to Turkish counterparts and quits competition.
Team Cameroon at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games has seen her chances to win a medal at this global jamboree reduce drastically following the elimination of Judoka Hortence Mballa Atangana, one of the biggest and last medal hopefuls this Friday July 30.
She was humbled by her Turkish counterpart Sayid Kayra during the first round of the women’s Judoka 78 kilograms range sending her out of the competition.
Not only does her exit reduces Cameroon’s chances of getting a medal but it equally crumbles any hope of getting the medal in the Judoka discipline given that she was the last athlete in her discipline still competing. Her colleague, Sophina Arrey Ayuk crashed out Thursday July 29.
That notwithstanding, the two athletes in the swimming discipline have put a smile on the faces of the team and the country in general after they both won their opening 50 metres free style series at the game this Friday July 30.
They nevertheless failed to be among the top 16 retained for the semis in their category. The two plus Mballa Atangana brings the number of Cameroonians to have dropped out of the competition to eight, meaning just four are left among them flag bearer Emilienne Tiako Essomba in weight lifting.
S.K.
The Government of Cameroon and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have reached a new financial and economic deal that will cover the 2021-2024 period amid calls for the Bretton Woods institution to suspend any of such funding until Cameroon provides an account of the COVID-19 funds.
In a press release issued Thursday July 29, the Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze says the new triennial support amounting to FCFA 375 billion was approved by the Board of Directors of the International Monetary Fund Thursday through its enlarged facility credit and its enlarged credit mechanism.
It is aimed at reviving Cameroon’s economy hard-hit by the crippling COVID-19 pandemic from the year 2021 to 2024 and providing sufficient financing for the Government to better address the pandemic.
According to the press release, in a bid to support Cameroon’s efforts to reinforce its external position as well as public finance, IMF Board members equally approved to disburse a first installment of 45%, amounting to FCFA 96 billion.
This new financial grant from the International Monetary Fund comes as a surprise to many, given that the institution had clearly stated that in the absence of a report on the management of the FCFA 180 billion disbursed for the response against the COVID-19 pandemic reported to have been allegedly misappropriated, no new grant would be made.
Cameroonians had stormed their social media pages to back this move from the International Monetary Fund, asking Government to account for every dime disbursed.
Some 20 Women had including front line activists Bar Alice Kom and Kah Wallah had signed a memorandum, urging the IMF to suspend the funding due to Cameroon's mismanagement of COVID-19 funds and reluctance to solve the Anglophone conflict.
After what seemed to be clear that part of the money was diverted and no one is yet to account for it, some Cameroonians have expressed dissatisfaction with the new disbursement, indicating it will still be swindled.
S.K.
The Judicial Police in Gabon has laid hands on three Cameroonians who broke into the house of their Gabonese boss in the Sotega neighbourhood last month in his absence and made away with FCFA 15 million.
Three Cameroonians living in Gabon are currently meditating on their faith after they were arrested for breaking into their boss’ house in his absence, ransacking the house and making away with FCFA 15,800,000.
The three suspects Agence Cameroun Presse got the names as Aboubakar, Saidou and Toto two of whom worked as drivers of the man according to Gabonese-based website, Gabonactu.com broke into his house located in the Sotega neighbourhood a month ago after planning it well ahead.
Aboubakar, said to be the brain behind the operation told elements of the Gabonese Judicial Police that one of his brothers (to say Cameroonian) had an idea that he shared with him. “He told me we could go and take something from him, share among ourselves and start afresh. I told my other brother who still worked in the house to ease things for us…” Aboubakar told the Gabonese police.
The three men thus agreed on the day to commit their misdeed. “We got to the house all dressed in blue, we rang and the house help opened. After presentations, we tied her up then ransacked the house…” The second suspect told the police.
At the end of the fruitful search, they varnished with the sum of FCFA 15,800,000. Curious enough is the uneven distribution. According to the burglars, Aboubakar pocketed almost all the money, that is FCFA 12,400,000, Saidou the driver took 3,000,000 and the last one Toto, was cheated on what the burglary had yielded and given just 400,000.
They were all arrested following investigations launched by the Gabonese Judicial Police recently and will appear before the State Prosecutor in Gabon this Friday July 30.
S.K.
Cameroon through its Minister Delegate at the Presidency of the Republic, Joseph Beti Assembly has vowed to wage a ceaseless campaign to see into the end of Boko Haram incursions in localities in the Far North region that have claimed many lives both on the side of soldiers and civilians.
Minister Beti Assomo was speaking Thursday July 29 during a crisis security meeting with top military officials and local administrators in the Far region prompted by two recent deadly attacks by the Islamist sect.
The Defense boss said the recent attacks and previous ones on control posts by the terrorist organisation won’t go without retaliation with regards to their deadly natures and indicated that new strategies will be implemented to that effect.
Nothing was disclosed on the said strategies but the confident Defense boss said results will speak for him. The population on their part was urged to cooperate with security forces and the administration in the region to ensure an effective retaliation and protection.
According to figures from Human Right Watch, the Islamist armed group has stepped up attacks on civilians in towns and villages in the Far North region of Cameroon since December 2020, killing about 100 civilians. The group has also looted hundreds of homes in the region.
In the month of April, the Non-Governmental Organisation called on authorities to take concrete measures to both increase protection of vulnerable communities and ensure a rights-respecting security force response to the worsening violence.
“Boko Haram is waging a war on the people of Cameroon at a shocking human cost,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “As Cameroon’s Far North region increasingly becomes the epicenter of Boko Haram’s violence, Cameroon should urgently adopt and carry out a new, rights-respecting strategy to protect civilians at risk in the Far North.”
Human Rights Watch documented how a Boko Haram suicide bomber blew up fleeing civilians, dozens of local fishermen were killed with machetes and knives, and an elderly village chief was assassinated in front of his family. Research suggests that the actual number of casualties is much higher, given the difficulty of confirming details remotely and that attacks often go unreported.
S.K.
C’est ce que révèle un rapport publié par Amnesty International sur l’ampleur des destructions récentes causées par la crise qui secoue les régions anglophones du Cameroun depuis bientôt cinq ans.
Depuis la fin de 2016, une crise initialement basée sur des revendications corporatistes des avocats et enseignants qui ont progressivement basculé vers des revendications sécessionnistes fortes en raison des réponses jugées insuffisantes du gouvernement camerounais met à mal la situation sécuritaire des régions anglophones.
Raids, kidnapping, affrontements violents entre divers groupes armés et forces armées camerounaises et bien d’autres sont devenus le pain quotidien des populations de cette partie du pays.
Dans un rapport publié le 28 juillet 2021 avec témoignages et images satellite révélant l’ampleur des destructions causées par cette crise, Amnesty International indique que L'arrondissement de Nwa, dans le Donga-Mantung, situé le long de la frontière entre le Cameroun et le Nigeria, est particulièrement touché par les récentes violences.
Selon l’enquête de l’organisation non gouvernementale internationale : «entre le 22 et le 26 février 2021, au moins 4 200 personnes ont été déplacées de sept villages de Nwa, à la suite d’attaques menées par des comités de vigilance fulanis, qui ont coûté la vie à au moins huit personnes… »
L’ONG poursuit dans son rapport que : «les images satellite analysées montrent qu’au moins quatre villages ont été détruits ou incendiés à Nwa en février 2021. On ignore si les comités de vigilance fulanis ont attaqué les villages ou si ces destructions sont dues aux affrontements avec les groupes armés séparatistes, mais les images laissent supposer que les destructions sont plutôt récentes.
Bien que Amnesty International reconnait l’implication de Fulanis dans la violence qui sévit dans les régions anglophones, le rapport publié par l’ONG souligne qu’ils sont également la cible des groupes séparatistes en ce que depuis 2017 et dans les sept départements de la région du Nord-Ouest:
L’ONG regrette que ce climat d’insécurité perdure dans les deux régions anglophones avec une intervention limitée du gouvernement camerounais et la communauté internationale qui n’évoque quasiment pas le sujet.
Elle suggère donc à la communauté internationale : « d'engager publiquement les autorités camerounaises à diligenter sans délai des investigations approfondies, indépendantes et impartiales sur les allégations de violations des droits humains et, s’il existe des preuves recevables suffisantes, à intenter des poursuites contre les responsables présumés de ces agissements dans le cadre de procès équitables, devant des juridictions civiles ordinaires, sans recourir à la peine de mort. Enfin, la communauté internationale doit veiller à ce que l’aide humanitaire destinée à répondre aux besoins des personnes touchées par les violences, notamment les réfugiées et les personnes déplacées, dispose des fonds nécessaires. »
Stevy K.
Le spécialiste en gastroentérologie qui réside aux Etats-Unis a été récompensé pour son excellence professionnelle et sa performance remarquable dans son domaine.
Le vert rouge jaune flotte de nouveau à l’international grâce au Camerounais Basile Njei. Les prouesses du médecin qui exerce dans le domaine de la gastroentérologie viennent d’être reconnues par les Etats-Unis.
Il figure dans la très sélective et convoitée liste des médecins les plus honorés aux Etats-Unis en 2021 (America’s Most Honored Doctors 2021) pour son excellence professionnelle tel que relayé par le site américain, americanregistry.com.
Selon ce même site, le camerounais exerce en tant que gastroentérologue depuis plus de 13 ans et a prouvé qu’il est diffèrent des autres praticiens de ce domaine.
Le natif de la région du nord-ouest du pays est un ‘génie’ depuis toujours. Il était classé parmi les cinq meilleurs élèves au GCE Advanced level l’année ou il a pris part à cet examen officiel du sous-système anglophone.
Basile Njei se distingue également par son parcours remarquable. Il a obtenu sa licence et son doctorat en médicine avec mention à l’Université de Yaoundé I avant de s’envoler pour le Royaume-Uni après avoir obtenu une bourse du programme British Commonwealth/Chevenning scholarship pour poursuivre sa formation en santé publique à l’Université d’Edimbourg.
Après sa maitrise en santé publique, le camerounais s’est engagé dans une formation de résident à l’Université du Connecticut et en gastroentérologie/hépatologie à l’Université de Yale.
Ses domaines d’intérêt clinique sont l’hépatite virale, les complications de la cirrhose du foie, l’hypertension portale, la NAFLD et le cancer du foie.
En dehors du America’s Most Honored Doctors 2021 prix, Basile Njei a également reçu le Howard Levine-MD Science Award, l’ACG Fellow in Training Award, l’AASLD Fellow Travel Award, l’AASLD Young Investigator Award et le Samuel Award for Excellence in Research pendant son stage de formation a Yale.
S.K.
Four persons including a three-year-old child and an 18-year-old student have been confirmed dead and dozens of others injured in a road accident which occurred at the La Falaise de Mbe in the Adamawa region of Cameroon.
Blood has once again spilled on the road in Cameroon. Four people amongst them a three-year-old child saw life stripped out of them in an accident at the la falaise cliff near Ngaoundere in the Adamawa region.
The unfortunate accident involved a 70 seater inter-urban transport bus belonging to the Danay Express Travel Agency with about 60 passengers at the time of the accident occurred earlier Wednesday July 28.
The bus left the town of Ngaoundere en route to Maroua in the neighbouring Far North region when the unfortunate incident occurred at la falaise de Mbe.
The driver, reported to be on top speed drove off the high way and crashed on a tree. Four persons including a three-year-old child, an 18-year-old student and two elderly persons of ages 55 and 70 died on the spot.
30 other passengers sustained injuries, severe ones for some and are currently receiving treatment at the Ngaoundere Regional Hospital.
The scene of this accident, la falaise de Mbe reminds us of a similar cliff in Dschang, a town in the West region of Cameroon where many people lost their lives since the beginning of this year due to either reckless driving or poor state of the buses.
S.K.
Le ministre délégué à la présidence chargé de la défense, Joseph Beti Assomo en visite de travail dans cette région, victime des attaques à répétitions de la secte islamiste boko haram est allé réconforter les soldats blessés et internés à l’hôpital militaire de Maroua.
En l’espace de trois jours, Boko Haram a fait treize morts et plusieurs blessés dans les rangs des militaires dans deux attaques à l’Extrême-Nord du pays. En visite de travail de remobilisation des troupes dans cette partie du pays, le ministre délégué à la présidence chargé de la défense est allé apporter le réconfort du chef de l’Etat et de la nation tout entière à ces soldats blessés au champ de bataille.
Il a tenu à rassurer les militaires qu’il n’y aura pas de faille dans l’encadrement des victimes qui souffrent entres autres de traumatismes, fractures, amputations, blessures graves, etc. «Nous voulons rassurer les militaires blessés de tous le réconfort, de tous le soutien moral et même matériel de Monsieur le Président de la République et de l’ensemble du haut commandement… »
En ce qui concerne ceux qui sont tombés en défendant l’intégrité territoriale, Joseph Beti Assomo rassure également des dispositions qui seront prises pour des obsèques dignes de leur sacrifice ultime.
«L’armée n’oublie jamais ses hommes, quel que soit ce qui leur est arrivée. Tout sera mis en œuvre pour que les militaires morts au front récemment et ceux qui sont décédés sur tous les théâtres d’opérations ait droit à des obsèques, nous souhaitons rapide pour alléger la douleur de leurs familles et de leurs camarades… » a indiqué le patron de la défense.
De quoi motiver les survivants qui se disent d’ailleurs près à retourner au front une fois rétablis pour assurer la protection des personnes et des biens ainsi que de l’intégrité territorial du Cameroun et général et en particulier de la région de l’Extrême-Nord.
La visite du ministre Beti Assomo s’achève ce jeudi par une réunion de travail avec les chefs militaires locaux et les autorités administratives. Il sera question de revoir la stratégie en place pour une meilleure défense.
S.K.
