The Minister of Public Health Andre Mama Fouda, is expected today 29 May 2017 at the Douala General hospital, the Laquintinie hospital and the  Gynaecology, obstetrics and pedriatic hospital.

This is filed in a document which he signed, notifying the aforementioned hospitals that he will be visiting them.

In the communique, the Minister said, the media and other authorities will not be allowed access to the meetings he is to chair.

This comes at a time when health personnel especially those of the Litoral Region,  have been protesting and demanding government improvement in their working conditions.

Minister Andre Mama Fouda's objective is to put an end to the strike which started in March. He did not disclose the topics they will be discussing about.

While other striking health professionals still maintain their position to keep on with the protests, some strike leaders who have been transferred to other areas of the country, resumed work yesterday Sunday 28 May.

In a way to stop poaching in the Korup National Park in the South West region of Cameroon, the authorities have devised a way to discourage illegal hunters from hunting down the game found in the Reserve by handing over motor bikes to the hunters who have been killing the animals for a livelihood. The hunters will now become bike riders to earn a living and in that way, stopping illegal hunting of endangered species inside the Korup National Park.

Tuesday the 23^rd of MAY, ten hunters including Sona Ebongwe handed over their guns to the authorities and signed for new motor bikes which according to Mr. Sona, is a life changing opportunity. He also said “I am very happy for what the authorities have done to us, hunting is quite a risky deal because we can either be caught by the administration and brought to justice or killed by a raging elephant or buffalo. Now I will have to spend most of my time around people not the bush.”

Poaching has been one of the major factors reducing the number of wildlife in the Game Reserve and the authorities have been working day and night for measures to curb this illicit practice among the villages around the area and this idea seems to be working.

The National Gendarmerie claimed recently to have intensified efforts to ensure safety on highways in Cameroon. But a recent video has revealed that the continuation of the “Operation Control-Monitor-Punish has instead been a source of extorting money from drivers and other road users.

 

In this video, officers could be seen taking bribe from drivers at a control point at Santa, Mezam Division. The officers were boldly sharing the fruits of their standing in the sun amongst themselves.

In 1998, the Roman Catholic Bishops of Cameroon stated that corruption has attained a suicidal level in the country.

Today, it has culminated to being a normal way of life - those who practice it no longer feel the slightest guilt – their consciences are sealed.

Cameroon's police/gendermarie is inefficient, poorly trained and plagued by corruption. Bribery is widespread among the police and officers often demand payments at checkpoints as you can watch in this video, and in exchange for granting unlawful freedom to detainees (HRR 2016). Further, corrupt police officials arrest and abuse individuals in exchange for monetary rewards from influential entities and individuals (HRR 2016).

Over half of Cameroonians consider the police to be corrupt (GCB 2015). The government took some steps to hold officers accountable for abuse of functions, yet impunity remained widespread in the institution (HRR 2016). Cameroonian police cannot be relied upon to enforce law and order.

 

The comportment of the president of La Republique du Cameroun in recent times has been so fascinating to observe from the onlooker’s position. President Paul Biya has been acting like a cat on hot bricks or better still a mother who returns from a long journey just to find her plates in disarray. But this is not the story of a mother. It is the tale of a president who is almost drowning in the sea of strong pressure coming from just every nook and cranny of his little country.

We may have to walk a little backward in time to observe this waking moment Biya may never forget in his lifetime. All began in 2016, precisely in October, with the Eseka train derailment that left scores of people dead and hundreds more injured.

Our “father” had been enjoying a never-ending holiday in a “celestial hotel” in his Switzerland paradise when the shock hit him right on the nose. After a conference in the US, His Excellency had simply crossed over to Switzerland to have a nice time and breathe “fresh and sweet air” like a child running away from its responsibility of assisting Mama with her chores.

The never-ending holiday had spanned several weeks notwithstanding tough pressure from Cameroonians at home and abroad. But the only thing that could wake Biya from his slumber was the breaking news that might have reached him first through social media that  Camrail had buried scores of his people.

 

Biya ,who could not yet sense real danger, carried on with his slumber  thereafter, not knowing that it was just the tip of the iceberg.

Then followed the Anglophone Struggle, which Biya must admit [inwardly] is the most challenging problem he has faced during his “everlasting reign” that has spanned more than three decades already.

Thanks to this unstoppable cry from the people of West Cameroon, the supreme ruler of La Republic has embarked on reforms he never dreamed of, even in his childhood nightmares. He has signed so many decrees that he cannot even ascertain the number, even if he were to do it as part of a contest to select the most intelligent president in the world.

The English language that his regime has always tried to bury in favour of the less powerful French language has received the highest attention in its history in the country. Even so, Biya would never accept defeat or call a spade a spade. That is probably why instead of glorifying English, he hides behind the so-called bilingualism to create a certain National Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multiculturalism; all in a bit to avoid admitting that English is the king of the jungle.

For how  long has Cameroon been “bilingual” ? I guess reunification was in 1972. “Father”, you have to fall back into slumber and taste the bitter side of things once more.

Most interestingly, the regime recently claimed the English version of the OHADA text had been in existence for several years now. If that claim was true, then it confirms the deep slumber the regime had been in. That was after irresistible pressure from common law lawyers as part of the cry against the marginalization of West Cameroon by La Republique.

We may not have to cite appointments Biya has been obliged by circumstances beyond his “control” to make. And West Cameroonians have taken central stage in the appointments.

Papa has just created a football academy in his country, which he terms Anafoot. We have also officially put in place a specialized female football league, which Helene Sakwe has been called to lead.

Papa, slumber could be good. Try again.

 

The Cameroon Airlines Corporation (Camair-Co) has announced a 20% cut for flights from and to the three northern regions of the country. The new marketing strategy that will be implemented as from 1st June 2017, targets Maroua, Garoua and Ngaoundere.
The announcement was made during a meeting in Ngaoundere on May 22nd 2017. Cameroon-Info.Net reports that the meeting brought together Camair-Co’s management, partners and customers.
Ernest Dikoum, general management of Camair-Co, explains that a to-and-fro journey between Yaounde and  Ngaoundere could cost FCFA 68, 840.

 
According to the management of the airline, more than 80 weekly flights are regularly  being carried out   between some six regional capitals, including Yaounde, Douala , Bafoussam, Ngaoundere and Garoua.
Going by what Camair-Co says, there are four flights to and from Yaounde and Daouala everyday; ten fights every week from Douala and Yaounde to the three northern regions of the nation.
The lone airline operator in Cameroon currently operates five aircraft.
Unfortunately, the two Anglophone regions of the country do not feature on the airline’s table.
According to the company’s website, their flights target five national destinations, seven Central and West African nations and one destination out of the continent, France.
Camair-Co is seducing passengers at a time when the transport climate in Cameroon is going through serious trials. Camrail, railway transport operator in the country, is yet to recover from the shock of the so-called report of PM Yang’s Inquiry Commission on the Eseka train derailment that claimed several lives and left hundreds of persons severely injured in 2016.