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The new Minister of Transport, Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o, is settling down to work. This comes after the euphoria during his installation by the Prime Minister, Head of Government, Philemon Yang, on October 5, 2015, sequel to the cabinet reshuffle of October 2, 2015. Not to waste any time in familiarising himself with his new role, Minister Mebe Ngo’o on Thursday, October 8, 2015, met with senior officials in Yaounde.

He restated the role of the ministry in boosting trade and the overall growth of the economy. Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o warned against any illegal practices, saying he would not allow the ministry to be transformed into a place where personal interests override State concerns. The aim of the meeting was to know the officials, understand their work and challenges and give instructions on the way forward. 

Amongst his emergency tasks, the new Minister of Transport promised to give priority attention to the situation of the national carrier, Camair-Co. After giving the floor to officials to talk about work, the Minister paid tribute to his predecessor, Prof. Robert Nkili. He listed the guiding principles of his tenure to be unquestionable loyalty to the State and Head of State, discipline, punctuality, moral rectitude and respect for seniors. The Minister of Transport insisted on the need for dialogue, consulting each other, collaboration and efficiency for better output.

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Ngwa Bertrand

13.Oct.2015

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The CPDM government and the African Union have signed an agreement making Yaounde the home of the Continental Logistics Base of the African Standby Force. Both sides put pen to paper on Monday the 12th of October in Yaounde, the nation’s capital.

Cameroon Concord Intelligence Unit gathered Cameroon and the African Union were represented by Joseph Beti Assomo, the Minister Delegate at the Presidency of the Republic in charge of Defence and Smail Chergui, the Peace and Security Commissioner of the African Union. 

The agreement however stipulates that Cameroon’s economic capital, Douala will host the mechanized division of the force whose mission is the maintenance of peace throughout the continent.

The AU force will mobilize 25 000-30 000 men (military, police and civilian) from the five regions of the continent to combat Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab and many other armed gangs proliferating on the continent and hindering its development.

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Ngwa Bertrand

13.Oct.2015

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The new Minister of Transport, Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o, is settling down to work. This comes after the euphoria during his installation by the Prime Minister, Head of Government, Philemon Yang, on October 5, 2015, sequel to the cabinet reshuffle of October 2, 2015. Not to waste any time in familiarising himself with his new role, Minister Mebe Ngo’o on Thursday, October 8, 2015, met with senior officials in Yaounde.

He restated the role of the ministry in boosting trade and the overall growth of the economy. Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o warned against any illegal practices, saying he would not allow the ministry to be transformed into a place where personal interests override State concerns. The aim of the meeting was to know the officials, understand their work and challenges and give instructions on the way forward. 

Amongst his emergency tasks, the new Minister of Transport promised to give priority attention to the situation of the national carrier, Camair-Co. After giving the floor to officials to talk about work, the Minister paid tribute to his predecessor, Prof. Robert Nkili. He listed the guiding principles of his tenure to be unquestionable loyalty to the State and Head of State, discipline, punctuality, moral rectitude and respect for seniors. The Minister of Transport insisted on the need for dialogue, consulting each other, collaboration and efficiency for better output.

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Ngwa Bertrand

13.Oct.2015

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Eleven people have died following the sinking of their boat on the Logone river on Thursday. Cameroon government sources say the eleven people included seven women, three of them pregnant, three men and an infant. 

Fissou Kouma, the mayor of Yagoua in the North region also observed that the boatman and the mother of a newborn survived the sinking. The cause of the tragedy has still not been made public. However, Cameroon Concord gathered the canoe was rocked by a violent storm.

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Ngwa Bertrand

12.Oct.2015

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Senator and CPDM sub-section President for Benoue 1; North Region Honourable Youssouf Daoua is dead. He died on the 10th October 2015 in Garoua after a brief illness. He was top on the list of CPDM candidates shortlisted for the first ever senatorial elections organized in Cameroon in 2013. Before becoming a Senator, Youssouf Daoua was Parliamentarian for Benoue 1 after having served the Republic of Cameroon as Divisional Officer in Benoue for several years. 

The sudden twist of event has prompted the postponement of the official launching of elections for the renewal of basic organs of the CPDM party that was initially scheduled for the 12th October 2015. The elections have been moved to Friday 16th October.

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Ngwa Bertrand

12.Oct.2015

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Minister Laurent Esso has made public what he described as the achievements of the Special Criminal Court since its coming into being three years ago. The Justice Minister observed on Friday that the Special Criminal Court was handed 129 records of investigations to its special police force. 115 cases entered the prosecutors’ offices with 223 indictments. Minister Esso added that 41 decisions to discontinue proceedings were recorded with 3,140 billion CFA francs in refund. The Special Criminal Court also dished out 146 sentences of imprisonment including assorted fines and court costs, 78 acquittals, 30 billion F in damages pronounced in compensation suffered by the State . However, Cameroon Concord calls the Special Criminal Court the President’s court because it is one instrument of power through which the President is reining in on perceived opponents from within his CPDM power conduit. 

An attribute of a genuine court is the fairness of the trial proceedings in cases which are brought before the court for trial. It is not the number of convictions entered against accused. A court is legitimate and recognized as such because of its exercise of judicial, executive, legislative and administrative independence. A court that is independent must be accessible to all citizens after all, is equality before the law, not a constitutionally protected value? The Special Criminal Court is lacking in these attributes of impartiality, judicial independence and accessibility. It is perceived more as the President’s Court than a Court of Justice. Establishing this court was President Biya’s way of saving himself the embarrassment of being humiliated during his perennial trips abroad as the President of the most corrupt countries in the world. This ranking of the country as the most corrupt or one of the most corrupt countries had a potential to hamper President Biya’s personal pecuniary interests far from the borders of Cameroon. There was therefore a personal interest need to establish the court.

Another personal interest need was to avail himself of a legal tool under his direct control to consolidate absolute power, blackmail potential rebels and competitors within the system and to stifle any form of institutional opposition. He perceived the court as a tool with which to whitewash his more than thirty years of corrupt governance and the rape of the economy. With the war against Boko Haram, the fight against corruption using the Special Criminal Court has afforded Paul Biya justification contest in the next institutionally flawed elections in order to eternalize power purportedly to direct the war against terror and the war against corruption.

True to the name the President’s Court, the President has exclusive preserve in referring cases to the Special Court and the power to terminate them. He decides who will be arrested, who will be investigated and who will serve time and who will not. In one instance, he ordered a detained Minister Bapes Bapes released from remand custody at Kondengui when a warrant was issued for his arrest without the presidential fiat.

Recently Titus Edzoa a former Secretary-General at the Presidency of the Republic and former personal physician of the President benefitted from a purported Presidential pardon whose primary purpose was the release of a French citizen Thiery Atangana from jail. The fear of a presidential referral to the Special Criminal Court on additional charges of corruption under a practice devolved under the supervision of Paul Biya called “rouleur compresseur” pushed Titus Edzoa to rejoin the CPDM Party without a public resignation or repudiation of his membership of the party on which he intended to contest presidential elections prior to his incarceration. Edzoa was a victim of this system of presidential justice when new charges were brought against him when his first imprisonment was about to end in other to maintain him in prison.

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Ngwa Bertrand

12.Oct.2015

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