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Ngwa Bertrand

22.Sep.2014

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Inhabitants of the neighbourhood now enjoy abundant water supply after a period of hardship.

After eight months of dry taps in the Efoulan neighbourhood of Yaounde, inhabitants have since early  September , 2014 been enjoying continuous water supply. This, they say, is thanks to the just-ended road repairs in the area. Carole Nouguem, a victim of the Efoulan water crises told Cameroon Tribune (CT) that they had been experiencing water crises long before road works commenced in February 2014. "It was only when the contractors finished repairing the roads that we had water because they arranged the pipes while repairing the road", she said.

During the crises, people depended mostly on rain water and water pulled from wells to survive while children often had to trek long distances and cross the highway just to fetch water, thereby putting their lives in danger. A ten-year-old boy whose name CT only got as Yvan also expressed excitement because he used to wake up at 6:00 a.m. with his siblings to go fetch water from Tchomo, a neighbouring street some 20 kilometres from the railroad behind the Cellulose Transformation Industry (SITRACEL), Efoulan. This was even more disturbing to parents especially as the school year was approaching.

CT also caught up with another inhabitant of the area, Severin Mbarga who claimed that the Cameroon Water Utility Company (CDE) recently brought water bills of over FCFA 14000, dating back to January 2014 with a fine of FCFA 4500 whereas there had been water shortage for over eight months. "However, upon confronting the CDE agents, the issue of fines was rectified," said Severin Mbarga.

Inhabitants have been enjoying free flow of water for five days and this has greatly helped school children especially who no longer have to go late to school due to water scarcity.

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Ngwa Bertrand

22.Sep.2014

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 Rains are back in virtually all the regions of the country and their arrival is causing untold hardship in several parts of the country, notably in the coastal areas, the West and the northern regions. The back-to-school movement has come to further exacerbate the numerous difficulties usually encountered by the arrival of rains. Residents of rural Cameroon are paying a particularly difficult price as vehicles can hardly ever get to areas of huge human concentrations where, unfortunately, many of the boarding institutions are located, chosen for their calmness and the good atmosphere for study and concentration. The reopening of schools has brought the problem to the limelight, but even without this pretext, there is every reason to worry about the condition of many roads in the country, especially with the negative impact the situation has on the performance of the economy because of the difficulty of moving goods out of production zones either to consumption areas or to export ports. Most importantly, these vehicles circulate in other countries without the same damages occurring on the roads. Ordinary road users have often blamed the situation on the lack of adequate funds to finance road projects in a manner as to satisfy the high demand in the rural areas. But a few days ago, an official explained the difficult situation on a premise difficult to accept for a country in dire need of roads and other transportation facilities. Engineers in the Ministry of Public Works blame the degradation of the nation’s highways less on the construction inadequacies than on the way the roads are used.

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Ngwa Bertrand

22.Sep.2014

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The Franco-Cameroonian lawyer detained in a Cameroonian prison since January 2010.

The verdict in the trial of Lydienne Yen Eyoum has been postponed to 26 September. Lydienne Yen Eyoum, who has been in provisional detention for nearly five years, must still wait to hear the verdict in the trial opposed to the State of Cameroon for embezzlement of public funds.

To have been rendered Thursday, September 11, the latter has in effect been postponed by the president of the tribunal, Yap Abdou, to September 26.

According to him, one of the judges required for the collegiality is not present at the hearing. "It is a maneuver", retorted Yondo Black, lawyer of Lydienne Yen Eyoum.

"These are instructions coming from the top", he believes. Yondo Black also said that, in this case, his client will be struck off the bar of Douala. He believes that there is nothing else to do but wait for the verdict of 26 September.

In the meantime, Lydienne Yen Eyoum remains in detention at Kondengui, the central prison in Yaounde. She has been incarcerated since January 2010, pending the end of a trial, including one of his co-accused, former deputy minister of Finance in charge of the Budget, Henri Engoulou, who died in detention the May 8, 2014.

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Ngwa Bertrand

22.Sep.2014

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The city of Douala is struggling to cope with what the great Barrister Ben Muna noted as the challenges of the 21^st century. It is not even its attempts at answering the urban questions. It is about normal traffic lights that are now being introduced throughout the city. The people of Bessengue in Douala have witnessed more than 12 accidents within two days at Carrefour Mobil Bonakouamouang. A resident who spoke to CAMCORD’s Rita Akana last night, observed that technology is finally coming to a country where citizens are not use to respecting rules and regulations. Some residence have suggested that the Douala city council should continue with traffic police for some time in order not to over  labour the “sapeurs-pompiers department” like what has been going on within the last two days.

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Ngwa Bertrand

16.Sep.2014

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Sama Ernest

President Paul Biya (81) has today honoured the visiting General Director of UNESCO, Irina Bokova. During an audience at state house which lasted more than an hour, Mr. Biya praised UNESCO and its leadership for contributing towards peace and prosperity around the globe. Both leaders discussed the improvement of already existing good relationship between Cameroon and UNSESCO. President Biya without consulting the National Assembly conferred the National Order of Valour which is Cameroon’s highest honour to Mrs Irina Bokova.  The UNESCO boss then paid a courtesy call at the National Higher Teachers Training College (ENS) where she again was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Yaoundé University 1.

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Ngwa Bertrand

16.Sep.2014

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