Society

South Africa’s acting President Cyril Ramaphosa is in charge as acting president until parliament elects a new leader Thursday afternoon following the resignation of Jacob Zuma, the government said.

The 400-member parliament, dominated by the ruling African National Congress party, is expected to select Ramaphosa to finish his predecessor’s term, which ends with elections in 2019.

“The newly elected President will then address the sitting thereafter,” the ruling party said in a statement.

The new president will also deliver the postponed state of the nation address on Friday evening. Zuma had been unable to give the speech because of the leadership crisis.

The South African currency, the rand, strengthened against the dollar in early trading Thursday after Zuma’s resignation, which ended political turmoil that had stalled some government business. Ramaphosa has promised to fight graft, though he faces the hard task of rejuvenating a ruling party whose leaders had supported Zuma for years before finally turning against him.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation welcomed Zuma’s departure but said the state must act against “networks of criminality” that have hurt South Africa’s democracy.

On the centenary of the anti-apartheid leader’s 1918 birth, “there is a need to reckon with the failures of the democratic era,” the foundation said. “We believe that we are at a critical moment in our history, one which offers us the unique opportunity to reflect, to rebuild, and to transform.

CCTV AFRICA

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Rita Akana

15.Feb.2018

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British Minister of State for Africa Harriett Baldwint has stressed the need for Cameroon to adopt dialogue to resolve unrest in the Anglophone region.

Baldwin of West Worchestershire who doubles as a Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) made the call after a trip to Cameroon.

The trip afforded her the opportunity to meet with a number of stakeholders in the restive region especially in the southwest capital of Buea.

The meeting took place at Mountain Hotel Buea, with  Harriett Baldwin alongside H.E Rowan Laxton, British High Commissioner to Cameroon.

“Important visit to Buea in South West Anglophone region hearing from local people about the impact of the ongoing dispute and the urgent need for dialogue,” she said in a tweet accompanied by a photo of a meeting of leaders in Buea.

Some other work she did had to do with environment conservation and the opening of an educational facility.

We discussed a broad range of issues, including the growing refugee crisis, internally displaced due to the current crisis, conditions of detainees with some facing trial in military courts and some detained without charges or trial, continuous arrests ongoing in North West and South West Regions, burning of houses and villages reportedly done by the military, killings going on in both regions and the conditions of the terrorised civilian population caught in the middle of war.
Raising concerns on the extradition of Ayuk Tabe Julius and 46 others arrested in Nigeria. Currently detained incommunicado, with no access to family and lawyers.

In the presence of civil society representatives and clergy, we mutually agreed that, finding solutions to the human rights and security situation remains a priority.

However, to find a long lasting solution to the crisis, The United Kingdom and other international partners must push for dialogue with representatives of the people.
—Agbor Nkongho
CENTRE for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa.

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Rita Akana

15.Feb.2018

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 Jacob Zuma's roller coaster ride as President of Africa's third largest economy,  and the most sophisticated, is over.

Since rumours began swirling around about his resignation, the Rand, the country's legal tender, is according Bloomberg, one of the best performing currencies on their chart of emerging economies.

No one expected that the man married to several wives and who has resurrected several times politically, while declared dead, will ever tender or accept to go as he has done. Zuma is a political phoenix or he is a political cat with 9 lives. But this time around, it was time up.

The credit for Zuma' resignation goes to the ruling party, ANC, that he was the head of intelligence during guerilla warfare and also as chairman. While the party has been supporting Jacob Zuma to the point of helping him survive several no confidence votes in parliament initiated by the opposition, the same ANC has to decided force their now erstwhile champion out of the political scene.

Why? Simply because, Jacob Zuma was no longer a political asset, but a liability to the ANC. The ANC under the stewardship of Zuma was characterized by divisions an as President of the Republic of South Africa, he was marred by successions of scandals.

He did not only ruin the reputation of South Africa, he made seemingly invincible ANC, vulnerable. It is now left to be seen whether its new leader, Cyril Ramaphosa will be able to turn around the battered image of the party of Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo and Walter Sisulu.

What the cadres of the ANC have done, shows that, they have their party and country at heart. It is what the ruling parties in Congo Brazzaville, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo would have done or should emulate.

Take Cameroon for example, its ruling CPDM party has been in power since 1982, but has nothing to show of not political and economic degradation. It's because of the ruling Cameroon's People Democratic Movement, that the Anglophone crisis has degenerated.

Sadly, members of the ruling party of Cameroon have never thought it wise to force Biya out because he has become a liability to the party and the country. On the contrary and shockingly, some members of the ruling party want the old tired President who is officially 85 to run for the top job of the land this year.

The Republic of Congo Brazzaville is in a similar situation. Its long-standing President, Denis Sassou Nguesso has destroyed the country, yet the ruling Congolese Workers Party, PCT is clinging to a man who is running the country as a family and tribal business.

Cadres of the PCT even when the extra mile of supporting Sassou Nguesso to change the constitution in 2015. To pay them back, immediately he was fraudulently elected in April 2016, he sparked a war in Pool region. It is a classic example of human orchestrated disaster. For 80 thousand people in the Pool region need assistance that the broke government can't afford and many more have died or missing.

Normally, cadres of the PCT would have sat down and decide to force Sassou Nguesso out of power. Perhaps with has happened in South Africa, which is not the first though, political party leaders, especially those of the ruling party will now understand the need to put country first before their individual or political interest.

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Elie Smith

14.Feb.2018

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The trick star and maverick Politician, Paul Biya has decided this time around to use but these brain washed youths. Haven understood the worthlessness of the People's call, which became a huge scandal, these youths had to gather in Yaoundé, at the Yaoundé Conference Centre.

Gathering under the auspices of " Friends of Popaul" It beats my imagination that youths of age 40 and below can pretend that they are Biya's friends when the realities on the ground show great disparities and frustration. Youth unemployment is galloping and all appointments are given to retirees, who have worked with the government and are brought back to continue where they rested.

Even the Senatorial Election does not give priority to youths below 40 years of age. Where then is the place of these youths who gathered at the Conference Centre as " Friends of Popaul" pretentiously clamouring for Paul Biya to stand in the forth coming Presidential Elections.

The purported come together of Youths cutting across all Sociocultural spheres is to pretend to the International community that the Country is one. Deceit and manipulation has its flaws and these flaws are unamendable. Instead of struggling to admit that the Anglophone crisis is real and only genuine dialogue and the resolve of the root cause as requested by the UN can peace return to this once an Island of peace amidst troubled waters.

The confused youths amounting to three thousand answered present paid and lodged by the state on a wasteful venture that has no bearing. Can Paul Biya show his balance sheet to anybody and claim that it's a positive one? His tenure as President of Cameroon has brought untold turmoil to the country. Cameroonians attribute Economic Crisis to his tenure and to his person.

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Rita Akana

14.Feb.2018

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What does the Electoral code say about this election? The depositions related to the senatorial election are contained in Article 8 of the Electoral code. This years Senatorial election is slated for the 25 th of March, 2018. The electoral college had been summoned to that effect on the 7, February 2018..

The organization of this election is defined by law no 2012/001 of 19 April 2012 being the Electoral code. In Chapter 8, the electoral code dwells on articles 212 and 242, thus defining and modifying the modus oparandi of the elections, eligibility, the electoral college, the declaration of candidature, electoral campaigns, voting and proclamation of results.

It should be noted that the Senate has a five mandate and new elections are organized, forty days to the end of the previous mandate. The elections are of mixed candidates and one round. Each party participating in the elections is obliged to present a list of 8 candidates chosen amongst his militants, having the main candidate and an alternate candidate for each Poll.

Each aspiring senator must be of age 40 or on or before the election date. The Senate in Cameroon has a capacity of 100 seats and out of these, only 70 are on offer for elections and the remaining 30 are appointed by the head of state. Each Senatorial candidate is obliged to pay a caution fee of one million francs CFA. The Senatorial election is a list system and there isn't any possibility of swapping of names on a submitted list.

The electoral college is made up of municipal councillors. They are obliged to vote . The voters list is published per poll 30 days before the elections.

They are given special electoral cards uniquely for the senatorial election. These cards are supposed to be distributed by Elecam , within 20 days before the Senatorial election.

The constitutional council has fifteen days maximum to proclaim the results of the elections. The candidate with the highest votes per poll is declared the winner and thus the Senator for that Division.

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Rita Akana

13.Feb.2018

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It's so saddening today that the African sociocultural and cosmic Fibre that use to connect families and lineages together seemingly have become ruined by copy catting of European ways of life. These mundane European ways of life that aren't comparable to ours have left societies in a state of topsy turvy. If this wasn't the scenario, how could a nephew be accused by the uncle for haven confiscated his home, illicitly converting it into his father's residence.

The complainant, Florent . E accuses his nephew for illicitly converting his house to his father's residence. Tabling the matter at the Nfoundi Court of First Instance, his nephew presented his own version of the story. " As a son of my father, my sister hadn't any place she could call her home.

My father then showed her a house in the Etoudi neighborhood. Before she died she left behind very firm instructions, alluding that the house should become the property of their elder brother, who had passed away several years ago. The house was then given to his daughter.

When she became of age or matured,she came and requested for the parcel of land that is being occupied by sister and her children. My sister rejected her request. Unfortunately she decided to begin creating problems here and there. Now her children want to recuperate what belongs to them and they are refusing to bulge.

It's for this reason that this complaint has been filed in two different courts for judgment and verdicts by the competent Court Judges.

The case has been adjourned for a latter date. Cases in Cameroon often suffer from protracted adjournments and this kills the spirit of equity and justice .Justice delayed is justice denied.

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Rita Akana

13.Feb.2018

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