Society

Tanzania's foreign minister says East African leaders will hold a meeting next week over the ongoing political unrest in Burundi. Bernard Membe said on Wednesday that the "extraordinary summit" of the five-nation regional East Africa Community (EAC) would take place in Tanzania's economic capital of Dar es Salaam on May 13. The remarks came as East African foreign ministers arrived in Burundi on Wednesday following days of violent protests over President Pierre Nkurunziza’s controversial bid for a third term in office. Meanwhile, Burundi's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Daniel Kabuto said ministers from Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, were in the Burundian capital, Bujumbura, “to listen to all parties in the conflict, and to try to propose ways out of crisis.”  Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres said he was "extremely worried" about the crisis in Burundi that has resulted in over 35,000 refugees fleeing from the African state.

In a statement released last week, the EAC urged talks to ease tensions and to ensure "the realization of a peaceful, free and fair electoral process" and called on Burundi to "ensure that the electoral process does not lead to humanitarian crisis." The political unrest erupted in the African country late April after the National Council for the Defense of Democracy – Forces for the Defense of Democracy, which is the ruling party in Burundi and known by its French acronym, CNDD-FDD, designated the incumbent president as its candidate for the next presidential election due on June 26. Opposition forces say Nkurunziza’s bid for a third consecutive term in office is against the country’s constitution, as well as a peace deal that ended a civil war in the country some nine years ago. Nkurunziza, a former rebel leader from the majority Hutu tribe, has been in power for two terms since 2005. In October 1993, Melchior Ndadaye, the first democratically-elected president of Burundi who came from the Hutu ethnic group, was assassinated after only 100 days in office. The assassination triggered deadly ethnic violence between the Hutu majority and minority Tutsis. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed in the African nation's 13-year civil war that ended in 2006.

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Ngwa Bertrand

07.May.2015

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ADDAX Petroleum Cameroon has made huge donations to the University of Buea. The ADDAX Petroleum gift was channelled to the Faculty of Engineering and Technology of the university. Cameroon Concord understands the donation worth 96 million cfa was handed to the Buea University authorities during a twin ceremony that saw the launching of a solid partnership for renewable energy between the University of Buea and the mayors of the South West region.

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Ngwa Bertrand

14.Apr.2015

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It has emerged that some Ghanaian women who were recruited by a self styled travel and tour agent to Kuwait have been sold into sex slavery. The man who recruited the women is currently on the run and the police have mounted a man hunt to get him to face the law. The women who were said to be numbering around 20 have been stranded in the Gulf Nation and they say they live in fear every single day. One of the women who managed to hide her mobile phone in her private part called a local radio station- Adom Fm in the capital, Accra and said they fear they might be killed, alleging that some who got pregnant have been killed already. “The unfortunate part is that those of us who get pregnant are killed for no reason. We are so scared and don’t know what might happen to the rest of us so we want government to come to our aid,” she cried.

She said they were recruited by an agent who introduced them to some people in Kuwait who promised them a high paying job on arrival in the country. “We were promised by some people in Kuwait who said they will get us a good job and because we were so anxious to get something doing, we agreed,’’ she said. She further added that the promise was a scam and it was only when they got to Kuwait that they became aware that it was prostitution. “We later realized that all the promises were false after we discovered that we have actually been sold for Ghc7, 000 ($2, 000) and have been turned into sex slaves’’, she added. The Ghanaian Foreign Affairs Ministry has not commented on the issue but human rights activists are pressing for immediate action. The exodus of Ghanaians to the Gulf Nations has increased significantly this year due to the nature of the Ghanaian economy which is unable to create jobs for its citizens. Last month, a Ghanaian construction worker was beheaded by Islamic State militants in the southern Libyan city of Sirte.

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Ngwa Bertrand

31.Mar.2015

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In a press release issued from Douala, the economic capital of Cameroon, NGOs and other African institutions have strongly condemn the financial embezzlement and corruption that has rocked the distribution of food and non-food items to refugees in the Tindouf refugee camps.

Hoping to be heard, the Non Governmental Organizations appealed to the international community, specifically the European Union to end "diversions of donations, medicines and capital goods which are sold by government officials in countries like Algeria, Mauritania and Mali. The press statement also demanded a full audit of the Algerian Red Crescent.

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Ngwa Bertrand

29.Mar.2015

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The European Union has decided to set up two aid projects to help the Cameroon government, to support the humanitarian load caused by the influx of refugees on its soil. The EU "Marshall Plan" reportedly to be in two parts has a budget estimated at 4 million euros (2.6 billion CFA francs) which aims to strengthen the operational capacity of civil protection bodies including firefighters department and border policing. The second is topromote the socio-economic integration of disadvantaged youth in the region of the Far North region. The EU has announced a new program for rural development for much of the the Far North region.

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Ngwa Bertrand

25.Mar.2015

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The plane carrying Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo'o, Cameroon’s Minister at the Presidency of the Republic in charge of Defence nearly crashed on Tuesday in Ngaoundere,Cameroon Concord has learnt.  The minister on  Tuesday, March 24,  was in a plane on a tour of the North that missed landing operation twice due to heavy rain fall. Our informant in Ngaoundere revealed that the plane continued its way to Garoua. Edgar Alain Mbe Ngo’o was heading to Ngaoundere for the installation ceremony of appointed officials in his ministry on 28 February by President Biya.

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Ngwa Bertrand

25.Mar.2015

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