Society

Société de transports et équipements collectifs de Yaoundé (Stecy SA). This will be the name of the new company in charge of mass bus transport in the city of Yaoundé, the Cameroonian capital, we learned from official sources.

The activities of Stecy, which should have started prior to the ongoing 2016 women's AfCON, were postponed after this deadline due to delays in administrative procedures, the general management of this company announced.

Result of the public-private partnership between the Portuguese group Eximtrans Sarl/Irmaos Mota and the Urban Community of Yaoundé, the mayor office covering the whole capital; Stecy SA will replace on the Yaoundé roads the consortium gathering public Cameroonian institutions and the American group Parker International Industries.

 “Le Bus”, the company created through this first partnership signed in 2005, went bankrupt several months ago, and its 600 employees on a redundancy plan.

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Rita Akana

25.Nov.2016

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1. There was a deliberate misinformation in some quarters to make the demands of Anglophone teachers in Cameroon look like they were designed to expel their Francophone colleagues from the University of Buea. The GA dispelled this falsehood, pointing out that the goal of the strike was to draw government's attention to years of neglect and distortion of Anglophone cultural values and the grievous consequences Anglophones have suffered.

Our colleagues are only passive subjects in the ongoing abuse of Anglophone educational values and can, therefore, not be held responsible for what is obviously a systemic problem. The GA held that it was time to set a transparent framework that will put an end to further abuses in the future and restore equity, fairness and respect for excellence.

2. The GA also noted that the Letter of Invitation was vaguely styled to mask the purpose of the problem being discussed. Firstly, it did not refer to Anglophone Teacher Unions which have been yearning to be heard in the last 10 months. Secondly, it mentions "All other Teachers' Syndicates of Cameroon", a familiar tactic calculated to drown the voice of the Anglophone Teachers if or when they attend the meeting.

Thirdly, SYNES-UB Chapter is not specifically mentioned as an invitee to the talks. By this very design, the MINESUP hopes to exclude Anglophone University lecturers from any future discussion. Finally, the President of SYNES-UB was not mentioned on the list of invitees to the meeting read today afternoon over CRTV. On the strength of the foregoing observations, the GA declared SYNES-UB's unwillingness to impose itself on any meeting to which it has not been invited.

3. After reviewing the issues surrounding the strike and the bad faith evident in the preparation of the talks, the GA declared that the national strike called by teachers in the Anglophone subsystem of education in Cameroon will hold as planned until the burning issues raised are satisfactorily addressed by the powers that be.

It called on ALL Anglophone lecturers and Francophone colleagues of good will to respect the strike call and save what is still left of Anglophone educational values. This, in summary, is what transpired at today's meeting. Sango Martin, PhD Vice President i/c Administration National Union of of Higher Education SYNES University of Buea Chapter Rm112 Admin Affairs Building

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Prince Nfor Hanson

20.Nov.2016

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The body of 23 years old Marinette Donfack, was discovered last Sunday, November 13, with her head amputated in Lifock Dschang neighboorhood in the Western Region of Cameroon
.Her family said the late Marinette who wass mentally unstable had left  the family resident for a week earlier that she was going to visit her elder sister. It was later discovered that she never arrived her destination, and so a search  was organised throughout the village, but every bush, holes and rough paths stood still as they passed, without any sign of the young lady.

On Sunday November 13th, the villagers felt very uncomfortable with a pungent odor emanating from a garbage dump. The stench was terribly alarming that curiosity pushed them to search and pulled out whatever carcass had mixed up with the trash heap.

While scattering the pile of trash, they were greeted by a bloodied t-shirt on an advanced decomposed headless corpse of a young lady who was later identified as the missing Aimee Marinette Donfack.

The Forces of Law and Order were alerted, and after all legal formalities, the State Counsel ordered the burial of the corpse, while investigations went deeper.

Her family says though she was mentally unstable, they believe her head had been used for rituals.

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Rita Akana

18.Nov.2016

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The state broadcaster, CRTV, has repeatedly played down the Anglophone lawyers' strike and did not even report about the military gassing its own civilians in the cities of Buea and Bamenda. But their gangster fingers were quick to report on striking bus workers in French-speaking Cameroon.

Oh I see! It is because the French-speaking capital of Yaounde is more important than the English-speaking opposition stronghold of Bamenda.

Oh, I see again! CRTV is loaded with French-speaking journalists and a few Anglophone sellouts manning top positions and engaging in media priming and framing. 

Thousands of cars were stuck early Wednesday on the streets of Cameroon's capital, Yaounde.The congestion was caused by workers of the urban transport company Le Bus. They parked their buses on major junctions and went hiding for a greater portion of the morning

Forty-five of the 125 bus drivers were arrested. Public authorities in Yaounde refused to comment but state media said they were convening a crisis meeting.

Anglophone Lawyers Strike

More than a dozen Cameroonian lawyers  sustained injuries in Buea in the South West Region, where policemen confronted them as they were about to stage a peaceful march, on  November 10 2016.Several  of the Lawyers were beaten,their Wigs and gowns seized by security forces.A similar protest march saw the full agression of Cameroon's security forces in Bamenda, yet the state run CRTV played down the both events.

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Rita Akana

17.Nov.2016

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Over 100 former Employees of LE BUS in Yaounde have blocked the Nlongkak road this morning demanding payment of retirement benefits.

The employees and former employees of "LE Bus", an urban city bus company circulating in Yaounde, blocked the road with two large buses at Bata Nlongkak, where their company's headquarters is located.

Consequently, traffic has been blocked in this part of Yaoundé as a result of this strike action which has led to a gigantic traffic congestion over several kilometres.  

The situation affects the districts Etoudi, Emana, Mballa II, which are all interconnected by the blocked stretch of road.

The employees are complaining of several  (19) months of work without wages. The employees decided to go on the streets after negotiations with the government fell on deaf ears.

They chose to trigger the strike action 3 days before the start of the Women's African Cup of Nations  whose 10th edition, opens in the capital on November 19th, hoping to be better heard, by the Yaoundé regime.

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Prince Nfor Hanson

16.Nov.2016

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Indian community in Cameroon offered help to victims of the Eseka Train accident.Medical supplies, rice and water worth FCFA 9 million were offered to those affected by the incident.The donation took place at a solemn ceremony at the General Hospital, Douala, in the presence of   Andre Mama Fouda, Minister of Public Health when he visited the injured at various Douala hospitals. The Indian Honorary Consul J. Ravikumar, presented the list of donations to the Minister of Public health and as suggested by him, handed over a symbolic carton of medicines to the DG of the General Hospital. Others who attended the ceremony were Alim Hayatou, Minister Delegate, Ministry of Public Health, Representatives of the Governor of Littoral Region, the Divisional officer, the Government Delegate, the Douala Urban Council.  

The Indian Consul H.E. J. Ravikumar said items donated were agreed upon with Ministry of Public Health so that they are relevant to the real time needs at the various centres where the injured were being treated all over the country. He also explained that the gift was from the Indian Community and the Indian pharma companies, as a sign of solidarity to the Cameroonian people. He mentioned that Indian pharma industry, with affordable and good quality medicines, is known as Africa's pharmacy.

He also mentioned that early Indians came to Cameroon in 1970s and the recent generations have been born in Cameroonian hospitals. It is only natural that many consider Cameroon as their "second patrie". The Indian Consul J. Ravikumar informed that Indians in Douala and Yaounde gathered and prayed for the victims of the tragedy on the day of national mourning.

In his speech, the Minister thanked the Indian community for their gesture and said this donation will help in treatment of many injured people.  

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Rita Akana

16.Nov.2016

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