Society

The Mezam High Court this Wednesday September 21, 2016 has ruled that the current Fon of Nkwen HRM FS Azehfor III has the right to administer the Nkwen community property which hitherto was administered by his late father.  

The villagers that stood by the Fon during the close to two years Court appearance celebrates this landmark decision as a win not only for the people of Nkwen but also for culture as it allows community and traditional or cultural values to be taken into accounts when handling matters concerning the throne.

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Bakah Derick

22.Sep.2016

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Network coverage has expanded and covers most rural and frontier towns but the increase of scope does not seem to have been accompanied by a significant increase in quality of delivery.
Users still complain of network saturation, poor internet connectivity and fluctuation networks which makes it difficult to make a call of browse on the internet.

A subscriber in Yaoundé, Tanyu Ernest explained that the problem is so serious that it leads to significant damages especially when emergency services cannot be reached. He explained that “In the Manguier neighbourhood, a fire broke out in a neighbour’s house. He dialled the number of the fire brigade but network fluctuation made the call not to go through till about 30, minutes when the house was almost completely reduced to ashes that the call successfully went through”.

To him, mobile telephone service providers should not concentrate on the race of switching generations but work on improving the quality of the network.

Its more than a year since the mobile telephone service providers switched to 3G and other switch to 4G, but users say no change is felt is quality of telephone or internet signals.  Faisop Charles Ngeh said since six months ago when he six to 3G services, the quality of services has not increased as he expected.

Agha Nelson Asah another user laments those recurrent inconsistencies in network coverage saying it has made its miss several business opportunities. “There are times I have a business deal but I call and receive a message telling me the number I call frequently is “incorrect” or not available. At times I miss the opportunity that came at that time; you know a minute gone can never be recalled.”

While some users are not sure of the effectiveness of the switch over to 3G, the Telecommunications Regulatory Board affirms that the companies have effectively switched but the problems lies at the level of updating transmission lines.

The Sub Director of Evaluation and Technical control at the Telecommunications Regulatory Board, Benjamin Minko said “the switch over requires that a lot of technical installations be upgraded to 3G. The current broadcast equipment are overloaded and optical fibre is absolutely needed”.

The several transmission lines in Yaoundé are is far from solving the frustrations that erupt when users wait endless and unsuccessfully   after many tries to place an urgent call.

User are now looking on the the operator and the government for a way out especially as the demand for internet and telephone services will significantly increase during the Women’s African Cup of Nations that Cameroon will host in November.

CRTV

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Rita Akana

20.Sep.2016

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The Special Criminal Court is bent on prosecuting those who embezzled funds that were meant to indemnify persons affected by the Kribi Seaport construction.

The Post learnt that many of those to stand trial are mostly bigwigs of the regime.

They are said to have fraudulently acquire land certificates around the seaport just to get money from the State.

Thus, a huge chunk of the FCFA 38 billion disbursed for the compensation of the local people whose lands and properties were destroyed went into private pockets.

Some administrative officials and bigwigs of the regime allegedly embezzled State funds through various shady deals.

It is reported that many people who had nothing to do with the lands at Kribi got “manna” from the State treasury.

Since September, one of the Examining Magistrate at the Special Criminal Court, Justice Blaise Wo’ominko, has been busy interrogating suspects.

Most of them, court sources say, will answer charges of embezzlement and complicity in the embezzlement of public funds.

Some of the people suspected to have reaped huge sums include the former Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, Marafa Hamidou Yaya and the erstwhile General Manager of CRTV, Prof. Garvais Mendo Ze.

Both officials are already languishing at the Kondengui prison for embezzlement of public funds during their tenure. Observers are shocked that the name of a well known man of God features prominently on the list.

Marafa’s name features prominently on the list of the beneficiaries of indemnities that was published on November 30, 2010.

The Post learnt that President Biya is bent on seeing that justice is fully rendered on the issue.

Sources reveal that the local people were cheated in the payment of indemnities just because the bigwigs had to line their pockets.

If everything was going on well, President Biya would inaugurate the Kribi Deep Seaport before the end of this month.

One local politician in Kribi is said to have petitioned the President, telling him that the local people were seething with rage because they were not compensated.

The Kribi Deep Seaport embezzlement scam was blown-open recently when some 14 suspects were arrested and detained at the Kondengui prison in Yaounde.

The suspects that include Divisional Officers, DOs and officials of States Property and Land Tenure are charged with the embezzlement of FCFA 4 billion allocated for the payment of indemnities to people displaced during the construction of the seaport.

State property and Land Tenure officials are facing charges for issuing fictitious land certificates to some big shots just to enable them embezzle public funds.

One of the suspects is the former SDO for Ocean Division, Jean Francois Villon.

He was enjoying his retirement before his arrest on April 26. The DO of Zoetele in the Dja and Lobo Division of the South Region is equally in jail.

Placide Kuntz Ndobo was the second Assistant SDO for Ocean Division at the time of the racket in 2010.

The dragnet of the law also closed up on one Joseph Eyebe, who was the second SDO for Ocean Division at that time. Before his arrest, he was the DO for Bangante in the Nde Division of the West Region.

The suspects are being accused of participating in one way or the other in the embezzlement of public funds in the payment of indemnities in Kribi.

The crux of the matter, according to sources in Kribi, is that since 2010, the people of Bongale, Mboro and Lolabe at the seaport area have been protesting.

They have been crying out against the non-payment of their indemnities even though money was disbursed from the State treasury for the purpose.

It was in the wake of such allegations that President Biya ordered the Judicial Police and secret services to investigate the matter.

The police went into action and arrested 25 people.

After grilling each and every one of them, they sent 14 suspects for pre-trail detention at the Kondengui prison while 11 others were freed.

The police reportedly uncovered many rackets wherein some officials fraudulently acquired land just to turn around and grab money from Government.

The Post learnt that as soon as the Kribi Deep Seaport site was indentified, many State officials used their relatives and friends to acquire land in the area in anticipation.

Cameroonpost

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Rita Akana

18.Sep.2016

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A bitter conflict has erupted between the Minister of Transport and the new Board Chair of the Cameroon Airline Corporation, Camair-Co barely a month after their installation.

The conflict has raised the question as to who is the boss in Camair- Co; Minister Mebe Ngo’o, or the Board Chairperson, Mefiro Oumarou?

Both Mebe Ngo’o and Mefiro Oumarou allegedly lobbied to be appointed to the post of Board Chair of Camair-Co. Mefiro was finally appointed.

Mefiro’s appointment was however, surrounded by a number of controversies.

Beside the issue of accumulation of functions by a member of Government, there was also the controversy in appointing as Board Chairman, somebody who is the Minister Delegate at the Ministry of Transport.

Observers immediately saw the complication in the Minister of Transport dealing with Camair-Co, when the Minister Delegate is Board Chair.

Disagreement Over Meeting Venue

The Post learnt that the immediate cause of the conflict between the Minister and the Board Chair was not something that initially involved the Minister.

It started with a disagreement between Mefiro and Camair-Co new GM, Ernest Dikoum, over the venue of the first Board meeting.

The Board Chair wanted the meeting to hold in Douala, while the GM wanted Yaounde, like other Board meetings.

Dikoum is said to have told Mefiro that the coffers of Camair-Co were empty, therefore, there was a problem organising the Board meeting.

According to Camair-Co files, it is cheaper to organise the meeting in Yaounde than in Douala.

A Board meeting in Yaounde takes FCFA 8 million, a bulk of which goes for the payment of sitting allowances to members, but a Board meeting in Douala takes over FCFA 10 million; reason being that most of the Board members are based in Yaounde, hence lodging is not paid during Board meetings.

Besides, in Yaounde, the meeting holds in a hall at the Camair-Co Agency, but in Douala, a hall has to be hired, because the rehabilitation work that started over two years ago at Camair-Co headquarters in Bonanjo is still ongoing.

GM Reports Board Chair

Despite the explanations by the GM that the Board meeting should hold in Yaounde, Mefiro stood his ground that the meeting should hold in Douala.

The GM then complained to the Minister of Transport. Minister Mebe Ngo’o raised the issue with the Board Chair, who did not take it kindly that Dikoum had reported him to the Minister.

Mefiro reportedly stood his ground that, as Board Chair, he was the one to decide on the venue of the Board meeting.

The Minister was also irked by the fact that Mefiro accepted an invitation and took part in a programme over CRTV, where he talked elaborately about CAMAIR-Co, without having consulted him.

Mebe Ngo’o decided to file a complaint against Mefiro to the Prime Minister.

Tension Packed Meeting

The Post learnt that Prime Minister Yang, upon receiving the complaint, invited Mebe Ngo’o and Mefiro for a meeting in his office. But the meeting was reportedly characterised by accusations and counter-accusations between Mebe Ngo’o and Mefiro.

They both digressed from the issue of the venue for the Board meeting to certain irregularities or scandals in the Ministry of Transport.

The Minister Delegate was quoted as saying that, despite some controversial decisions, including appointments made in the Ministry by Mebe Ngo’o, he had resolved to stay silent.

And that Mebe Ngo’o now wants to also come to CAMAIR-Co where the Head of State appointed him Board Chair, to call the shots.

The most scandalous issue that Mebe Ngo’o is being highly criticised for at the Ministry of Transport where he has been Minister for barely 11 months, has been the appointment of his brother-in-law to the powerful post of Director of General Administration.

Why the controversial appointed was quickly noticed is because, when Mebe Ngo’o was Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Defence, he appointed the same in-law to a juicy post in the Defence Ministry, where he was allegedly in charge of the award of contracts.

PM Delivers Judgment

The Post learnt that at the meeting with the two, PM Yang based his ‘ruling’ on what the text states.

The PM asserted that, according to the text, it is the Board Chair of Camair-Co, and not the Minister of Transport, who has the power to decide where a Board meeting should hold. Mefiro, thus ‘won’ the case and maintained his position that the Board meeting holds in Douala on September 9.

Cameroonpostnewsline

 

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Rita Akana

17.Sep.2016

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The actors in the industrial sector in Cameroon started evaluating new business trends for the subsequent adoption and introduction into secondary schools.

The workshop that started Wednesday 14th September is on focused on how best to professionalise technical education in the country.

Opening the three day workshop, the Minister of Secondary Education Jean Ernest Massena Ngalle Bibehe called on the participants to ensure that the revised curriculum meet both the contingencies of the job market.

The Minister also insisted on the need to get inspiration from the technological and scientific revolution of the world today.

Some of the important domains include;
-Industrial chemistry
-Automobile mechanics
-Sanitary installations

At a time when the government embarks on the number of economic reform programmes, the ongoing workshop that focuses a revamped technical education is expected to be the springboard to the success of government’s engagement.

Crtv

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Rita Akana

16.Sep.2016

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Even security officials who finally transported the corps joined the chorus of lamentation by the entire village of this relatively peaceful part of Cameroon

The first comers wondered if the children were actually dead or it was just a joke but that was not to be for too long as the youngest of the victims, three year old Confidence Acha could not stage for so long.
It was the screaming of the mother of three of the four victims Suzanne Maloum Acha that alerted the entire village to the site of the tragedy. 

She left home after serving food for her children who were in the company of one of their friends. True to African tradition, he was a guest consequently invited to share the meal. When mother arrived shortly after, the four were laying besides the bowl of food.

What would have happened to the children? It was pretty clear that the children died after consuming the food.
Investigations are presently on what fast poison was contained in the food. There are also speculations that someone must have poisoned the food but that is still to be determined.

In the meantime, the father of three of the victims, Jacque Kendu Acha who works in Manegole near Manjo was informed. With support from the entire village, Sylvanus Acha 12 years, Fritz Acha 8 years, Confidence Acha 3 years and the child of the neighbour were all laid to rest.

CRTV

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Rita Akana

15.Sep.2016

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