Society

In the coming month of July, the Cameroon Water Utilities (Camwater), public company in the drinking water sector in Cameroon, will erect 50 tarpaulins in the city of Douala, particularly in the areas not connected to the distribution network. According to the management of this public company, this temporary solution will help to reduce the difficulties in accessing drinking water in several areas of the Cameroonian economic capital.

The 50 tarpaulins announced by Camwater, we learn, are a type of giant plastic tanks, which can each help stock 5,000 litres of water. In total, 25,000 litres of drinking water will thus be made available to the populations in Douala who are still disconnected from the Camwater network. This operation does not however overshadow the water shortage which has grown worse in the big cities of Cameroon these past months. A situation which led to the dismissal of Camwater's MD, Jean Williams Solo, and his replacement by Alphonse Roger Ondoa Akoa, who had announced the end of the water shortages in the Cameroonian capital for March 2016 in vain.

Frustrated by these continuous water shortages in the country, the Cameroonian Head of State, after dismissing the MD of Camwater in February 2016, recently instructed the Prime Minister to work toward the non-renewal, in 2017, of the lease contract signed the Moroccan company Onep, who owns the Camerounaise Des Eaux (CDE).

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Rita Akana

07.Jun.2016

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Cameroon now has 3 new beauty pageants emerging from the Centre, South and East Regions.They were selected on May 29th 2016 during the last edition of the Regional Miss Cameroon Beauty Contest for 2016, organized at the Yaounde Hilton Hotel. The three who were selected out of 15 contesters will join their counterparts on 30th July 2016 for the finals and the 12th edition of Miss Cameroon Beauty contest to be held at the Yaounde conference Centre.

They are: 22 year old Catherine Etoungoung Amougou as Miss Centre Region, Aquine Mpanjel, 22 - the Miss East Region and Rosy Kate Ebe – 26, Miss South Region, all students of the University of Yaounde one and two. Apart from physical beauty, they were also graded on eloquence, mastery of the two official languages, their culture tradition, academics and others.

The contest was graced with some thrilling artists under the supervision of the President and founder of the Miss Cameroon beauty contest Ingrid Solange Amougou with a host of dignitaries. Outgoing Miss Cameroon 2015, Jessica Ngoua Nseme extended her wishes to the incoming across the nation vying to be the next Miss Cameroon. The contest has been organized under the theme: “National Unity at the Service of Peace and Security.”

Crtv

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Rita Akana

04.Jun.2016

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A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a Cameroonian wife and husband to 10 and seven years in prison, respectively, for orchestrating a multiyear campaign to defraud D.C. Medicaid of more than $80 million between 2009 and 2014, the largest local health-care fraud scheme ever prosecuted in the city.

Florence Bikundi, 53, and Michael D. Bikundi Sr., 63, were ordered to forfeit more than $11 million in cash, their $1 million home and five luxury vehicles by Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, who also imposed a money judgment of $40 million and ordered the couple to pay $80.6 million in restitution.

“Florence and Michael Bikundi enriched themselves for years by operating a rogue home care agency,” at the expense of people in need, U.S. Attorney for the District Channing D. Phillips said in a joint statement with the FBI and Secret Service Washington field offices, as well as inspectors general for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the District of Columbia.

“Hopefully the sentences today will serve as a deterrent to other unscrupulous health care providers who aim to steal the taxpayers’ money,” Phillips said.

A federal jury in November found the couple guilty of multiple counts of money laundering, health-care fraud and conspiracy through their District-based home health-care firm, Global Health Care Services.

At trial, prosecutors said the Bikundis used the company as a simple, yet massive, “get-rich-quick scheme” that enlisted trusted relatives and others to sign up and coach Medicaid recipients who received kickbacks for submitting fraudulent claims for health care that never was provided.

Seven other Cameroonians had earlier pleaded guilty to charges in the investigation, including Florence Bikundi’s son and two sisters. Two others indicted in the investigation remain at large, prosecutors said: Christian S. Asongcha, 39, formerly of Lanham, Md., and Atawan Mundu John, 39, formerly of the District.

U.S. authorities in the District announced charges in February 2014 against 25 people in separate and even competing schemes, stating that Medicaid fraud was “at epidemic levels” in the city. The number of beneficiaries billing for personal-care services had quadrupled to 10,000 since 2006, and billings grew sevenfold, to $280 million.

Washington Post

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Rita Akana

04.Jun.2016

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Daily waste production appears to surpass collection capacity. This is new and appealing to anyone who knew Douala some few weeks before. However, most residents in neighbourhoods like Deido, Bonaberi, New Bell, Ngangue, New Deido, and Ndogpassi, who have no better place to dump waste now empty it on streets.

Not only street corners have been turned into pollution sources thereby leaving little or no space for pedestrians to commute, compounds of some homes have also become saturated with litter and kitchen waste. Gutters have borne the brunt of it all. If they are not cleaned up early, a major flood is feared in the economic capital with the return of heavy rains in the weeks ahead.

As the situation becomes more serious, many are tempted to question the effectiveness of the Cameroon Hygiene and Sanitation Company, HYSACAM. A management staff with HYSACAM, who spoke to Cameroon Tribune on condition of remaining anonymous, explained that while the company continues to enjoy fruitful partnership with the Douala City Council, waste produced each day has increased over the years as the population has grown. Furthermore, garbage collectors do not reach some neighbourhoods due to access problems. “We have made arrangements for more refuse collection trucks by the end of this year,” the official disclosed.

Cameroon Tribune

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Rita Akana

02.Jun.2016

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In continuation of efforts to drastically reduce the number of fatal accidents on the country’s highways, a team from the National Gendarmerie headquarters was on the Yaounde-Atok highway on Saturday, May 28, 2016. Led by Lt. Col. Mboa Guy, road safety officers first set up a checkpoint on May 27, 2016, at Jean Baster in the Centre Region - about 117 km from Yaounde.

The next day, they moved over to Mayos in the East Region, about 140 km from Yaounde. Backed by patrolling gendarmes on motorbikes, Lt. Col. Mboa said the 66^th week of road safety campaign focused on traffic offences committed by heavy-duty vehicle drivers. He said the offences were poor fog lights at night and worn-out tyres. “Last week, the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Defence in charge of the National Gendarmerie, Jean Baptiste Bokam, directed that an eye be kept on erring truck drivers and tougher sanctions taken against them,” he explained.

In implementing the directive, gendarmes discovered that lighting at night was a major problem with many trucks. Such trucks were held back until their lighting was corrected, the gendarmerie officer pointed out. Concerning lorries with worn-out tyres, the drivers were made to pay fines. “Given the good state of the Yaounde-Bertoua highway, over-speeding is the most common traffic offence committed by motorists,” Lt. Col. Mboa Guy noted. While some erring drivers readily paid their fines, those who were unable had their statements taken and reports forwarded to the local State Counsel for possible prosecution. As at 12.30 pm May 28, 2016, over 20 over-speeding offences had already been recorded at the Mayos Checkpoint.

Cameroon Tribune

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Rita Akana

02.Jun.2016

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A snake was on May 29, 2016, reportedly seen on top of a tree in the compound of the late former Prime Minister of East Cameroon, Charles Assale.

Scores of panic-stricken inhabitants of Mvog-Atangana Mballa neighbourhood in Yaounde on May 29, 2016, thronged the home of the late former Prime Minister of Cameroon, Charles Asale. This followed news that a mysterious snake had been noticed in a tall tree inside the compound. The snake was reportedly spotted at about 3 pm by some neighbours and members of the nearby Jehovah Witness Church.

One of the Christians said after service, they went out for evangelism. They were praying not far from the area when they were alerted by the shouts of neighbours who said there was a snake at the top of one of the trees in the compound. They immediately informed family members who in turn called in Fire Fighters. Even though some people claimed to have seen a big black snake in the tree, many others said they saw nothing. The only thing they could see was a dark bundle on one of the branches which some alleged was the snake that had “suddenly changed into the bundle!”

Also crows were seen flying on top of the tree, with some onlookers suggesting that it was the sign of the presence of a serpent nearby. Efforts by Fire Fighters to flush out the said snake with water hoses failed. After about two hours of trying, the officers returned to base to refill their tanks, while waiting for any further alert. Some neighbours said that the recent demolition of a portion of the fence and structures around the compound of the Asale’s by the Yaounde City Council might have forced the mysterious snake out of its hideout into the tall tree.

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Rita Akana

02.Jun.2016

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