Society

Cameroon has once again been honoured at the international scene. Professor Rose Leke, a renowned researcher in tropical medicine was on October 25, 2015 conferred the title of ‘Honorary International Fellow of ASTMH (FASTMH)’ by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. This was during the Society’s 64thannual meeting that held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.On December 22, 2015, Rose Leke said the award “was in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of tropical medicine.” She disclosed that the award has a citation and “when I was being given the award, they cited that it is for the work that I do for malaria and polio eradication.” For polio eradication, Prof. Rose Leke chairs the African Regional Certification Commission. This means that when polio is all gone, she will be the one in Africa to stand up and give the certificate. “I have been working for polio certification and our region for now does not have any polio virus. We are hoping that we can certify our region in the next two years. For malaria, I sit on the Malaria Policy and Advisory Committee for the World Health Organisation. So, I do a lot of policy making for malaria and I also do a lot of malaria research. I have been involved in malaria research with students,” she observed. 

Conscious of the daunting task of completely keeping the two dangerous diseases at bay, Prof. Leke noted that “the award is a call for service given that I have been trying to get documentation to see how free Africa is of polio. I have a commission made up of 16 members. We are looking at country documentation this time around to see that they are polio-free. We also have meetings to see where we are with malaria in the world and take global strategic plan on how we can work to see that malaria is eliminated. The university kept me with research lab and I have students and write projects. I hope the students I have sent abroad will come back and takeover from me because I am getting tired and should leave the lab.”

Like any other international recognition that she and other Cameroonians have had, Prof. Leke said the Honorary International Fellow of ASTMH (FASTMH) “is such a pride to Cameroon and African given that there were two of us from the continent. The other was a Ghanaian. It is real pride for us and it means we have to continue working.” Being the Vice President of the Chantal Biya International Research Centre (CIRCB), the fine researcher dedicates the award to “she who is our everything for CIRCB, Mrs Chantal Biya. The last time I got an award, she sent me a letter of congratulations. The president did also. I also dedicate it to all Cameroonians. It is a pride for our country. This means that we all have work to do to make sure we keep polio out of this country. We should also get malaria out of this country. This is what this award means.”

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

23.Dec.2015

Hits: 1522

After seven months of hearing in the case between the people of Cameroon and State of Cameroon-Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) against Oteil Mbua Gabriel and six others, the Special Criminal Court (SCC) yesterday, December 22, 2015, headed by Mr Justice Richard Wanki unanimously delivered its judgement in public after a full hearing of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th accused, the Legal Department and the Civil Party, and in default in respect of the 5th, 6th and 7th accused persons. The court declared Oteil Mbua Gabriel, Ngomba Jonathan Monika, Njiki Daniel, Lyonga Nganje William, Hali Gabila, Babila Protus Ndibnu and Mkpot Roland Agbor respectively, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7 accused persons guilty of the misappropriation of public property valued at the sum of FCFA 20,140,655 as co-offenders contrary to sections 96, 74 and 184 (1) (a) of the Penal Code.

The court declared that the 1st accused (Oteil Mbua) is guilty of misappropriating public property valued at FCFA 49,205,547 as an offender contrary to and punishable according to the Penal Code. The 4th accused, Lyonga Nganje William, is guilty of misappropriating public property valued at FCFA 5,311,329 as an offender contrary to the law. The court found mitigating circumstances in favour of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th accused persons in that they are all first offenders, bread winners in their families and have been remorseful during the court sessions. No mitigating circumstances were found on the 5th, 6th and 7th accused persons who had escaped from standing trial. The court sentenced the 1st, 2nd (Ngomba Jonathan Monika) and 3rd (Njiki Daniel) accused to 15 years imprisonment, the 4th was sentenced to 10 years in imprisonment while the others Hali Gabila, Babila Protus Ndibnu and Mkpot Roland Agbor were sentenced to life imprisonment. The court immediately issued warrants of arrest to apprehend those that had escaped as well as those convicted. The 1st accused was ordered to pay to the Civil Party (State of Cameroon-CDC), the sum of FCFA 49,205,547, the amount of money he misappropriated as special damages for the loss suffered by the Civil Party.

The court also ordered the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th accused persons to pay the civil party jointly and severally the sum of FCFA 20,140,655 as special damages. The fourth accused was ordered to pay to the Civil Party, the sum of FCFA 5,311,329, the amount he misappropriated being damages to the loss suffered by the Civil Party. All persons convicted in the matter were ordered by the court to pay jointly and severally the sum of FCFA 25,343,469 being general damages for the loss suffered by the Civil Party. The court also ordered all accused persons to pay the sum of FCFA 5,398,872 being the cost of the court proceedings taxed and set cost in the judgement. No confiscation of property was ordered from the accused persons since no property was seized in the course of preliminary inquiries.

The head of the Panel of Judges hearing the case, Mr Justice Richard Wanki, joined by Mr Justice Moses Nyoh and Mr Justice Michel Jean Claude Onana informed all the parties that they had the right to lodge an appeal within 48 hours as from the time the judgement was delivered. It should be recalled that Oteil Mbua Gabriel, Ngomba Jonathan Monika, Njiki Daniel, Lyonga Nganje William, Hali Gabila, Mkpot Roland and Babila Protus Ndibnu were accused to have at Tiko and Limbe-Bota, within the jurisdiction of the SCC during 2012 and 2013, together and in agreement as co-offenders by any means kept dishonestly the property of CDC amounting to FCFA 360, 936,854 being value of 707,872 litres of fuel illegally removed from the said corporation. This is an offence contrary to and punishable under sections 74, 96 and 184 (1), (9) of the Penal Code

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

23.Dec.2015

Hits: 1313

It has been made public in Cameroon that several alleged perpetrators of financial crimes are highly placed CPDM officials of the ministry of finance. Local media reports have revealed they included Mbia Enguéné, former pay master at the ministry of finance with 9 co-defendants including the Treasury Inspector, Maale Ngoumé and Djidéré Etina also a senior inspector of the treasury all accused of embezzling 3.2 billion CFA francs. The head of the CPDM criminal gang, former director general of taxes, Polycarpe Abah Abah, reportedly diverted government cheques to the tune of 1.7 billion FCFA.

Some 25 cashier ladies among them Awegue Nadine, Lum Bernadette Mofor, Tsalla Nzié looted 478 million CFA francs. The list is long and bears the names of NTET Mireille Pascale and wife of Minister Fame Ndongo suspected of stealing 411 million CFA francs. Ernest Mbock Boumsong, former pay master of the Autonomous Sinking Fund (CAA) is also being investigated for fraud involving 95.268 million CFA francs. Cameroon Concord Intelligence Unit understands that the Ministry of Finance has become for many an illicit source of enrichment. Circa 20 cases are now being heard by the Special Criminal Court involving senior CPDM officials in the ministry of finance.

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

23.Dec.2015

Hits: 1063

Cameroon has once again been honoured at the international scene. Professor Rose Leke, a renowned researcher in tropical medicine was on October 25, 2015 conferred the title of ‘Honorary International Fellow of ASTMH (FASTMH)’ by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. This was during the Society’s 64thannual meeting that held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.On December 22, 2015, Rose Leke said the award “was in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of tropical medicine.” She disclosed that the award has a citation and “when I was being given the award, they cited that it is for the work that I do for malaria and polio eradication.” For polio eradication, Prof. Rose Leke chairs the African Regional Certification Commission. This means that when polio is all gone, she will be the one in Africa to stand up and give the certificate. “I have been working for polio certification and our region for now does not have any polio virus. We are hoping that we can certify our region in the next two years. For malaria, I sit on the Malaria Policy and Advisory Committee for the World Health Organisation. So, I do a lot of policy making for malaria and I also do a lot of malaria research. I have been involved in malaria research with students,” she observed. 

Conscious of the daunting task of completely keeping the two dangerous diseases at bay, Prof. Leke noted that “the award is a call for service given that I have been trying to get documentation to see how free Africa is of polio. I have a commission made up of 16 members. We are looking at country documentation this time around to see that they are polio-free. We also have meetings to see where we are with malaria in the world and take global strategic plan on how we can work to see that malaria is eliminated. The university kept me with research lab and I have students and write projects. I hope the students I have sent abroad will come back and takeover from me because I am getting tired and should leave the lab.”

Like any other international recognition that she and other Cameroonians have had, Prof. Leke said the Honorary International Fellow of ASTMH (FASTMH) “is such a pride to Cameroon and African given that there were two of us from the continent. The other was a Ghanaian. It is real pride for us and it means we have to continue working.” Being the Vice President of the Chantal Biya International Research Centre (CIRCB), the fine researcher dedicates the award to “she who is our everything for CIRCB, Mrs Chantal Biya. The last time I got an award, she sent me a letter of congratulations. The president did also. I also dedicate it to all Cameroonians. It is a pride for our country. This means that we all have work to do to make sure we keep polio out of this country. We should also get malaria out of this country. This is what this award means.”

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

23.Dec.2015

Hits: 737

After seven months of hearing in the case between the people of Cameroon and State of Cameroon-Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) against Oteil Mbua Gabriel and six others, the Special Criminal Court (SCC) yesterday, December 22, 2015, headed by Mr Justice Richard Wanki unanimously delivered its judgement in public after a full hearing of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th accused, the Legal Department and the Civil Party, and in default in respect of the 5th, 6th and 7th accused persons. The court declared Oteil Mbua Gabriel, Ngomba Jonathan Monika, Njiki Daniel, Lyonga Nganje William, Hali Gabila, Babila Protus Ndibnu and Mkpot Roland Agbor respectively, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7 accused persons guilty of the misappropriation of public property valued at the sum of FCFA 20,140,655 as co-offenders contrary to sections 96, 74 and 184 (1) (a) of the Penal Code.

The court declared that the 1st accused (Oteil Mbua) is guilty of misappropriating public property valued at FCFA 49,205,547 as an offender contrary to and punishable according to the Penal Code. The 4th accused, Lyonga Nganje William, is guilty of misappropriating public property valued at FCFA 5,311,329 as an offender contrary to the law. The court found mitigating circumstances in favour of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th accused persons in that they are all first offenders, bread winners in their families and have been remorseful during the court sessions. No mitigating circumstances were found on the 5th, 6th and 7th accused persons who had escaped from standing trial. The court sentenced the 1st, 2nd (Ngomba Jonathan Monika) and 3rd (Njiki Daniel) accused to 15 years imprisonment, the 4th was sentenced to 10 years in imprisonment while the others Hali Gabila, Babila Protus Ndibnu and Mkpot Roland Agbor were sentenced to life imprisonment. The court immediately issued warrants of arrest to apprehend those that had escaped as well as those convicted. The 1st accused was ordered to pay to the Civil Party (State of Cameroon-CDC), the sum of FCFA 49,205,547, the amount of money he misappropriated as special damages for the loss suffered by the Civil Party.

The court also ordered the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th accused persons to pay the civil party jointly and severally the sum of FCFA 20,140,655 as special damages. The fourth accused was ordered to pay to the Civil Party, the sum of FCFA 5,311,329, the amount he misappropriated being damages to the loss suffered by the Civil Party. All persons convicted in the matter were ordered by the court to pay jointly and severally the sum of FCFA 25,343,469 being general damages for the loss suffered by the Civil Party. The court also ordered all accused persons to pay the sum of FCFA 5,398,872 being the cost of the court proceedings taxed and set cost in the judgement. No confiscation of property was ordered from the accused persons since no property was seized in the course of preliminary inquiries.

The head of the Panel of Judges hearing the case, Mr Justice Richard Wanki, joined by Mr Justice Moses Nyoh and Mr Justice Michel Jean Claude Onana informed all the parties that they had the right to lodge an appeal within 48 hours as from the time the judgement was delivered. It should be recalled that Oteil Mbua Gabriel, Ngomba Jonathan Monika, Njiki Daniel, Lyonga Nganje William, Hali Gabila, Mkpot Roland and Babila Protus Ndibnu were accused to have at Tiko and Limbe-Bota, within the jurisdiction of the SCC during 2012 and 2013, together and in agreement as co-offenders by any means kept dishonestly the property of CDC amounting to FCFA 360, 936,854 being value of 707,872 litres of fuel illegally removed from the said corporation. This is an offence contrary to and punishable under sections 74, 96 and 184 (1), (9) of the Penal Code

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

23.Dec.2015

Hits: 1175

The University of Buea, UB, over the weekend graduated its 20th batch of students while the Catholic University Institute of Buea, CUIB, sent out its second batch. What was particular about the UB convocation was the first batch of Pan-African Master’s degree students from the Advanced School of Translators and Interpreters (ASTI). The 10 Pan-African graduates were joined by 26 PhD holders and approximately 3,320 graduates in Bachelor Degrees. Mbutuh Escarter Brieno Temnou from the College of Technology hit 3.86 GPA with a First Class Honours Degree in Computer Networks and Systems Maintenance. The Vice Chancellor of UB, Nalova Lyonga, recalled that Memoranda of Understanding have been signed with companies where students do practicals and modern ICT equipment installed in UB that links the institution to other higher centres of learning.

Sitting in for the Minister of Higher Education, Professor Maurice Tchuente indicated that the graduation of students from the Pan-Africa University in UB represented Cameroon’s core values to Pan-Africanism. On the other hand, the Catholic University Institute of Buea graduated 290 students. With its motto that hinges on entrepreneurial training, great strides have been made by the graduating students in the area of job creation. Vanessa Zommi won the second international prize for the Anzisha Award in South Africa for having worked with her team to produce the Moringa Tea which treats diabetes.

Yannick Engemise created an environmentally-friendly company to produce paper sacks as against plastic sacks. Theodore Maya produced an Egusi-cracking machine. It is with these innovations that the President of CUIB, Rev. Father George Nkeze Jingwa, announced that the Ministry of Higher Education has authorised the institute to run graduate and MBA programmes. He added that the schools will begin January 2016. The Vicar General and Chancellor of the Diocese of Charlotte, USA, Monsignor Mauricio West also attended the ceremony.

Details

Ngwa Bertrand

22.Dec.2015

Hits: 1314