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Cameroon National Assembly Vice Speaker and Member of Parliament for the Fako West Constituency, Hon Emilia Lifaka Monjuwa has said that something should be done and done in a hurry to promote vocational education training in Cameroon. Hon. Lifaka made the revelation in Buea on Wednesday the 6^th of April 2016 as she presided over the 2^nd edition of a scholarship program she introduced at OIC, geared towards the promotion of excellence and skills-resource initiative. The beneficiaries according to the Director of OIC, Mme Marie Limunga are enrolled into the Commercial, Motor mechanics, Communication and Information Technology, Textile and Fashion Design, Woodwork among other fields of studies.

Veseke Francis on behalf of his peer beneficiaries, pledged on the appropriate use of the largess. He added his voice to that of Sally Nanyhogo of the Hotel Management and Catering Department who observed that another obstacle will be that of elementary textbooks which they described as a great worry in the accomplishment of the vocational training course. 

Speaking during the ceremony, Hon. Lifaka noted she was simply giving back to the people who sent her to parliament to represent their interest. She counseled the students to make meaningful use of the opportunities offered especially at the time when access to vocational training is indispensable in the advancement of Cameroon. The OIC authorities challenged other Fako elites to emulate the action of Hon. Lifaka. The two years scholarship program is one among several efforts by the MP to foster the precipitated vision 2035 as well as eradicate poverty, fighting illiteracy and youth’s unemployment

Hon. Lifaka’s action has been highly carped by some political pundits who say that it was merely a public show of pride. The MP has been accused of attempting to destroy the leadership of the Buea municipality. She has often been criticized over her handling of micro projects grants. Cameroon Concord gathered  the beneficiaries  of her vocational project were principally from her Fako West constituency and had to be auditioned by some members of the Fako Chiefs Conference.The number of students recruited for the award increased from 25 last year to 36 this 2016 costing over 6 million FCFA.

 

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Cham Victor Bama

07.Apr.2016

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On April 5, 2016, US Ambassador to Cameroon Michael S. Hoza joined Cameroon's Secretary of State for Defense in Charge of the Gendarmerie Jean Baptiste Bokam and General Elokobi at a handover ceremony in Yaounde of non-lethal security equipment by the United States of America to the Republic of Cameroon.

In his remarks, the Ambassador said: “this handover ceremony is a perfect illustration of the fact that when the United States say "on est ensemble" in supporting Cameroon’s efforts against Boko Haram, it is not just in empty words, but in palpable and concrete facts.” The Secretary of State for Defense Jean Baptiste Bokam and General Elokobi thanked the United States for its steadfast partnership in supporting Cameroonians in their efforts to promote national and regional security.

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[gallery_item title="US Donates Non-lethal Security Equipment To Cameroon " src="/images/us-donates/1.jpg" video_addr=""]Photo Credits: US Embassy Yaounde[/gallery_item]
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Elangwe Pauline

07.Apr.2016

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The National Gendarmerie claimed recently to have intensified efforts to ensure safety on highways in the country. But a Cameroon Concord investigation has revealed that the continuation of the “Operation Control-Monitor-Punish has instead been a source of extorting money from drivers and other road users. However, the checks have been going on as usual with a kind of CPDM rigour. Cameroon Concord agents serving with our intelligence unit reported that all what the Gendarmerie officers booked as offences ranged from plain fiction to the most absurd. Said our chief security correspondent, “We were stopped for over speeding. A senior officer (names withheld) told us that we were driving at 110 km in a zone where you are are allowed 90 km. He ordered us to pay 25,000 frs CFA as required by the law. He moved away from us and a junior colleague came and collected 10,000 frs from us without a receipt”. This is what is underneath the so called “Operation Control-Monitor-Punish” on our highways. 

The Gendarmerie officers are making hush hush money for themselves as they punish nearly every road user for offences such as over-speeding, over-used tyres, non-respect of road signs, lack of spare tyres, lack of First Aid Box, un-lit/illegible vehicle number plates, lack of speed indicators, poor breaks and impromptu breaking and non-transparent glass. An English speaking Cameroonian officer who felt confident to face our tape recorders noted that he and his men were ready to even collect more money from our CAMCORD Intel agents for not wearing seat belts.

Colonel Zacharie Fossi, Head of the Alpha Detachment Yaounde-Boumnyebel was quoted as saying that road users are getting more and more aware of the road safety rules and regulations. “They have all their car documents, they are reducing speed and avoiding overloading”. This has prompted the Gendarmerie officers to re-design other methods of collecting money from road users. A driver under the influence of alcohol offered the patrol officers two bottles of French wine and he was allowed to go scot-free.

 

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Rita Akana in Yaounde

06.Apr.2016

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Businessman Patrice Talon was sworn in as Benin's president before a large crowd on Wednesday, saying he would foster economic development and fight corruption and terrorism during what he pledged would be his only term in office.

Benin's leader can serve two terms but Talon has said he will step down after five years to avoid "complacency" and seek to limit future presidents to a single term.

The West African country is seen as a bastion of democracy and stability in a troubled region where military coups are a regular occurrence and polls are often marred by violence.

"My mandate will be a mandate of rupture, transition and reforms," said Talon, adding that he would strive to combat corruption, improve the economy and fight terrorism.

"I will make diplomacy an instrument of cooperation for development," he told a crowd estimated by organizers at 20,000 at the ceremony in the capital Porto-Novo.

Benin already contributes to a multinational task force fighting Boko Haram, a militant group that is based in the northeast of the country's giant neighbor Nigeria.

Talon is a cotton magnate who handily beat former prime minister Lionel Zinsou in a run-off election last month. Zinsou was the preferred choice of former president Thomas Boni Yayi, who stepped down after 10 years in power.

Benin's minister for energy and water resigned in May amid a corruption scandal that caused the Netherlands to suspend aid after $4 million went missing in 2014 from a project to improve the nation's water supplies.

Talon, who was educated in Senegal and France, once supported Boni Yayi but the two fell out and the then president accused him of being involved with a plot to poison him.

Talon sought exile in France but was later pardoned, returning to Benin in October.

Reuters

 

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Elangwe Pauline

06.Apr.2016

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Gabon's former parliament speaker Guy Nzouba Ndama said on Tuesday he would run against the incumbent Ali Bongo for the presidency of the central African oil producer.

The announcement is the latest blow for Bongo, who has been grappling with the formation of a breakaway faction of his Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) and the resignation of about a dozen parliamentarians, including Ndama.

Bongo's announcement that he would seek re-election before the party confirmed his candidacy at its convention rankled some within PDG and dissidents have complained of dysfunction within the party and said Bongo has mismanaged the country.

Speaking at a rally attended by 2,000 people in the capital Libreville, Ndama said he would run as an independent in the election in August.

Despite the turmoil, Bongo, who came to power in 2009 after the death of his father, longtime ruler Omar Bongo, is expected to win a second seven-year term under a single-round electoral system that critics say favors the incumbent.

Ndama, who headed the National Assembly for nearly two decades and who campaigned for Bongo in 2009, cited personal attacks on him by the government in his resignation letter last week.

Former African Union commission chief Jean Ping has also announced his intention to run for president.

 

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Elangwe Pauline

06.Apr.2016

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The International Criminal Court has thrown out the case against Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto. The court ruled there was insufficient evidence, but it refused to acquit him. In a split ruling, one judge declared it a mistrial because of a "troubling incidence of witness interference and intolerable political meddling". Mr Ruto denied murder, deportation and persecution charges during violence that followed the 2007 elections in which about 1,200 people were killed.

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta welcomed the ruling, saying the trial had been a "nightmare" for the nation. Mr Ruto is one of the most senior politicians to be tried by the ICC. Reaction to the verdict In 2014, the prosecutor dropped similar charges against Mr Kenyatta, alleging that witnesses had been intimidated to make them change their testimony.

The case against Mr Ruto's co-accused, journalist Joshua arap Sang, was also dismissed. Mr Ruto and Mr Kenyatta were on opposite sides of the 2007 election, but formed an alliance that won the 2013 election. There has not been a single conviction over the Kenyan election violence, which lasted for four months after December 2007.

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BBC

05.Apr.2016

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