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President Paul Biya has sent a bill to Parliament to reform the Supreme Court. The changes will see the creation of the Common law bench in the months ahead. The bill we are reliably informed has been recieved at the National Assembly Thursday June 22.

If adopted, Biya will sign an Ordinace to make the Common law bench a reality. This was one of the biting issues raised by protesting Common law lawyers which sparked the Anglophone crisis. After giving a deaf ears to this demands, Government sluggishly swung into action. The Minister of state, Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals on March 30, 2017 announced the creation of the Bench amongst others measures.

Esso says , the measures are intended to improve on the functioning of the judiciary and also to satisfy the legal and judicial disposition of the constitution in section 1 paragraph 3 which stipulates that the official languages of Cameroon shall be English and French both languages having equal value.

The Minister even claimed , that before the lawyers went public with their claims, the President of the Republic had initiated reforms regarding the functioning of the judicial system and had presided judicious measures.

While some Common law practitioners have appreciated the move, Barrister Fru John Soh has rubbished the move saying it is too late.  Common law lawyers continue to ground courts in the North West and South West regions in a crisis which has taken an unprecedented  dimension with the Biya regime paying in hard currency for innitially downplaying the demands raised by the lawyers.

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23.Jun.2017

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The dramatic return of Hon Joseph Wirba into the Glass House was not without fireworks. For those who would have thought the critic negotiated his return, the MP's altercation with the  House speaker clearly was demonstrated through some straight forward  statements made to Cavaye Yegue Djibril on the Anglophone pa-lava.

Wirba's coming had quickly unsettled the day's proceedings at the national assembly and it took a violent twist when Cavaye Yegue tried to stop him from mounting the rostrum. The Nso warrior is his usual hard-lining style did not disappoint. "Let them come and get me right here now" he fired the first shot. Just when the house was about digesting his shot, he released another ,  "I am back to continue from where i stopped. " He told the long term Speaker, that it was time the West Cameroon affair be put up for discussion.

Quizzed on why he made the return, the SDF faithful said it was normal for him to come back at a time when the people needed him. And he needed to stand for them. Hon Wirba shocked reporters when he told them, " I am ready for whatever. It is now up to decide the best place for me, Kondengui or an early grave."

The outspoken MP who did not say where he was on self exile wondered why his colleagues come to Yaounde to adopt bills which have not benefited the common man. To him, the West Cameroon Problem is pressing and needs to be resolved. At a time where schools have been shut, Businesses going down and religious authorities are in court under humiliating circumstances, Wirba questioned why his colleagues are silent on an issues as critical as the Anglophone problem. Asked why he did not withdraw as he earlier told his comrades, the fearless critic said  With the continuous humiliation from government,  he has come to fight for his people and he will do so till death.

It was pleasing for the SDF MPs to see him again. As another Joseph of the party, Banadzem expressed joy. The man who is the party's Parliamentary Group leader at the National Assembly condemned the arrest warrant placed for Wirba insisting it was unlawful for the National Police Chief, Mbarga Nguele to issue a warrant to an MP whose immunity is still intact. Only the Minister of Justice has the prerogative to do so. The days ahead will be challenging for the Honourable but he seemed determined to use every second of his freedom to fight for his land, West Cameroon.

Wirba's Speech

“Where else should we say these things? If we belong to the National Assembly then Mr. Speaker, you must hear me out. Mr. Speaker, you will hear me out. With all due respect Mr. Speaker, I have been chased through the bushes for the past three months. I cannot come here and you are discussing…

“Our children are out of school, our lawyers in jail and all that is happening in West Cameroon means nothing to you. Where is your standing order to suspend for us to discuss issues that have to do with the people of West Cameroon? You tell me because you don’t seem have an agenda for us…

“Mr. Speaker, I am now telling you that the person who ordered for my arrest… tell him I am here; he can come and take me out of this National Assembly and the people of West Cameroon will know that they don’t belong here…

“The representatives of the people have the power to say it as it is at any time. I mean, we come here and you shut us down… what should we do? I should have waited for them to bring my head to you. That’s what you would have wanted. I simply say NO!

Mr. Speaker, can you now on this floor, give us where this National Assembly can discuss the issues that have to do with the people of West Cameroon? Because it is more important than anything you have discussed in this Assembly from independence. Can you tell us? Because if we cannot to talk about these things here, where are we supposed to talk about them for God’s sake? “You keep humiliating us like this, every time, it is the same thing. Get to the church leaders, we are humiliated, get to the lawyers, we are humiliated. We come here to represent our people and you tell me that I cannot talk about my people then, you will need to shut my mouth with death.

Can I have the time when we will talk about the problems of our people? If you have no space here for that it means that the country completely excludes us from its programme and I do not want that to be. You are supposed to make sure that we come here and represent the people, talk about their problems so that you understand the problems.

“I am happy that I am coming here when the Minister of Territorial Administration is here and I am wondering because Mr. Minister I said here on the 2rd of December that the reign of terror over in West Cameroon is bringing down the country and nobody seems to listen and then I come here and we are told that we cannot talk on behalf of those people? It is the right of the MP to represent his people, Mr. Speaker.

“I am not bringing any disorder. If you let us talk on our problems, nobody will be wasting this time because I have a full file here to discuss about the problems of my people, so can you give me space to talk about it? If I don’t have it, then you are saying and with the order on my head that I should be arrested for representing my people. You are saying that the last remnants of anything we call democracy has died in this country. If an MP cannot talk, who else? And if an MP for the country is not safe, who else is safe in this country…?”

 

 

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22.Jun.2017

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The Head of state, Pul Biya has begun defining the main contours of the 2018 state budget. The traditional circular signed Tuesday June 20 gives guidelines for the preparation of the State budget. with President Paul Biya stressing the continuous implementation of the three-year emergency plan, smooth preparations for the 2019 African Cup of Nations, the operationalisation of the "Special Youth" emergency plan and the strict supervision of people affected by cross-border insecurity.

The circular comes as the country enters the third  triennium (2016-2018) programme-based budget, with the executive directives hinging on government priorities and commitments that are aligned to the country's long term development objectives contained in the Growth and Employment Strategy Paper (GESP). Government seeks the acceleration of economic growth and the improvement of the livelihoods of Cameroonians.

The preparation of the 2018 budget comes at a time world economies are dangling. The International Monetary Fund notes that global economic growth stood at 3.1 per cent in 2015, reached 3.2 in 2016, but expected to hit 3.5 in 2017 - driven by emerging and developing countries. Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to continue at relatively lower rates than in the past decades due to falling commodity prices.The circular also comes at a time the Bank of Central African States, BEAC, indicates that growth in Central Africa is stagnating. A situation has has raised fears of a possible devaluation of the FFRANC CFA. Government however argues that Cameroon has  shown resilience. Her Projections place growth at 6 per cent, up from 5.9 per cent - with an inflation rate of below 3 per cent in 2016.

Top on government's intents is to accelerate economic growth, make it strong, sustainable, inclusive and job creative. The achievement of the objectives is based on the modernization of agriculture (second-generation agriculture), the stepping up of energy supply, improvement of enterprise competitiveness, business climate, access to financing, promotion of the growth of local industry and the processing of local products.

Stakeholders tasked with preparing the State budget have been urged to maintain a real GDP growth rate of 6 per cent, an inflation rate of 3 per cent, an overall fiscal deficit of 3.3 per cent of GDP and a current account deficit of 3.6 per cent of GDP.

Economists however say governments figures regarding growth rate is unrealistic considering the yawning poverty gap. Emmanuel Kungne, a Douala based Economists laments that te country's reserves at BEAC is drying up while foreign debts stands at over 5000billion FCFA. The country is on a continous borrowing spree which is being spent on uncoordinated projects and stolen by regime barons. He wonders how reassuring government can sound when most of the projects inscribed in the Emergency plan are limping. To him government is demonstrating a false reality which does not reflect that of the common man.  2018 to him will be more perilous for a vast majority of the population who live below the poverty line.

 

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21.Jun.2017

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A railway station in Brussels was evacuated Tuesday after police “neutralized” a suspect wearing an explosive belt.

Belgian police confirmed there was a small explosion in the Brussels Central Station, but said there did not appear to be much damage done.

The cause of the explosion is unknown. ABC reported that one suspect was shot by Belgian soldiers. No other casualties have been reported.

Local media reported that witnesses saw a man lying on the ground with wires coming out of his clothing. Belgian police said the situation is now under control.

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Rita Akana

20.Jun.2017

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A vehicle drove into pedestrians near a mosque in north London, killing at least one person, early on Monday. One suspect has been taken into custody, as London's mayor says extra police have been called in.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing a group of people giving an emergency heart massage to one man before the attack happened. 

Eight others were taken to hospital and two were treated at the scene, Basu said, adding that all of the victims were Muslim.

The driver of the van - a 48-year old - has been arrested on suspicion of murder, he added.

Video filmed immediately after the attack showed a Caucasian man being detained by police.

"The driver of the van...was found detained by members of the public at the scene and then arrested by police in connection with the incident," an earlier police statement said. Ambulance crews said ten people had been transferred to hospital.  

The interior minister, Amber Rudd, said police "immediately" treated the incident as a suspected terrorist attack. Rudd, who is in charge for government law enforcement, said: "Londoners have been hit with a series of attacks and have been nothing short of heroic."

"We must all continue to stand together, resolute, against all those who try to divide us and spread hate and fear," Rudd said.

Prime Minister Theresa May - who said earlier on Monday that the incident could have been a terrorist attack - will chair an emergency meeting later this morning.

The chairman of the Finsbury Park Mosque, Mohammed Kozbar, complained that the "mainstream media" had been unwilling to call the attack a terrorist incident for many hours.

The leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn - in whose constituency the attack took place - said he was "totally shocked" by the attack. He said in a Tweet he has been in touch with mosques, the police and the local council regarding the incident.

As it happened

Police said they were called just after 12:20 a.m. (2320 GMT Sunday) to reports of a collision on Seven Sisters Road, which runs through the Finsbury Park area of north London.

A witness who lives opposite the scene of the incident told the BBC a white van stopped near the Finsbury Park Mosque, as Muslims celebrated Ramadan in the multiethnic area. 

"From the window, I started hearing a lot of yelling and screeching, a lot of chaos outside…Everybody was shouting: 'A van's hit people, a van's hit people'," she said. "I didn't see the attacker himself, although he seems to have been arrested, but I did see the van." 

One witness, Abdul Rahman, told the BBC he saw the van "deliberately run over about 10 or 15 people." Rahman said he and another man wrestled the suspect to the ground and held him down for 20 to 30 minutes before police arrived.

"This big van just came and went all over us," witness Abdulrahman Saleh Alamoudi told BuzzFeed News. "He was screaming... 'I'm going to kill all Muslims.'"

The UK's largest Muslim umbrella body, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), said on Twitter that the crash happened outside the Muslim Welfare House, just down the road from Finsbury Park Mosque. "Our prayers are with the victims," it said.

At least two witnesses told Sky News there were three men in the van, but the police statement seems to contradict that, saying no other suspects had been identified or reported to police.

Harun Khan, the head of the MCB, described the incident as the "most violent manifestation to date" of Islamophobia, and called on authorities to do more "to tackle the growth in hate crime."

DW

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Rita Akana

19.Jun.2017

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BAMAKO (Reuters) - Gunmen on Sunday attacked a luxury resort popular with Western expatriates just outside Mali's capital, Bamako, killing two people in what the security minister called a terrorist attack, while 36 guests were rescued.

Four gunmen arriving on motorbikes and a car stormed Le Campement Kangaba, near Dougourakoro, to the east of the capital Bamako, a resort that foreign residents visit for weekend breaks. Malian security forces backed by French troops deployed to push them out.

"At first we thought they were armed bandits but we know how armed bandits operate, they don't hold territory, so now we think it is a terrorist attack," Mali's Security Minister Salif Traore told journalists late Sunday outside the entrance to the resort, part of which was on fire.

Malian security forces, United Nations peacekeeping mission vehicles and French military armoured vehicles surrounded the resort, according to a Reuters witness. A helicopter circled overhead.

In a later news conference, Traore said Malian forces fatally shot two of the attackers but the other two escaped and were being pursued. An attacker had been wounded and fled, leaving a submachine gun and six bottles of explosives behind, the ministry said earlier.

"We're now in the process of combing the area to verify no one is hiding anywhere," Traore said.

One of victims killed in the attack was a French-Gabonese citizen, while the other has not yet been identified, Traore said. Both were killed by gunfire. Two hotel staff workers and two guests were also wounded by bullets, he said.

Eight policemen were wounded in the shootout with the attackers, Traore said.

 

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Rita Akana

19.Jun.2017

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