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The dismissed general manager of the telecommunications regulatory agency(ART), Jean Louis Beg Mengue has been ordered not to leave the country as his passport has also been withdrawn. The order comes from the Attorney General of Mr Biya's special criminal court (SCC) in Yaoundé.

Mr Beh Mengue who was fired from his job on June 8 2017, is accused of embezzling state funds amounting to over 193 billion fcfa as reported by the supreme state audit control. Jean Louis Beh Mengue who has headed ART for over 20 years has said his head can not roll alone.

During his hearing at the SCC, he indicated other top barons of the CPDM regime such as; Jean Pierre Biyiti Bi Essame, former minister of post and telecommunications, Mohaman Sani Tanimu, former director general of elections Cameroon. Mr Beh Mengue's fate will be decided in the days ahead as hearing is expected to resume.

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Rita Akana

17.Jun.2017

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Higher education institutions in Cameroon are mobilizing resources to get their students eligible for the controversial laptop computers  from President Paul Biya. The atmosphere at the University of Yaoundé is rather tense. Students have barely no time left for  online registration , which ends on June 15.
After  the online registration, they are expected to have themselves fingerprinted. No one should collect more than one computer, they say.
This has put some pressure on students, as they are forced to stand on very long queues for several hours.
“If we don’t complete it today, we will come back tomorrow,” a student said on Tuesday, scared by the sheer numbers of people ready to leave their fingerprints.
“I will go there[campus of the University of Yaoundé I] tomorrow as early as possible, even if it means being there by 5 am,” another student disclosed. “I learned there are thousands of people there,” he added.
For a student to be eligible for the computer, they must have paid their fees, get registered online and have themselves fingerprinted.
Biya announced the controversial laptop offer in July 2017. In all, 500,000 laptop computers will be distributed to students in public and state-recognised private institutions of higher learning for the 2016/2017 academic year.
The move, which Paul Biya claims is to help Cameroonians join the digital race, is seen by  pundits as a political gesture.
Critics of Biya argue that the president wants to buy the conscience of voters, given that presidential election comes up next year.
The laptops were to be distributed to students several months back yet uncertainty still hovers around. Students are already taking their end-of-year exams when they cannot tell the date the computers will be given to them.
Cameroon has loaned a huge sum of FCFA 75 billion to buy the computers from a Chinese firm.
This, pundits say, is a terrible burden on taxpayers.

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Rita Akana

16.Jun.2017

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The convoy of the Minister of Basic Education, Youssouf  Hadidja Alim, who was on an emergency examination inspection mission to the South West Region, June 13, knocked down 8-year-old Beckly AnitoTiguh, in  Mabonji Village on the outskirts of Kumba.

The child was rushed to the Emergency Ward of the Kumba District Hospital but later died.

Anito was reportedly heading to the stream to fetch water when one of the last cars in the Minister’s convoy knocked her down. She was declared dead at the District Hospital.

Family members said Anito was knocked down on the pedestrian part of the road.
Other accounts hold that the child was manipulating a mobile phone beside the road when she was knocked down.
After the incident, the driver involved did not immediately alert the other members of the convoy.  The Minister was only informed about the incident in Kumba.

She immediately redirected her convoy to the Kumba District Hospital to get first-hand information on the mishap.

Hadidja Alim appeared at the hospital depressed. She expressed regrets over the misfortune, while consoling the girl’s family.

The Minister later left Kumba through Mamfe for the Northwest.

Even after her departure, high profile CPDM militants spent hours at the health facility mourning with the family, among them, former Minister Benjamin Itoe.
The Inspector General in the Ministry of Basic Education, Mispa Itoe, was also among those who mourned and consoled the family.

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Rita Akana

15.Jun.2017

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Unregistered candidates sitting GCE examinations in West Cameroon are in a  dilemma following a declaration made  by an official on state broadcaster, CRTV. The official revealed on Monday that a special report would be written about unregistered candidates taking the rather controversial exams. The same official pointed out that such candidates had been set apart at their centre in order to facilitate writing the report .
The 2017 session of the General Certificate of Education examinations has begun today 12 June.
The nature of the report was not disclosed, leaving people wondering.
Will the report help to incriminate those who wanted the unrest to carry on by boycotting the official registration period?
Will it go a long way to compensate 'patriots', who came to sit their examinations in spite of pressure from 'unpatriotic' compatriots to sabotage the sovereignty of the State?
Or will it just serve as a way of identifying unregistered candidates?
None of these questions can be answered now.
In the wake of the unrest in West Cameroon several students have not had a stable school year. Effective learning halted since November 2016 and most students did not register for the exams.
The GCE Board first postponed the exams for more candidates to get registered. But it didn't yield much fruit. Unregistered candidates were then invited to take the exams notwithstanding their situation.
West Cameroonians continue to denounce their marginalization by their French-speaking compatriots.

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Rita Akana

12.Jun.2017

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A Congo official says armed men have attacked a prison in the eastern city of Beni, killing at least 11 and freeing more than 900 prisoners.

North Kivu provincial governor Julien Paluku said eight prison guards were among the 11 dead in the Sunday afternoon attack. He said about 30 prisoners remained in the jail.

Paluku announced a curfew in Beni and nearby Butembo, saying only the army and police can circulate. Suspects were not immediately known.

Congo's police on Saturday said a group of men attacked a police station in Kinshasa, killing at least two.

In May, Christian sect members stormed a prison in Kinshasa, freeing their leader and others. Witnesses say thousands escaped.

Scores of armed groups fight for control in Congo's mineral-rich eastern region.

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Rita Akana

12.Jun.2017

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Senator John McCain (R-AZ) gave an interview on foreign policy recently, and he concluded that America’s leadership is currently worse off than it was when the country was being run by the man who defeated him in the 2008 presidential election.

The Guardian has released an extensive analysis on President Trump‘s approach to foreign policy, as well as the diplomatic complications that it has entailed so far. McCain was asked for his opinion about Trump’s handling of foreign policy, and the senator was “visibly irked” when asked about how Trump got in a Twitter fight with Sadiq Khan as the Mayor of London dealt with the fallout of the recent terror attack against his city.

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Rita Akana

12.Jun.2017

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