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1- The Adhoc Committee wished to work with all members. However, based on claims which have nothing to do with education, trade unions and other associations left the hall. Only representatives of confessional private education and private higher education displayed a sense of good faith to contribute to the working session.

2- The three ministers of basic, secondary and higher education presented Government efforts towards the English-speaking subsystem of education and its willingness to continue dialogue. I will cite, amongst others, the on-going census of secondary school teachers to redeploy them to fill the gap observed in the English-speaking subsystem of education. It is also the same for the draft Order to set the duration of studies and naming the certificates obtained in technical education of the English- speaking subsystem of education. I also wish to mention the holding of the National Forum on Education in 2017, which brings lots of hope for the education community as a whole and the English subsystem in particular.

3- I wish to congratulate all participants who had a sense of efficiency and patriotism.

4- Within the framework of its sovereign missions, the State will continue towards dialogue and concertation with all stakeholders to achieve realistic and progressive results to technical concerns of one sub-system of education or the other (English-speaking sub-system, French sub-system)

5- Both sub-systems are bound to coexist in Cameroon, each in its specificity and originality without anyone trying to absorb the other.

6- With regard to extremist trade unionists who publicly refused to be part of this working session for reasons that have nothing to do with the education of young Cameroonians, Government will take its responsibility.

7- The State shall not allow individuals who do not show proof of good faith to take pupils, students, parents, Civil Society Organization hostage they who have just one wish: That the English-speaking sub-system of education should function effectively in the interest of our nursery, primary, secondary and university youth of the English-speaking subsystem, who are an integral part of the national educational system.

8- The Adhoc committee shall continue to work with people who display good faith to preserve the specificity, the originality and the radiance of the English-speaking subsystem of education in a Cameroon that is united in diversity.

9- The Adhoc Committee is determined to find efficient solutions to genuine problems in the English-speaking subsystem of education, in accordance with the laws and regulations of the Republic.

10- I wish to inform you that we have met with students, teachers in their large majority, parents and all people of good will. They are against this manipulation of trade unions, and will want schools to start as soon as possible. That is the Government's stand point. Let us not jeopardise our children's future.

11- We call on all men and women, Cameroonians of good will to do all so that classes resume early January in all parts of the North West and South West Regions. The Government will take her responsibility. Cameroonian children in the North West and South West regions must be educated as their brothers and sisters in the other eight regions.

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Prince Nfor Hanson

28.Dec.2016

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Prof Ghogomu and his delegation from Yaounde take teachers hostage at Ayaba in Bamenda at the ongoing meeting being held between the government and English speaking teachers who have been on strike now for over a month. The professor who is part of the delegation that came in from Yaounde insistthat the teachers must work with them in the direction they want!

In an SMS exchange betwwen Akuroh John Mbah(Senior Journalist) and the head of the teachers union, Mr. Tassang Wilfred, he Mr Tassang said all the teachers participating at the meeting were forcefully locked in the hall as they attempted to stage a walkout! Meantime the town of Bamenda is heavily militarized and some entrances into the city have completely been blocked.  

It is certain the military were brought in to coarse the teachers to call off the strike. Their safety is henceforth doubtful.

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Akuroh John Mbah

27.Dec.2016

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The National Commission of Human Rights and Liberties will dispatch 6 Commissioners to investigate the human rights abuses which took place during the current Anglophone crisis in Bamenda.
This was one of the resolutions arrived at during the 21st Ordinary Session of the commission which held recently in Yaounde.

According to the national Chairman Dr Chemuta Divine BANDA, the two-day session focused on Two major issues, namely the publication of the Commission’s 2015 annual reports and the examination of events relating to the day-to-day operation of the Commission.
With regard to the State of Human Rights in Cameroon for 2015, the Commission addressed major issues such as the fight against the Boko Haram terrorist group, land grabbing (the right to Land ownership) and the right to a fair trial in Cameroon.
The President also noted that collaboration with other stakeholders was effective in the protection of human rights in 2015, in particular with elements of the security and law enforcement agencies. In addition, more people responded to the Commission’s call.
Dr BANDA noted that this session took place in the aftermath of a strike by common Law lawyers, teachers, students and individuals in theNorth West and South West Cameroon which began since October, 2016.
In the opinion Of the President, these protest have been characterized clearly by violations of human rights. 

To this end, CNDHL insist that dialogue between the protesting parties is crucial for the maintenance of peace in our society. The Commission also indicated that investigations should be conducted in all cases of human rightsviolations reported.
Other elements of the agenda included presentation, consideration and adoption of the Draft Collective Agreement of the National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms, the examination and adoption of the Commission’s draft 2017 budget of CFAF 400 million, consideration and adoption of the report of the 20th Ordinary Session and the plans for the 2016 Progress Reports and the Report on the State of human rights of the Commission.The State of Implementation of the Resolutions and Recommendations of the 20th Ordinary Session was also presented by the Secretary-General of the Commission.

At the end of the session, members adopted a resolutions and recommendations amongst which was the fact that a team of 6 Commissioners, led by the President of the Commission, will investigate the situation of those arrested in Bamenda and transferred to Yaoundé during the strike which Shook the capital of the Northwest Region.The President will issue a statement to inform the general public of the results of the investigation.

Members also resolved that future reports of the Commission on the situation of human rights in Cameroon be validated by civil society organizations.The Commission recommended that consideration be given to translating of some of these documents into Braille and commits to redoubling efforts for the promotion and protection of human rights in general, Security and law enforcement.More action is needed to mobilize resources from development partners for better implementation of its activities.
In his final speech, the President wished all participants a happy new year 2017.

Cameroontoday

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Rita Akana

25.Dec.2016

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All passengers were freed from a hijacked plane in Malta on Friday, but some crew remained on board with hijackers believed to be loyalists of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The aircraft was on an internal flight in Libya on Friday morning when it was diverted to Malta, 500 km (300 miles) north of the Libyan coast, after a man told crew he had a hand grenade.

Initial reports said a hijacker had told crew he was "pro-Gaddafi" and that he was willing to let all passengers leave the Airbus A320 if his demands were met.

It was unclear what the hijackers' demands were. A Libyan television channel reported that it had spoken by phone with one of them, who described himself as head of a pro-Gaddafi party.

Gaddafi was killed in an uprising in 2011, and Libya has been racked by factional violence since.

Buses were driven onto the tarmac at Malta International Airport to carry away 109 passengers, as well as some of the crew. Television footage showed no signs of struggle or alarm.

After passengers had left the plane, a man briefly appeared at the top of the steps with a plain green flag resembling that of Gaddafi's now-defunct state.

MP Hadi al-Saghir told Reuters that Abdusalem Mrabit, a fellow member of Libya's House of Representatives on the plane, had told him the two hijackers were in their mid-20s and were from the Tebu ethnic group in southern Libya.

Troops were positioned a few hundred meters (yards) from the plane as it stood on the tarmac. Several other flights at the airport were canceled or diverted.

A senior Libyan security official told Reuters that when the plane was still in flight on Friday morning the pilot told the control tower at Tripoli's Mitiga airport it had been hijacked.

"Then they lost communication with him," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The pilot tried very hard to have them land at the correct destination but they refused."

The aircraft had been flying from Sebha in southwest Libya to Tripoli for state-owned Afriqiyah Airways, a trip that would usually take a little over two hours.

The government of Malta said Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had discussed the hijack with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj by phone, and a negotiating team had been formed and was at the airport. Britain offered Malta help with dealing with the incident.

The last major hijacking on the tiny Mediterranean island was in 1985, when Palestinians took over an Egyptair plane. Egyptian commandos stormed the aircraft and dozens of people were killed.

Reuters

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Rita Akana

23.Dec.2016

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shoot-out in a suburb of the northern Italian city of Milan on Friday, a security source told Reuters.

Italy's interior minister was to hold a news conference at 10.45 a.m. (0445 ET) the ministry said.

A short video posted on the website of Italian magazine Panorama suggested the shooting happened before dawn, with police gathered around a cordoned-off area in the dark.


The report was one of several conflicting accounts on the whereabouts of the 24-year-old Tunisian Anis Amri.

A man matching his description was seen in Aalborg in northern Denmark, the Danish police tweeted on Friday, saying people should keep away from the area as it had an ongoing operation there.

Amri was also was caught on camera by police on a regular stake-out at a mosque in Berlin's Moabit district early on Tuesday a few hours after the attack, Germany's rbb public broadcaster reported.

Amri was not a suspect at that time, and on Thursday morning, when police raided the mosque, they could not find him, rbb said.

German investigators had said they believed Amri was still lying low in Berlin because he is probably wounded and would not want to attract attention, Der Tagesspiegel, reported citing security sources.

In the early hours of Friday morning, special forces arrested two men suspected of planning an attack on a shopping mall in the city of OberhausenIn in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, police said in a statement.

The men - two brothers from Kosovo, aged 28 and 31 - were arrested in the city of Duisburg on information from security sources, they said.

A police spokesman said there was no connection between the Duisburg arrests and the Amri case, which has been claimed by Islamic State.

Amri had been identified by security agencies as a potential threat and had his application for asylum rejected, but authorities had not managed to deport him because of missing identity documents.

Reuters

 

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Rita Akana

23.Dec.2016

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Catholic Church-mediated talks have resumed in the DR Congo. Mediators are urging President Joseph Kabila and opposition parties to find an agreement before Christmas to settle the crisis, as street violence goes on.

Dozens of people have already have been killed this week amid protests over the president's stay in power.

Kabila's tenure officially ended on Monday and he is constitutionally barred from seeking another term. However, a court ruled that he can remain in power until new elections, which had been set for November, but the ruling party now says won't be held until 2018.

"Our wish is to end before Christmas," said Episcopal Conference (CENCO) chairman Monsignor Marcel Utembi (pictured center above). "If the political and civil society actors do not reach a compromise by then [...] CENCO will draw the consequences."

"Enough is enough," he went on.

"A solution must be found as soon as possible by all political actors, but in particular by the government in order to reassure the Congolese people," he added.

Utembi also conveyed a message from Pope Francis: "I am concerned by what is happening in your country, which I wish to visit at the opportune moment. I pray for the Congolese people, who need peace so much now."

Initial talks - headed by the CENCO - broke up at the weekend. The call by the bishops sponsoring the talks came after protests erupted over Kabila's refusal to step down at the end of his mandate.

Political impasse

The mainstream opposition has been calling for "peaceful resistance" from the Congo's 70 million people, but after the new government was announced overnight on Monday headed by Samy Badibanga, some voices were calling for more direct action.

The main opposition bloc headed by 84-year-old Etienne Tshisekedi has rejected the plan. It wants elections next year and a pledge that Kabila will not stand.

The new cabinet is part of an October deal between the ruling party and fringe opposition groups enabling Kabila to remain in office until elections in April 2018.

There was a heavy military and police presence in the capital, Kinshasa, on Wednesday with the remains of barricades littering the streets after protesters burned the headquarters of the ruling party.

Police said the heavy security presence will be maintained until the end of the holiday season.

No common ground

Finding common ground between the ruling majority and the opposition coalition will be difficult, as the ruling party insists that Kabila stay in power until the elections and the opposition saying it does not recognize his authority.

"We are trying to negotiate, but meanwhile Kabila is killing people. What we'll negotiate is the departure of Kabila from power, that's it," said Jean-Marc Kabund-a-Kabund, the secretary-general of the UDPS, the main opposition party.

Death toll varies

Human Rights Watch said security forces had killed 26 people, while the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo said it had documented 19 people shot to death, 45 wounded and a "very high number" of arrests in Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, Matadi and Goma.

The government said nine people had been killed in the capital: a police officer, two women hit by stray bullets and six men killed in looting. The national police spokesman, Col. Pierrot Mwanamputu, said eight others died in Lubumbashi, three in Matadi and two in Boma.

Mwanamputu also said 275 people had been detained since Kabila's mandate ended.

International reactions

Germany said on Wednesday it had indefinitely postponed talks on development assistance to the DRC after Kabila decided to stay in power, the German foreign office said. 

"From now on, the Congolese Government's scope for action will be restricted," the statement said. "The negotiations on development cooperation scheduled to take place next year will be postponed indefinitely. The German Government reserves the right to take further steps."

The US, meanwhile, said on Wednesday that it was "greatly disappointed by President Kabila's failure to organize elections and to state publicly that he will not run again." State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters that the US condemned the latest violence and urged all sides to participate in Wednesday's talks "fully and in good faith."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday urged the government and opposition to work constructively to reach a deal.

The head of the UN mission in Congo, Maman S. Sidikou, has also called on authorities to end what he called "politically motivated detentions" and asked that the UN be granted full access to detention centers.

DRC has never witnessed a democratic transfer of power following polls since independence from Belgium in 1960.

AFP

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Rita Akana

22.Dec.2016

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