Secondary Education Minister, Bapes Bapes Arrested, Detained at Kondengui

Bapes Bapes

(NewsWatch Cameroon)-After spending a night at the Special Criminal Court where he was summoned
yesterday, Secondary Education Minister Loius Bapes Bapes has been transfered to the Kondengui maximum security prison in Yaounde today March 31, 2014.
Though at the time of this report no clear reason had been given for the arrest of the Secondary Education boss, it is speculated that the arrest is not unconnected with the embezzlement of state funds.
The former secretary of state in the same Ministry, Catherine Abena former close collaborator of Bapes Bapes who died on March 19, 2014 in Yaounde was also arrested and detained for allegedly embezzling state funds amounting to FCFA 250 million.
When she was arrested, comentators said the secretary of state could not have been arrested without her boss.
Bapes Bapes will thus be spending his first night at the Kondengui maximum security prison in Yaounde where other former members of government are also detained for alleged embezzlement of state funds.
Bapes Bapes arrest has caused much ink to flow because he is the first serving minister to be arrested and detained at the Kondengui. All other former ministers who have been arrested for same purpose were usually sacked from government before their arrest.
A classified source at the prison has hinted that the secondary education minister is ‘lodged’ at ‘Quartier 7’ of the ‘prestigeous’ section of the prison, near his former colleague, Urbain Olanguena. The source adds that the newest VIP inmate was recieved by his former colleague, Jean Marie Atangana Mebara with whom he had a long discussion before leaving for his new house.
Relatives brought the minister a matress and some items to help him begin his new found life.
On March 24, 2014, Bapes Bapes headed the CPDM central committee delegation to the Sanaga Maritime during the 29th anniversary celebrations of the party.
Since news of Mr. Bapes Bapes's arrest broke out, pqnic hqs reportedly gripped Yaounde as it is being lingered in that many more top officials will join the secondary minister at the prison in the days ahead.
By Ndi Eugene Ndi in Yaounde

World Bank Accused of Destroying Traditional Farming to Support Corporate Land Grabs

Below is a press release from Oakland Institute together with some NGOs accusing the World Bank playing a vital role in the rampant theft of land and resources from some of the world’s poorest people.
OAKLAND, Calif. (March 31) -- Today, the Oakland Institute and /The Rules, along with other NGOs and farmer and consumer organizations from around the world launch a campaign, Our Land Our Business, to hold the World Bank accountable for its role in the rampant theft of land and resources from some of the world’s poorest people--farmers, pastoralists, and indigenous communities, many of whom are essential food producers for the entire planet.
“The World Bank is facilitating land grabs and sowing poverty by putting the interests of foreign investors before those of locals,” said Anuradha Mittal, Executive Director of the Oakland Institute.
“Smallholder farmers and herders are currently feeding 80 percent of the developing world. Casting them aside in favor of industrial farming corporations from the West betrays the World Bank’s reckless and short term approach to development,” said Alnoor Ladha, Executive Director of /The Rules.
The Bank’s “Doing Business” rankings, which score countries according to how Washington officials perceive the “ease of doing business” there, have caused many developing-country leaders to deregulate their economies in hopes of attracting foreign investment. But what the World Bank considers beneficial for foreign business is very often the exact opposite for existing farmers and herders.
In the agricultural sector, the rankings encourage governments to commoditize their land--and to sell or lease it to foreign investors, regardless of environmental or social impact. Smallholder farmers, pastoralists, and indigenous people are casualties of this approach, as governments and foreign corporations work hand-in-hand to dispossess them of their land--and gain World Bank approval in the process.
The results have already been devastating. Thanks to reforms and policies guided by the Bank, Sierra Leone has taken 20 percent of its arable land from rural populations and leased it to foreign sugar cane and palm oil producers. And in Liberia, British, Malaysian, and Indonesian palm-oil giants have secured long-term leases for over 1.5 million acres of land formerly held by local communities.
Now the land grab problem is about to get worse. Under pressure from the G8 and with funding from the Gates Foundation, the Bank is doubling down on its rankings fetish by introducing a new program called “Benchmarking the Business of Agriculture” (BBA). The BBA’s explicit goal is to promote “the emergence of a stronger commercial agriculture sector.” Its rankings will prize deregulation of the agriculture sector and is expected to enable further land grabbing around the world.
“We’re standing up with farmers, herders, and indigenous peoples of the developing world who are being steamrolled by the World Bank’s pro-corporate agenda,” added Mittal. “Initiatives like the World Bank’s ‘Doing Business’ rankings encourage governments to steal from the poor in order to give to the rich. That must end.”
MEDIA CONTACT:
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kristen@keybridge.biz

Nkambe: CPDM Celebrates 29th Anniversary With Renewed Commitment

'The CPDM has come to stay in Nkambe'-Ngala Gerard

(NewsWatch Cameroon)-Militants and supporters of the ruling Cameroon People Democratic Movement, CPDM in the Donga Mantung I section, Nkambe joined their comrades nationwide on Monday March 24 in celebrations marking the 29th anniversary of the party.

The 29th anniversary of the CPDM in Nkambe was an occasion for supporters of the party to celebrate peace, stability, maturity and above all success. It was the first time in close to two decades that the CPDM is celebrating her anniversary in that part of the country after registering success at an election (last September 30th twin elections).

Addressing supporters of the party at the Nkambe community hall, Donga Mantung I interim CPDM section president, Taa’Nformi Ngala Gerard underscored the need for party front liners to recruit more militants into the party in view of future elections; which according to him, the CPDM has to win in all.

There was total excitement amongst the militants when Ngala Gerard announced that the CPDM has come to stay in Nkambe citing the recent glory of the party during the last legislative and municipal elections as signals for a bright future.

Being the first party anniversary after the CPDM won at the September 30, 2013 twin elections, Ngala Gerard told the militants of Donga Mantung I that the National Chairman of the CPDM, also president of the Republic of Cameroon holds Nkambe very close to his heart given that the name SDF was synonymous to Ntarikon and Nkambe in the Northwest. But today “you are all witnesses… the mayor is here, you showed the CPDM chairman that you are all behind the CPDM by voting massively for the party”.

To the section president, the militants of  Donga Mantung I, Nkambe have all reasons to celebrate after taking over the council, “which is the corner stone of development” from the opposition. He thus urged them to consolidate the victory. “You won the battle but the war continues, therefore do not go to slumber, you have to recruit more militants to ensure that in future elections we don’t only win but win with a hundred per cent”.

Ngala Gerard narrated that when he decided to come back and do politics at home, he first met with the then section president, today Mayor of Nkambe and told him “I have come here to join you so that we can help turn Nkambe into a CPDM stronghold”, and today he is happy that his dream is becoming reality.

Though the legislative election list leader for Donga Mantung centre on CPDM ticket is not in parliament, he told CPDM supporters that he is not discouraged. “Hope is not lost, you people can beat your chests for off-rooting the SDF in Nkambe”, he said promising that he and other CPDM bigwigs are into serious reflection on how to conquer in 2018.

It should be recalled that the CPDM list that was headed by Ngala Gerard won in Nkambe central during the September 30, 2013 legislative elections, but the SDF parliamentary candidate was rescued with votes from Ndu. However, the CPDM took over the council which had been under the controlled of the opposition SDF since the advent of multiparty politics.

Meantime, Taa’Nformi Ngala Gerard reassured the militants that he will still do what he was suppose to do if he had gone to parliament “because you gave me the confidence”. The acting section president urged militants to always appreciate what they have saying he strongly believes like Chinua Achebe that “no matter what you are aspiring for, no matter what you aim to be in future, you must appreciate what you have at the moment”.

Earlier, the mayor of the Nkambe CPDM run council, Ngabir Paul Bantar joined the section president to assure militants that the CPDM has come to stay. He said the CPDM would control the council for the next 34 years; two times the number of years the opposition has controlled before thinking of ever leaving.

The militants unanimously reiterated their gratitude and loyalty to the head of state, chairman of the CPDM in a motion of support.

The turnout of this year’s CPDM anniversary in Nkambe, analysts say was evident of the fact that the party has really made great strides in the recruitment of militants in the hitherto SDF stronghold.

By Ndi Eugene Ndi, with contributions from Marcel Abanda in Nkambe.

Ndansi Elvis: Popular Politician Shortlisted for Media Award

(NewsWatch Cameroon)-The emblematic youth leader of the National Union for Democracy and Progress, NUDP, Ndansi Elvis has been shortlisted amongst several other laureates for the 2013 Guardian Post Media Group Excellence Award billed for Kumba, Southwest region. Ndansi Elvis is undoubtedly a household name in the country most especially because of his fearless and daring approach towards whatever he embarks on, qualities which apparently must have heralded his selection for the upcoming Media award whose credibility cannot be overemphasized. As the national youth president of the NUDP, Ndansi Elvis has been a model to many youths who hitherto thought politics was a thing for the old. 
In fact Ndansi is a perfect example of a workaholic who is succeeding through hard work and nothing else. He represents the future of the young generation as he has proven both to his party and the country as a whole that the youth can be relied on for the development of tomorrow. Instead of remaining in the class of the youth who are derogatorily referred to as the “leaders of tomorrow”, Tamfu Ndansi Elvis has seized every opportunity given him to conveniently prove that the youths are the leaders of today and should be treated as such.

Ndansi Led Youths of His Party in Buea March Past

The man-Ndansi Elvis

Ndansi Elvis Nukam is a dynamic and energetic youth in his mid 30s. He hails from a small village – Mfume, near Misaje, Donga Matung division of the Northwest region. Trained as a medical practitioner, Ndansi has over the years proven to be an all-weather person, training himself in diverse domains and consequently metamorphosing into an versatile individual with multi-talents. He is intelligent and routinely smartly dressed, looks handsome and yet is humble and soft spoken. A perfect example of a gentleman in the strict sense of the word, Ndansi is widely known for keeping to his words. As national youth president of the NUDP, Ndansi acts like a model and a source of inspiration to many youth both at home and abroad.  In Donga Matung where he hails from, it is on record that Ndansi is the youngest politician this far who has ever gunned to be mayor and parliamentarian before the age of 30. In 2007, Ndansi Elvis was list leader for the NUDP council list for Misaje and later Parliamentary candidate in the 2013 twin elections for the Ako/Misaje constituency. Though luck did not smile on him in these attempts, Ndansi's participation has left behind an indelible mark in the political arenas of the division and beyond.

Ndansi-Young But an ace and no-nonsense politician

It is needless to remind ourselves that Ndansi Elvis is the first Anglophone to have ever occupied the position of national youth president of the NUDP, a party erroneously considered by many to be an affair of “Maiguidas” (Northerners). Like the famous Aristotle once said all human beings are politicians yet what distinguishes some politicians from the madding crowd is their approach to politics. Ndansi is a young politician with foresight who practices the politics of inclusion. He is a frontline militant of his party but even his adversaries from both the ruling party and elsewhere admire his approach to politics which is void of rancour and bitterness. Despite his two unsuccessful attempts, Ndansi has remained focused to his dream and his zeal towards politics has instead escalated over the years.
A renowned leadership writer Faye Wattleton once noted that “whoever is providing leadership needs to be as fresh and thoughtful and reflective as possible to make the very best fight”. This is a very apt description of Ndansi Elvis who has an ultra-sharp mind and the zeal of a bee in accomplishing any task worth undertaking. He is almost a perfectionist who fervently believes that anything worth the salt should be perfectly done or it should not be attempted at all. For this reason, many people believe that Ndansi has a golden touch and thus deserves outright any award that goes with the dynamism of a youth leader given his outstanding contribution to youth development.

Ndansi as a Great Mobilizer and High-spirited Politician

In 2013 alone Ndansi has proved beyond reasonable doubt that he is competent to man the entire activities of this country.  “Creativity is not sold in the market” - Martin Tubuo fondly called Prince Afo-Akom could never have been more apt. Creativity is indeed what makes a leader to succeed and that is the quality which Ndansi holds a lot of esteem for. It all started last October 2013 following the convening of the electorate by the head of state when Ndansi declared his intention to stand as parliamentary candidate in the elections and subsequently got the full support and blessings from his party Chairman, Bello Bouba Maigari. During the campaigns that saw the participation of three political parties-SDF, CPDM and NUDP within the Donga Matung West constituency, it is on record that Ndansi pulled the highest crowd ever in the constituency. In most of his campaigns, youths and the old alike emptied their homes for his rallies.
In 2014, his mobilizing spirit seems to have reached another level as Ndansi Elvis at short notice decided to fete youth day with his militants in Buea.  Within days, the emblematic leader was able to mobilize over five hundred militants to take part in the march past exercise. He equally did a similar mobilization in areas across the Northwest and East regions. As if that was not enough, days after Ndansi left Buea he was again assigned by the party hierarchy to head the NUDP delegation to Buea to participate in the Golden Jubilee of Reunification celebrations. In his usually style, Ndansi personally led his militants in the reunification march past, all clad in their party's regalia. Over the years this widely acclaimed youth leader who has proven his mettle as far as leadership is concerned in the country and beyond has no doubt blossomed through his endeavours.
This Article was first published in NewsWatch Newspaper N° 007

Witchcraft Attains Alarming Proportions in Nkambe

(NewsWatch Cameroon)-Since January 2014, the rate of witchcraft practiced in the division of Donga Mantung has been alarming with the most flagrant cases in villages like Bih, Saah, Kungi, Binka and  Konchep As recently as February 2014, 10 pupils were given human flesh in Bih village and were expected to provide payback by sacrificing their relatives. However, HRH the King of Binka stood firm and performed serious traditional rites to address the issue which is danger of spilling out of control.
 In similar rituals in Binka, a goat was slaughtered and the Fon, his traditional council and the population made it clear that anyone involved in witchcraft in the village will be done away with. Meanwhile, all those who had been “tied as meat” were untied and freed. Many of the witchcraft cases are at the Nkambe Court, with others at the police station and the DO’s office while the Fon is struggling to tackle those referred to his palace.
Recently, as a result of disappointment in the old people of Kungi who had been to the DO, Police, and Palace several times with no concretes results, the youth came out massively in a bid to curb the alarming rate of witchcraft which in their opinion has for long hampered development in the community. This time, the main accused persons included Pa Ngwang Ndange and Mami Siberia Ntambong who were summoned once more by the youths to the Palace.
The accused were said to have given two pupils human flesh in Kungi when these kids were returning from the market, after which the children could not sleep.  Upon investigation, the kids reported that one afternoon on their way back from market Mami Siberia stopped them and gave them meat to eat since they did not have meat in their houses. One took and ate though the other being wise enough to heed advice from his parents, never complied.
After some time, Mami Siberia started asking them to pay, and the issue became so heated that the one who did not eat, stole 20.000 FRS from the mother to pay Mami Siberia while the friend who ate sacrificed the mother in return.  Following interrogation, the child who stole the 20.00 FRS revealed that Mami Siberia gave them meat and was asking for the sacrifice of his father in return. He refused to do so and that was why he stole the 20.000 FRS to pay Mami Seberia with.
The Traditional Society of Kungi was informed about what had transpired and they reacted promptly. With the support of the entire population, they meted out severe beatings to Pa Ngwang and Mami Seberia as punishment. It should be recalled that Mami Seberia was at one time a disciple of the Church for Witchcraft Practices.
By Marcel Abanda in Nkambe

Plastic Packages : MINEPDED Promises Crackdown from April 2014

Hele Pierre, MINEPDED

(NewsWatch Cameroon)-The population of the North West Region has been told that over 6 million tons of waste is produced in Cameroon every year.
Talking in Bamenda on Thursday, March 13, 2014, during a public sensitization on the effects of producing, burning, dumping and using plastic papers, the chief of the service in charge of Toxic and Hazardous Waste at the Ministry of Environment, Protection of Nature and Sustainable Development (MINEPDED), Lemnyuy William, disclosed that over 6 million tons of waste are produced in Cameroon every year and 10% of the waste is comprised of plastic papers. He said plastic papers do not only make the environment dirty but also cause cancer when burnt or used to wrap food among others. “Moreover, we discourage nursing mothers from using plastic feeding -bottles to feed their babies because babies fed from such bottles run the risk cancer and malnutrition”, he added.
In corroborating the assertions of Lemnyuy William, Palouma the Director of Hazardous Waste and chemical products management from MINEPDEP Yaounde opined that plastic papers can remain in the soil for between 100 and 400 years before decomposing. He stressed that plastic papers have been identified as the most dangerous material to the environment because they cause pollution, cancer, floods and make the environment dirty.
The public was ipso facto, advised to use alternatives like raffia bags, non- plastic papers and even banana leaves to wrap food…as is done across the country in tying “Achu” and “Bobolo” among many others.
While insisting that the fight against plastic papers is not only an issue for the Ministry of the Environment, the Director stressed that government will as from April 2014 begin cracking down on defaulters especially those producing, distributing, and importing plastic papers. He said defaulters will have to pay 50 Million FCFA.
By Muketi Kah in Bamenda

Christelle Bay: Helping the Needy, though ‘in Need’

(NewsWatch Cameroon)-Bob Geldof, singer and campaigner once said “life is best experienced helping others… And that’s the other definition of development”. Going by this singer’s philosophy, Christelle Bay Nfor, Executive Director of the Bamenda-based humanitarian organization, Hope for the Needy Association, HOFNA, is a development icon. By creating HOFNA as a way of responding to some of the needs people, especially in communities which are underprivileged face on a day-to-day basis, Christelle Bay did not only want to experience life, but contribute to development.

Christelle Bay Nfor

In many communities in Cameroon, needy people do not have an open medium to express their needs or lack the required support since it does not suffice to express a need; needs must be addressed otherwise people will lose hope.   HOFNA according to the Executive Director was thus created as a medium for these ‘hopeless’ to express their worries. Accompanying rural women and needy children through support has been her line of action in fostering the empowerment of the poor as well as building a better future for all. It is also this art of reaching out to the needy that has catapulted Christelle Bay Nfor in various communities in the North West Region of Cameroon. What makes her dissimilar from others is that she does uncommon things in a very common manner. Yet it has not been a bed of roses for Christelle as she has been faced with many…

Challenges

Martin Luther King Jr. opined that “Life's persistent and most urgent question is 'What are you doing for others?'. Christelle Bay Nfor has understood this and has dedicated herself to serve others rather than to be served, despite the challenges. HOFNA has reached out to over 500 primary schools pupils in the North West Region through the support of didactic materials. In her move to encourage communities realize their worth through the education of the girl child, HOFNA has offered scores of scholarships to young intelligent girls in the region. The most recent was the scholarship she offered to one brilliant girl at CS Ngwanri in Nkambe Central.

“If you express a need, the only thing that can make you think that something will be done about it is hope. That is why you see it is not just about a need, but it is also about hope for the needy”, says Christelle Bay. However, doing something about the needs of the underprivileged has been very challenging. Thankfully, Christelle is married to the most dynamic and loving president of the Cameroon Cooperative Credit Union League (CamCCUL), Musa Shey Nfor who is her first source of hope in challenging situations. In a society like Cameroon where all philanthropic activities usually have a hidden political agenda, Christelle Bay is not interested in politics and has no ambitions in that domain: “The hidden agenda is that we have to cater for the needs of the needy. If that is hidden, then that is our hidden agenda”. She believes like Sir Francis Bacon that “the desire of power in excess caused the angels to fall; the desire of knowledge in excess caused man to fall: but in charity there is no excess; neither can angel nor man come in danger by it”. As a Christian, Christelle Bay Nfor agrees with Henry Ward Beecher that “Every charitable act is a stepping stone towards heaven”. Thus her charity which observers say is almost on the same wavelength with that of the First Lady, Chantal Biya through her humanitarian organization, CERAC, is not only preparing her way to heaven, but also giving her satisfaction on earth. This suggests she understands Rabbi Harold Kushner’s philosophy that “Being kind to others is a way of being good to yourself”. As a matter of fact, she has been and is putting HOFNA Cameroon on the ladders of the trusted NGOs that Cameroon needs to achieve the Vision 2035. Thus, HOFNA is not just about…

Meeting Immediate Needs

HOFNA according to the Executive Director is not just about meeting immediate needs. “It is about needs that are sustainable; once you start training people especially by cultivating and inculcating in them the aspects that you can get them to share with each other, you end up building a society that cares about its own needs and those of others”.

Though she reaches out to the needy, Christelle Bay Nfor does not have much as she herself is ‘in need’. Yet she believes in the Biblical quotation of Acts 20: 35 that “It is more blessed to give than to receive”. Like Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle who believes that “ if you cannot share a fanta with a friend, then you can never share whisky”, the Executive Director of HOFNA holds that you must not wait to have much before sharing with others.

Many may know her, yet this reporter believes in J. Oswald Sander’s statement that “Eyes that look are common, Eyes that see are rare”. Many people may have therefore looked at the soft-spoken philanthropist, but few have perceived her as…

A Heroine  

As Cameroonian women celebrated the 29^th International Women’s Day on March 8, 2014, this reporter recalled the words of the celebrated former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela who said,  “I have been asked this question many a time: ‘who is your hero?’ I reply: ‘My hero does not depend on the position a person occupies. My heroes are those simple men and women who have committed themselves to fighting poverty wherever that is to be found in the world”. Going by these words of the celebrated Late Madiba, Christelle Bay is a heroine. She is a woman of extraordinary qualities and abilities. Her educational background coupled with her devotion to be perfect has made her to transform the principle of education for work into the principle of education through work. Her public persona has attracted admiration from young girls and some women not just from the Northwest region but all over Cameroon and beyond. Her work has also attracted admiration from the press that has awarded her many awards including The Eye Newspaper Award of Excellence, awarded to her organization as “Best Child Result-Oriented NGO” in Cameroon for the year 2012.

This Article was also Published in NewsWatch Newspaper N°007

Imminent Indictment in Embezzlement Scandal Hastens Atanga Nji’s Departure from Gov’t!

Paul Atanga Nji is CPDM Section President

(NewsWatch Cameroon)-Paul Atanga Nji, the Minister and chargé de mission at the Presidency of the Republic must be bracing himself for the arrest that should soon come in the wake of the transfer to the Special Criminal Court of the file indicting him and several others for the embezzlement of billions of francs CFA within the framework of the financial scandal that rocked the Cameroon Postal Services, CAMPOST for nearly a decade and from which it is no exaggeration to claim, the institution has never really recovered.

While a multitude of individuals are being pursued for this swindle, Paul Atanga Nji stands out – partly because of his status as a minister, but above all because of the sheer enormity of the charges against him. If the reports that recently emerged regarding this issue are to be believed, then the man who doubles as CPDM Section President for Mezam I –alongside the other prominent defendant, Amougou Belinga of the media group, Anecdote – is being held to account for more than 1.2 billion FCFA  out of the total that was misappropriated at CAMPOST.

According to the Supreme State Audit which conducted investigations at two CAMPOST centres in Yaounde – CCP I and CCP II, Paul Atanga Nji and his associates, with the complicity of CAMPOST personnel made use of irregular deposits, unjustified payments and fictitious deposits to defraud the state of more than 1.7 billion FCFA. At CCP I, 243 irregular and fictitious payments were  made into 79 accounts resulting in the embezzlement of more than 1.15 billion with 319 million going into account No. 031562-00458 owned by Atanga Nji. At CCP II, through similarly shady methods, the minister managed to enrich himself with a further illegally obtained 469,500000 FCFA.

Curiously, although virtually all this information was available by the end of 2011, the minister had never come under scrutiny before now – possibly thanks to his political connections. However, it is clearly evident that his luck has run out. Quite apart from illustrating the seriousness of his predicament, the very fact that his indictment at the Special Criminal Court appears to be driven by the Presidency of the Republic, is evidence - if any were required - that Atanga Nji has fallen out of favour at the highest levels and even if he is yet to stand trial for these allegations, his chances of being retained in Biya’s government after the imminent cabinet reshuffle are practically nil.

This Article was also Published in NewsWatch Newspaper N°007

Youths Praise Chuyeh Mbunkor for Initiating Scholarship Scheme

(NewsWatch Cameroon)-The executive bureau of the Cameroon National Youth Council (CNYC), Donga Mantung has written to one of their elite, Captain Edward Chuye Mbunkor, appreciating him for initiating a scholarship scheme that would be beneficial to Donga Mantung, particularly those of his native Binju – Nkambe who are holders of the GCE Advance Level Certificates.

Marcel Abanda

In the letter written on February 23, 2014 and signed by the divisional executive president of the CNYC for Donga Mantung, Marcel Abanda, the youths of Donga Mantung through their president said they were very elated at the announcement of the scholarship fund by Captain Edward Chuye Mbunkor.

The marine captain who hails from Nkambe (Binju), works and lives in Douala. He was in his native Binju on February 22, 2014 to appreciate the population of his village for voting the CPDM at the last September 30, 2013 twin elections.

During his “home coming”, the marine captain who was accompanied by some of his friends from the economic capital announced that he will offer scholarships to all Advanced Level holders of Binju who wish to further their education, irrespective of the schools they enrolled in.

According to the President of the executive bureau of the CNYC for Donga Mantung, the scholarship scheme by the elite is in line with the head of state’s address to the youths on the eve of the 48^th edition of the national Youth Day celebrated last February 11, 2014 where he laid emphasis on education of the youths.

“For it is these youths that will build the future - which starts today - of our beloved Country Cameroon and the Vision 2035. This scholarship package for the Youths of Binju Nkambe falls squarely within the Head of State’s Vision for the youths of this country. Once more we thank you immensely for the great New Year gift to our youths. This is an example which we strongly recommend to others; elite of this Division should emulate”, writes Marcel Abanda in a letter to the marine captain (NewsWatch has a copy).

This Article was also Published in NewsWatch Newspaper N°007

Sept. 30 Twin Elections: Don’t Lose Hope-Bello Bouba Tells NUDP Unsuccessful Candidates

(NewsWatch Cameroon)-The National president of the National Union for Democracy and Progress has said the NUDP would have won more seats in the National Assembly and councils during the twin elections of last September 30, 2013 had the elections taken place in an atmosphere where there is democracy.

Bello Bouba Maigari was speaking in Yaounde on Saturday March 15 as he received New Year wishes from militants of the NUDP at the party’s head quarters.

Addressing his party comrades, the NUDP chieftain regretted that the last weeks of 2013 and the early weeks of 2014 ended on a very sad note with the party losing several of her militants to the cold hands of death, amongst whom were founding members, committed militants who sacrificed for the party, those whose activities went beyond their areas of influence etc.

Looking back at the twin elections, Minister Bello Bouba rejoiced that the mobilisation of the NUDP militants in some areas like the East, Littoral and the North West was very encouraging. “I saw a mobilisation that I had never seen since 1992”, he said. But he regretted that at the end of the day, the party could not win as many seats in the National Assembly as expected.

To the NUDP candidates who were not successful at the elections, the NUDP chair preached encouragement, urging them not to lose hope, insisting that some of them actually won but due to the flaws that marked the elections, their votes were ‘stolen’. He revealed that the party has gone into serious reflection to identify why some of them did not make it at the elections.

The NUDP competed in numerous constituencies in Cameroon as well as in a plethora of municipalities. They won 15 councils - up from the 11 the party controlled before the elections and five parliamentary seats at the National Assembly down from six during the last legislature.

Speaking to reporters after exchanging New Year wishes with his militants, Bello Bouba observed: “NUDP is alive and kicking and determined to continue organizing itself and to be prepared for the next competition”.

During the New Year wishes ceremony in Yaounde, hundreds of youths who joined the party recently were officially welcomed into the NUDP by its National Chair. The National Youth President of the NUDP, Ndansi Elvis said many more youths are joining the party, and called on the youths of Cameroon to come on board for as he puts it  “the NUDP is one of the only parties where youths can freely express their political feelings and enjoy what it takes to be a youth in politics”.

Ndansi was amongst the NUDP candidates at the September 30, 2013 elections who luck did not smile on.  “The chairman has reassured us that in another atmosphere where there is democracy and free and fair elections, the results of the NUDP party would have been even better than what we had in 1992. I think today is a great day; he has reassured the militants, those who won have been encouraged, those who did not have been encouraged to continue mobilising and we hope that in five years time, the NUDP party will bounce back to take its rightful position in the political arena of this country”.

The NUDP staged a spectacular march past in Buea during the National Youth Day on February 11 and the 50^th anniversary of reunification. Observers say it is thanks to the mobilisation prowess of the National Youth wing president who was the party’s coordinator for participation at both events.

This Article was also Published in NewsWatch Newspaper N°007

Menchum North MP, Zhoa Mayor No Longer on Talking Terms

(NewsWatch Cameroon)-A cold war currently exists between the Member of Parliament for Menchum North, Hon. Ndong Larry Hills and the Mayor of the Zhoa Municipality, Tem Peter, NewsWatch is reliably informed.

Hon. Ndong Larry Hills aka Wum Boy

 Months after his installation as Mayor of the Zhoa council, Tem Peter is reported to have inherited an attitude common with political opportunists towards his collaborators and other party officials, a councillor hinted Newswatch.
Council sources in Zhoa observed that since his installation, Mayor Tem has been running the affairs of the council as a private estate with high-handedness and opaque management and tends to dismiss anyone who tries to call him to order. He recently locked horns with the MP, Ndong Larry Hills aka Wum Boy during the visit of the Minister of Youth Affairs to launch Youth Week activities in Wum.

 As narrated by a councillor of the Zhoa council, Wum Boy had called the mayor some few days to the visit to find out how they will welcome the minister given that after the launching in Wum, the Minister had to visit Lake Nyos which is located in Wum Boy's own constituency (Menchum North). As the councillor explained, just a single invitation had been addressed to the constituency which happened to have landed in the hands of Mayor Tem who from every indication was determined to appear during the ceremony as the representative of the constituency.

This was not deemed acceptable by the MP who immediately called the mayor to set matters right. The mayor, we gathered, derogatorily informed Wum Boy he was not answerable to him and had no explanations to give. This act considered by the MP as gross insubordination did not however stop him from attending the launch in Wum. The Mayor is reported to have snubbed the MP during the event as he was throughout the event seen with the Divisional Officer of Fumgom raising questions about the closeness of this recent association.

Enters Kwa Donatus
 He is well known as Menchum. Kwa Donatus recently locked horns with the mayor following a misunderstanding during the latter’s installation. Kwa is reported to have mobilized the local press, seemingly out of good faith in order to give the event the widest possible media coverage. Mayor Tem however disapproved of the said proposal from Kwa Donatus, informing him that only the state media would be accredited to cover the event. It is reported that the mayor told some of his cronies that Kwa Donatus had come to defraud him in the name of mobilizing media coverage – an allegation Kwa did not take lightly.

Talking to this reporter, the District Chairman of Zhoa, Che Alexander said Kwa Donatus has been carrying out anti-party activities, adding that he risked being sanctioned by the party hierarchy. According to him, Menchum is actually the cause of the strained relationship between the mayor and the MP. He narrated that some weeks back, Menchum took some files to the mayor for the issuing of birth certificates, purporting that he was working on the instructions of the MP. Menchum explained to the mayor that the birth certificates in question were for individuals  who intended to procure  National Identity cards so as to register and vote for the party in the next elections.

This Article was also Published in NewsWatch Newspaper N°007

To Check Conflicts in NW: Traditional Rulers Join Atanga Peace Project

(NewsWatch Cameroon)-The Northwest Region of Cameroon is known to be hard hit by ubiquitous inter-tribal conflicts which result in loss of lives and property and to a greater extent, the destruction of peace and unity. To usher in lasting peace and unity, the Atanga Peace Project (APP) led by a U.S based Cameroonian medical doctor, Bernadette Atanga-Sab, has continued to embark on seminars and radio talk shows in the Northwest region.

General Tataw James (in suit) congratulates Dr. Atanga

After organizing conferences on peace with traditional and religious leaders of the Region, the Atanga Peace Project last February 2014, organized a seminar in Bamenda wherein, people, especially couples told their true life stories which touched on causes of conflicts in their respective families and how the conflicts were finally settled amicably for peace to reign.

Dr. Bernadette Atanga-Sab who opined that those confessions were intended to help others learn, noted that conflicts in the communities can usually be traced to families and so if people learn to remain peaceful in the family, their communities would ipso facto remain peaceful and unity would reign.

Beside the true life stories, Dr. Bernadette Atanga-Sab, a specialist in internal medicine and paediatrics with special interest in Emotional Health and Cultural Diversity, took the opportunity to drill the seminar participants on the causes of diabetes, high blood pressure, haemorrhage and barrenness amongst others. Although she disclosed that Atanga Peace Project volunteers will be dispatched to the field to check certain common diseases and sensitize the population, Dr. Bernadette advised each and everyone to go for medical check up very often.

The traditional rulers at the seminar who doffed their caps for the Atanga Peace Project (APP) were all unanimous that the initiative which started over a decade ago, has helped the communities a great deal. One of the traditional rulers, king Martin Forbuzie Asanji of Chomba, the erstwhile Secretary General of Northwest Fons (Chief) Union (NOWEFU) said he received Cameroon Queens’ Peace Award a couple of years ago thanks to the Atanga Peace Project initiative
“Through the conferences Atanga Peace Project organized with the traditional rulers of the Northwest Region, I am proud to say that Northwest traditional rulers have started eradicating obnoxious traditions and cultures especially those which abuse widows’ or women’s rights among others”.
Stressing that Atanga Peace Project has come to stay, Dr. Bernadette Atanga said she hails from a family of 10 children and they decided to form the Atanga Peace Project in the year 2000 as a special gift to their parents, Mr and Mrs Atanga who celebrated 50 years of peaceful marriage that year. She said because their parents are ardent Christians and love giving or assisting, the Atanga Peace Project is also centred on donating and working for peace, unity and development in communities.

Dr. Benardette has held similar seminars with Christians, students, couples, traditional leaders and top military personnel like General James Tataw in the Northwest and Centre regions of Cameroon. 

This Article was also Published in NewsWatch Newspaper N°007

UN Listens to Southern Cameroons Problem

(NewsWatch Cameroon)-After much talk about the plight of Anglophone Cameroon aka Southern Cameroons’ in La Republique du Cameroun, ranging from their marginalization to the deliberate destruction of their cultural, economic, political and social values by the successive Francophone Cameroon regimes of Amadou Ahidjo and Paul Biya, the United Nations has started listening to this perennial problem with keen interest.
During the 2014 United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which took place at UN head quarters in Geneva from February 9 to 27, 2014, Chongsi Joseph Ayeah, the Permanent Mission Representative at the United Nations who triples as the Director of Centre for Human Rights and Peace Advocacy (CHRAPA) with special consultative status at the UN cum the President of the Union of North West Human Rights organizations, was exceptionally given 10 minutes to present the plight of Southern Cameroons in La Republique Du Cameroun. 
During a one-on-one with this reporter in Bamenda, Chongsi Joseph Ayeah recounted his succinct presentation at the United Nations which was heartrending and pregnant with emotions. Instancing the 1972 unification which he described as very loose, he disclosed that he brought the United Nations to realize that despite all the talk about peace in Cameroon, stability in the country is hanging in the balance and could fall apart at any moment. He said the UN was informed that out of about 60 members of Government in Cameroon, there are just about four Anglophone ministers with portfolio. “And of course, I let them know that each time an Anglophone is appointed as Prime Minster, he must be given several deputies and a Secretary General - something which does not happen when a Francophone occupies that post”.Besides, Chongsi intimated that he equally explained how Anglophone corporations like Powercam, WADA Wum, Santa coffee estate and the Marketing Board amongst others had all been closed down, seemingly as part of a deliberate attempt to marginalize Anglophones and render them powerless.

This Article was also Published in NewsWatch Newspaper N°007

Biya’s Lethargy Condemns 400 Magistrates to Unemployment

(NewsWatch Cameroon)-For the past three years, more than 400 graduates from the National School of Administration and Magistracy have been twiddling their thumbs at home, waiting in vain for the call-up by the President of the Republic whose dismissal of this issue has not only bred frustrations for these “ghost workers” but above all has repercussions for the wider Cameroonian community.
The problem stems from the fact that as the ultimate head of the judiciary in Cameroon, President Paul Biya is the sole person who must convene the meeting of the body that would thereafter integrate the graduates in question into the legal corps and render them fully operational. However, the Head of State has not done so since 2012 and consequently, two classes have been waiting for twenty-four and twelve months respectively with a third class poised to join them once they graduate in a few weeks.
While a few of those concerned go to the courts and try to help their predecessors in some capacity and keep abreast of legal affairs, others dismiss  such an approach, since they can perceive no real benefits and in any case, it entails a lot of expenditure for people who are “not on a regular salary”. 
The problem has been aggravated because the population of those awaiting integration is a lot bigger than it would have normally been; usually, the state enrolls 50 students in the magistracy department each year; however, in a bid to enhance the legal process in Cameroon, the European Union in 2008 engaged in a partnership with the government aimed at training nearly 200 magistrates annually over a three-year period. Although the first batch was integrated in 2012, that was not the case for the following two classes which have had to stay at home ever since.
Many question whether the government is getting cold feet over the European Union initiative possibly because there are not enough funds to recruit such a huge number of legal experts. On the other hand, the plight of these graduates makes a mockery of claims by the authorities about the creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs annually – if even those destined to be recruited by the state are finding things that tough, it does not bode well for other job seekers.
Even more importantly, the inaction of the president is extremely costly to Cameroonians because the EU sponsored initiative was designed to bring about the recruitment of more personnel so that legal processes could be expedited. This failure by Paul Biya to render them fully operational means Cameroonians must continue paying the price in terms of clogged courts, legal delays and disastrous errors by overburdened magistrates who must each cater to a disproportionately high percentage of the population.
   

Hon. Abe Prepares Homecoming, Declares Himself “Man of the People”

(NewsWatch Cameroon)-The Member of Parliament for the Ako/Misaje special constituency says “When something good comes your way especially from your people, it is but normal culturally and socially to go and say thank you”. Hon. Abe Michael was speaking to NewsWatch’s Ndi Eugene Ndi in Yaounde on Monday March 17.
In this light, Hon. Abe revealed that he is going home from March 22 to thank his electorate for the confidence they gave him at the September 30, 2013 elections in which he was voted as their representative at the lower house of Parliament, the National Assembly.
The MP said he will be received in Ako sub division on Saturday March 22 and in Misaje subdivision on Monday March 24.
His homecoming is not however a campaign rally of the CPDM: “I am going to thank them for the confidence given me at the last legislative election and to encourage them to continue giving me the confidence and that we shall work together  for I need their support; they should not relent in their efforts”.
The homecoming of the MP for Ako/Misaje comes at a time critics say the MP and Minister Fuh Calistus Gentry, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Mines, Industries and Technological Development and elite of Misaje are locked in acrimony. “We are in democracy and people have their rights; where such allegations are coming from, I have no idea. I am only hearing from you now. I wine and dine with the Minister everyday; people are even jealous of my relationship with the Minister”, the MP responded to his detractors.
According to Hon. Abe Michael, a parliamentarian does not work alone; “I am not going to work alone, apart from voting good laws, we have to move round the corridors of the various ministries to lobby for one or two projects”. These projects the Ako/Misaje MP said would benefit the people he is representing.
Asked why he did not organise his homecoming during Christmas as a Christmas gift to his constituency, he said “the Christmas gift of my electorate is the brand new MP who they know very well shall deliver”. However he reiterated that he cannot deliver what is expected of him alone: thus, besides saying “thank for your votes”, he will be calling on his electorate to be open in telling him what is not going on well so that together they can get their own share of the national cake.
Reacting to allegations that his native Ako council is controlled by the opposition SDF and his reception in Ako may not be as hilarious as he might have wished, Hon Abe said, “That is the opinion of the people you are talking of; as we talk here now (Monday March 17) the crowd that is already in Ako is unimaginable. I have been receiving calls and my phone since the weekend has been a hotline. Anybody who has a negative opinion will be surprised”. He added that he is a man of the people, “I am a man of the people and the people know whom I am and they are already cleaning their stomachs to eat and drink. Like I said, those from further villages are already in Ako town waiting”.
Quizzed on the future of the Ako/Misaje constituency in the next five years, the MP unequivocally said “in the next five years, Ako/Misaje will not be the same. There must be some remarkable changes. We have to leave a legacy, God being our helper. There must be something to show that this man was there from this period to that period. We are going to transform the area development wise, God being our helper”.

Obituary: Minister Dies on Eve of Her Birthday

(NewsWatch Cameroon)-Catherine Abena , former State Secretary of State for Secondary Education died

Catherine Abena-RIP

this Wednesday, March 19, 2014-the eve of his Sixtieth Birthday .

Close family sources have revealed that the former member of government was rushed to the National Social Insurance Fund (CNPS) hospital in Yaounde this morning. According to hospital sources, Catherine Abena died just minutes after she was admitted into the hospital.

Teacher by profession, Catherine Abena joined the Biya government on June 30, 2009 when she was appointed as Secretary of State to the Minister of Secondary Education.

But on January 08, 2010, she was arrested and incarcerated at the Kondengui maximum security prison under operation hawk for alleged embezzlement of public funds amounting to FCFA 250 million.

While at the prison, the former Secretary of State in the Ministry of Secondary Education embarked on a hunger strike. A week later, she reportedly went unconscious and was moved to the Yaounde Central Hospital for medical care. She left the hospital on February 7, 2011 and did not go back to prison following persistent illness. Since then, close family sources say, she has been sick.

The demise of the former member of Government has just come to add to that of the many ‘VIPs’ who have died in Cameroon recently; Abel Eyinga , economist and politician who died on January 16, 2014 , Adolphe Papy Ndoumbé journalist, writer and Secretary General of the UPC  who died on January 29, 2014, Abanda Kpama President of Manidem (Political Party) who left this world on January 30 , the late outspoken Charles Ateba Eyene, writer and politician who died February 21 ,2014, singer and song writer ‘Lapiro de Mbanga’ on March 16 ,  and the Honourable Jean Claude Mpacko CPDM MP and businessman who died yesterday , amongst others.

By Ndi Eugene Ndi in Yaounde

Cameroonian Singer, Lapiro Dies on Assylum in the USA

 (NewsWatch Cameroon)-Lambo Sandjo Pierre Roger better known as Lapiro de Mbanga, was a Cameroonian singer who is noted for his 1985 recording of “Pas argent no love” and for being imprisoned in 2008 after criticizing Cameroon president Paul Biya in the song “Constitution constipée” (“Constipated Constitution”). Born in 1957 in Mbanga, Littoral Cameroon Lapiro died on March 16, 2014 in Buffalo, New York.

Music career

For several years, Lapiro lived in self-imposed exile in Nigeria and Gabon. He returned in 1985 to Cameroon, where he proceeded to compose and record what Index on Censorship has described as “a long list of biting texts on the socio-economic realities in his beleaguered country.”
Nicknamed “Djinga Man,” Lapiro became “the idol of the downtrodden and forgotten workers who people the slums and bus stations of Cameroon” and “the spokesman for the youth of his country.” His hits of that period included “No Make Erreur,” “Pas argent no love,” “Kop Nie,” “Mimba We,” and “Na You.” He was regularly censored by the Cameroonian government.

Imprisonment

In 2008, Lapiro criticized Cameroon president Paul Biya in the song “Constitution constipée” (“Constipated Constitution”). The song denounced the proposed amendment of Cameroon's constitutional clause, which limited presidents to two seven-year terms. The Cameroonian government banned “Constitution constipée” from the airwaves, however thousands of Cameroonians students used the song as an anthem as they rallied and rioted in the streets in February 2008 in protest against the proposed constitutional change, which would allow Biya to run for a new term in 2011.
Lapiro was arrested on April 9, 2008, and charged with “complicity in looting, destruction of property, arson, obstructing streets, degrading public or classified property, and forming illegal gatherings.” Two days later, the Cameroonian parliament adopted the new constitution that Lapiro had attacked in “Constitution constipée.”
On September 24, 2008, Lapiro was sentenced by the Tribunal de Grande Instance (TGI) to three years in the New Bell prison near Douala. In December 2009 he contracted typhoid fever and nearly died of that disorder and respiratory complications. When authorities refused to send him to a hospital, his wife brought medications that helped save his life. In an interview, Lapiro said that he and his fellow prisoners had “penal rations twice a day. At 1pm we are given boiled corn and at 5pm there’s rice in some warm water. It’s the same every day. It’s way below minimum requirements.”
Freemuse, a Danish-based NGO, mounted an international campaign for Lapiro's release. In a 2010 interview from prison, he said that “If my wife didn't travel four hours here and four hours back every day to give me food and if Freemuse hadn't publicised my case worldwide, I'd have been dead long ago.”
In addition to Freemuse's campaign, the U.S.-based lawyers' organization Freedom Now monitored Lapiro's case throughout his incarceration. In April 2010, the Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN also launched a campaign to help win Lapiro's freedom. In 2011, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared that Lapiro's arrest was an infringement of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
During his detention, Lapiro repeatedly appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court. On March 17, 2011, he refused to take advantage of an offer from the Supreme Court to be released on bail.He was released from prison on April 8, 2011, one day before the official end of his sentence.

Post-imprisonment

In a July 2011 interview, Lapiro described the prisons in which he had been incarcerated as “rotten” and insisted that he had never encouraged young people to damage and steal other people's property. “I've never done anything of the sort. Instead, I did everything to prevent that from happening.” He called his trial “Kafkaesque,” saying that his fate had been “decided in advance,” despite the utter lack of evidence against him.
On July 13, 2011, in Lille, France, Lapiro returned to the stage for the first time since his release from prison. During the summer of 2011 he also played in Lausanne, Brussels, Paris, Barcelona, and at various venues in the United States, Canada, and Britain.
On September 2, 2012, Mbanga, his wife, and five of their six children left Cameroon for the United States, where they had been granted asylum. They arrived in the U.S. on September 14.
In late 2012 it was reported that Lapiro was seeking a publisher for his book Cabale Politico-Judiciaire Ou La Mort Programmée D’Un Combatant De La Liberté (Politico-Judicial Cabal Or The Planned Death Of A Freedom Fighter).
In 2013 Mbanga's case was reopened before the Cameroonian Supreme Court.
Culled from WIKIPEDIA with News Watch Jottings