Will Ayah be revoked from magistracy as he clocks four months in detention?

Last Saturday, May 20, 2017 marked exactly four months since soldiers bundled Supreme Court deputy advocate general out of his residence in Yaounde and took him manu militari to the detention facility of the state secretariat for defence, SED.

Justice Ayah Paul Abine

To this day, the super scale magistrate who is said to be going blind in the dungeons continues to say his detention is illegal and that he is still unaware of his supposed crime. His community manager wrote in a Facebook post last Friday: “But my morale is exceedingly high and I am very serene for I know The Good LORD, the ultimate and incurruptible judge Himself fights for me. I have lived an exemplary life throughout my career in strict respect of the law and in all honesty and integrity. My hands are clean and so I fear not.”

The post also makes mention of the detainee’s worsening health condition. “But my health on the contrary is not at its best as I have picked up a heart condition while my sight has seriously (especially my left eye) depreciated. In the face of the silence maintained by the authorities as to who gave orders for my abduction and what evidence they’ve got against me, I am abandoned to rumours all of which are laughable;” the post reads partly.

In Ayah Paul’s voice, the communicator questions rhetorically; “why am I not taken to court like all the others picked up on account of the Anglophone problem in order for me to defend myself against all that is being rumoured (in very high place) in open court before all Cameroonians?; why am I kept here in complete ignorance of what my crime is (if any exists in the first place)?; why are the authorities completely silent as to the reasons behind my being kept here; not even has the national station, to whom I pay taxes, as much as mentioned my name? what is my crime?

But while these questions are being raised, some Francophone tabloids have already sealed Ayah’s fate. One of them went to the extent of announcing the imminent revocation or dismissal of Ayah  from his post of Advocate General of the Supreme Court to facilitate his trial for colluding with secessionists or terrorists!

It should however be recalled that the former no-nonsense Member of Parliament and leader of the PAP party has been taken to the Mfoundi High Court twice, but has been denied bail. His family has also been requesting his release, citing the law and his deteriorating health as indisputable reasons.

Other local and international organisations have also called for his immediate release.

culled from The Horizon Newspaper

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Resolutions of the National Executive Committee Meeting of the SDF of May 2017

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SDF National Elective Convention Billed for October 2017!

 Jean Tsomelou, Senator from the West Region and President of the SDF Parliamentary Group speaking during the National Executive Committee Meeting on Saturday May 27 at the party’s Head Quarters at Ntarikon in Bamenda said they had just taken a certain number of resolutions including the chosing of October 2017 as the time for the  National Elective Convention.

Jean Tsomelou, Senator of the West Region.

 

Among other things he said they listened to the reports of some Regional Presidents and asked them to go back into the field and redynamise the party at the level of the Basic Organs and that they’d brought back SDF Echoes; the party Newspaper into circulation.

Reacting to problems  of the party in the Centre Region, and other related issues, he said problems in the center Region were not more than those in the Littoral and that decisions were being taken that will ensure that electoral processes go on smoothly in the problem regions such as the Center as well as the Adamawa and the South Regions.

“For us there are no problems as far as the activities of our party are concerned in the field. It is simply that in every house there are always problems. Our elections will sail through calmly. If you look at the Littoral Region that they were talking about so much, you will see that nothing is being talked about it today. This is because after the elections, the minority respected the majority and the majority did not suppress the minority. This is democracy and it is helping to prepare our upcoming electoral processes.”

Senator Hamman Paul From the Adamawa Region

Speaking about Honorable Wirba, he said SDF had no problems with him and that questions about the party having problems with Wirba should be thrown at those insinuating such. The President of the SDF Parliamentary group said questions should rather be thrown at the CPDM obliging them to explain what problems they have with people of the Northwest and the Southwest Regions. “Because it is inadmissible that a warrant of arrest be issued for a Member of Parliament so the best person to answer questions on problems in that direction is not found in the SDF party.”

Senator Hamman Paul from the Adamawa Region and Secretary of the SDF Senate group on his part said reports of the day came in mainly from the Adamawa, the Centre, the South and the Littoral. Most of the deliberations he said were centered on improving upon the life of the party. Commenting on the non participation of the party at the May 20 Celebrations, he said the decision was taken by the strategy Committee and called on Government to look at problems plaguing Anglophones in Cameroon adding that since November 2016 the SDF had called on Government to engage in sincere dialogue with the people who were looking for solutions to their various problems. 

Audu Mbaya in the heart of deliberations

Nkemlemo Denis of the Communication Committee said attention was also given to the incessant kidnapping and abduction of people who are taken to Yaounde and indiscriminately charged on crimes ranging from Terrorism and crimes against the State which merit death penalty. He further said the return of SDF Echoes on the Newsstands was not to rival the other papers but to serve as a source of authentic information about the Social Democratic Front. He also drew attention to the fact that while much attention was being drawn by the SDF’s non participation at the May 20 celebrattions it should also be noted that the party did not also celebrate it 27^th anniversary which was supposed to take place on May 26.

Joshua Osih, one of the pillars of the party was present

Other sources have also revealed that on the day SDF was supposed to be celebrating its 27^th anniversary, the city of Bamenda saw heavy military presence along the Commercial Avenue and CPDM Bigwigs of the Northwest Region shepherded by Professor Elvis Ngole Ngole stormed the Congress Hall where a working session was held relating to the activities of the CPDM Academy; the brain child of Professor Elvis Ngole Ngole.

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On SDF Anniversary Day: Fru Ndi explains why SDF did not actively take part in May Celebrations

By Francis Ekongang Nzante

In a chat with the media on Friday May 26 at his Ntarikon residence in Bamenda, Ni John Fru Ndi, Chairman of SDF; the leading opposition political party in Cameroon stated in unequivocal terms that people only march on a day like the 20^th of May in Cameroon because they are happy and celebrating an occasion. Ni John Fru Ndi said following what had been going on in Cameroon for a long while now, the 20^th of May was not an occasion for celebration. The same reasons account for the absence of any noticeable celebrations to mark the 27^th anniversary of the party which came into existence in 1990.

The Chairman took out time to explain using incidents that had taken place in the two English speaking regions of the country. He wondered how a government could support that University Games should take place in Bamenda despite all that had happened. He questioned if it was it simply to disgrace the people of the Northwest or the Anglophones. In the Northwest and Southwest Regions, children of francophone extraction he said, were brought to go to school. Some of these children he said went to school in ordinary dresses. Moto Cycles were brought in from the Littoral and the West to ride in Buea and Bamenda and children were brought in to march and show that things were okay. This he said hurts because it doesn’t solve the problems. “Under these conditions, I will be pretending if I say it’s okay people should go and march. People march because they are happy. You march because you are celebrating an occasion.”

In the same vein, he said “the Prime Minister had taken out time and come out here and I was told that the teachers came out with seven points and after the discussion they went up to nineteen which they agreed to come in three days or so to sign. They closed the meeting on Monday to come back on Wednesday to sign but by Tuesday night they banned the Consortium and ordered the arrest of many people. Many of these people are still on the run today and since then schools in the Northwest and Southwest have not been opened.”

Talking about schools, the Chairman doffed his hat for missionary schools that churned out most of the educated personalities in English speaking Cameroon. He said if you took off Saint Joseph’s College Sasse and Cameroon Protestant College Bali among a few others, education in the Northwest and Southwest would come to nothing. He further said if these same Missions cry that look we have a pain here and you only insist that they should tell the world that everything is okay then there is a serious problem.

Turning to the head of government he said “The Prime Minister who had worked with the consortium agreed with his Director of Cabinet and the next moment they came insisting that children should be sent to school. Under what conditions were these children to be sent to school and where were the teachers?”

The SDF Chairman said in the past there were Teacher Training Colleges in the Southwest and Northwest Regions and that the government came and closed these establishments and took all the trained teachers from the missions for themselves. When those teachers who remained saw their disadvantaged position since the mission could not increase their salaries, they got angry and joined the government. This killed the private sector that was coming up forcefully.”

 The most ridiculous thing he said was that Government had a Nursing School of high repute in Bamenda but this school was closed. He questioned the reasoning behind closing these schools and telling people about health for all by the year 2000 considering the fact that nurses do a fantastic job for patients to get well. In a nostalgic manner he recalled the time when you had state registered nurses and how their special appearance gave hope to patients in hospital.

People of the Anglophone extraction are arguing over the state of things because they are looking at where they came from and comparing it with the present state of things he explained. “Our children cannot face the future by going backward. We should be giving an education aiming at five, ten, fifteen, twenty years.”

Considering that this brush with media men and women took place on the eve of a decisive NEC meeting, Ni John Fru Ndi said the National Executive Committee Meeting would focus on the strategy of the party for the future. The continuity of the party he said had been guaranteed through the grooming of younger ones. “I could have been Mayor, Parliamentarian or Senator but I sent in younger ones with an intention of grooming them.”

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Illegal logging: Over 7.5 Billion FCFA lost yearly in Cameroon

Illegal Logging: Over 7.5 Billion FCFA lost yearly

Cameroon loses some 7.5 Billion FCFA annually to illegal logging, a recent finding by TRAFFIC; a renowned international non-governmental organization monitoring trade in wild fauna and flora, has shown. Going by the TRAFFIC report published on Thursday,4 May, “the illicit trade in timber is a real scourge for the national economy.”

The NGO estimates that about 7.5 per cent of revenue accruing from the country’s global income on forest exploitation does not get into the State treasury. However, the report notes that the sector still pumps in 4.5 Billion FCFA or 4% of Cameroon’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in export earnings.

According to the NGO whose goal is to reduce the pressure of illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade on biodiversity, the losses commonly occur through informal channels where controls and different taxes are non-existent or slacked. It points out that the results were generated after a “serious and meticulous investigation” carried out in the various areas of timber exploitation throughout the country.

Against the backdrop of the illegal exploitation of the country’s timber resources, government, through the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, has been taking many measures to circumvent the malpractice. Early this year, a forward-looking approach was adopted whereby the capacity of community volunteers in forest areas were being strengthened on using smartphones to take geo-tagged images of newly felled trees. Under the new dispensation, the volunteers, using satellite-linked phones to document tree-cutting in areas where logging is not allowed, report to MINFOF officials, police officers and even the National Anti-Corruption Commission. We learned from forestry officials in the East region that this particular measure has been paying off.

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Nkwenti Ngwei Sylvia:

Seasoned arts and culture promoter now set to preserve and promote culture in Ngoketunjia.

Nkwenty Ngwei Sylvia in handshake with Minister of Arts and Culture Professor Narcisse Mouelle Kombi during the Nikai Cultural Festival in Babungo

Madame Nkwenti Ngwei Sylvia; a seasoned arts and culture promoter has disclosed that she is now set to preserve and promote culture in Ngoketunjia Division. She made this declaration recently in her first contact with the media following her installation as the first ever Divisional Delegate of Arts and Culture in this Division. Sylvia is holder of a Masters Degree In Human Rights from the University of Dschang. She has equally had an opportunity to have a scholarship from the World Intellectual Property Organisation where she studied Authors Rights in France. She also had a scholarship with the Chinese Government to study the Economy and Culture of the Chinese People at the University of Nangchang.

Back in Cameroon she made her debut with the Ministry of Arts and Culture in 2009 as the Chargee d’etudes No. 2 of the follow up unit at the ministry in 2013 and later in 2014 she was appointed the Chargee D’etudes No. 1 of the Follow up unit.

Besides this Nkwenty Sylvia has been the Raporteur of CPMC a National Permanent Commission that takes care of the control of authors rights in Cameroon. She also occupied this position as raporteur for the Standardisation Commission to revive the Law on authors rights.

She eventually became the Representative of the Ministry of Arts and Culture in the Board of Directors of Heritage and Arts Foundation.

“Being the first Divisional Delegate of Arts and Culture in Ngoketunjia Division and the only Female Divisional Delegate in the Northwest Region, I really wish to do things differently with all the experience I have gathered. Ngoketunjia has a very rich culture and I don’t just want to get into work without getting to the people so my first plan of action is trying to meet the Fon of each village and talk to them about the importance of preserving and selling our culture. I equally intend to show them the need to collaborate with the Ministry in their efforts to preserve their Identity.”

Commenting on her first impressions on arrival in the Division which is found in the Upper Noun Valley, Nkwenty Ngwei Sylvia said the place was full of talented artists. When she made her first call for artists in the Division a good number of talented ones turned up she explained. “They came in their numbers for registration and in the different categories of authors rights. That aside, the people of Ngoketunjia are very welcoming and are ready to listen and collaborate and help me in any way that they can to realise my ambitions. My first impressions are very positive.”

The maiden Divisional Delegate said she was very optimistic because she has all the tools that she needed to realise her dreams in Ngoketunjia. She already had a fore taste of the culture of the Division during her participation at the Bambalang Cultural Festival and the Nikai Cultural Festival of the Babungo Fondom during which she did not fail to notice the rich culture of the Division. “I saw how the people are so attached to their culture and as an opportunity to collaborate with them in the preservation of that culture and promoting it for international consumption and as a tool for social and National Integration.”

“I call on all the artists in the Division and all stakeholders to know that we now have an office in Ndop and that we are now open to work with them. They should come on board so that we create a united force to forge ahead in our quest to preserve and promote arts and culture in Ngoketunjia in particular and Cameroon in general.” 

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