National And International News Roundup – 27th October 2020
There was a commotion today across the South West Region as rumours quickly spread round of another school attack by armed men in GTHS Ombe. This led to chaos particularly in the towns of Buea, Tiko, Mutengene and Limbe as parents were seen rushing to schools to get their children for fear of the unknown. […]
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There was a commotion today across the South West Region as rumours quickly spread round of another school attack by armed men in GTHS Ombe. This led to chaos particularly in the towns of Buea, Tiko, Mutengene and Limbe as parents were seen rushing to schools to get their children for fear of the unknown.
The CRM party President, Maurice Kamto, today gave an official reaction to the Kumba school massacres. Maurice Kamto amongst other things, extended his condolences to the bereaved families while calling for an immediate stop of hostilities between both government forces and the separatist fighters in the two Anglophone regions. He also declared 29th October 2020, as a National Day of Mourning for the Kumba massacre victims.
The University of Buea has officially shut down the portal for undergraduate student admissions. The announcement was made yesterday via the University’s Facebook page after a series of deadline adjustments to give ample time for A-Level candidates to go through admission processes.
The Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji today headed a four-man ministerial delegation to Kumba. The main aim of the visit which was sent on special orders of the Head of State was to provide government assistance and to extend the condolences of the Head of State to the bereaved families. The Kumba massacre has been preceded recently by protests and massive calls for an end to the crisis both on social media and on the streets.
There is uncertainty if schools will be effective in Fako Division after a false alarm this day that caused an abrupt end of schools in Ombe, Limbe, Mutengene, Buea and Tiko. Students jumped over their school gates, while parents and guardians rushed to schools to save their kids.
Some Cameroonians think tweets of President Paul Biya promising investigation into the Kumba killings is an empty promise that cannot yield fruits. To them, the president has displayed no goodwill to resolve the crisis.
The Cameroon government has promised to foot the bills of all students wounded in the course of shooting at Mother Francisca International Bilingual College last Saturday. An inter-ministerial delegation visited Kumba today. The Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, reiterated the government’s determination to bring to book perpetrators of the act.
In view of the upcoming regional elections on 6th December 2020, ELECAM officials have gone out to the field to assess the facilities that will host the elections in all ten regions. Today a delegation headed by Mrs Dorothy Limunga Njeuma was in the Wouri Division, where it was revealed that there will be one polling centre harbouring four polling stations each, to facilitate vote-casting.
Today afternoon, students from the different Faculties of the University of Dschang in the West Region protested with peace plants, condemning the Kumba school shooting. They were demanding the government to protect the young learners and put an end to the crisis in the North West and South-West Regions.
Owners of five houses burnt today at Entrée Pasta in Bonaberi are demanding the owner of a gas bottle that exploded, should pay for their lost belongings. Elements of the fire-fighting unit stopped the flames from spreading to other houses.
Women in Bamenda have joined the chorus of those crying for an end to the Anglophone crisis. Thousands marched to the governor’s office with peace plants. Governor Adoph Lele L’Africa called on the women to denounce separatists in their quarters.
Progressive Comprehensive High School Bamenda has debunked the news that 16 students of the school were kidnapped on their way home last Friday. According to the discipline master of the school, no parent has reported such an incident. Meanwhile, a parent of a student at the school confirms that she paid 300.000frs as a ransom to get her son.
The paramount traditional leader of Bamoun community in the West Region of Cameroon has postponed Ngoun traditional festival to 2021. Celebrating his 83rd birthday in his palace, El Hadj Ibrahim Mbombo Njoya condemned the killings in Kumba.
The last inspection team of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) is in Cameroon. They are to inspect football infrastructures ahead of African Football Championship (CHAN) to be hosted by Cameroon.
The main opposition leader in Zanzibar, Tanzania, has been freed hours after being detained while trying to cast his ballot in early voting. Maalim Seif Sharif Hamad of the ACT Wazalendo party said the presidential and parliamentary election had become a farce, even before voting takes place on Wednesday.
Malawi’s constitutional court judges have won the 2020 Chatham House Prize in the UK for their “courage and independence” by annulling then-President Peter Mutharika’s victory in last year’s election. “At a time when standards of democratic governance are under threat not only in Africa, but in many democracies, Malawi’s constitutional court judges set an example for their peers across the world by upholding the centrality of the rule of law and separation of powers,” said Chatham House, an independent policy institute headquartered in London. The panel of five judges ruled that Mr Mutharika’s victory was marred by “widespread, systematic, and grave irregularities”.
Police in Nigeria has arrested more than 800 suspects in connection with incidents of arson, looting and killings across the country. At least 520 suspects were arrested in Lagos, the commercial hub. For more than a week, angry youths have been targeting government warehouses across the country believed to be housing food items meant to be distributed as Covid-19 relief.
Nigeria’s former Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has won the backing of the European Union (EU) in her bid to become the first African to lead the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Bloomberg news agency and the UK-based Financial Times newspaper are reporting. Bloomberg described the EU’s decision as a “major coup” for Ms Okonjo-Iweala, while the Financial Times quoted an unnamed EU official as saying it was “a clear signal towards Africa and a sign of mutual trust”.
Social media users in Tanzania are having difficulties accessing Twitter and WhatsApp, a day before the country votes in a general election. Since Tuesday morning, WhatsApp users have been failing to download photos or videos and can only send and receive text messages via the chat application. Twitter is also down and can only be accessed via VPN.
Former Ugandan army spokesman Shaban Bantazira has died after contracting Covid-19. The retired colonel was admitted to hospital on Sunday morning complaining of chest pain, low blood pressure, diabetes and cough. Government Spokesman Ofwono Opondo said tests confirmed that he had contracted Covid-19.
A court in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, has sentenced five people to between five years and life in prison over a grenade explosion at a rally attended by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in June 2018. Authorities had previously said the explosion was aimed at killing Mr Abiy, who had taken office about two months earlier. Two people were killed in the blast at the rally attended by thousands of people in the capital.
Foreign briefs: BBC
