Discovery: Budding Musician Hits Chart Locally, Needs Producer

Ngenge Denis Kanjo is a young talented musician based in Nkambe town in the North West Region of Cameroon whose raw talent is attracting a lot of public attention. The young man who started his rise to prominence by playing a hand-made guitar some seven years ago hitting the chart as his latest locally produced sound track is imposing it style in every household.

He says that as a child he used to admire musicians like John I Ray, Emile Kangue and Toto Guillaume.



Ngenge Denis Kanjo



However, Ngenge Denis has succeeded in demystifying the long established notion that being a musician was synonymous to being “magician” by winning the hearts of many, including the elderly. His latest sound track “we need development” is a clarion call to the people of Donga Mantung Division to bask hatred and blackmail for development. He says, he would certainly be a happy man if the Wimbum people of Donga Mantung can listen to the message he is passing though music. His style is unique and clearly demonstrates that whatever thing you do, if it is done correctly, it could command the attention of the world. “I am being called up every to play for all sorts of occasion, ranging from birthday parties to memorial services, public ceremonies etc” he told this reporter. Ngenge Denis also says one of his major problems is to get a producer who can refine his music for a wider audience. From Misaje to Ako down to Fonfuka, he thrills the crowd whenever he is called up. “I started music when I was still very young, by then I would always admire someone with a guitar. I made my first guitar 20 years ago, and I remember how my friends were saying that I would be nothing tomorrow” yet today Ngenge has proven them wrong. “Music has being my childhood dream and I am happy that God has answered my prayers”. His talent is seen in his ability to improvise a song at every occasion. He plays gospel and folklore.  From a guitarist, Ngenge Denis Kanjo got a mastery of the musical instrument to the point that he so perfect in playing the piano. Ngenge Denis Kanjo it should be recalled is one of those few breeds that any producer would never regret for putting in the market for a larger audience. He hails from Ntumbaw in Ndu Sub Division.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa

CPJ Condems the Intimidation, Arrest and and Threat of Criminal Prosecution of Bamenda Journalist

Abuja, Nigeria, December 12, 2012--A state prosecutor in the city of Bamenda in Cameroon has threatened to file defamation charges against an editor if he does not reveal his sources for a series of articles, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities to immediately stop the harassment against Aaron Kah and allow him to report freely.

Kah Aaron-Editor of K24

Police arrested Kah, editor of the newly launched bimonthly Kilum 24, on Friday after the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Board, a missionary-run health institution in Bamenda, filed a complaint against him. The complaint was based on articles Kah had published in Kilum 24 in October and November that questioned the hiring and personnel practices of the management of the Board, according to news reports.

Kah, who was released on bail on Monday, told CPJ that he had been summoned twice by the state prosecutor who demanded that he reveal his sources for the stories. Kah said he refused, but said he would publish a rebuttal by the Baptist Board instead. The journalist also said that the state prosecutor had told him that he had until December 28 to reveal his sources or he would be re-arrested and charged with defamation.

Local journalists told CPJ that the board had not publicly rebutted the allegations in Kah's paper. Pius Tih, the board's director, did not immediately return CPJ's calls for comment. Godwin Ncham, general secretary of the organization, refused to confirm or deny the allegations and said that Tih was out of the country.

"We condemn the intimidation, arrest, and threat of criminal prosecution of Aaron Kah as a means to force him to reveal sources of his reporting," said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita from New York. "We invite the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Board to exercise its right of reply or seek redress in civil court. Kah should not be jailed for raising critical questions about the management of a public institution."

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Chief Henry Njalla Quan (CDC GM) Passes On

The General Manager of the Cameroon Development Corporation cum promoter of Njalla Quan Sports Academy is no more. After rumours killed him six months ago, it has been confirmed that one of Cameroon's most dynamic General Manager is no more. Chief Henry Njalla Quan has been confirmed dead. The information was confirmed today, December 13, 202 by the Mayor of Buea, Mbella Moki Charles over Morning Safari. As Cameroonian mourn him,there is reported to be sadness at CDC camps and plantation as the one whom many had been looking to as the father is no more. It should be noted that before the cool hands of dead took him away, he had launched series of programmes to revamp the oil palm sector in Cameroon in areas like Donga Mantung Division and Momo Division in the North West Region, and Ebolowa in the South Region. He would be remembered as the person who brought sanity to CDC and the Man who promoted youth talent in football and made young marathoniers to dream big. He was a patriotic Cameroonians whose efforts in changing lives in rural areas have been recommendable by all.

Cameroon has lost a development luminary, a true born soldier and dynamic personality who spent his life trying to change lives. RIP Chief

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Journalists in Prison Reach Record High CPJ Says

Turkey, Iran and China among leading jailers    New York, December 11, 2012—The number of journalists imprisoned worldwide reached a record high this year, a trend driven primarily by terrorism and other anti-state charges levied against critical reporters and editors, according to a new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists. “We are living in an age when anti-state charges and ‘terrorist’ labels have become the preferred means that governments use to intimidate, detain, and imprison journalists,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “Criminalizing probing coverage of inconvenient topics violates not only international law, but impedes the right of people around the world to gather, disseminate, and receive independent information.” The three leading jailers of journalists were Turkey (49), Iran (45), and China (32), where imprisonments followed sweeping crackdowns on criticism and dissent, making use of anti-state charges in retaliation for critical coverage. This pattern is present in most of the countries in the census. In Turkey, the world’s worst jailer, authorities held dozens of Kurdish reporters and editors on terror-related charges and other journalists for allegedly plotting against the government. Following an extensive case-by-case review in 2012, CPJ confirmed journalism-related reasons in numerous cases previously unlisted by the organization, thus significantly raising the country’s total. CPJ’s 2012 census of imprisoned journalists identified 232 writers, editors, and photojournalists behind bars on December 1, an increase of 53 from 2011 and the highest since the organization began the survey in 1990. The 2012 figure surpasses the previous record of 185 journalists imprisoned in 1996, underlining a disturbing trend of conflating coverage of opposition groups or sensitive topics with terrorism, evident since 2001. Rounding out the top five jailers were Eritrea, with 28 journalists in prison, and Syria with 15, the worst abusers of the rule of law. None of the journalists in jail in either country have been publicly charged with a crime or brought before a court or trial. In line with findings over the past five years, a little more than half (118) of those held globally were online journalists and more than a third were freelancers. “With a record number of journalists imprisoned around the world, the time has come to speak out,” said Simon. “We must fight back against governments seeking to cloak their repressive tactics under the banner of fighting terrorism; we must push for broad legislative changes in countries where critical journalism is being criminalized; we must stand up for all those journalists in prison and do all in our power to secure their release; and we must ensure the Internet itself remains an open global platform for critical expression.” All of the governments included in CPJ’s 2012 census have received letters expressing serious concern. CPJ continues to advocate for the release of four recipients of its International Press Freedom Award who remain imprisoned: Dhondup Wangchen, a Tibetan held in China, Azimjon Askarov in Kyrgyzstan, Shi Tao in China, and Mohammad Davari in Iran. In 2012, CPJ helped 58 imprisoned journalists from around the world win early release. CPJ also registered some improvement this year: For the first time since 1996, Burma did not rank among the nations jailing journalists. As part of the country’s historic transition to civilian rule, authorities released at least 12 imprisoned journalists in a series of pardons in 2012. Of the 27 countries imprisoning journalists, the top 10 jailers were: Turkey: 49 Iran: 45 China: 32 Eritrea: 28 Syria: 15 Vietnam: 14 Azerbaijan: 9 Ethiopia: 6 Saudi Arabia: 4 Uzbekistan: 4 CPJ's annual census is a snapshot of those incarcerated at midnight on December 1, 2012. It does not include the many journalists imprisoned and released throughout the year, which are otherwise documented on www.cpj.org. Journalists who either disappear or are abducted by nonstate entities such as criminal gangs or militant groups are not included in the prison census. Their cases are classified as “missing” or “abducted.”

### CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide.

Note to editors: An analysis of CPJ’s 2012 imprisoned census is available along with detailed accounts of each imprisoned case at www.cpj.org. The report is also available in Arabic, French, Russian, Turkish, and Spanish. Video: An overview of journalist imprisonments around the world, including an interview with Swedish journalists who had been jailed in Ethiopia: http://cpj.org/awards/2012/free-the-press.php

Media contact: Nancy Sai Communications Associate Tel. +1.212.300.9032 E-mail. nsai@cpj.org

 

 

 

 

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US Magazine Classifies Me Alice Nkom Among 8 Most Fascinating Africans in 2012

Me Alice Nkom

Me Alice Nkom, has been rated as one of the most fascinating Africans in 2012 by a United States based Magazine "The New Yorker". Top on the list of the most fascinating Africans is Namibian President Joyce Banda, followed by Me Alice Nkom of Cameroon,  the Kenyan David (Tosh) Gitonga, from the small town of Nanyuki,Tanzanian female lawmaker Al-Shaymaa Kwegyir, Proscovia Oromait the nineteen-year-old Ugandan college student who became the youngest MP, South African political analyst Justice Malala, he captivating musical duo P-Square and Rwandan President Paul Kagame .

This is what The New Yorker says of Me Alice Nkom: It is rare enough to find vocal gay-rights advocates in West Africa, but the Cameroonian lawyer Alice Nkom takes it one step further: she has devoted her practice, the Association to Defend Homosexuals, to protecting L.G.B.T. citizens in a country where homosexual acts are illegal. As a result, she has been repeatedly threatened with disbarment and arrest. (One Cameroonian lawyer went on local television with a Bible, advising that Nkom be put to death for promoting homosexuality.) Sixty-seven years old and grandmotherly looking, the lawyer called attention to an “anti-gay crackdown” last year in Cameroon, in which at least ten people had been arrested on charges of homosexuality, including one man who was sentenced to three years in prison for sending a text message to another man, and numerous incidents of homophobic violence. She refuses to close her practice. “Someone has to do this,” she says.

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On the occasion of the 30

th Anniversary of your ascension to the supreme magistracy, we the militants, elite and well-wishers of our great national party, the CPDM of Donga Mantung III Section, Ako celebrating today 6th November, 2012 the 30th year in leadership of our nation under the anniversary theme "The New Deal Heading Towards Emergence".

*Recalling that 30 years ago and precisely on November 6, 1982, through an oath of office before God and humanity, you swore to serve our nation diligently, a promise you have respected thus ensuring peace, national unity and development.

* Considering that with scores of political formations in our country, you have been practicing democracy within the period in view, you have not only been a role model, but a traditional blazer in words and deeds,

* Appreciating your courage in the fight against poverty, misery and thus putting the country on the right track through your Vision 2035,

* Thanking you for the numerous development projects already realized in our Sub Division, and those being envisaged in the domain of road infrastructure, education and health in keeping to your policy of fair distribution of the national cake,

* We the CPDM militants of Donga Mantung III Section hereby congratulate your Excellency on this 30
th Anniversary and wish you God’s guidance, protection, good health and King Solomon’s wisdom so that you continue to pilot the affairs of our great nation.
Happy Anniversary Mr. President!Done in Ako this day November 6, 2012

Signed

Hon. Ntoi Joseph

(Section President, MP Ako/Misaje Special Constituency)

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Youths, Elders, and Women Hail Barrister Eyong’s Bid for Mayorship

Axcel Mii

Barrister Eyong Elvis Eyong

The ruling CPDM is reported in panic as youths, women and elders have endorsed Barrister Eyong Elvis Eyong’s bid for mayor in Mamfe Central. According to information gathered, Barrister Eyong Elvis Eyong candidature is creating panic and pandemonium to his opponents especially CPDM bigwigs. Youths we learnt have declared him as their candidate and a sure bet for the position of mayor come 2013. At week end we gathered that PAP’s Barrister Eyong Elvis Eyong already enjoys a lot of support from the masses. And many already look up to him as messiah, to put it short, someone who will disenclave Mamfe Central giving his leadership qualities. Besides that, young dynamic aspirant’s supporters have vowed to oust the CPDM from Mamfe Central for once and for all.

According to the hint, when he made his declarations for the position of mayor, both youths and elders hailed shouting ""The man of Hope, a visionary leader, with him we Cope, without him we Mope. We want him... We need him...we love him... We the people of Mamfe Municipality need you to ensure our Security, Peace, Development and Progress, Educating and Empowering our Youths. With you our future is secured our ABLE HUMBLE SERVANT LEADER.......... BRAVO LORD MAYOR". As a matter of fact, public opinion in Mamfe holds that the village of Besongabang has been producing mayors and it is time for Okoyong village as well to make it own contribution. And that Barrister Eyong is the right person Okoyong from Okoyong village.

A young man whose name we got Thomas Tambe told this reporter a fortnight ago that " for over thirty years, we the people of Mamfe and Manyu as a whole have been looking for a competent who has us at heart. In fact we have been longing for someone who will drive the development of Mamfe". He regretted that for many years, Mamfe Central has always had deceit politicians " we have been very unlucky that every time we vote someone, he/she becomes incommunicado and we only see them back only during another election". To Thomas Tembe, Barrister Eyong Elvis has proven that he is a rare specie of politician " But with Barrister Eyong we have seen in him the values which we have been looking for. We discovered his leadership qualities when on May 10, the combined military forces of Law and Order invaded Besongabang. I am convinced that view the way he intervened, we will rely on him to transform the wrangling discords of Mamfe and Manyu at large into a beautiful brotherhood". To him, Barrister Eyong is the person who can bring transformation to Mamfe Central and Manyu Division as a whole."WE ARE SOLELY BEHING YOU LORD MAYOR BARRISTER EYONG ELVIE EYONG" he concluded.

On his part, John Mbi added that among all the aspirants, on one is fit for the job of mayor more than Barrister Eyong Elvis Eyong. "We will invest our votes for development because for many years now, we have been living on promises. Eyong is our candidate for mayor and we will all accompany him to foster development in our municipality. We have been longing for young men like him and thank God that finally we have had one on whom we can lean" he concluded.Who is Barrister Eyong
Born into the families of Eyong Manje in Okoyong village and late Pa S.E Assam of Besongabang village, Barrister Eyong studied law atMadonna University and graduated in 2007. The quest for more knowledge took him to the Nigerian Law School in Abuja where he was a member of Student Representative Council. Even though a foreign student, he stood elections as the President of the Nigerian Law School Government and finally emerged as the 2nd runner-up. After graduating in flying colours from the Nigerian School of Law, he worked in Nigeria as Administrator of the African Business School-Abuja. While back in the country, he is currently practicing with Etah-Nan & Co, a firm of Attorney based in Douala as an associate. It should be noted that Barrister Eyong is a Member of the Nigerian Bar Association and Cameroon Bar Association as well.

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UNVDA, FCFA 11 Billion and The Deficit In Rice Production (1)

By Fai cassian

The culture, attitudes, norms, values, mind settings and needs of local people are some of the important factors that must be taken into deliberation before any development project is launched. This is true both at local and national levels. Indeed, it is one of the major reasons behind our underdevelopment and why government funds allocated for development usually end in private pockets. Every subject has its own requirement of money. A budget doesn’t decide the fate of a structure. Exaggerated budgets don’t guarantee any success at all. During the last Board meeting of the Upper Noun Valley Development Authority-UNVDA that took place recently at the Ayaba Hotel in Bamenda, it management was trying to make it budget appear like a virtue.　

Yet Prime Minister Yang Philemon told MPs last week that government is relying on SEMRY and the infamous UNVDA of Ndop (Northwest) as well as small rice producers at Tonga in the West Region to double rice production by 2015 from 100 000 tonnes to about 205 000 tonnes. But yet, this dream could be far fetched if all the necessary monitoring tools are not put in place, one MP told this reporter on phone.

When Prime Minister Yang Philemon made this statement on Monday, November 26, 2012, at the National Assembly, technicians of the Ministry of Agriculture have already started producing rice in their offices on papers just to embezzle state funds.

It is really pathetic that rice, which has become one of the most consumed foods in Cameroon, is mainly imported from China, Pakistan and even the United States of America.

The results of the balance of payment in 2010 published earlier this year by the Ministry of Finance, show rice imports have cost 600 billion FCFA in Cameroon that year, approximately 1/16 of the national budget. What a shame!!

It isn’t because experts have proven that for a programme to succeed especially in rural areas there is a need for a strong story at the core and everything else is secondary. However, a critical judgment analysis shows that big budgets become unmanageable when it targets larger investments and that is why rice farmers in Ndop may doubt the sustainability of such a vision. And here, the UNVDA management is a case in point. This is an urgent situation, particularly as far as state funding is concerned for the coming fiscal years.

If UNVDA should choose a different direction, rice farmers deserve to know what this new direction will be, and they need to know sooner rather than later their roles.

With much money available on UNVDA plate, and in no particular order we believe farmers should be at the top of the structures to-do list for the next three years which seemingly is not the case.

UNVDA, we gathered is already suffering a culture where access to deeper secrets conveys higher status. This phenomenon as we learnt is already putting board members on the other end and management at the other end. Indicators are rife at UNVDA that some people have already classified themselves as the "get ahead" in the culture of secrecy in order to use it for personal advancement and riches. Some tribes have been selected and are being treated as priorities while others have been reduced to second class.

Knowledge is power; they say and for many insiders access to classified information is the chief source of their power which is making some board members to raise doubts on the colossal 11 billion FCFA voted despite the fact that they might face the tide. It is not surprising that secrecy in management may eventually lead to corrupt practices, giving that corruption is a progressive disease and it diffuses from person to person. One of the most important impacts of corruption from secrecy is on the making of major technical decisions like the development of rice farms, acquisition of heavy duty equipment and the well established network between the Ministry of Finance and Agriculture that almost disappeared with 600 million FCFA earmarked for UNVDA some years ago. Thank God PM Philemon Yang intervened and the so-called middle man was arrested in one of the hotels in Yaounde.

However, the present state of affairs of UNVDA continues to make one to wonder whether sitting in an air conditioned room at a distant office and prescribing policies could influence rice production in anyway. But what is so tough to include farmers in designing what they are suppose to be key actors instead of convincing them about the importance of the program. Why is it that incorporating their views worrisome? Nonetheless, the most interesting thing is that a total sum of 11 billion FCFA was budgeted to improve rice production for three years and we are aware that in the next few months more groups will be fabricated by the same people who siphoned maize support grants to farmers for their pockets. Accordingly we gathered from a member of the Board that during the board meeting some board members even questioned their role as board members when some information is hidden from them, "I am shocked that as member of the Board we do not have access to some information. I believe we are members of a Ngomba and it is our duty to know everything and every detail" he argued. Yet the general manager Chin Richard Winkar said there are possibilities of increasing farm land from the presence 2532 hectares’ to 7.500 hectares. UNVDA he claims has prepared over 3.000 hectares’ and is expected to produce about 15.000 tons of paddies. As to how the 11 billion FCFA budgeted by UNVDA still keeps it as a secret because an action plan has not yet been developed. One wonders how a budget of 11 billion FCFA was established without an action plan for three years. Necessity as they say is the mother of invention, so we are not very far from concluding that the figures were concocted and invented since it was very necessary.

However, for farmers to enjoy the sweat of their labour and for consumers to savour the flavor of Ndop as well as government vision to be sustainable, there is an urgent need for a mechanism on budget tracking to be put in place to check excesses at UNVDA. If not in the next three years the Biya regime would have invested in to private pockets again. Thus making Prime Minister Yang Philemon the utmost wounded person and laughing stalk for being unable to meet up with the target of producing the expected results.

Up Next: Inside UNVDA the Untold story……

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Gov't Puts Millions At Disposal of Small Businesses

Cassimanga I

A project to support the modernization of production tools has gone operations. The project which is intended to reduce costs of access to production equipment in order to enhance the competiveness of Small and Medium Seize Enterprises-SME as well as reduce employment rate in the country was launched recently in the North West Region. Launching the project a forth night ago, the Secretary General at the Governor’s office pointed out that the idea is that government providing favourable mechanism that will facilitate access by SME’s to equipment through leasing. He also in a bid to get the best out of Law No 2010/020 of 21 December 2010 organizing leasing in Cameroon, thereby reducing cost of funding facilities to enterprises, Government in collaboration with CAMLEASE, initiated a reflection which led to the production of mechanism to support the modernization of production tools. Leasing it should be noted is a funding process by which firms can obtain the use of production equipment such as furniture, computers, industrial machinery, commercial vehicles etc …..

In order to eligible for the funding, promoters of must be operating in the formal sector in the following sectors: Timber, agriculture, livestock, fisheries, mining, industry, tourism, cotton, textile and clothing. Besides that, any project requesting funding must show proves of return and must fulfill one of the following requirements, implementation of a transformation process, possibilities of creating employment opportunities for youths, and the contribution to the implementation of major structuring projects under subcontracting.

Minimum/ Maximum Amount

The amount to be granted to any SME/SMI shall range between 25 million to 250 million FCFA with an annual interest rate of less than 10%. The average term of the loan shall expand within a period of three years. SME/SMI’s own contribution shall be 15%. Promoters may submit their files to three financial institutions namely: SGBC, ALIOS-FINANCE and or Africa Leasing Company-ALC. The collection of application files, selection of files, provision of credit lines, collection of payments are ensured by the above mentioned financial institutions in accordance with COBAC’s prudence ratios.

Requirements

The lease contract shall contain the following documents:

·The contract proper (appellation of lessee and lessor, name of supplier, description of assets funded, price of the acquired assets from the lessor to be rendered to the lessee, the terms of the lease, number and period of tenancy, the value of the purchase option at the end of the leasing period, various clauses on the reciprocal obligations)

· The table of rent payments (including, where appropriate, the first adjusted payment) indicating the amount as distinct from the VAT;

· Possible additional gurantees

· The "good for supply" note signed by the lessor ad handed to the supplier,

· The delivery slip by the supplier signed by the lessor who accepts the requirement as it is

· Assignment of the insurance underwritten by the lessor

This project it should be noted is placed under the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning, Economy and Regional Development.

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Public Opinion Barks at CONAC for Indicting Hon. PC Fonso

SDF

Member of Parliament for Mbengwi Central, cum Eldest Member of Parliament has become headline in the news of late after the publication of the 2012 report by the National Anti Corruption Commission-CONAC. CONAC report indicted Hon. PC Fonso for receiving an undue balance of 750.000 FCFA as a member of the inter-miniserial comission in the ministry of forestry. In fact, as Hon. Ayah Paul puts it: Hon. PC Fonso and Ngolle Ngolle" are victims of negative regional balance". However, a school of thought holds that PC Fonso is a victim of the Machiavellian scores settlings that have characterized the Biya regime. Public opinion holds that CONAC has been transformed into a perfect sinkhole for character assassination and a slaughter-house where all those who have proven to be tough with the regime are slaughtered. Accordingly, allegations are rife at that some CPDM bigwigs have infiltrated CONAC and are using it as a political tool to destroy their opponents, with Ngolle Ngolle Elvis and PC Fonso being the latest victims. In other words, Hon. PC Fonso, we are aware is paying the price of being too critical of the system. As a member of the Inter-ministerial Commission in the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, Hon. PC Fonso and one other Members of Parliament were representing the National Assembly in that Commission.

When contacted on phone to get his own side of the story, Hon. PC Fonso told this reporter that he was shocked and flabbergasted with CONAC report. Hear him: I was not the one controlling the budget of the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, so i signed what was presented to me but today i am been told that the amount i sigbed for was much. I am disappointed with CONAC, I am really angry because my name is featuring in newspapers here and there that we signed undue allowances. Anyway, I should be grateful if CONAC could tell Cameroonians how much we are supposed to receive and they should blame the Ministry and not us.  PC Fonso does not control the budget. I am not guilty. I want CONAC to investigate well and by so doing the Prime Ministry should be part of the investigation. They should stop blaming PC Fonso. What are they talking about? I know elections are coming and they want to destroy me. I have even read newspaper articles talking about my immunity being off-lifted. Please the Press, do not destroy PC Fonso" he concluded.

Reacting to the report, Teche Nyamusa SDF Parliamentary Aspirant for Mbengwi Central said that CONAC is not serving the genuine interest of Cameroonians. According to Teche Nyamusa, any information from CONAC is subject to verification. He challenged CONAC to investigate into the 100 billion FCFA scandal involving Frank Biya and Pius Ndeh on his part said the CPDM just want to use CONAC to frustrate PC's candidature because he is the eldest member and the regime is not comfortable seeing him presiding as an opposition MP. "that is why they are after him".


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Girl Wanted for Involvement in Lesbianism

By Chumua Jerry Geh

In Africa, homosexuality is considered as a taboo. Being a homosexual is not only considered as a sacrilege by tradition, it is also punishable by law. Cases are bound that many young boys and girls have been harassed, tortured and some are even alleged to have disappeared under mysterious circumstance. A pathetic example happened in September 2010, when Nontsikelelo Tyatyeka a young 21 year old lesbian disappeared in Nyanga Township, Cape Town. Her body was found in the trash a year later. The circumstances of her death were horrific. While Lesbians and gays suffer injustice from the population, the laws in some African countries are also very hard.

In Cameroon, Section 347 of the Penal Code states: "whoever has sexual relationships with a person of the same sex shall be punished with imprisonment from six months to five years and a fine from 20.000 FCFA to 200.000 FCFA". Beside that, it is a common phenomenon to hear that somebody has been harassed and more to that suspended from moving with anybody or banished from the village because he/she identified herself/himself as a lesbian or gay person.　

In November 2011, two young men were sentenced to five years simply for being gay in Cameroon. Human Rights activist Me Alice Nkom, is quoted to have said that "violence against gay people in Cameroon has skyrocketed to unprecedented level". The situation she added is quickly becoming a crisis. Many young Cameroonians have suffered for practicing homosexuality.

One of the latest victims wanted by police for practicing lesbianism we gathered is a certain Lang Emerencia Wai. She is alleged to have encouraged her schoolmates and youths in the practice of lesbianism. Close family sources hinted that the police have launched a search for her. Her parents, we gathered have been placed under duress by police. The fact that she also disappeared from her parent’s home further complicate the situation. More so, her former principal is also alleged to have informed the police that her activities in the school campus made students not to concentrate in their studies, which has made many parents to look at her as a dangerous element.

Even though her where about is unknown, a close family friend hinted that they are afraid because most of her friends practicing lesbianism were arrested and it is alleged that one died. Lang’s case is just one in a million of others that have caught between the law, tradition and Human Rights in Africa.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa

CPJ Condemns Criminal Convitions of 3 Cameroonian Journalists

In Cameroon, journalists given suspended prison terms New York, December 6, 2012-The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Monday's criminal convictions of three Cameroonian journalists who tried to investigate a purported government memo that suggested corruption in the management of a state oil company. One of the defendants said he was tortured in custody, while a fourth journalist accused in the case died in custody. A judge handed a three-year suspended prison term to Harris Robert Mintya, editor of the weekly Le Devoir, and a two-year suspended prison sentence to Serges Sabouang, editor of the bimonthly La Nation, on forgery charges, according to local journalists and news reports. A third journalist, Simon Hervé Nko'o, a former reporter for the weekly Bebela, was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison, the sources said. The judge also ordered the journalists to each pay a fine of 119,421 CFA francs (US$238), and told them they had 10 days to appeal, Sabouang told CPJ. Sabouang said he would appeal. It was not immediately clear if Mintya and Nko'o would appeal. The case stemmed from a complaint filed by former presidential adviser and current Justice Minister Laurent Esso in 2010 who claimed that the journalists had forged his signature in a document purported to be a leaked confidential memo to Adolphe Moudiki, executive general manager of the state oil company. The memo supposedly ordered secret payouts of 2 billion CFA francs (US$3.9 million) to oil company managers, news reports said. The defendants had sent Esso a series of questions along with a copy of the memo. Esso denied that the document was authentic. In February 2010, police detained Mintya, Sabouang, and Nko'o. Nko'o told local media that he had been tortured in custody and fled into exile. Mintya and Sabouang were charged and remanded into pretrial detention at Nkondengui Prison, but released on bail in November 2010. Germain Cyrille Ngota Ngota, an editor for the Cameroon Express, was also detained with the journalists in 2010, but died in jail due to inadequate medical care. Authorities blamed his death on ill health. In July, Esso publicly denied any wrongdoing or responsibility in the journalists' arrests or Ngota's death. "Cameroon is punishing journalists for handling a document obtained from government sources and for asking questions of a top public official instead of investigating the content of the memo or bringing to account those responsible for the death of Germain Cyrille Ngota Ngota," said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. "We call on the appellate court to reverse this decision, which is a mockery of justice."   ·         For more data and analysis on Cameroon, visit CPJ's Cameroon page here.

### CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide.

Contact: Mohamed Keita Africa Advocacy Coordinator Tel. +1.212.465.1004 ext. 117 Email: mkeita@cpj.org

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa

National Assembly: Greedy MPs Extend Mandate by 3 Months

It is no more news that the Cameroon National Assembly is made a breed of politicians who see nothing good in anything except in the form of bread. Last year, the mandate of MPs was extended by six months, yesterday December 7, 2012; their mandate was again extended by three months. What is however very interesting is that even the so-called opposition was silent over the issue of the extension of mandate. Along the corridors, they were all seen with smiles on their faces because they have been given another opportunity to chop state money. Public opinion holds that being a Member of Parliament in Cameroon is about bread and butter.

Cavaye Yeguie Djibrille Played the Ostrich  

There is a common saying that when you try to deny people something, you activate a very bad part of human nature. The Eye gathered that when debates opened at the National Assembly of Cameroon on, December 7, 2012, around 4.45 PM, on the Bill extending the mandate of Members of Parliament for three more months, Hon Ayah Paul Abine raised his name tag among other Members of Parliament, indicating that he would take part in the debates. From recurrent malicious antecedents, Ayah even called out for his name to be taken down but he was ignored by the Speaker because Cavaye Yeguie knew that he could raise an objection.
According to eyewitness account, other MPs who had indicated to speak were called up except Ayah. The latter we are aware raised a point of order that, by the Standing Orders of the House, he had to be recognized to address the House. The Speaker was quick to claim on behalf of the secretary that the secretary had not seen Ayah’s hand. A sizable number of Members of Parliament booed him as that was the third time during different sessions that the Speaker had prevented Ayah from addressing the House, claiming on almost every such occasion that the secretary had not seen Ayah’s hand. It would be noted that Ayah’s seat is less than ten metres from the Speaker (and the secretary) by crow’s flight.
Ayah now requested that, whatever the case, as he was already at the rostrum, he should be recognized for him to address the House. That was spontaneously approved by parliamentarians across the board. Referring to Ayah pejoratively as “ce monsieur” in the like of every primitive and uncouth person, the Speaker ordered Ayah to return to his seat amid cat calls. He went ahead to recognize the Vice Prime Minister who took over the microphone from Ayah.
What was all the more curious was that Mr. Speaker went out of all civility; out of all civilized manner; and out of all parliamentary solemnity to call Ayah, an honourable member of parliament as himself, “ce monsieur”. Every normal human being with the barest minimum scholarship who has been in parliament for over 40 years like Hon Cavaye would be expected to practise minimum etiquette consistent with parliamentary tradition. And it should make no difference that it is Hon Cavaye whose highest diploma is having been in parliament for forty years. The exception compelling accommodation, though, is that a domesticated beast does some day give in to its bestial instincts and bites a person.
Any better truth than that if at forty one is still a fool, and then one is a certificated fool till doomsday? Many have also looked at the decision by Cavaye as a gross marginalization of Anglophones. Some have even quoted the case of Adama Modi who even though a thorn in the side of the CPDM was always given room to address the House but since Ayah Paul is an Anglophone, he should be ridiculed.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa

Biometric Registration: Fuh Calistus Sets Confusion at Ndu CPDM Evaluation Meeting

It is no more a secret that the Secretary of State for Mines, Industries and Technological Development, Dr. Fuh Calistus has found himself on the receiving end of criticisms he deserves; not for the least for his public comments as head of the Central Committee delegation to Donga Mantung Division on biometric registration but because he has been caught by the hawks of politics. It is really amazing that Dr. Fuh Calistus on December 7, 2012 while in meeting with CPDM militants of Ndu to assess the level of registration using the biometric system, he ignited the long forgotten incident that took place in the area some 20 years ago. Even though it is clear that some CPDM old guards have been using the so-called "Ndu genocide" to remain in power, CPDM militants who attended the Ndu were shocked at the manner at which issues unfolded. When some militants identified the incident as one of the handicaps that is contributing to voters pathy, Dr. Calistus neither accepted for  a commission to be put in place to reconcile families that were victimized but on the contrary  Dr. Fuh Calistus left CPDM militants in a more confused state. More often, CPDM militants in Ndu we gathered are being deliberately tricked, by people who have something to gain by manipulating them with misleading appearances.

Ndzi Romeo, a young militant of the CPDM has described the actions of the head of the Central Committee to Donga Mantung Division as reckless and undiplomatic while another young militant by name John Konfor Lany said the act as an obnoxious plan to further destabilize the CPDM in Ndu. Lany told this reporter on phone that the Secretary of State has portrayed that he has a hidden agenda which is to destabilize the CPDM in Ndu because not long he added “ a young man came from Yaounde and told us that he was the Secretary of State’s candidate for Parliamentary elections and we were wondering whether our leaders are being appointed from Yaounde by the so-called leader of Donga Mantung Divisio”.  Both gentlemen are upset that the head of the Central Committee is playing all sorts of tricks to remain the only “cock in Donga Mantung Division”.  

However, in fairness to Dr. Fuh Calistus, it is now appearing that aside the obvious faux pas to bring back to the memories the incident of June 1992, he has been scheming for long.  

It is now clear that Fuh Calistus’s leanings and position as lone cabinet minister from Donga Mantung have made him to misquote the Ndu Section of the CPDM thus helping to fuel the almost forgotten incident.

It should be recalled that the unfortunate incident took place in June 1992, an unfortunate incident that many have described as a “genocide” having escalidated from a political stalemate of the early day’s multi-partism in Cameroon. Ndu had a fair-share of the political upheavals that on June 7, men and women were arrested, tortured and humiliated by law enforcement officers. They were taken to the Brigade where they were “raped” with gun butts and boiled pepper infused into their vaginas! Of course, the story is long, and Mary Bienna and Irene Njeshu died later from complicated ailments! The raid was wild, as women were rounded up and taken to  “Nsankfu”, at Njiningo quarters, where a secondary school had been operating, and students were writing the GCE! The unfortunate men who were also arrested were asked to undress, and watch their sisters and mothers naked themselves. Those who were arrested were asked to crawl through the main street of Ndu, singing “Gendarme na God”, “ SDF na Satan” etc. It is this incident that Fuh Calistus decided to discuss in a meeting recently but was unable to find a solution leaving CPDM supporters confused.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa

Nollywood Veteran Actor Enebeli Elebuwa is Dead

The actor, who is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) died Tuesday night at an Indian hospital after battling with partial stroke for more than a year.
The actor Enebeli Elebuwa was flown to an unnamed Indian hospital for proper medical attention after attempts to treat him at the St. Luke’s hospital, Sabo, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria failed.
Early this year, controversial Nigerian man of God, Apostle Sign Fireman posted a video on video sharing site, YouTube claiming to have healed the veteran actor of his partial stroke.
The video showed Enebeli struggling to walk during the healing service done for him. The pastor thereafter claimed that in a matter of days, Enebeli would be able to walk well.
The actor, soon after, denied the healing and was subsequently flown out of Nigeria after his condition worsened.
While on admission in India, members of his Ndokwa community of Delta State based in India visited to lend him support and wish him speedy recovery.
Enebeli Elebuwa was a native of Upkane in Otagunu local government area of Delta State.
His dad died when he was 10 years old, forcing him to leave his home town when he was only 12 years to stay with someone in Lagos.
Pa Enebeli, as he was affectionately called, was a retired civil servant and an actor who had over three decades of acting experience. Enebeli’s first ever acting role was in the soap Mirror In The Sun.
He appeared in the first three pilot episodes of that series and eventually worked as an assistant producer and director. He has since been part of many productions including Heaven’s Gate produced by another veteran actor Zik Okafor.
Enebeli’s first movie was a film (celluloid) called Dinner with the Devil, produced by Sanya Dosumu in 1974 where he played the role of a police officer investigating a crime.
He also featured in other major films including Bisi Daughter of the River by Jab Adu and Eddie Ugboma’s Oyenusi. He also acted in the now rested popular television drama, The Village Headmaster.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa

Bamenda Journalist Arrested and Detained for Defamation

Kah Aaron, editor of Kilum 24, was picked up today December 7, 2012 at about 10 am by elements of the Judicial Police in Bamenda for publishing two articles which the Health Board of the Cameroon Baptist Church say the articles are defamatory. The two articles denouncing some practices by the CBC health board were published in issues No 001 and 002 of K24. The most pathetic thing is that it is common in Cameroon that journalists are picked up and detained for defamation and some are even refused bail.

However, the incident is happening when experts and journalists are reflecting on the decriminalization of defamation in Cameroon’s communication landscape in a forum holding in Yaounde-Cameroon. Journalists attending the National Communication Forum in Yaounde, we gathered, were taken aback by the arrest of Kah Aaron. Notwithstanding, at the time we were leaving the Judicial Police Station, Kah Aaron could not be granted bail given that the instructions for his arrest were linked to the State Counsel for Mezam. Luckily enough, the Commissioner for the Bamenda Judicial Police, when informed that a journalist was arrested and locked up in the cell, suddenly showed a human face by instructing his boys to keep him but not in the cell. Latest information indicates that some journalists attending the National Communication Forum are threatening to go down to the streets if the editor is not released. Some of the journalists, we learnt, are questioning why he could only be arrested only on Friday. This, they said, is usually the trick people use to ridicule journalists given that someone who is arrested on Friday could only be released on Monday, since Saturday is a non working day.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa

THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY IN A STALEMATE

BY AYAH Paul ABINE
It has often been said that Camerounese conduct themselves as if they are strangers on their own land. And verily, persons in authority in the fatherland are prone to haphazard conduct of official business. No
presiding judge am I any more to draw clear-cut conclusions, nay pass sharp judgments. But I would be doing my country a disservice by precluding myself from disinterested appreciation.
It is indisputable that Section 15(4) of the Constitution provides for the extension of the mandate of parliament in the event of “serious crisis”. It is a matter of interpretation whether in the face of the
phraseology “expiry of the extension or abridgement period” it is constitutional to have multiple extensions or abridgements, given that the term “period” is in the singular.
Whichever interpretation may be exclusively accurate, efficiency requires that the government ought to have examined the situation with zeal and prudence, and then go for a single extension in order to minimize human and material costs. Preferring the contrary can only be consistent with the ruling party’s selfish monopoly of the political agenda with consequential fraud on the people.
Again, the President of the Republic by a decree extended by twelve months the mandate of municipal councils elected with parliament on the same day. Rational conduct would have required that there be twin
election similarly on the expiry of the two mandates. Rational in the sense that twin election would cut down cost comprehensively. Why would any reasonable person extend one mandate by “six months
renewable” in respect of the one case, and another by twelve months concerning the other?
Another burning issue is the interpretation of the legal phrase “six months renewable”. One daresay that a good many a jurist would agree that the interpretation of the phrase must be within the ambit of the maxim “nossitur a soci”. In other words, the entire phrase must be taken together. That should mean that it is the period of six months which is renewable to the exclusion of any other period. Tabling a Bill for a period of three months as the government has done, therefore, is offensive to the law.
Taking advantage of all the legal jumble, parliamentarians are now demanding “vehicle maintenance allowance” on the ground that they are in a new mandate. Going by what is cooking, they will either make the
enactment of the finance law conditional on the government granting their demand, or they will reject the Bill on the extension of their mandate. That will of course rubbish all that ELECAM is telling Camerounese today about the next elections.



When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa

The Cameroon 2013 Budget Could Incite Uprising

By Akoson Raymond, PAP Parliamentary Aspirant, Mamfe Central/Upper Bayang

* The SG at the presidency's DAILY fuel allowance stands at some 2.5 million frs (Approx. the cost to fuel a Boeing 747 plane to fly Douala to Yaounde and back);
* Something called 'Depenses Communes' (whatever that means), which is at the mercy of someone, was allocated some 198 billions for 2013. That is, if money for the subvention of political parties and the 2013 elections as prescribed for by Law No. 2012/001 of April 19, 2012 were deducted, that someone would have about 480 million EVERY DAY to play about with at their whims!
* External Relations Ministry has been allocated some 2.4 billion (two-thousand million plus) EVERY MONTH for the purchase of office equipment, official feasts & entertainment allowances;
* If we cut back on our outlandish expenses, we would have enough to employ thousands of youths with a salary of 100.000 frs each in the next ten years.
The figures above are most often than not the same for every other 72 ministries or departments ranking as such plus institutions such as the Supreme Court, Public Security, Econpmic and Social Council etc. It is a mockery to the youths that while outside the so-called 25.000 job placements, just 4.000 are with salaries! It is even the more hurting that a huge percentage of our roads are untarred, yet, this administration continue in their stubborn refusal to equitably distribute the national pie but are busy diverting monies from such wastes to private bank accounts abroad!
In fact, I feel an iressistible urge to equally mention that:
* A Combination of PM's provisions, fuel, entertainment & mission allowances is some 8.8 million EVERY DAY. And note that every other ministry spends billions of hard earned tax payers' monies on entertainment and so called allowances;
* PM's purchase of office materials & vehicles stands at some (3.8 billions yearly), that is 318 million EVERY MONTH. If you go through the budget of the other ministries, you'll notice that, just like the PM, every other ministry change their office furniture and other equipment every year. That is to say that, in Cameroon, all office furniture become unfit for use after every year!
* The Economic & Social Council, an institution we don't even know where their office is. Neither have we ever heard of a meeting they ever held lavish some 5 million EVERY DAY as running provisions;
The aforementioned analysis of the 2013 Finance Law is a product of Cameroon's parliament, which, as has been previously echoed by many, needs a complete rebirth! The Biya gerontocracy teleguides an overwhelming CPDM parliament to do his bidding. A gerontocracy that is increasingly looking like the pre-Gorbatchev Soviet Union whose entire leadership was made up of the infirm, senile and “walking dead” of the Politburo. No right thinking executive can ever come up with such a waste scheme called a bill.
Question: Why with so much waste, Cameroon still parades the international community begging for loans? Loans which shall be repaid not by this gerontocracy but by the youths tomorrow at exhobitant interest rates.

Youths, septuagenarians and octogenarians still occupy key positions at all levels of the executive, public service, public corporations, the police and armed forces, effectively preventing the much needed and long overdue renewal of state institutions. In the process, an entire generation of young Cameroonians -- you and me -- has been permanently sidelined. We are now left with the options of taking control of our councils and parliament.
I can only reiterate that the Cameroonian youths must wake up from slumber and join some of us to go to parliament and bring sanity to the way parliamentary business is been conducted. Even if at parliament, it would entail the rolling up of sleeves and exchange a few punches, disconnect the mics and bring nonsesical deliberations to a halt, then 'make yi be'!
PS: For those who want copies of the 2013 Finance Law, please go to the NA. See the attached books you'll want me to scan copies and send.


When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa

CONAC Report, And the Negative Game of Regional Balance

Cameroun is such a huge contradiction. Even its map overturned looks like a question mark with Lake Tchad as the dot. Or is it like the African continent? And truly nothing there is that grows on the African continent that does not grow in Cameroun: a country most richly endowed with natural resources that tantalize a people immersed in crude all-engulfing abject poverty. And while equitable distribution of those resources is a notion outlandish, it is supplanted by the equitable fishing out of scapegoats in the name of regional balance – a dry humour euphemism!

One of the most recent victims of regional balance is Professor Ngolle Ngolle Elvis. By Cameroun’s standards, if a person who has held a ministerial position for over five has a shortage of as little as 1.5 million francs, that person should be hailed. Why should it be different with Professor Ngolle? The answer can only be found in the distorted policy of regional balance. Otherwise can one not explain that someone suspected of having embezzled 100 billion of “state funds” comes clean of mere investigation while papers upon papers make an alleged embezzlement of 1.5 million their lead story!

No-one is saying that embezzlement of smaller sums of money does not amount to criminal liability. But the fuss made against Professor Ngolle Ngolle Elvis finds no justification amid the mighty chunks safely chopped off by human sharks. It is perhaps only consistent with the notorious policy of presidential reward for those who render undue service to Mr. President.

We do remember that Mr. Forjindam was the first person that called for the amendment of the constitution to enable Mr. Biya to stand election indefinitely. His reward is life in prison. Mrs. Haman Adama was the only person (out of five) allowed to nominate Mr. Biya as the only candidate at the CPDM Congress of 2006. Her reward is indefinite remand in prison custody. Mr. Marafa Yaya admittedly made Mr. Biya the invincible King Kong of electoral contests in Cameroun. King Kong has now barricaded him inside a prison closet to languish for 25 years… A wonderful lesson for my brother and friend poor Profesor Ngolle Ngolle Elvis!

Regional balance indeed! How else can one explain it? Hon Fonso received allowances as a member of the Inter-ministerial Commission. He took part neither in determining the amount nor in the calculation of the sums due. Yet has his name been published for 750.000 francs said to be unduly received. So starkly ridiculous! Each parliamentarian for instance receives 75.000 francs for fuel allowance each session. Is any of them expected to fine out whether that is covered by the law, and if so what the correct amount is? Really leaving thee substance and chasing the shadow!

Long live the all-pervading negative game of regional balance!

AYAH Paul ABINE

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa

Drogba, Eto’o, Pienaar, Heads of States, CAF, Others Unite Against Malaria

Coutersy IFEJ News

Drogba, Eto’o, and Pienaar Join Heads of State, CAF and Football Players Across Africa
to Unite Against Malaria in a New Health Campaign for the 2013 Orange Africa Cup of Nations
Campaign Will Deliver Malaria Prevention and Treatment Messages Across the Continent

Johannesburg, South Africa, 30 November, 2012 – African football stars and heads of state will join the Roll Back Malaria Partnership’s United Against Malaria (UAM) campaign and pledge to distribute
life-saving malaria prevention and treatment messages throughout the 2013 Orange Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament.  Football icons including Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto’o, and Steven Pienaar, along with African Heads of State including President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, President Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso, President Alassane Ouattara of Cote d’Ivoire and President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, will lend their voices to the cause, appearing in television spots, billboards and educational materials that will be distributed across Africa. Those Heads of State are members of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance.
“We are thrilled to have malaria featured as a social cause of the 2013 Orange AFCON tournament,” said Hervé Verhoosel, Head of External Relations for the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, at the press
conference in Johannesburg. “The strong partnership between United Against Malaria and the confederation of African Football (CAF) allows us to leverage the powerful platform of football to reach millions of  fans across Africa – where approximately 90% of global malaria deaths occur – with life-saving messages to help protect communities from this preventable and treatable disease.  The upcoming AFCON will build on the strong commitment and momentum of national federations and
their players from the 2010 FIFA World Cup and move us closer to making malaria a problem of the past. It is also a pleasure for us to have the presence and support of Mr. Kirsten Nematandani, President of
the South African Football Association, who is representing here today the 20 football federations supporting the campaign.”
“We, the South African Football Association, are proud to support the United Against Malaria Campaign and globally the Roll Back Malaria Partnership in order to save lives across the continent,” said Mr.
Kirsten Nematandani, President of the South African Football Association. “UAM is a great example of how football can help raise awareness to combat this killer disease.”
“Across the continent, football dominates the hearts and minds of children and parents alike. But, so does malaria – the cause of 174 million illnesses and nearly 600,000 deaths in African alone every
year,” said Samuel Eto’o, Cameroonian national team player and UAM champion. “We have united to utilize the power of football to fight malaria and we hope our fans will join us.”
Although preventable and treatable, malaria kills a child in Africa every 60 seconds and costs the continent an estimated minimum of US $12 billion in lost productivity and healthcare costs each year.
"I have been a victim of malaria and have witnessed first-hand the devastating effects it can have on individuals and families," said Didier Drogba, Cote d'Ivoire national team captain and UAM champion.
"We need malaria out of the game. Using the popularity of football to increase awareness of prevention and treatment methods will go a long way in the fight to show malaria the red card.”
"Malaria affects nearly everyone on the continent of Africa, including footballers and government leaders. With all eyes on the tournament and its participants, CAF and UAM are committed to utilizing this platform to communicate important messaging to end deaths from this devastating disease," said Mr. Hicham El Amrani, Secretary-General of CAF.
"When we all fight malaria together, we build stronger nations and save lives," said President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia. "As a football fan myself, I understand the game's power and popularity. We
have the tools to win against malaria and I urge others to join us in the fight."
In Nigeria, Malawi, Benin, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania and other countries, malaria messages will be shared using football players, favorite teams and sports programs. Research has shown that audiences
retain and act on these messages more often when delivered by their football heroes. In those countries, billboards, sports journals, tournament programs will complement the PSAs on air to ensure the UAM campaign messages reach every household. In Cote d'Ivoire, images of Drogba and his teammates Kolo Toure, Gervinho and Salomon Kalou attract readers to malaria educational materials, and create excitement about ridding this West African country of the burden of malaria. The UAM campaign has broken language barriers by having PSAs recorded by football stars in over 18 African languages since the campaign was launched in 2009.
"I am honored to be a champion for this cause," said Steven Pienaar, UAM champion and former South African captain. "It is unacceptable that malaria kills one child in Africa every minute. We can take such
simple steps to prevent and treat this disease. United we can beat malaria."

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa