State or Official Burial for HRH, Prof. Senator Jikong Stephen Yeriwa?

Senator Jikong Deserves a State Burial

The mortal remains of HRH, Prof. Senator Jikong Stephen Yeriwa who passed on at the Yaounde General Hospital on Thursday, November 13, 2014 will be laid to rest in Jato-Gwembo village (Nwa sub Division in Donga Mantung Division of the North West Region) next week. According to classified sources, corps removal has been billed for December 11, state honours at the senate on December 12, and burial on December 13, 2014.  It should be recalled that he died, after a protracted illness. Yet it is not clear whether Senator Jikong Stephen Yeriwa who served this country in various capacities would be given a state or an official burial. A school of state holds that HRH, Prof. Senator Jikong deserves to be honoured given that he spent his entire life working for the nation. Born on February 2, 1949 in Mbem village, Nwa Subdivision, Donga-Mantung Division of the North West Region, Stephen Jikong was among the first Anglophones who were transferred to the then East Cameroon to teach English Language. If there is anything paramount in the mind of the people of Donga Mantung Division, it is how HRH, Prof. Senator Jikong Stephen should be given a state or official burial by the Gov­ernment.  An influential Northwest elite is of the opinion that if there is “one thing that I am asking for is that HRH Prof. Senator Jikong should be given a befitting burial, for having contributed to the survival of Cameroon as an educationist, university don, adviser to the Prime Minister, politician and even as a traditional ruler. In fact, he should be given a state burial. This is my own humble plea”, he concluded. Youths are also of the opinion that the head of State should do something to honour the man who worked hard for the country. “I believe the President I do something” says Nfor Kingsley Mama. To Comfort Nye, a state or official burial is a logical thing to do for such a rare character in the Cameroonian society. As all eyes are looking towards Yaounde, it is hoped that the head of state will do something to honour the fallen hero.

Who is HRH Prof. Senator Jikong Stephen

HRH Prof. Jikong Stephen Yeriwa  was an influential Member of the Central Committee of the CPDM and one of the CPDM diehearts who in the 90s was the Charge de mission of the party to the Northwest region alongside Senator Francis Nkwain. He is a traditional ruler (Fon of Jato-Gwembo village in Nwa Sub Division). He was a senior citizen who has served the country in various capacities. He started his professional career as a teacher, to a University don and Special Adviser in the Prime Minister's office. He is widely read, published many books, calm and soft-spoken too. His political abilities are also an added value.

Before late Senator Jikong was elected into senate in November 2013, he had served as Secretary General in the Ministry of Public Service and Administrative Reforms from 1992-1994, and then Technical Adviser in the Prime Minister’s office 1996-2012. He was also board member of State corporations such as SCDP, ENAM, INJS and recently CRTV. He retired from the public service in 2008 as lecturer at the University of Yaounde I.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)

Land Dispute: Baligansin, Bamukumbit Spar Go Bloody, One Killed

Northwest Governor Aldolph Lele Lafrique has called on the people of Baligansin and Bamukumbit in Ngoketunjia Division of the North West Region to bury their grievances and live as good neigbours. Governor Lele Lafrique made the clarion call when he visited the disputed piece of land where one person was killed and several houses destroyed.

 It is reported that a land dispute broke out in the early hours of last Saturday between Baligansin and Bamukumbit in Balikumbat sub division and the confrontation resulted to one dead. It is alleged that the dispute between the two villages erupted over a piece of land. Allegations abound that matters came to head when irate Bamukumbit villagers stormed Baligansin and took the villagers off guard. It is aired that four houses were destroyed and a young man in his early 20s was killed. Being a less-thickly populated village, Baligansins rather than fight back reportedly took to their heels. It is thanks to the timely intervention of the forces of law and order that Baligansin did not retaliate.

According to The Guardian Post (lone English Language Daily), the two villages have a long standing dispute over a piece of land that dates back to 1979. A ministerial decision had on July 20, 1979 ruled that the disputed piece of land belongs to Bamukumbit but a 2005 prefectoral order awarded the land to Baligashu. In the midst of the administrative buffoonery, a prime ministerial order ruled the area as a no-man’s land.  But recently, the people of Baligashu secretly began constructing a newly-created Government Technical College on the disputed land. Tempers flared when the people of Bamukumbit got wind of the development; tempers which fortunately did not degenerate into a confrontation because of the timely military intervention. North West governor, Adolphe Lele Afrique rushed to Bamukumbit on Saturday with troops to maintain order. Four people from Bamukumbit were arrested while the village remains heavily-militarized.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)

National Assembly: Government Proposes Death Penalty as Sanction Against Terrorism

National Assembly of Cameroon

The bill proposes the ultimate penalty, the death penalty for anyone personally, in collusion or coercion commits a terrorist act is currently at the National Assembly of Cameroon for examination, debate and adoption. 

"The explanatory memorandum to the draft law on the suppression of acts of terrorism, acceptable to the Conference of Presidents of the National Assembly last Friday led by Hon. Cavaye Yeguie  is unequivocal when it resumes Article 2 of the text.

The text indicates that even acts of financing, recruitment, laundering of the proceeds of terrorism support, as can be read in the text of Article 3 to Article 9 are subject to the same penalty. Here, the military courts have exclusive jurisdiction to hear such actions. The bill proposed by the government indicates that even a corporation may be held criminally liable. In this case, "the penalty is a fine of a minimum of 50 million francs," as can be read with Article 6. As for anyone who might be guilty of condoning terrorist acts, if the text is adopted and promulgated, it "shall be punished with imprisonment from 15 to 20 years and a fine of 25 million to 50 million. F or one of these penalties. "The false statements and false accusations are punishable under this bill. Authors incur a penalty of 20 years imprisonment, while life imprisonment is recommended for those who threatens a witness, "even implicitly, of violence, assault or death. "This draft law comes after two previously adopted during the current parliamentary session.

 The second is Bill amending and supplementing certain provisions of the Act of 10 September 1997 on private security activities. These amendments concern a dozen articles. They aim to end the misinterpretation of the opinion of the Commission for the review of applications for approval. An opinion which has so far been wrong to equate to a reporting regime. The practice of this activity can only be done after first obtaining a license that can be issued by decree of the President of the Republic.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)

HIV/AIDS Prevelence Rate Drops in Cameroon, Committee Says

According to officials of the National Committee for the Fight against AIDS, approximately 3% of the population of Cameroon is affected as against 5.5% in 2005. Committee officials made the revelation last December 1, during commemorations marking International AIDS Day in Yaounde. The National Committee also revealed that they started in 2005 when the national prevalence  rate stood at 5.5% and the latest demographic survey indicated a prevalence rate of 4.3% in 2011. Barely three years after, the prevalence rate is about 3%. Even though they talked of a good margin, Committee members also added that they are still waiting for a national survey to confirm the rate. Dr. Claus Essomba, regional coordinator of the National Committee for the Fight against AIDS for the Littoral is quoted to have said that it is the survey that will give the exact figure (rate). “ Today we have triple therapy, that is to say, an increase of three drugs, usually the most effective than each other”. It is alleged that for the past years, more than 5 billion CFA Francs has been spent enabled the affect have anti-retro- viral drugs and that the drugs have been stocked that could get up to April 2015. “Our patients will not have a problem of anti-retro-viral”, Reassure the doctor.

However, it has been reported that the high cost of tests, such as viral load and frequent shortages of anti-retro-viral drugs in some areas has been some of the major predicaments. The National Committee for the Fight against AIDS has promised to make necessary arrangements so that all the subsidies from the Ministry of Health is made available to the beneficiaries within time record. Since in Cameroon it is better done on papers and speeches, it is hoped that the measures are respected to the later so that lives could be rescued. A suivre

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)

How FEICOM Has Impacted NW Councils (Pics of Some Newly Constructed Council Chambers)

 

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)

Press Release: IFPRI: Women Farmers and Climate Change, New Climate Tool at COP 20

Press Release
 

For more information, please contact:
Nilar Chit Tun, n.chittun@cgiar.org, +1 (703) 627-4396 
Deborah Horan d.horan@cgiar.org, +1 (202) 627-4310

 

IFPRI researchers contribute to the Lima Climate Change Conference in Peru
Women farmers need equal access to assets, technology for “climate-smart agriculture”
New tool helps governments evaluate trade-offs in agricultural emissions

December 1, 2014, Lima, Peru—IFPRI researchers will present findings of a new series of policy notes on women farmers’ ability to adapt to climate change and contribute to a workshop on the economic viability of climate change mitigation policies at the annual climate conference known as COP 20.

The events will add evidence-based findings to the global discussion on climate change mitigation, adaptation, and policy that brings together governments, policymakers, researchers, and civil society to discuss how to confront climate change challenges. This year is the 20^th session of the Conference of the Parties, or Lima Climate Change Conference, and is being held in Peru from December 1-12.
 

The policy notes focus on findings that suggest women farmers will not be able to cope with climate change equally to men without equal access to assets, capital, agricultural extension services, farm inputs, and technology, among other resources. The first challenge in addressing this disparity lies in supporting governments in their efforts to track how men and women deal with climate change differently by collecting gender-disaggregated data.

Policymakers must also address social protection schemes that enable women to hold onto their assets during severe weather shocks and target ways to close the gap between men and women’s ability to access climate information and utilize new agricultural technologies.

The discussion on policy notes will be hosted by Claudia Ringler, deputy director of the Environment and Production Technology division at IFPRI, at an official side event on December 3 and again at the Global Landscape Forum on December 6.

“It is extremely important that negotiators at the COP 20 consider the needs of women farmers in their policy recommendations if we are going to succeed in implementing climate smart agricultural policies across the globe,” Ringler said.

“In many developing countries, women need access to climate information and to new technologies to help them adapt,” Ringler added. “Policymakers should work to ensure that mitigation and adaptation strategies to climate change meet the needs of women as well as men.”

At the same side event, IFPRI has invited the National Economic and Development Authority of the Philippines as well as the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), to address specific gender dimensions of climate-smart-agriculture, in the context of South East Asia, and particularly the Philippines.

IFPRI will also share new results from work in progress on the potential benefits from promising new technologies in offsetting the adverse impacts of climate change as part of the CGIAR initiative on Global Futures and Strategic Foresight.

A workshop on December 2 will feature a new mitigation assessment tool designed to help governments evaluate tradeoffs in agricultural emissions for enhanced Low Emissions Development Strategies (LEDS). The event is being presented by the CGIAR Challenge Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security.

The tool has been applied in Colombia and Viet Nam but can be applied by any country interested in exploring country-wide effects and economic viability of Climate Change mitigation policies for the agricultural sector. Alex De Pinto, developer of the tool, said that as countries experience economic growth, they are better able to adopt technologies and production practices with low greenhouse gas emissions.

“Rather than embedding high emissions practices in their development and intervene on emissions reduction at a later stage, they can utilize Low Emissions Development Strategies (LEDS),” De Pinto said.

“Our analysis reaffirms the importance of including all land uses when analyzing policies that target emissions in agriculture,” De Pinto added. “It turns out that shifts in land uses have a greater impact on existing carbon stock, which might be more significant than the resulting changes in GHG emission from crop cultivation.”

 

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)

French President Warns African Leaders of Doctoring Constitutions to Remain in Power

French President Francois Hollande has warned African leaders who want to stay in power by doctoring the constitution. French President made the declaration while addressing member states of the Francophonie in Senegal. Francios Hollande told them that they should learn from what happened to Blaise Compaore.

"The departure of Blaise Compaore can serve as a lesson to a lot of leaders, not just African ones," Hollande is quoted to have told FRANCE 24 in an interview. "You don't change the constitutional order for personal gain," he said. He however vomited his mind by adding that in countries like Cameroon, Chad and Gabon where Presidential mandates are not limited, he prescribed free and democratic elections.

In his speech Hollande praised the people of Burkina Faso, who overthrew President Blaise Compaore in October in a mostly peaceful popular uprising. Compaore fled for the Ivory Coast after weeks of protest against his bid to amend the constitution to allow him to run for re-election in a move that would have extended his 27-year rule.

“What the Burkinabe people did should give pause to those who would like to stay in power, in violation of constitutional rule,” Hollande said.

"I think this could serve as a lesson to many heads of state, and not only in Africa, not to change the constitutional order for personal gain," Hollande told FRANCE 24 on Thursday. He said that the Burkinabe revolt was “a sign that Africans are committed to democracy and to the constitutional order”.

Many African countries have established two-term limits in their constitutions. But several regional leaders have looked for ways around these restrictions in a bid to prolong their mandates.

FRANCE 24 INTERVIEW

Notably, several of the heads of state present at the Dakar summit have tried to do just that. Cameroonian President Paul Biya, who has been in power since 1982, persuaded legislators to remove all term limits from the constitution in 2008 – despite violent protests against the move – so that he could remain in power after serving two terms.

Also present at the summit was President Faure Gnassingbe of Togo, where term limits were removed from the constitution in 2002. Protesters and opposition activists – who want the limits reinstated to prevent Gnassingbe from running for a third term next year – clashed with security forces after his disputed re-election in 2010.

Hollande warned those leaders who seek to flout their constitutions that the International Organisation of Francophonie would stand on the side of the people and the rule of law.

“Where constitutional rules are flouted, where liberty is trampled, where term limits are thwarted, I promise here that the citizens of those countries will always find support from the Francophonie,” he said.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)

Speech of H.E President Paul Biya at Francophonie (French Version)

 Monsieur le Président de la Conférence, 

Mesdames, Messieurs les Chefs d’Etat, de Gouvernement et de délégations,
Monsieur le Secrétaire Général de l’Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie,
Excellences, Mesdames, Messieurs, 

Paul Biya at Francophonie

Nous savons depuis longtemps que le monde n’est pas juste. Nous savons aussi qu’il faudra beaucoup de temps et d’efforts pour venir à bout de la pauvreté et de l’exclusion.
Nous savons aussi que le monde est dangereux et que les périls peuvent intervenir à tout moment: guerres civiles ou étrangères, rivalités ethniques ou religieuses, oppression de factions sur les populations, que sais-je encore.
On peut, face à ces défis, se demander ce que notre organisation peut faire de plus.
On répondra aisément qu’elle s’est déjà fortement impliquée dans la préservation de la paix, la promotion de la démocratie et des droits de l’homme. On évoquera son rôle pour la défense de la solidarité entre les nations et son soutien à l’éducation et la formation. C’est exact. Et, à ce point de mon propos, je tiens à féliciter très chaleureusement mon frère et ami, le Président Abdou DIOUF pour l’ensemble du travail remarquable qu’il a accompli.
Je veux simplement dire que, depuis peu, nous sommes confrontés à de nouveaux défis.
Le premier concerne notre sécurité. Jusqu’alors, nous avions affaire à des conflits locaux dont les conséquences dépassaient rarement les limites de la sous-région. Aujourd’hui, nous sommes menacés par une entreprise de déstabilisation d’envergure mondiale. A l’offensive en Irak et en Syrie, elle a étendu ses tentacules au cours des dernières années jusqu’au Mali, puis à l’ensemble   de  la zone sahélienne.
Par l’entremise du terrorisme, elle fait également peser sa menace sur l’ensemble de la planète.
A titre d’exemple, je me permettrai d’appeler l’attention sur la situation de mon pays actuellement en butte aux attaques de la secte Boko Haram. Je remarquerai au passage que tous les pays voisins immédiats du Nigeria sont membres de l’OIF et sont donc concernés comme le Cameroun.
Face à un ennemi commun qui conteste toutes les valeurs auxquelles nous sommes attachés, la solidarité doit jouer à plein. L’Histoire récente nous enseigne qu’avec ce genre d’adversaire il ne peut y avoir de compromis.
Ai-je besoin de dire que nous restons des partisans déterminés de la paix. Nous ne renoncerons pas au « dialogue des cultures » cher au Président SENGHOR, cet illustre chantre de la fraternité humaine universelle.
En second lieu, la solidarité qui nous unit, doit également continuer à s’exercer dans le domaine du développement. En effet, la plupart de nos pays sont encore en développement. Or, nous savons que les objectifs du Millénaire pour le Développement qui viendront à échéance l’an prochain ne seront pas atteints. Le relais sera pris par l’agenda post 2015. Il est impératif que les retards accumulés soient rattrapés. Ce n’est que de cette façon que l’on pourra faire reculer la misère, creuset où se forgent l’extrémisme et la révolte.
Mais la misère c’est aussi le milieu où se développent les pandémies, et notamment le virus Ebola. Ce dernier, vous le savez, sème la désolation dans certains pays frères. Là également l’urgence de la solidarité s’impose à tous.
Le nouveau cadre stratégique de l’OIF sera à cet effet un atout précieux. En plaidant pour une solidarité plus agissante envers les PMA, notre Organisation contribuera à réduire les inégalités entre le Nord et le Sud.
J’ajoute que si les femmes et les jeunes, qui   composent   les   trois   quarts   des populations de la plupart  de nos pays, obtiennent, comme s’y emploie l’OIF, un accès égal à la santé, à l’éducation et à la formation, nous aurons fait un pas décisif vers le progrès de nos sociétés. Il est donc heureux que nous ayons choisi comme thème pour notre 15ème sommet : « Femmes et jeunes en Francophonie : vecteurs de paix, acteurs de développement ». A cet égard, l’accent que nous mettrons sur les aspirations des femmes et des jeunes devra prendre la forme de programmes et de projets concrets. De la sorte, nous donnerons aux  femmes et aux jeunes des moyens nécessaires pour lutter contre la pauvreté, la faim et la maladie. Cette « nouvelle frontière » est bien conforme à la tradition humaniste de notre Organisation.
A côté de ces tâches fondamentales, bien d’autres requièrent notre participation. Le respect de l’environnement n’en est pas la moindre.
Les pays d’Afrique Centrale ont le sentiment qu’en préservant la grande forêt du bassin du Congo, ils contribuent de façon significative à la réduction des gaz à effet de serre. C’est pourquoi ils se réjouissent que la Chine et les Etats-Unis paraissent s’engager dans cette voie. Ceci est de bon augure pour le succès de la Conférence de Paris sur le climat l’an prochain.
La situation du Lac Tchad est une autre source de préoccupation pour nous. Nous assistons presque impuissants à sa tragique disparition progressive. De plus, il pose des défis sécuritaires et socio-politiques. La Conférence de Paris pourrait œuvrer à la mise en place d’un plan de sauvetage du Lac Tchad. C’est une suggestion.
Excellences, Mesdames, Messieurs,
Notre Organisation détient de nombreux atouts pour figurer parmi l’avant-garde de la communauté internationale. Pour continuer à   être  une   force   de   proposition, elle devra rester fidèle à ses valeurs et faire preuve d’audace pour s’adapter à un monde en perpétuel changement.
Dans ces temps lourds de menaces où la barbarie fait apparaître à nouveau son hideux visage, l’OIF à l’obligation de montrer que le destin de l’humanité devrait la conduire vers un avenir de fraternité et de tolérance, et non de haine et de violence.
Il me reste à remercier le Président Macky Sall, les autorités et le peuple sénégalais pour leur accueil chaleureux et leur fraternelle hospitalité à l’occasion de ce 15ème Sommet de l’Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie.
Je vous remercie de votre attention. -

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)