National Assembly: Here is the Bill CPDM MPs Rejected Ahead of Paris' Conference on Climate Change

PRIVATE MEMBERS’ BILL No 068... /PJL/AN

To lay down Rules Governing the Protection and Preservation of Water Catchment Areas, Watersheds and Wetlands in Cameroon

Presented by

Hon. AWUDU MBAYA Cyprian

And

Members of the SDF Parliamentary Group

                         EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Private Members’ Bill No. 068.../PJL/AN to lay down Rules Governing the Protection and Preservation of Water Catchment Areas, Watersheds, and Wetlands in Cameroon.

Water catchment areas, watersheds and wetlands are an important source of life and are undeniably endowed with natural resources. They contribute to the health and the general wellbeing of Cameroonians throughout the national territory.

In fact, Cameroon's economy partially relies on biodiversity for improved productivity. Such is true for electrical energy, agriculture, industry, manufacturing products (textiles, cosmetics), and the transportation of people and goods by sea. Considering the ongoing population growth in the world in general and Cameroon in particular and the obsolescence of current legislation, the protection and preservation of the earth’s surface is of paramount importance.

The objective of this Private Members’ bill is threefold:

-       to enhance the protection and preservation of water catchment areas, watersheds, and wetlands;

-       to reaffirm the importance of the said natural resources;

-       to encourage individuals, communities, businesses, NGOs, other organizations and countries to become more involved in such activities and to preserve the said areas.

In addition, pollution and the destruction of such natural resources that are vital to human and animal life have a significant impact on climate change. In this respect, a specific and strict regulation must be implemented by all stakeholders.

This Private Members’ bill which has five chapters of 14 sections, seeks to establish a regime of water catchment areas, watersheds and wetlands through the general provisions (Sections 1-2); destructive and harmful activities to such areas (Sections 3-5); the supervisory authority (Sections 6-7); management and exploitation (Sections 8-9, obligations and penalties (Sections 10 - 13) and final provisions (Section 14).         
            The adoption of this bill by the Nation’s Representatives shall give Cameroonians access to water on a permanent basis and pave the way for a sustainable progress in their development endeavour.

Such is the purport of this Private Members’ Bill tabled before Parliament for consideration.

CHAPTER 1

           Regime of wetlands

SECTION 1:- (1) The purport of this law is to lay down rules governing the protection, preservation and management of water catchment areas, watersheds and wetlands in Cameroon.

                       (2) This law shall apply in all water catchment areas, watersheds and wetlands in Cameroon.

                           (3) Such areas and wetlands shall be part of the national heritage.

SECTION 2:- The following definitions shall apply within the context of this law and its enabling instruments:

-       Catchment area:  area where water is collected

-       Wetlands: area soaked by water

-       Swamp: uncultivated wetland where marsh extends to

-       Marsh: nape of standing water covering land partially invaded by vegetation

-       Pond: less extensive body of water not as deep as a lake

-       Backwater: the dead arm of a       river

-       Salt marsh: pool dug near the coast to extract salt from seawater by evaporation (saliva)

-       Basin: territory watered by a river and its tributaries

               

                                CHAPTER II

DESTRUCTIVE OR HARMFUL ACTIVITIES TO SUCH AREAS

SECTION 3:- Within the framework of this Law, the following shall be considered destructive or harmful activities:

-        illegal or illicit exploitation of areas referred to in this Private Members’ bill;

-       abusive and uncontrolled exploitation of natural resources, fishes and animals found in the said areas;

-       spoliation;

-       dumping of wastes and toxic products.

SECTION 4:- Notwithstanding the cases referred to under Section 3 above, any other activity prejudicial to wetlands and watersheds shall be prohibited.

ARTICLE 5:- The use of heavy industrial equipment that can cause damage to property and the environment in areas governed by this law shall also be prohibited.

                                      CHAPTER III

                       THE SUPERVISORY AUTHORITY

 SECTION 6:- (1) The Minister of Environment, Protection of Nature and Sustainable Development shall determine the objectives of the State relating to the protection and preservation of areas and wetlands governed by this Law.

                         (2) He may also determine the said objectives together with other ministries whose assistance is deemed necessary.  

SECTION 7:- Catchment areas and watersheds, contours, boundaries and geographical areas of the wetlands shall be set and approved by the authority referred to under Section 6 (1) above.

                                            CHAPTER IV

                  MANAGEMENT AND EXPLOITATION

SECTION 8:- (1) The management of water catchment areas, watersheds and wetlands throughout the national territory shall be the responsibility of the Ministry of Environment, Protection of Nature and Sustainable Development.

                            (2) The powers defined under sub Section 1 above may be delegated within the framework of decentralization.

                             (3) The modalities for the delegation of powers referred to under sub Section 2 above shall be defined by regulation.

SECTION 9:- (1) The exploitation of catchment areas, watersheds and wetlands shall devolve on public and private corporations on the one hand and economic operators who find it beneficial on the other hand.

                          (2) Notwithstanding the regime and nature of exploitation, the latter shall be subject to the payment of an annual fee of 2.5% to 5% in accordance with the turnover declared.

                                    CHAPTER V

                   OBLIGATIONS AND PENALTIES

SECTION 10:- (1) Within the framework of this law, operators in catchment areas, watersheds and wetlands must respect substantive obligations.         

                            (2)  The obligations referred to in sub Section 1 above shall be respected through the following public utility activities:

a) planting of trees;

b) irrigating wet surfaces;

c) draining marshy areas,

d) protecting and preserving rare species found in such areas;

e) respecting the provisions of Sections 3, 4 and 5 herein above.

SECTION 11:- Offences committed by managers and operators in catchment areas, watersheds and wetlands shall be liable to penalties whose amount shall be fixed by regulation.

SECTION 12:- Notwithstanding the penalties referred to under Section 11 above, criminal charges may be brought against the offenders.

SECTION 13:- (1) The amounts fixed as penalties for offences likely to cause prejudice to the State, beneficiaries, managers and operators of water catchment areas, watersheds and wetlands shall depend on their degree of seriousness.

                            (2) The amounts referred to under sub Section 1 above shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of Sections 3, 4 and 5 of this Law as follows:

           a) 25 000 (twenty five thousand) francs CFA per day for minor offences with effect from the day the offence was reported;

           b) 50.000 (fifty thousand francs) CFA per day for any misdemeanour with effect from the day such misdemeanour was reported;

           c) 500 000 (five hundred thousand francs) CFA per day with effect from the day all felonies resulting from collusion are reported.

                                  CHAPTER VI

                          FINAL PROVISIONS

SECTION 14:- This law shall be registered, published according to the procedure of urgency and inserted in the Official Gazette in English and French.                     

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

The Dangote Cement Factory Goes Operational in Douala

Massive production of cement is said to have kick-started at the Dangote Cement Factory in Douala, the economic capital of Cameroon. Dangote cement factory is expected to send into the market it products in the next few days reports say.

The market prices are very competitive and encouraging given that consumers in the city of Douala will acquire a 50kg bag at 4,450 CFA, 150 CFA francs less than the price of the bag of cement produced by Cimencam (4600 CFA) and 50 CFA francs more than the cement Cimaf (4400 CFA).

Company sources say Dangote is expected to produce at least 1.6 million tons of cement annually. Clearly, the Dangote Group will launch its Cameroonian cement plant with an output equal to that of Cement of Cameroon (Cimencam), a subsidiary of the Lafarge Group, which was a monopoly on the cement market in Cameroon for nearly 50 years. Having invested close to 50 billion CFA francs, the Dangote Cement Factory has employed 77 Cameroonians, 11 expatriates and 250 temporary workers.

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

Morocco jails press freedom advocate Hicham Mansouri

Source: CPJ

New York, April 7, 2015--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the sentencing of Moroccan press freedom advocate Hicham Mansouri, who was handed a 10-month prison term and $4,057 fine over adultery charges by Rabat's Court of First Instance on March 30, according to local and international news reports.

Mansouri is a project manager for the Moroccan Association for Investigative Journalism (AMJI), a group formed in 2011 to support journalists reporting on a variety of issues in the country, some of which are politically sensitive. He told the court he had been working on a report about alleged Internet surveillance of activists and journalists by the Moroccan authorities before his arrest, Samad Iach, a colleague of Mansouri's, told CPJ.

Mansouri's lawyer and his colleagues at AMJI claim the charges against Mansouri and his partner were trumped up to punish Mansouri for his work.

At least 10 police officers in civilian clothes arrested Mansouri on March 17 at his home in the Agdal neighborhood of Rabat, according to Dublin-based international human rights group, Front Line Defenders. He was beaten and stripped of his clothes in his home, and was not immediately given a reason for his arrest, Front Line Defenders said.

Abdelaziz Noueydi, Mansouri's lawyer, told CPJ that Mansouri was stripped naked to give the appearance that he was engaged in adultery with the woman he was with, later identified by local news to beMansouri's partner. Police maintained that they caught him naked in the act, Noueydi said. Adultery is a criminal offense punishable by up to a year in prison under Morocco's criminal code.

"It is a tactic the government has used in the past against opposition groups and rights activists in order to tarnish their public image," Noueydi told CPJ. Mansouri's partner, who has not been named, told the court she is separated and lives apart from her husband. She testified that she described herself as divorced to Mansouri, despite police pressure to implicate him in knowingly having an affair with her, Noueydi said. She received a 10-month sentence for adultery.

"The excessive and humiliating way Mansouri was arrested raises suspicions about the retaliatory nature of the charges," said Sherif Mansour, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. "Moroccan authorities should immediately drop the charges against Mansouri and investigate the police officers who arrested him."

Noueydi said that Mansouri's arrest was based on a police report issued on February 10, a copy of which CPJ obtained, claiming that his doorman and neighbors reported he was using his apartment for prostitution. The doorman and 14 of the 17 neighbors listed in the report made statements to the court in March denying that they ever said this, Maati Monjib, head of prisoners of conscience organization Freedom Now told CPJ. Noueydi confirmed that based on this, the charge that Mansouri was housing a brothel was dropped by the court and only the adultery charge was upheld.

Mansouri is suffering because of poor conditions where he is being held in Zaki prison in the city of Sale, Noueydi said. "He is being held in an overcrowded, poorly ventilated cell, and has difficulty breathing due to the constant cigarette smoking around him," Noueydi said.

Since the Arab Spring protests in early 2011, Moroccan authorities have increasingly used charges related to sexual conduct to tarnish the reputation of journalists and activists critical of the government, Monjib told CPJ.

According to local media and groups campaigning for his release, Mansouri is involved with February 20, a movement formed in 2011 to demand political and constitutional change in Morocco.

Mansouri was severely beaten by two men last September in an attack widely believed to be politically motivated, Iach told CPJ. They did not steal anything from him but beat him so badly that he needed six weeks to recover, he said, adding that no arrests have yet been made.

Mansouri's arrest coincides with a government crackdown on several rights organizations, which was highlighted in a statement to the U.N. Human Rights Council on March 17. The statement, from a group of regional human rights groups, detailed violations against journalists and rights workers in Morocco.

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

Donga Mantung: CNYC, US Peace Corps Empower Youths in Business Management

 The training program code named “Nkambe Business Management Class-NBUMAC” kick-started on April 3, 2015 with over 50 participants on the starting block. For close to six weeks, emerging business young men and women will receive lessons in various business concepts to enable them emerge before 2035.  

According to the Divisional President of the Cameroon Youth Council (CNYC) for Donga Mantung, Abanda Marcel, the main objective of the training is to introduce and teach business concepts to youths undertaking income generating activities. Abanda Marcel also emphasized that after the training, participants will be able to develop a plan to increase income as well as create a permanent bond for the sharing of knowledge, ideas and experiences. During this training period, US Peace Corps Volunteer Gregory Screws has been dishing out lessons on topics like feasibility studies, action plans, Accounting-cash book, Inventory-stock taking, budgeting, marketing strategies, business plans and scores of others.

Expectations are high at that at the end of the training exercise, participants will engage in unprecedented that will boost their skills in business as well as give them the abilities to add value to what they have been doing or intent to. This training program is however the first of its kind in the Division given that in the past, youths engage into businesses with little or no knowledge leaving everything to chance. The partnership, CNYC and the US Peace Corps has been described by the administration of Donga Mantung as fruitful given their impact in changing lives in communities. It should be recalled that some years ago, the US Peace Corps donated trashcans for the collection of household waste in Nkambe town. 

Gregory Screws dishing lessons 

CNYC Div. President Abanda Marcel facilitating

Assistant DO for Nkambe addressing participants

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

Donga Mantung: Four Apprehended over Shooting to Death of Traditional Ruler

  By Samba Kingsley & Rambo 

Traditional rites

An atmosphere of uncertainty looms between two villages of Donga Mantung Division after the shooting to death of Fai Ndiganseh (quarter head of Njap village in Nkambe Central Sub Division) on April 1, 2015. Matters came to a head, today when the mortal remains of the said traditional ruler was laid to rest at Ngong. A certain Shagari (who allegedly shot the said traditional ruler was napped by the population of Njap the following day in possesion of the gun he used. His arrest also led to the arrest of three other suspects. Shagari according classified sources is Mbororo man from Nigeria and is said to be a renowned cow thief in Misaje; purportedly ringleader of a gang that has been terrorizing cattle traders between Bum Sub Division and Misaje Sub Division. Tempers are reported to have flared again today April 4, 2015 when news circulated that one of the suspects who was apprehended by Gendarmes and detained in Misaje was granted bail.

Land Dispute Key Suspect

Announcing and calling on ancestors

The unfortunate incident is said to be linked to land dispute between Njap village in Nkambe Central and Kamani village in Misaje. The story goes that on April 1, 2015, the said quarter head while asleep late into the night got an uneasy barking from his dogs. As any normal thinking human being will react when strange things do happen, he got up from bed, opened the door to find out what must have provoked his dogs. That was when he was shot. The misguided individuals, as he (the quarter head recounted before giving off the ghost disappeared) leaving him on the floor. News circulated through numerous phone calls. Determined youths, men and women of Njap stormed the area. The Eye gathered some traditional rites were also performed to block the assassin from leaving their land. While villagers launched a manhunt to get the killers, Fai Ndinganseh was hurried to the Nkambe District Hospital on Achaba where he finally died. Before giving off the ghost, the said traditional ruler is said to have narrated what happened to the hearing of all. News of his death circulated like wildfire to the point that the Senior Divisional Officer for Donga Mantung condemned the barbaric act of terror. Ngong it should be noted is a disputed piece of land between Njap village in Nkambe Central Sub Division and Misaje Sub Division. Last year, the said traditional ruler escaped death when his house was set on fire. Allegedly, the said traditional rulers had deposited two complaints some individuals who have been threatening his life. The said individuals classified source say are under serious investigation. It is alleged that the anti-terrorism law looms large on suspected killers and accomplices. Last year, one traditional ruler was also killed by his brother over disputed palm bush. It is alleged that the killer cut off the robe on which the traditional ruler used on climbing the palm tree and he dropped death. The recent incident has been described as the most barbaric act.

While putting to rest the assassinated quarter head, the people of Njap performed another traditional rite calling on the ancestors to take charge and their responsibility to make sure that anyone who participated in one way or the other in the killing (or got wing of the info that led to his death should be dealt with accordingly). Also present at the burial to calm down flaring tempers were soldiers, DO for Misaje, Representative of the DO for Nkambe, Brigade Commander for Nkambe and Misaje and other security officials. The family of the departed fon reechoed that the said suspect who was arrested and is allegedly on bail should be rearrested and detained until proven not guilty. At the time this reporter left Ngong, the fon of Njap has not yet announced the date for the official funeral of the assassinated quarter head.

Libation and rites 

Killers Apprehended

Faith had it that the traditional rites performed produced the expected results. Eye witness accounts that the said killer was spotted hiding in the bush by some women. When he discovered he has been spotted from the hiding place, he took on his heels. The population as well as Law enforcement officers took after him. It is even alleged that attempts by Gendarmes to shoot him by the leg did yielded any fruits as his magical powers were also powerful. When he entered into the forest, a real man opted to that (police and Gendarmes should stay off and allow him to enter into the forest alone.  Shortly after, the young man appeared from the forest with the suspected killer. He was immediately handed to the Gendarmes who took him to the closest post in Misaje. At the point in time, one young man was also spotted making calls and following the crowd from Njap. He was ambushed and picked. When he was picked, it came out that the phone he was using was the same phone that the back cover was discovered at Fai Ndinganseh’s compound the moment he was shot. He was immediately arrested and the numbers he was calling provided evidences for other accomplices to be trapped.  

Removal at Nkambe District hospital reserved only for matured men/ women and kids not allowed

Fon of Njap at Ngong

Troops accompanying the assasinated quarter head to Ngong leaving Nkambe Mortuary

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

Bamenda Regional Hospital Gets Face-lift(PhotoNews)

Here below are the pictures of the inauguration of the Recreation Garden at the Regional Hospital Bamenda

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

Bamenda Regional Hospital Gets Face-lift

By Fai Cassian

Group picture at the Recreation Garden

The project initiated by the Director of the Regional Hospital Bamenda, Dr. Kinge Thompson Njie was officially inaugurated by the North West Regional Delegate for Public Health. Before proceeding to the cutting of the ribbon of the newly constructed Recreational Garden, North West Regional Delegate for Public Health described the piece as attractive edifice that will go along way boost the image of the hospital. “I think this is one of the rare opportunities I have had to inaugurate such an attractive piece of work”, Dr. Ndiforcho Victor continued. He congratulated the Director of the Regional Hospital Bamenda for the initiative and added that every visitor or patient that visits or is leaving the hospital will also feel happy after seeing the edifice. To Dr. Ndiforcho Victor, Health is not the mere absence of illness that is why those who provide health services are supposed to be in state of wellbeing. The Recreational Garden, Dr. Ndiforcho concluded has changed the face of the hospital.

Dr. Ndiforcho Victor: Regional Delegate

Dr. Kinge Thompson: Director of Regional Hospital Bamenda

On his part the initiator of the project Dr. Kinge Thompson Njie said that the entire staff of the Regional Hospital, Bamenda believes that a clean environment prepared to receive patients will go a long way to express more meaning to the adage that patients are Kings and Queens. “We are convinced that patients have rights and they deserve our attention. They deserve our love, protection, sympathy, sacrifice and they deserve an environment worthy of their status as Kings and Queens”. He reassured the public that the hospital is committed to remain in alignment with the strong instructions from the Honourable Minister of Public Health to offer quality health services without any form of discrimination. Dr. Kinge used the opportunity to announce that the Regional Hospital will on Saturday be receiving an award from the Watchdog Tribune as North West Best Public Service Hospital of the year 2014. This is added is a very heart-warming and proof of the fact that the Regional Hospital Bamenda has made positive strides. He expressed thanks and appreciation to North West Governor, the regional delegate for Public Health and the administration of the region for the encouragement. Dr. Kinge used the opportunity to present the gardener and the builder who did the job. The flowers were planted by Feh Fobang Emmanuel while construction work was done by Chi Roland. 

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