Euphoria at GHS Ntumbaw as GNRD Creates Awareness on Child, Early and Forced Marriages (PhotoNews)

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GHS Ntumbaw Students/Teachers Applaud Global Network for Rights and Development

An awareness campaign on child, early and forced marriages through debate took place at Government High School Ntumbaw in Donga Mantung Division of the North West Region on May 18, 2015. The campaign which seeks to promote the education of the girl child was organized the Global Network for Rights and Development- GNRD in collaboration with HOFNA Cameroon. In a purely intellectual exercise, the students of Government High School Ntumbaw shared knowledge and ideas on whether it should be education before marriage or marriage before education. For close to 2 hours, the panelists showcased the ups and downs on some societal realities that have hampered the education of the girl child.

At the end of the debate, the students all agreed that society would progress if child, early and forced marriages are abolished. Besides, the students also argued that when a woman is educated, the entire family is and so is humanity as well. More so, they also raised pertinent points like forced marriages lead to frustration and majority end up as prostitutes.

Working in groups, teachers and students also participated in the Action 2015, an exercise which engaged them to add their voices to the global action movement. More to that, students and teachers also voiced out what they want for Cameroon post 2015.

Addressing students and teachers during the exercise, Madame Christelle Bay, Cameroon Coordinator of GNRD expressed gratitude to the students and teachers for intellectual exercise. She called on all the students to be ambassadors of the awareness campaign to “Stop Child Marriage!” Furthermore, Madame Christelle Bay also disclosed that the leading cause of death for girls 15-19 years is early pregnancy complications. Majority of them she added are as a result of early and forced marriages. She also took time to share her Yali experience with the students. There was euphoria and jubilations when she revealed that while in the United States of America, she had the opportunity to shake hands with US President Barrack Obama.

Talking to this reporter at the end of the exercise one of the panelist, Daouda Adamu said that he was very impressed by the various presentations. He said as a matter of fact, education is very important for the girl child. He thanked GNRD for selecting GHS Ntumbaw to benefit from the laudable initiative. On the other hand, Sule Ethel said that the exercise was timely and will go a long way to change lives in the communities, adding that even though Mboscuda has been encouraging girl child education, the magnitude of what GNRD is doing will surely change these obnoxious beliefs.

The choice of GHS Ntumbaw was not by error given that approximately 85% of the population is Muslims. In the past, early marriages were rampant among Muslim girls. As the Principal of GHS Ntumbaw puts it, he is sure the awareness will curb the phenomenon of forced marriages. 

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Pa John Ndukong Laid to Rest in Tabenken

Family, friends and an entire community joined the Kungi Ngenge family of Tfum- Tabenken to pay last homage and farewell to Papa John on Saturday, May 16, 2015. Papa John Ndukong who was born more than 80 years ago, passed away to eternity on May 5, 2015.

“He was one of those people who didn’t just sit and talk. He got up and did things to the point that the coffee and cocoa farms he developed in Muyuka-South West Region have provided jobs to many young Cameroonians” says Chifu Edward, In-law to Pa John. In a his eulogy, Dr. Tanya Vincent described Pa John Ndukong as a man who started learning how to survive on his own at a very young age. According to Dr. Tanya, Pa John worked for the Public Works Department-PWD as a labourer in the then Nkambe Division in the early 50s and later left his village, Tabenken for the “coast” where he was employed by Elders and Fyffers Banana Plantation.

When Southern Cameroons got independence through reunification with the Republic of Cameroon in 1961, E&F lost the preferential tariff for the entry of banana into the United Kingdom. Its operations in Cameroon became uneconomical and the banana company was forced to stop the banana business in 1966. Pa John found himself jobless. Since he was ever full of initiative, Pa John as testified by Dr. Tanya Vincent bought some land in Bafia-Muyuka and settled down as a coffee and cocoa farmer. He worked relentlessly to develop his coffee and cocoa farms to the point that he became a reference in the sector. Until his passing away on May 5, 2015, these farms have been and continue to be a source of livelihood for his immediate and extended family, as well as many young Cameroonians who have worked for him.

It should be recalled that in 1988, Pa John became the family head of the Kungi Ngenge family, one of the largest in Tabenken village. 

“Pa respected all of us in our large family for the simple dignity of life, his manly virtues, his sense of duty and his happy nature. Pas was very essence of compassion and generosity. He built bridges”. This concluding statement by Dr. Tanya tells the life story of a true-born soldier, and a workaholic.

The funeral mass which took place at PC Tfum was officiated by Rev. Daniel Njeibah, Rev. Theophilus G Pafeh, Rev. Jonathan Tiemi, Rev. S Andoh, Rev. R Ngwayi and Rev. G Akoh. In their prayers, the pastors committed Pa John into the hands of God, given that by His power, He gave us life. 

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Child Abuse: Bursar Arrested for Child Torture

Police in Ndu, Donga Mantung Division are currently investigation into a child battering case that has left the population of the town and environs dumbfounded. According classified sources, a certain Ngassa Vera, Bursar in one of the secondary schools in Ndu was arrested and detained before being granted bail on alleged child abuse/labour charges.

The story goes that Nyapa Stephane Parfect (10) according to what we gathered was brought in from Bangante-West Region by the said teacher (Bursar) to stay with her. Instead of sending the child to school, the woman instead transformed him into a sales boy. She gave firm instructions to the boy that he should never come back home with leftover. Whenever he comes back home with left, he is beaten and denied food. Neigbours say very often the young man will cry throughout the night. In order not to be beaten, Stephane said he was forced to steal money and hide so that whenever there is leftover, he goes to the hideout and collect the money to complete his sales for the day.

Last week, the torture that the young boy had undergone exploded to the public eye when a passerby spotted a boy laying by the road side on the

ground begging for life. “He was not able to talk and was crying helplessly” Jiti George-Manager of Savannah Radio Ndu who was called to the scene told this reporter. George said he further took the child to Ndu District hospital where Dr. Ndifor gave him some first aid treatment before he was able to talk.

The Divisional Officer for Ndu and the Senior State Counsel for Donga Mantung Division were alerted sources say. When the child was brought infront of the D.O for Ndu, he discovered that he had old and fresh brushes all over the body. Sources linked to the DO’s office told us that he guardian was immediately summoned. To the greatest dismay of all, when the woman arrived, she refuted the fact that she has been beating the child. She even claimed that the child disappears and appears at home when he wants. Yet, neigbours debunked the claims. When the child bag was searched, his notes showed that the last time he was in school was as far back as February 27, 2015. The Divisional Officer for Ndu was very bitter due to the fact that not only was the boy undergoing serious beating, he was not also going to school. "You are a teacher and mother, so if you see that someone has abused your own child this way, what will you do" the DO asked Madame Vera. She was immediately taken to the police station for further investigations. It is alleged that she was granted bail last Friday May 15 and is expected to appear infront of the State Counsel with the parents of the said child. The young boy we gathered was later taken to hospital and placed under the care of the mayor of Ndu.

It should be recalled that HOFNA Cameroon in collaboration with the US Embassy and the Mandela Washington Fellow early this year embarked on a wide sensitization campaign in Donga Mantung Division to reduce the phenomenon of child labour, abuse and trafficking. For years credible reports of human rights abuses against children living under the care of guardians have emerged from the North West and West regions of Cameroon commonly considered as a hub by many. Tongues are still waging in Ndu as to why this Bursar of GHS Kakar was granted bail. Besides, it is alleged that another Bursar whose school i have just forgotten wanted to play the devil's advocate in favour of the accused woman. It is alleged that he was the one that tied Stephane with robes.

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Burundi: President warns Protesters as Coup Attempt Flops

Bujumbura (Burundi) (AFP) - Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza thanked loyalist forces Friday for crushing a coup attempt and warned demonstrators to end their protests, linking them to the mutineers who launched the putsch.

After two days of heavy battles, the attempt by high-ranking security and defence figures to seize power ended in failure as its leaders admitted defeat and were arrested or forced to go on the run.

In an official speech released by his office, Nkurunziza thanked "from my heart" the security forces for the "efficiency and speed that they demonstrated to stop the disturbing plan" to overthrow him.

 But the United States warned Nkurunziza against his plans to run for a third term in office, saying it would "exacerbate" Burundi's instability.

The dramatic finale to the coup attempt ended 48 hours of uncertainty over who controlled the small, landlocked and impoverished nation, which has been gripped by a political crisis over Nkurunziza's controversial bid for a third consecutive term.

General Godefroid Niyombare, who launched the coup in the central African nation earlier in the week, told AFP by telephone that he wanted to give himself up, while other top generals were arrested.

 "We have decided to surrender," Niyombare said, admitting his coup attempt had come to an end. "I hope they won't kill us."

But tensions remain, with anti-Nkurunziza demonstrators returning to the streets on Friday and police firing shots to disperse them.

The president demanded an immediate end to the rallies, warning that they were "related" to those who took part in the coup. A senior police official said Niyombare was still on the run, but that three other pro-coup generals had been detained. The loyalist police official also insisted those in detention were still alive, and that the state intended to put them on trial.

The coup leaders' spokesman, Zenon Ndabaneze, was speaking to AFP confirming that the putschists had decided to surrender when loyalist troops arrested him, deputy coup leader Cyrille Ndayirukiye and another senior figure among the rebels. Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza (pictured) was in neighbouring Tanzania when the failed coup w …

"We decided to give ourselves up. We have laid down our arms. We have called the security ministry to tell them we no longer have any arms," Ndabaneze said, seconds before he was heard being arrested.

"There will be no foul play. We won't kill them, we want to keep them so they can be judged," the police official told AFP after the arrests. - Homecoming for the president -

Nkurunziza -- who was abroad when the coup was declared -- meanwhile returned on Friday to the capital Bujumbura.

State radio said his motorcade was cheered by large crowds as it headed for the capital. All independent Burundian broadcasters, however, are off the air.NWomen dance as people hold a portrait of the Burundian president as they celebrate his return after Nkurunziza was in neighbouring Tanzania for regional talks on Wednesday when the coup was launched, in a culmination of weeks of violent street protests over his bid to cling to power.

Opposition and rights groups insist that it is unconstitutional for Nkurunziza, who has been in office since 2005, to run for more than two terms. The president, however, argues his first term did not count as he was elected by parliament, not directly by the people.

Nkurunziza, a former rebel leader from the Hutu majority and a born-again Christian, believes he ascended to the presidency with divine backing.

More than 25 people have been killed and scores wounded since late April, when Burundi's ruling CNDD-FDD party -- which has been accused of intimidating the opposition and arming its own militia -- nominated Nkurunziza to stand for re-election in June 26 polls.

It remains unclear, however, how many have died since the launch of the coup, and unrest could continue -- with civil society activists calling for a resumption of demonstrations. A woman carries a bucket as people queue for  water at a petrol station in the Bwiza neighborhood, ne …

Washington said it was deeply concerned about reports of "retaliatory violence" after the coup attempt.

- International concern -

The coup attempt had raised fears of a return to widespread violence in the country, which is still recovering from a 13-year civil war that ended in 2006 and left hundreds of thousands dead.

On Thursday, loyalist troops fought off two major attacks by rival soldiers in an intense battle for control over the strategically important state broadcaster.

The coup announcement drew international criticism, with the United Nations Security Council, in emergency talks on the crisis, called for an end to the violence and "the holding of credible elections".

More than 100,000 Burundians have fled the violence to neighbouring nations, the United Nations said Friday.

In his message announcing the coup, Niyombare signalled he did not want to take power himself, vowing instead to work for "the resumption of the electoral process in a peaceful and fair environment".

Niyombare is a highly respected figure who was sacked from his intelligence post in February after he opposed Nkurunziza's attempt to prolong his 10-year rule.

Asked to decide on the issue of a third term, Burundi's constitutional court found in the president's favour, but not before one of the judges fled the country claiming its members were subject to death threats.

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Shooting to Death of Traditional Ruler: SDO’s Decisions Spark Controversy

An atmosphere of cloudiness looms between two villages (Njap village in Nkambe Central Sub Division and Kamine village in Misaje Sub Division) of Donga Mantung Division after the shooting to death of Fai Ndingansi (quarter head of Njap village in Nkambe Central Sub Division) on March 31, 2015. Matters came to a head, last May 9, 2015 when the fon of Kamine (Misaje Sub Division) resurfaced at Ngong quarter where the mortal remains of the said traditional ruler was laid to rest to carry out rituals on his grave. Tension is reported to have reached crescendo when the fon of Kamine insisted that he was acting on the instruction (Prefctoral Order) issued by the Senior Divisional Officer for Donga Mantung Division, Ngone Ndodemesape Bernard. According to what we gathered, Fai Ndingansi’s family resisted on grounds that would be an abomination and in the depths of despair for an outsider to carry out rituals on the grave of their family head. Yet The Eye gathered that Donga Mantung SDO has issued a query to the Fon of Njap on grounds that he disrespected his Order.

This is so because on April 8, 2015, Donga Mantung SDO issued a Prefectoral Order to temporarily regulate the performance of traditional rites in the said disputed piece of land. Prefectoral Order N0 094/PO/E27/C.111 SASC 8 April 2015 stipulated that the Fon of Kamine had three days to carryout cleansing where Fai Ndingansi was shot to death. Yet the Fon of Kamine surfaced 28 days after the date line had long expired. Many have interpreted the move as lack of respect of the Prefectoral Order on the part of Kamine Fon given that Article 1 states that “the Fon of Kamine village has three days maximum, with effect from the date of notification of this Order to carryout cleansing rite in the area where Ndingansi was shot on March 31^st …..”

The most controversial part of the Prefectoral we gathered lies in the fact that SDO for Donga Mantung, Ngone Ndodemesape Bernard in Article Three states that “the Divisional Officer for Misaje and his security collaborators shall administer the quarter, in account of proximity during the period of suspension” yet Njap people say the decision is not justifiable at all. They have been heard arguing that lack of access road to Ngong should not serve as a bridge for the area to be handed to a different village under such a pretext. The same Prefectoral Order also suspended all traditional rites, customary funerals, crowning/enthronement of a new sub chief suspended till further notice. It is alleged that the area under dispute is said to be rich underneath.

A classified source hinted this reporter that Ngong has being a quarter of Njap and this could be justified given that during the 1961 Plebiscite, the people of Ngong voted at the Njap Palace and during all the elections they have been voted at a polling station located at Fiengong. More so, Fai Ndingansi I, who died in 1976 we gathered was crowned by the fon of Njap. He was buried in Ngong and all the funeral rites were performed by the people of Njap under the supervision of the then Fon of Njap. Apart from that, Ngong has been paying all taxes (Jangali, Poll taxes) in Njap since 1964. The map of Njap also indicates Ngong as a quarter. These and many other evidences abound that someone is using land dispute as a camouflage to put out of sight those who masterminded the shooting to death of Fai Ndingansi III.   

In rejecting the rituals being carried out on the grave of their subject, the people of Njap we learnt have urged that the Administration, Fon of Njap and Fon of Kamine should move to the area, Ngong and pour libation to see who owns the place. A school of thought holds that the truth could only be established through the pouring of libation given that rituals are obnoxious acts that could hold the spirit of the assassinated sub chief to go after those who ganged up to kill him. The fear, we gathered steams from the fact that even the assassin spent days wandering in Ngong until he was napped. This we gathered it was due to the fact that on the night of March 31, 2015 when the sub chief was shot, a libation was pour calling on the gods not to allow the perpetrators quit their land.

The Fon of Njap is alleged to have decried that it is not because of inaccessibility or motorable road through Njap village that the fon of Kamine will take advantage to occupy part of his village. He discarded the proximity claims, adding that if such were tenable, Furu-Awa and Akwaya would have been administered from Nigeria for proximity reasons. It should be noted that Ngong has had a history of hostility. It said that at one moment someone was found death in the house under strange circumstances. In another instance, another person was shot to death, his wife beaten to death and the perpetrator was only slammed a three years jail term. The latest being the shooting to death of Fai Ndingansi.  All the victims have been from Njap village.

The most disheartening is that three of the four suspected murders of Fai Ndingansi were granted bail while the key suspect, a certain Nigerian national Shagari (who shot the said traditional ruler to death is currently in detention in Bamenda).  It should be recalled that Shagari was caught by the population of Njap the following morning in possession of the gun he used to kill the sub chief. 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.

Land Dispute Key Suspect

The unfortunate incident is said to be linked to land dispute between Njap village in Nkambe Central and Kamine village in Misaje. The story goes that on March 31, 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. Allegations abound that some libations were also performed to block the assassin from leaving their land. While villagers launched a manhunt to get the killers, Fai Ndingansi 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. Allegedly, the said traditional ruler had deposited two complaints against 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 in neigbouring quarter. While putting to rest the assassinated quarter head, the people of Njap performed a libation 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).


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