tagged w/ Cameroon
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"French family kidnapped by militants in Cameroon" Read more at http://exm.nr/Vu3MAo"French family kidnapped by militants in Cameroon" Read more at... more
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Oakland, USA, 5 September, 2012 - An American owned company with a track record of illegality and links to private equity giant Blackstone Group threatens to destroy rainforests and dislocate local communities in Cameroon. A new report (1) from The Oakland Institute, in collaboration with Greenpeace International, exposes how a New York-based agri-corporation, Herakles Farms, and its local subsidiary SG Sustainable Oils Cameroon (SGSOC), are involved in a land deal that is questionable under Cameroonian Law, opposed by locals since 2010 and has just pulled out of the industry's sustainable certification scheme (2).
/GrandPlanOakland, USA, 5 September, 2012 - An American owned company with a track record of... more
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Daily Mail...
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Unimaginable horror as helicopter-borne poachers massacre 22 elephants before hacking off their tusks and genitals
Record numbers of ivory seizures amid rise of organised crime gangs
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PHOTO:
Barbaric: In a scene too graphic to show in full, the carcasses of some of the 22 massacred elephants lay strewn across Garamba National Park in the Congo after being gunned down by helicopter-borne poachers
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By Simon Tomlinson
PUBLISHED: 17:35 EST, 24 April 2012 | UPDATED: 17:53 EST, 24 April 2012
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In a scene of inconceivable horror, these slaughtered elephant carcasses show the barbaric lengths poachers will go to in their hunt for nature's grim booty.
The bodies were among a herd of 22 animals massacred in a helicopter-borne attack by professionals who swooped over their quarry.
The scene beneath the rotor blades would have been chilling - panicked mothers shielding their young, hair-raising screeches and a mad scramble through the blood-stained bush as bullets rained down from the sky.
When the shooting was over, all of the herd lay dead, one of the worst such killings in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo in living memory.
'It's been a long time since we've seen something like this,' said Dr Tshibasu Muamba, head of international cooperation for the Congolese state conservation agency, ICCN, as he surveyed the macarbre scene at Garamba National Park.
After the slaughter, the killers set about removing their tusks and genitals before likely smuggling them through South Sudan or Uganda, which form part of an 'Ivory Road' linking Africa to Asia.
Elephant and rhino poaching is surging, conservationists say, an illegal piece of Asia's scramble for African resources, driven by the growing purchasing power of the region's newly affluent classes.
When the shooting was over, all of the herd lay dead, one of the worst such killings in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo in living memory.
'It's been a long time since we've seen something like this,' said Dr Tshibasu Muamba, head of international cooperation for the Congolese state conservation agency, ICCN, as he surveyed the macarbre scene at Garamba National Park.
After the slaughter, the killers set about removing their tusks and genitals before likely smuggling them through South Sudan or Uganda, which form part of an 'Ivory Road' linking Africa to Asia.
Elephant and rhino poaching is surging, conservationists say, an illegal piece of Asia's scramble for African resources, driven by the growing purchasing power of the region's newly affluent classes.
A record number of big ivory seizures were made globally in 2011 and the trend looks set to continue in 2012 as elephant massacres take place from Congo to Cameroon, where as many as 200 of the pachyderms, listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as 'vulnerable', were slain in January.
In South Africa, nearly two rhinos a day are being killed to meet demand for the animal's horn, which is worth more than its weight in gold. More are being killed each week now than were being taken on an annual basis a decade ago.
Conservation group TRAFFIC, which monitors the global trade in animals and plants, said 2011 was the worst year for large ivory seizures in the more than two decades it has been running a database tracking the trends.
After the trade in ivory was banned at the end of the 1980s - a policy implemented to stem a slaughter of elephants at the time - the illegal trade declined sharply, helped by the co-operation of Japan from where most of the demand had been coming.
Conservationists say there was a spike in the mid 1990s driven by emerging Chinese demand that bubbled for a few years, then dropped off as red flags were raised.
Zimbabwe-based Tom Milliken, who manages TRAFFIC's Elephant Trade Information System, said since 2004 'the trend has been escalating upwards again, dramatically so over the last three years.'
Ben Janse van Rensburg, head of enforcement for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the international treaty that governs trade in plants and animals, said: 'The biggest challenge is that in the last few years there has been a big shift from your ordinary poachers to your organized crime groups.'
This was on display in Congo last month, where investigators determined the poachers shot from the air because of the trajectory of the bullet wounds.
Helicopters do not come cheaply and their use points to a high level of organization.
Ken Maggs, the head of the environmental crimes investigation unit for South African National Parks, said one person recently arrested for trade in rhino horn had 5.1 million rand ($652,400) in cash in the boot of his car.
South Africa is the epicenter of rhino poaching because it hosts virtually the entire population of white rhino - 18,800 head or 93 per cent - and about 40 per cent of Africa's much rarer black rhino.
As of the middle of April, 181 rhinos had been killed in South Africa in 2012, according to official government data.
At this rate, more than 600 will be lost to poachers this year compared with 448 in 2011.
A decade ago, only a handful were being taken.
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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2134696/Scene-unimaginable-horror-helicopter-borne-poachers-massacre-22-elephants.html#ixzz1tbKCGg2f
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Unimaginable horror as helicopter-borne poachers massacre... more
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In Cameroon's Northwest Province, female elected representatives are in short supply. Citizens, local officials & newly minted female candidates want that to change this year. Says one candidate: "Are we going to sit and watch the men trample on our rights? Are we going to continue to support only men to take up political positions? We need women to speak for us women"In Cameroon's Northwest Province, female elected representatives are in short... more
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CNN...
First gorilla genome map offers clues to human evolution
By Matthew Knight, CNN
updated 12:17 PM EST, Thu March 8, 2012 | Filed under: Innovations
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Scientists have completed the DNA map of an African western lowland gorilla
Research hopes to shed light on human evolution and biology
Western lowland gorilla population estimated to be 100-200,000 individuals in the wild
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(CNN) -- The first complete gorilla genome has been mapped by scientists giving fresh insights into our own origins.
Gorilla are the last of the genus of living great apes (humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and orang-utans) to have their DNA decoded, offering new perspectives on their evolution and biology.
"The gorilla genome is important because it sheds light on the time when our ancestors diverged from our closest evolutionary cousins around six to 10 million years ago," says Aylwyn Scally, postdoctoral fellow at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge and lead author of the report.
"It also lets us explore the similarities and differences between our genes and those of gorilla, the largest living primate," he added.
A team of researchers examined more than 11,000 genes in humans, chimpanzees and gorillas, looking for evolutionary clues.
Initial findings have revealed that 15% of the gorilla genome is closer to human DNA than to our nearest evolutionary relative, the chimpanzee.
Researchers found that genes relating to sensory perception, hearing and brain development showed "accelerated evolution" in all three, but particularly in humans and gorillas.
Having the entire length of the gorilla genome now means scientists can start to compare all the four great apes at every position on the genome, Scally says.
It forms the baseline, he says, from which to move forwards and really explore why and when our genes and those of the great apes diverged.
"Did it happen quite quickly or was it something that gradually happened? At the moment we don't know," he said.
"It could have been some climatic change that separated humans in the east of Africa from chimpanzees in the forest -- that's an idea some have floated. If we can see some imprint of it in the genome that would very, very useful information."
Scientists used the DNA of a female western lowland gorilla (called Kamilah) who resides at San Diego Zoo.
In the wild, it is the most widespread species of gorilla, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), with a estimated population of 100-200,000 individuals.
The majority are found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, west Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Angola.
It's cousin, the eastern lowland gorilla is less prevalent (fewer than 20,000 individuals) and can only be found in the rainforests of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, says WWF.
The research is published in the science journal Nature.
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PHOTO (ABOVE):
The complete DNA of a female western lowland gorilla called Kamilah (left) has been mapped by scientists, completing the set of genomes for all great apes (humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and orang-utans).
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First gorilla genome map offers clues to human evolution
By Matthew... more
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Nearly 300 elephants slain in Cameroon for ivory, government minister confirms
From Tapang Ivo Tanku, for CNN
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updated 7:21 PM EST, Mon February 20, 2012
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The government in Cameroon has launched a crackdown on poachers who have been killing elephants for their tusks.
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Poachers are killing the elephants for their tusks
The ivory is smuggled to markets in Asia and Europe, an animal welfare official says
Money from ivory sales buys arms for use in regional conflicts, the official says
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(CNN) -- Poachers in search of ivory in northern Cameroon have slaughtered nearly 300 elephants for their tusks since mid-January, according to the country's minister of forestry and wildlife.
Minister Ngole Philip Ngwese backed up a claim by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) that an armed gang of Sudanese poachers had killed the free-roaming elephants in the Bouba Ndjida National Park, on Cameroon's border with Chad.
Park officials say many orphaned elephant calves have been spotted, and concerns are high the babies may soon die of hunger and thirst.
One park official, Bouba Jadi, told CNN the deaths are worsening the situation for Cameroon's already threatened elephant populations. According to official estimates, there are between 1,000 and 5,000 elephants in Cameroon.
Officials on a tour Monday saw at least 100 elephant carcasses. More carcasses are expected to be found in unexplored regions of the national park. A massive crackdown on poachers has been launched, according to officials in the west Central African nation.
"It was common for armed gangs of poachers to cross from Sudan during the dry season to kill elephants for their ivory. But this latest massacre is massive and has no comparison to those of the preceding years," IFAW official Celine Sissler Bienvenu told a local newspaper, The Voice.
She added that the ivory is smuggled out of West and Central Africa for markets in Asia and Europe, and money from ivory sales funds arms purchases for use in regional conflicts, particularly ongoing unrest in Sudan and in the Central African Republic.
Cameroon shares a porous border with Chad. Armed insurgents from Sudan and the Central African Republic seeking elephants frequently travel through Chad.
Observers in Cameroon have been blaming the raids on poorly trained and ill-equipped park guards, who are pitted against professional gangs of poachers.
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Nearly 300 elephants slain in Cameroon for ivory, government minister... more
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CNN...
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/07/27/cameroon.breast.ironing/index.html?hpt=hp_c1
Breast ironing tradition targeted in Cameroon
From Nkepile Mabuse, CNN
July 27, 2011 8:53 p.m. EDT
Click on photo to play video
Activists fight breast ironing tradition
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(CNN) --
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Every morning before school, nine-year-old Terisia Techu would undergo a painful procedure. Her mother would take a burning hot pestle straight out of a fire and use it to press her breasts.
With tears in her eyes as she recalls what it was like, Terisia tells CNN that one day the pestle was so hot, it burned her, leaving a mark. Now 18, she is still traumatized.
Her mother, Grace, denies the incident. But she proudly demonstrates the method she used on her daughter for several weeks, saying the goal was to make her less desirable to boys -- and stave off pregnancy.
A study found that one in four girls in Cameroon have been affected by the practice.
The U.S. State Department, in its 2010 human rights report on Cameroon, cited news reports and said breast ironing "victimized numerous girls in the country" and in some cases "resulted in burns, deformities, and psychological problems."
There are more than 200 ethnic groups in Cameroon with different norms and customs. Breast ironing is practiced by all of them.
Some mothers use hot stones or coconut shells to flatten their daughters' breasts.
Doctors believe improved diets have resulted in young Cameroonian girls going through puberty early. Many of them are also becoming pregnant early.
Terisia became pregnant at 15. Her child died at birth.
She told CNN that breast ironing doesn't work. She hates the practice and wishes her mother had instead talked to her about sex and preventing pregnancy.
Grace Techu argues that if it weren't for the breast ironing, Terisia would have become pregnant at an even younger age.
Techu has four daughters, and she used the procedure on the first two. The third avoided it because her breasts are growing at an acceptable rate, Techu says, and the fourth girl is still too young.
Mothers who want their children to finish school before becoming parents have resorted to this drastic measure, and many see nothing wrong with it.
In 2006, a German nongovernmental organization exposed the practice, which at the time was done mainly in secret.
Now, charities have embarked on campaigns to educate mothers in Cameroon that sex education -- not breast ironing -- is the solution to ending teenage pregnancy.
Dr Sinou Tchana, a gynecologist in Cameroon, has seen breast glands that were destroyed. She also saw one case of cancer, though she says it couldn't be established whether the ironing caused or only exacerbated the cancer.
"One mother came with secondary burns because the stone she was using to do this breast ironing burned her," Tchana says.
One of Tchana's patients is a 23-year-old whose scars are still painful 14 years after her breasts were ironed. She has joined the effort to confront mothers about the effects of their actions.
The challenge for all those trying to stop the practice is reaching parents like Techu in villages before a ritual that they say is motivated by love shatters more lives.
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CNN's Josh Levs contributed to this report.CNN...... more
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Conservation groups are on a last-minute run to stop one of the world's largest private equity firms, the Blackstone Group, from getting a brand new 72,000 hectare palm oil plantation in the middle of the rainforest.Conservation groups are on a last-minute run to stop one of the world's largest... more
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Ahni
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1 year ago
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Teh is a pastor and leader in his community. He started The Goodness and Mercy Missions because he says that praying can not solve everything.
He also encouraged the community to get involved any way they can, including selling bananas!
www.gmmafrica.org
www.whattookyousolong.orgTeh is a pastor and leader in his community. He started The Goodness and Mercy... more
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Nyiwung Valery Colong traveled from Cameroon, Africa to San Francisco, California in May 2009 to take part in TechSoupGlobal's N2Y4 Conference. His project - AMIS (Agricultural Marketing Information Services) - was a finalist in the N2Y4 Mobile Challenge.
envisionGood.tv had a chance to talk with Valery at the conference and learn how mobile phones and SMS are being used in Cameroon to help farmers get the info they need to develop their businesses more efficiently. Thanks for watching. Please comment and subscribe!Nyiwung Valery Colong traveled from Cameroon, Africa to San Francisco, California in... more
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Paris Hilton is seen here with the lovely First Lady of Cameroon, Chantal Biya, at a gala for the African First Ladies Health Summit in Los Angeles last night.
There are so many things wrong with this, I hardly know where to start.
First of all, I give Chantal major kudos for rocking the 80s hair even though it's 2009. Check out the painted on eyebrows too.
Secondly, why the hell is Parasite Hilton - infamous for her sex tapes, binge drinking and other not-so-healthy escapades - making an appearance at a Health Summit?!Paris Hilton is seen here with the lovely First Lady of Cameroon, Chantal Biya, at a... more
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The government of Cameroon has created a new national park aimed at protecting the critically endangered Cross River gorilla, the world's rarest.
Takamanda National Park, on the border with Nigeria, is home to an estimated 115 Cross River gorillas.
The total population of the subspecies is thought to be less than 300.
The news comes as governments of 10 gorilla range states gather in Rome for the first meeting of a new partnership aimed at protecting the primates.
The Gorilla Agreement was finalised in June, and brings together all the countries where the various species and subspecies are found.
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) helped establish the Takamanda park, and believes it will help curb the hunting and forest destruction that have brought Cross River numbers to such a minuscule level.
"The government of Cameroon is to be commended for taking this step in saving the Cross River gorilla for future generations," said Steven Sanderson, president and CEO of WCS.
"By forming this national park, Cameroon sends a powerful message about the importance of conservation."
Gorillas should be able to move freely between the Takamanda reserve and Nigeria's Cross River National Park just across the border, helping to repair the fragmentation of habitat which can isolate tiny wildlife populations.The government of Cameroon has created a new national park aimed at protecting the... more
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Cameroon became a German colony in 1884. After World War I, the territory was divided between France and Britain as League of Nations mandates.
The Union des Populations du Cameroun political party advocated independence but was outlawed in the 1950s. It waged war on French and Cameroonian forces until 1971.
In 1960, French Cameroun became independent as the Republic of Cameroun under President Ahmadou Ahidjo.
The southern part of British Cameroons merged with it in 1961 to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon.
The country was renamed the United Republic of Cameroon in 1972 and the Republic of Cameroon in 1984.
Cameroon has generally enjoyed stability, which has permitted the development of agriculture, roads, and railways, as well as a petroleum industry.
Despite a slow movement toward democratic reform, political power remains firmly in the hands of an ethnic oligarchy headed by President Paul BIYA. Cameroon became a German colony in 1884. After World War I, the territory was divided... more
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The World Bank has been attacked for withdrawing from the Chad, Cameroon pipeline project. A coalition of human rights and environmental Non-Governmental Organisations have accused it of bad faith by its recent withdrawal from the 4 billion dollars oil pipeline project that runs from Chad to Cameroon.
The coalition is made up of U.S.-based Environmental Defense Fund, the Chadian Association for Human Rights (ATPDH) and two Cameroon civil society groups, the Centre for Environment and Development (CED) and Network to Fight against Hunger (RELUFA).
"The project's outcome is disastrous. In the name of fighting poverty, it has rather contributed to impoverishing Chad's people and adding a new member to the petro-dictators' club,” a statement issued by the coalition said.
The World Bank last week announced its withdrawal from the pipeline project, one of its biggest investments in Africa. It accused the Chadian president of failing to comply with agreed commitments to set aside a chunk of its oil revenues for local communities, health and education.
However, Chad played down the bank’s pullout, saying its oil output was unaffected and that non-oil cooperation would continue. "The bank withdraws from this project without too much loss," the rights coalition said in its criticism, noting that Chad this month prepaid to the lender the outstanding balance of $65.7 million under the $140 million loan deal.
The coalition noted that the quality of life of the people of Chad and Cameroon, living along the length of the 1,000 km (620-mile) pipeline on its route to the Atlantic coast, had worsened. “Only the quality of life of Chadian president, Idriss Deby, and of the consortium led by Exxon Mobil has improved,” it said.
It should be noted that the pipeline started pumping crude oil from landlocked Chad in 2003, carries 170,000 barrels per day and continues to operate despite the World Bank pullout.
Source:
Solomon Tembang Mforgham,
AfricaNews
Limbe, CameroonThe World Bank has been attacked for withdrawing from the Chad, Cameroon pipeline... more
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The lines of Europe’s carve up of Africa were finally taking shape. On March 11, 1913, Britain and Germany agreed who got which bits of a swampy corner of the continent that few in either of the cold and distant countries had heard of.
Two states that did not exist at that time put the border agreement into effect again on Thursday with Nigeria formally handing over the Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon.
That followed a ruling by the World Court in 2002 for which both countries supplied copies of yellowing colonial-era documents to justify claims to territory that had brought them to the brink of war.
Neither might have had as much interest had it not been for the expectation that there is oil there, but it again highlighted Africa’s commitment to colonial borders drawn without consideration for those actually living there.The lines of Europe’s carve up of Africa were finally taking shape. On March 11,... more
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Nigeria is due to complete the final handover of the potentially oil-rich Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon, ending a long-standing territorial dispute.
The flag swapping ceremony in the main town on the peninsular, Abuna, has been scaled down due to security concerns. The majority of the local population considers itself Nigerian, but an international court ruled in favour of Cameroon in 2002. Over the past year about 50 people have been killed in clashes.
The International Court of Justice ruling was based on an early 19th Century colonial agreement between Britain and Germany. Nigeria challenged the ruling, but finally agreed to relinquish the territory two years ago. Part of the territory was handed over to Cameroon two years ago.
A spokesman for Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua said the process was "painful.... for everyone including the president", but added that Nigeria had made "a commitment to the international community and we have a responsibility to keep it".
Cameroon said the final handover would mark "the end of a crisis". The transfer of Bakassi had been described by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon as "a model for negotiated settlements of border disputes".
A group of Bakassi leaders have been seeking compensation from the Nigerian government. About 90% of the population of the area is made up of Nigerian fishermen, estimated to number up to 300,000. An area has been set aside by Nigeria for people moved out of Bakassi, but it has no access to the sea, campaigners say. Bakassi has a rich fishing culture and people say the handover has destroyed their way of life. The Bakassi peninsula juts out into the Gulf of Guinea close to the Niger Delta. Its offshore waters are thought to contain substantial oil fields - untapped because of the border dispute - which Nigeria and Cameroon will now work together to explore.
Nigeria is due to complete the final handover of the potentially oil-rich Bakassi... more
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Some human rights activists in Cameroon say the elections management body, Elections Cameroon, ELECAM, remains a potential source of civil war if nothing is done to modify it before the 2011 Presidential polls.
The activists made the remark recently in Yaounde during a meeting of the platform of civil society organisations aimed at scanning ELECAM. The members of the Civil Society Platform for Democracy, CSPD, argued that the law creating ELECAM has enormous weaknesses and cannot ensure post-electoral peace in the country.
Speaking during the forum, the President of the NGO, Nouveau Droit de L'homme, NDH, Hilaire Kamga, who doubles as the Secretary and spokesperson of the platform, said "ELECAM executive are not going to be directly implicated in the organisation of election, the election exercise is going to be directly organised by the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, MINATD, as usual, thereby rendering the so-called independent electoral body somehow dependent."
He said further that if ELECAM is not modified there are possibilities of civil discord in the country given that elections will still be manipulated as usual to favour those in power. To Kamga, 'there is no guarantee of future peace in Cameroon because elections will never be free, fair and transparent in the present circumstances'.
To ensure peace, good governance and democracy in Cameroon, Kamga reiterated that it is better to amend the law now than to wait for the outcome of what he termed 'a looming catastrophe'
Members of the platform harped on the need for the complete renewal of the social and political landscape of the country, insisting that the law needs to be reviewed by experts who are versed with the country's electoral system so as to curb post-electoral unrest.
To another Executive member of CSPD, Walters Tonteh, who also doubles as the National Coordinator of Cameroon Youths Confederation, the law creating ELECAM has been diagnosed by experts in electoral matters as a law which will likely stir post-electoral violence. He said the various sub-structures of the law are replete with exorbitant and uncontrollable powers.
To him, "ELECAM must be amended for the citizens to have confidence in the structure."
Tonteh further argued that Article 8 of law no 2006/011 puts the Director of Elections as the master planner of the electoral game without any supervisory authority whereas there is an Electoral Council.
Going by him, the Director of Elections, to be appointed by the Head of State, can only act under his whims and caprices. The Platform members, at the end of the meeting, resolved to lobby MPs and other stakeholders to table a private members bill to amend ELECAM before the 2011 polls.Some human rights activists in Cameroon say the elections management body, Elections... more
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Thanks to ebarnett09 for uploading her comments on the pod, "Breast Ironing." After you hear what ebarnett09 has to say, check out the pod yourself by clicking on the link below. Then, let us know what you think by uploading your own comments to current.com.
http://current.com/items/88852332_breast_ironing
Thanks to ebarnett09 for uploading her comments on the pod, "Breast... more
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As President Paul Biya scrambles to figure out how to curb corruption and embezzlement of state funds, the disenfranchised poor, working and middle class Cameroonians, who are the immediate and most affected by corruption, consider themselves mere spectators of this choreographed fight.
As President Paul Biya scrambles to figure out how to curb corruption and embezzlement... more
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African Artist Sky Nelson is trying to remind the people of their very powerful belief which is dying out today because of greed. This very powerful belief of theirs says that, in their village, no one has the right to be excessively rich while others live in misery. In their tradition, they were brought up with the notion that, the gods of the land should bless them to have more so that when they grow up, they will share with others. Till today, one renowned journalist from the the Wimbum land told me that, up till some decades back, it is very hard to find an excessively wealthy wimbum man because he had to fulfil the promise he made to the gods when he was a child by sharing his wealth with the have-nots. African Artist Sky Nelson is trying to remind the people of their very powerful belief... more
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