Acho Muna in pledge to stop Biya`s regime

Bernard Acho Muna since the 28th  of May 2011 has vowed to block Biya plans to run again for president in Cameroon deepening a bitter row within the divided opposition coalition. 

He portrayed himself as the Cameroon Nelson Mandela who came in power and just complete one term in the office after been released from prison. Mandela is 20 years older than him and taking his credentials for a campaign in a country like Cameroon where now more and more are hoping for a younger head of state rather than another " old man" in power could be complicated for his campaign team.

 But Bernard has never been a political prisoner in Cameroon and even detained for his views as well. 72 year old Barrister in law and former Deputy Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and also former president of the Cameroon Bar association said  the ruling party ( CPDM) has used the political machine of the one party state to deny Cameroon a genuinely free society underpinned by free and fair elections, the respect of all aspects of human rights and an independent judiciary..

His comments came after the launch of his website campaign where the team is looking for donation in order to run the campaign and produce the campaign material. 

Son of the former Cameroon speaker of the House under the former ruling single party Cameroon National Union, Salomon Tandeng Muna, the barrister in law promised if elected as president of Cameroon, to draw up a new constitution and carry out needed reforms in the administration of the nation and taking in consideration the specificities of the multi-ethnic-tribal-cultural society that Cameroon is. 

According to him such constitution which shall be adopted by the people by way of referendum shall specifically contain a provision that shall oblige any change or amendment of constitution to be equally effected by way of another referendum.

There is no plan or intention of nationalize industries or companies that are operated in the country also no information about where the money for this plan will come from. Will he renegotiate all the previous agreements signed by the constitutional outgoing president and his government, there is no sign of answers for this questions.

If elected the former Deputy Chief Prosecutor will lead a government of transition for a period of single term of office during a period of five year and shall not seek re-election or to renew his hold of office as president of the Republic of Cameroon

Acho Muna has a plan and the question is when are we going to see this really implemented in the country where there is lack of indication on where the money will come from or even where and how the government under him will create financial gain to motivate the country economic and financial system .For the moment there is no information about how many political parties have endorsed his candidacy for the presidential election.

And also the political process and vision of his party are totally different from the main " anglophone" or English speaking leading political parties in Cameroon with the Social Democratic Front and the Southern Cameroon National Council who are fighting for the division between the British Cameroon and the French Cameroon.

This is just the beginning of a huge interesting political battle in Cameroon where the game has already been played behind closed doors..

Helping Cameroon to succeed is Britain`s cause too

The foreign secretary William Hague rushed out a statement before the next presidential election official campaign open next month, pledging to take coordinated action where necessary to prevent serious disruption before and after the election in Cameroon.

If authorities in Cameroon do not observe fundamental rights and reform, they will lose in the long term and so may Britain, warned Hague.

William Hague said " we support democracy, human rights and economic freedom because they are universal.." and " the idea of freedom cannot be confined behind bars, however strong the lock.

 There will be no long-term stable future for the country without political and economic reform, which will not be achieved without support from the outside world"

For those in opposition, the foreign secretary reminded them that the absence of quick and easy answers does not mean that there is a comforting alternative available to patient and determined engagement with the country.

Britain recognizes that it is indisputably the legitimate right of the people of Cameroon to use peaceful means to demand greater political and economic freedom, although what this will mean in practice will vary markedly from region to region. It is also strongly in our interest,  said the foreign secretary, that " Cameroon `s people aspirations are fulfilled and also that Britain must do what its can to help the country become more democratic over time, because our fortune is linked to it as thousands  of  British jobs are linked to trade  and commerce with the wider Central Africa region and the country "

The UK-coalition government " will not stay silent where repressive regime seek to crush legitimate aspirations from the population, but will press for necessary, legal actions to hold them account". Britain, concluded the foreign secretary, " will continue to work and lead other international action at the G8, EU and UN and to offer practical support to reforming governments through our own Africa Partnership Initiative."

 

Call to scrap Cameroon`s human rights and freedoms watchdog

Cameroon`s human rights and freedoms watchdog should be scrapped because it contributes very little to meaningful equality and human rights promotion in the country. Lots still to be done and CFA millions spent on luxuries whilst human rights abuses are rising in an appalling situation..and no place to create a fairer Cameroon.

In a report, the civil society group. ACAT-Cameroon, says that the National Commission for Human Rights and Freedoms cost CFA millions a year to run. It also accused the commission of using statistics in an illogical way and of a narrow approach to social policy which is neither reasonable nor useful.

But Dr Divine Chemuta Banda, the chairperson of the National Commission for Human Rights and Freedoms rejected the claims and said its job is to start a debate on issues where we could see better outcomes for people suffering unfair disadvantages.

Based on Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, local human rights activists groups  insist that torture is never legitimate and that the dignity of all human beings must be respected.

The fight against torture has been responsible for the creation of the National Commission and therefore according to the local and international human rights group, and the failure of Dr Divine Banda`s administration to protect those who have been abused by the authorities should then force the total scrap of that government agency and save taxpayer some money....

The commission has failed to defend  all victims of torture and ill-treatment, both prisoners of conscience or common law, whether held by state or non-state entities.

In its report ACAT-Cameroon.described the commission`s goal of equality as impractical, saying it wishes that life outcomes be entirely divorced from politics. Since an editor died in prison in Cameroon, no independent report has been made public and the Commission has failed to act.

Lagarde to be " investigated" by court

The newly-elected head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, is to face a judicial inquiry into whether she was wrong to approve a large out of court settlement to a controversial French businessman Bernard Tapie.

Close supporter of Nicolas Sarkozy, Bernard Tapie was paid according to sources from the team in charge of the judicial inquiry, £249m from the French state in 2008 to settle a decade long court battle with the bank Credit Lyonnais, but a court has ruled that Lagarde`s decision should be investigated over concerns that she ignored expert advice.

In 2008 Christine Lagarde was the acting French Finance minister and Tapie was  the chairman of the football club Olympique de Marseille when the deal was passed between the French businessman and the state represented by the former French finance minister Christine Lagarde.

 Lagarde who was speaking last night after a meeting with Jean Claude Trichet in an attempt to calm fears over the debt crisis by announcing a return to its bond buying programme, confirmed that if there is or would be any judicial inquiry against her she will seek advice from her legal department and then she will comply totally with the inquiry without damaging the work that she is doing within the International Monetary Fund in dealing with the debt crisis within the Eurozone.

Camair-Co revenue falls as customers leave

Camair-Co lost a net number of customers in the second quarter but continued its upward revenue momentum, with tickets sales growing under 3% to an estimated less than £ 150m..and as it struggles against strong performances at its rivals and a reputation for poor customer service. Its revenue decreased 5%. The company does not disclose its profits until interim results in October. 

Camair-Co are not really a good team player company in the aviation business world as they are reluctant to provide financial information when asked to do so.

Its average revenue per user rose to £25 a month. The Cameroon national airlines company reported smaller losses for the first half of the year, boosted by more passengers demands for travelling.

Demands for travelling is growing but actually many more prefer to use Air France-KLM rather to travel with the company.

There are losses made in pre-tax and the management is willing to change that by offering more and more exciting and attractive tickets cost.

Air France-KLM losses widen after the company posted a £186.5m net loss for the quarter on July 27 as fuel bills rose and it took a knife to plans to offer more seats next winter amid mounting fears over the Eurozone debt crisis.

In the other hand regarding the fuel bills rising, Camair-Co appears reluctant of providing information about losses as the company also has been affected and badly affected by the fuel bills rising.

Europe`s largest airline by revenue said its operating loss widened from a year ago to less than £120m but predicted it would still be able to eke out a positive result for the year.

Revenue rose 8.7% to£7.028bn and passenger traffic rose 9.4%. But turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East and the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis all combined to cause £ 113m in losses.

Camair-Co will be opening new destinations in order to increase revenue and also to improve the company financial capability.

  At the moment as one of the company`s mission is  to change the landscape of the air transport in Cameroon, in Africa and in the rest of the world, the management doesn`t seem to communicate too much even one of the insider said that the group recurring operating profit would still be higher than last year`s level for the year as a whole, helped by  a productivity improvement plan.

Camair-Co need to buy a specialist travel group in order to boost their revenue and that could also generate more money in from its international operations...

Paul Biya must breathe new life into his government

Paul Biya has lost his political virginity on scandal and corruption. There are more ex-government ministers in jail from his several previous government than there were during the first ever " democratic" elected "  former president", El Hadji Amadu Ahidjio.

Close relatives of the former Cameroonian Head of State, revealed once that, he had in private told them that " Your senses and decision-making are upended, tossed about on the waves of some fresh revelation until you fear that you will never get to calmer waters".

This was when he was told about corruption allegations where some of the government ministers were deeply involved and most of them were his close ones.

The country has shown just little intention of getting ride of the corruption after Transparency International 2000`s annual report put the country ahead of those who made no single effort to fight against corruption.

 There are policies in place. But in reality less is being done to fight against corruption and embezzlement.  Cameroon has long projected an image of itself since year 2000 as a paragon of good governance and the rule of law.

After his three days official visit to China where he renewed a 40 years old cooperation between both countries, Paul Biya now must face the reality.

As he prepares to head off with his family on private holiday in a couple of weeks time, his government battered and bruised by the turmoil over corruption. Paul Biya has always been pleased with how he managed to salvage a situation that at any time can spiralling out of control.

He is that charismatic showman able to shake off shackles threatening him with doom. Paul Biya of course had people such as Pr Jacques Fame Ndongo, Rene Sadi, Gregoire Owona, Bello Bouba Maigari, Isa Tchirouma Bakary who are never afraid to throw themselves on a microphone to defend the government and the Head of State action.

 But today there is a dearth of confident and combative performance in the government`s upper ranks, a problem that needs to be addressed rapidly before the next presidential election. Everything is done to hampering its ability to get across its message.

 In this situation, the Prime Minister needs a pugnacious party  chairman to tour broadcasting studios, on-line magazine and print press in a crisis.There is unlikely to be an immediate reshuffle, although the promotion of new faces would strengthen the government.

 Paul Biya strongly believes in keeping people in post for longer than has been the case in recent political history. Biya has only two months left after his holiday break to think about reinvigorate his government, armed with a renewed sense of purpose, bold new reforms and possibly even......
Paul Biya needs to review his policies and reshuffle the ministers charged with delivering them...

Cameroon`s opposition threatens million-strong protest to stop Biya`regime winning power

Secularists in power in Cameroon say they are not yet ready for a change in power and regime....

Cameroon activists are threatening to bring mass pro-real-democracy protests and call for a regime changed in Yaounde, with a million-strong occupation of " Rond-point de la Poste Centrale" in September unless the ruling coalition government and his " Fidelity and Honour " strong and heavily armed, army generals abandon their current " road map" to Cameroon future or a new vision for the country...

In an increasingly rancorous debate which has developed into a proxy underground war between the nation`s secular political forces and a coalition of newcomers, that describe  themselves as liberal and modernists, opposition and human rights campaigners have joined forces to demand that plans to hold elections in October  are dropped and that the coalition government should the election register to all who are eligible and can vote to register before the end of the legal procedure of registration...

Campaigners fear the existing underground and unofficial post Biya transition programme will just be a continuation of the same regime without any change and that programme might cede permanent power to the army.

Cameroonians will not remain silent on attempts by an irrelevant elite to impose a liberal secular regime on the people, said Celestin Bedzigui  the former president of the " Party pour l`Alliance Liberal" Pal that has emerged long time with the Undp..." The National Union for Democracy and Progress" led by Bello Bouba Maigari.

Whoever wins the next presidential elections is going to play a major role in writing a new constitution and they are therefore going to play a major in shaping the political foundations of the new Cameroon.

Concerns are mountains that a raft of new political parties, including many claiming to represent the " revolutionary women and youth movement" that helped in the last couple of months to dismantle and to reduce the influence and the popularity of the opposition in some regions of the country have no even completed the formal party registration process yet and will be in no position to mount a successful appeal for votes by October this year..

The coalition government is clearly ready for the elections now. The main political party in the coalition government is been ready for long time whereas the newcomers who have not participate in the political process under Biya`s regime are not and still looking to recruit voters and sympathisers around the country...