Cameroonian journalist based in Limbe in the South West province of Cameroon. Highly motivated to expand his scope in online media.
344 subjects with 366 messages.
Solomon Mforgham weblog
Cameroon: Collapsed building kills three
Three people have been killed in the Capital of Cameroon, Yaounde, after a four storey building collapsed. The remains of the three persons were drawn out from the rubble amidst lamentation from the population gathered to watch the National Fire Brigade at work. - At least three others were pulled out alive and immediately rushed to the hospital.
When the building that was still under construction collapsed, officers of a nearby Police Station hurried to the scene to rescue the victims.
The Fire-fighting brigade and Gendarmerie immediately beefed up the team that searched through the rubble to assess the extent of the human casualty.
The building was near completion and technicians …Cameroon’s capital city runs dry
Inhabitants in the capital of Cameron, Yaounde, have for a long time been under a very precarious situation as all taps have run dry. Severe water scarcity has been troubling the inhabitant with several areas of the town going for months without a drop. - However, recently the situation got worst and taps in most parts of the town ran dry and inhabitants could not have water. The situation is fast becoming a crisis.
The government is, nonetheless, trying to deal with the situation and has instructed some specialised bodies to save the city dwellers.
Accordingly, the fire fighters brigade, the police and the city council, have been criss -crossing some areas in the town to supply water…CAR: Gunmen kidnap French workers
Gunmen in the town of Birao in Central African Republic on the border with Chad and Sudan have abducted two French workers. The two men are said to work for the Triangle Charity. - A local elder is quoted as saying the armed kidnappers, numbering about 20, fled to Sudan with their hostages, as well as three cars and a motorbike.
The French foreign ministry is reported to have condemned the act, terming it criminal. It also demanded the release of the workers.
Reports say the ministry's crisis unit was in close contact with the concerned parties.
Meanwhile, the International Red Cross temporarily suspended its operations in Chad after a French employee was abducted by armed men in ea…US support DRC to fight sexual violence
The United States of America has made a financial donation of $17 million to assist the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo in its efforts to end sexual violence against women in that country. - DR Congo’s Minister of Gender, Family Affairs and Children, Marie-Ange Lukiana, thanked the US after her ministry received the money to help combat violence.
The payment of the money came after U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a pledge of financial and logistical support during her recent visit to a refugee camp in eastern DR Congo where she interacted with rape victims.
Lukiana is quoted as saying the money will be used in part to attract female police officers an…C. Africa: UN protect civilians from rebels
The United Nations Security Council has called on UN missions in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Central African Republic (CAR) and Sudan to ensure the protection of civilians from the rebel Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army, which has killed, kidnapped and displaced thousands of people. - In a press statement, the 15-member body "expressed deep concern at the direct and serious threat the activities of the LRA pose to the civilian population, the conduct of humanitarian operations and regional stability."
It commended States in the region for their increased cooperation, welcomed their joint efforts to address the serious threat posed by the LRA, and encouraged them to share information…Chad: Aid needed for returning refugees
Some 18,000 Chadians returning to their villagers after fleeing inter-communal violence and a spill-over of the conflict from neighbouring Sudan's Darfur region are in dire need for international aid. The United Nations has called for international assistance to these returning displaced persons. - According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UN Mission in Chad and the Central African Republic (MINURCAT), the lack of natural resources is the principal cause of conflict between the local and foreign populations.
Reports say symbolic reconciliation ceremony was held recently between the communities in the villages of Tiero and Marena in an area from where some 30,000 p…CAR: Exiled president returns
Central African Republic's former president, Ange-Félix Patassé, who has since 2003 been in exile in Togo returned to the country with the intention to run in the presidential race billed for 2010. - According to an announcement from Patassé’s spokesman, he arrived on 28 October at 15:30 local time.
The communiqué also indicated that the former Head of State made a stop in Tripoli at the invitation of Libyan leader Mouammar Gaddafi, the current chair of the African Union.
According to the spokesman, Patassé thanked African leaders from friendly countries and international institutions for encouraging him to return and to participate in the next elections, which will mark a decis…Cameroon: 150 corpses for mass burial
Some 150 dead bodies abandoned at the Lanquintinie Hospital in the economic capital of Cameroon - Douala - would be given mass burial if relatives do not come for them, hospital authorities threaten. The general public has until 30 October 2009 to identify and claim their family members. - The Director of the hospital Dr Jeremie Solle said the corpses have been with the hospital for months and years. He served notice that after the deadline they would be handed over to the Douala City Council for mass burial.
Dr Solle said the move is to help ease congestion at the hospital mortuary because most of the corpses have been there since 2007.
Hospital sources told AfricaNews that most of t…Cameroon: 19 killed in boat wreck
Nineteen people made up of 15 women - three of them pregnant - three babies and a young man have been killed in Mayo Danay division in the Far North region of Cameroon after a boat wrecked in Lake Guerre. It capsized after it left Guerre en route Bosgoy (45 Km) from Yagoua with 25 passengers on board. - The passengers were traders at the Guere Market.
AfricaNews reporter said the incident took place when the waves suddenly became violent and the apparently inexperienced young paddlers could not control their vessel amidst yells from the panic-stricken occupants onboard.
Rescue teams are reported to have been immediately mobilized after news of the accident got to Bosgoy - their final d…C. Africa: $215m for internet development
Several Central African countries will benefit from a $215 million World Bank backbone programme to bring reliable, high-speed, low-cost internet access to the region for the first time. It said recently that Cameroon, Chad and the Central African Republic will take part in the initial $26.2 million phase. - Meanwhile, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Niger, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, and Sudan can also participate in the programme.
The 10-year programme is being supported through a partnership between the World Bank Group and the African Development Bank.
The Director of Global Information and Communications Technologies, Mohsen Khali…Chad expels Cameroonian journalist
A Cameroonian journalist, Innocent Ebodé, has been expelled from Chad after publishing an opinion responding to a Chadian government official's suggestion that the Nobel Peace Prize should have been awarded to Chad President Idriss Deby. - US-based Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ, quoted defense lawyer Jean-Bernard Padaré as saying Ebodé, who had only arrived in Chad in June to be the Editor-in-Chief of the fledgling weekly La Voix du Tchad, was taken on Wednesday 14 October by Chadian security service agents to the border town of Kousseri, where he was deported permanently to Cameroon.
Security services are said to have ordered Ebodé’s immediate deportation after he failed to…Chad: Villages under threat from pipeline
There are heightening fears that a Chinese-backed oil project in Chad will pose a serious threat to some villages. Human rights activists have expressed fears that the project may occasion the displacement of hundreds of people and will destroy at least 10 villages. - However, the Chadian government is quoted as saying those who have to move will be compensated.
Ali Yonous, a director at the Chadian oil ministry is quoted as saying all measures are being taken to minimise any environmental hazards.
He said a good environmental impact assessment has been done, and compensation will be the same as in the last pipeline project that runs from Doba in Chad through Cameroon.
Nonetheless, …Cameroon: Pirates killed after attack on boat
Four pirates have been killed off the coast of Cameroon by Cameroonian soldiers after they repelled an attack from the pirates. The pirates attacked a fishing boat named Rose Three, owned by Atlantic Shrimpers Ltd., the largest fishing company in Nigeria, off the Bakassi peninsula. - According to Cameroon’s Ministry of Defence, the pirates’ speedboat was destroyed and a consignment of weapons seized.
A release from the Ministry of Defence read over state radio, said three of the gunmen who were injured were taken prisoners and two others went missing. Meanwhile, none of the crew members of the fishing boat was harmed.
The release also said Cameroon forces are investigating…Cameroon: Cholera outbreak sparks panic
Panic has gripped the Far North Region of Cameroon after five people died of what has been reported to be cholera. A cholera epidemic was recently reported in Mayo Tsanaga division in the Far North Region of the country. - The outbreak first reported on 2 September 2009 has now spread to Mayor Sawa Division still in the Far North region.
A total of 85 cases including five deaths have already been registered. In the Boha and Mougude in Mayo Tsanaga division and Kolofata and Mora in Mayo Sawa division a number of persons were reported vomiting and having diarrhoea.
Health officials in the districts hospitals have been acquainted with techniques of emergency intervention on patients.
T…Cameroon: Another radio station shut down
Another radio station in Cameroon, Le Dementi Radio, broadcasting from Yaounde has been shut down by the Minister of Communication, Issa Tchiroma Bakary. - Speaking to pressmen, Bakary indicated that the station had not received prior approval from the Ministry of Communication to operate. The Minster was also appalled by the fact that, though operating illegally, the station aired programmes that were not only provocative but insulting to top government officials.
Bakary said it is a must for every station to have authorization before operating.
The radio station is the second to be closed down within a period of three months in Yaounde.
Management of Le Dementi said they did not …DR Congo refutes Madagascar accusation
The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has refuted accusations that it is responsible for Madagascar's threat to withdraw its membership from the Southern African Development Community (SADC). - This follows Madagascar’s expression of disappointment after SADC members prevented embattled President Andry Rajoelina from addressing the September 24th U.N. General Assembly.
Madagascar is demanding answers from SADC and is threatening to prevent mediators seeking to resolve the ongoing political crisis from entering the country.
Joseph Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is the current chairman of SADC.
The country’s Minister of Communication,…Gabon: Opposition snubs vote re-count
As the re-count of the votes of the last presidential elections in Gabon went underway, opposition parties in the country said it will have "no value." The opposition has rebuff the terms of the re-count. This followed a court ruling that opposition observers will not be allowed to oversee the process. - The opposition candidates have said they do not approve of the court’s move.
Nonetheless, Constitutional Court President, Marie Madeleine Mborantsuo, is quoted as saying bailiffs would act as both officers of the court and representatives of the candidates.
Meanwhile, one of the opposition candidates, Andre Mba Obame is also quoted as saying "This re-count has no value for us, no…Chad: Rape of refugee women on the rise
International human rights watchdog, Amnesty International, said that refugee women and girls face high levels of rape and other violence on a daily basis both inside and outside refugee camps in eastern Chad. - This is contained in a recent report by the organisation titled “No place for us here: Violence against refugee women in eastern Chad”.
According to a press release from Amnesty International, the report documents rape and other violence against women and girls in the camps, who face attacks carried out by villagers living nearby and members of the Chadian National Army.
The release quotes Tawanda Hondora, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Africa Pro…DR Congo: Human rights activist arrested
Firmin Yangabi, a Congolese human rights activists and former presidential candidate has been arrested for allegedly trying to foment rebellion in the troubled eastern province. He was arrested by military police as he tried to organise an arms shipment from Kinshasa to the eastern town of Kisangani. - He is accused of trying to provoke insurrection in the country's volatile eastern province.
Lambert Mende, spokesman for the Congolese government is quoted as saying Yangabi was moving a shipment of weapons from Kinshasha to Kisangani with the aim of fomenting rebellion in the east of the country.
Yangabi is reported to have been transported to Kinshasa where he will be tried before a mi…African armies begin training in Gabon
Dozens African armies are training in Gabon on military communications under the US Africa Command, AFRICOM. The programme seeks to improve communications between African armies by establishing a network linking their command and control structures to better prepare for joint operations. - Reports say the exercise will through October 8 involve nearly 30 African militaries along with delegations from the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States.
It is worth noting that this is the third annual training exercise and field test of communications systems following earlier Africa Endeavour programmes in South Africa and Nigeria.
Admiral Herve Namboundouani who leads …
