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Mount Cameroon Race Of Hope 2021: North West Wins Big

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Mount Cameroon Race Of Hope 2021: North West Wins Big

CAMEROON: Ali Mohammadou and Kitan Mildred have emerged winners of the 2021 Mount Cameroon Race Of Hope, both are from the North West region of Cameroon.

The 26th edition of the mountain race took place on Saturday, February 27 in Buea, South West region of the country.

Ali, who is coming from the Indigenous community (Mbororo) won the competition for the first time.

Ali took over 4 hours 32 minutes to challenge defending champion, Godlove Gabsebium to back the sum of 10 million FCFA in the male category.

“I won the race before I came here, I put confidence in myself and that is why i came first.

Read Also: Human Rights Watch(HRW) Accuses Cameroon Soldiers Of Atrocities

“Anyone who wants to join athletics should know that it is very difficult at the beginning,” Ali said after becoming the winner.

Ali, who is from Jakiri in the North West region of the country is the first indigenous (Bororo) to win the competition. He will have to win two more times to become king of the mountain.

Other Winners

Winning the other 10 million on the female category was Kitan Mildred, who is also from the North West region who challenged Queen of the mountain, Tata Carine to take the first position.

24-year-old Kitan came second in 2020. She took 5 hours 20 minutes to cover the race as the winner in the female category today.

“The race was good, but I faced difficulties this year than last year. My kneecap disturbed me when I arrived at the forest, but I finally made” Kitan told the press after the race.

“I train seriously. I do warm-ups every morning.
My serious training started 6 months ago,” Kitan added as she explained why she won.

Defending champions from the North West, Godlove Gabsebium came second to cross the finished line, while Tata Carine, who has won the competition in 2018, 2019 and 2020 also came second in the female category.

Fai Collins still from the North West region took the third position in the male category while Jepkosegei Agnes from Kenya took third in the female category.

The Challenge

516 athletes challenged the gods and took part in the 26th edition of the Mount Cameroon Race Of Hope this year.

Amongst the 516 athletes made known by the Cameroon Athletics Federation are were 20 international athletes from eight different countries who battled in the race with Cameroonians.

This year’s edition has witnessed a drop from 550 athletes to 516 as compared to last year.

Over 90 Cameroonians Perish In Two Major Road Accidents

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Over 90 Cameroonians Perish In Two Major Road Accidents

CAMEROON: The rate of road accidents in Cameroon is a matter of concern these days. The repeated reports of road accidents in Cameroon have shaken many people. Many people are now scared to travel on land as they consider it as one of the worst means of journey.

Last year, on December 27, about 37 persons were killed in a tragic road accident at Ndikinimeki and around 18 people were reported to be in critical conditions. Unfortunately, on the same day, a 70 seater bus reportedly crushed two people in a Toyota car at Melong, a small town in the Littoral region.

Another accident was reported in Buea, South West region, where an unidentified young man ran over a woman and her two kids. According to the report, the woman and her kids died at the spot.

On January 27, exactly a month after the December incident, over 37 people died at Ndikinimeki. In Dschang-Santchou road, about 53 people were reported dead and 27 others were critically injured.

Government’s negligence

Talking about the case of Ndikinimeki eyewitnesses blamed the accident on poor states of road. One of them also said that there was no speed break before the small bridge where the incident occurred.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transport should make sure that dangerous zones like bridges are cleared. Along with this, roadsigns must be boldly written indicating dangerous zones like bridges, hills, etc and speed breakers should also be put wherever necessary.

According to state media (CRTV), the small truck that collided with the Menoua Voyage 70 seater bus at the Dschang-Santchou road carried illicit fuel, which exploded and caused the fire.

Is the illicit fuel is being transported on this road on daily basis? If yes, then what about the Police, Gendarmes, Foresters, and Customs Officers who are patrolling on the road? Are they part of the trafficking network?

Read Also: An Initiative To Help Road-Accident Victims

Roles and responsibilities of a Driver

The fact that the truck driver parked on the wrong side at Ndikinimeki can be considered as the immediate cause of the accident. A driver who drives on the Yaounde-Douala highway for over a year should know all the dangerous zones and try to always slow down.

They should avoid speeding which may cause accidents. The case at the Dschang-Santchou road has been partly blamed on over speeding.

On December 27, a woman and her 3 kids were crushed to death in Buea. According to the reports, the driver of the vehicle was under the influence of alcohol while driving. Drivers should also respect their professional codes and stop transporting contraband goods.

In the Dschang-Santchou case, there were around 80 people on the bus. It is clear that the 70 seater bus had more than 70 persons on board. This incident also raises the issue of overloading in interurban transport buses in Cameroon.

24-Year-Old Barber To Give 50 Less Privileged Free Barbering Training in Cameroon

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24-Year-Old Barber To Give 50 Less Privileged Free Barbering Training in Cameroon

AFRICA. Cameroon. A famous barber in Buea, South West region of Cameroon has launched a project under which he will give 50 less privileged people free barbering training.

Ekie Walters Ngalle, 24, said he’s open to training anyone despite their tribe, especially those within the two English speaking regions of the country who have been affected by the crisis for the past four years.

The crisis started in 2016, with the two English speaking regions trying to separate from the other eight regions, after complaining of marginalization.

Ngalle, is offering the privilege especially to women to join the training for a period of six months and above, which will commence on December 12.

One of his motives is to uplift some of the children that are highly affected by the crisis. “The poverty rate in Cameroon is fast rising due to the crisis, families are losing property and more children are becoming orphans,” Walters said in an interview with Transcontinental Times.

Ngalle through an analogy, captures back when he was a little child selling watermelon in Limbe, a city in his country, and how he was picked from the streets, as a watermelon seller and made a professional barber.

“As a child growing up in Limbe we had to survive on our own. I started my barbering career on the streets. I was selling watermelons and had a customer who was a barber called Louis Mario who has moved to the United States. I once begged him 500CFA and he said ‘Brother, I can’t give you money because giving you money won’t help you. Instead, I will teach you how to get this money.'”

“He took me off the street and introduced me to barbering,” Ngalle told Transcontinental Times.

Ngalle said the only way he can pay back is by training those who are struggling to make it in life, just like him, a couple of years ago. “So, as a barber, I think the best way to give back is to give my services and pass on my skills to them for free. I don’t have millions to give them but I think if I can teach them handwork, it will better their future just like what my friend did for me,” he added.

The man is not just going to teach them how to give a hair cut, but will also educate them about health and other risks when using sharp objects while barbering.

For the past five months, Ngalle has been moving around the towns of Yaounde, Limbe, Mutengene, Buea Bamenda, Mamfe, and many other places offering free haircuts to internally displaced people, less privileged and handicaps.

If you want to send your child to obtain training or wish to support the initiative, you can contact Ngalle and his team on:+237673594931/+237655673417.

26-Year-Old Turns Waste Into Cooking Gas

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26-Year-Old Turns Waste Into Cooking Gas

CAMEROON.Bamenda. Chia Basil Ambang is a 26-year-old engineer from Bamenda, Cameroon. In 2017, he started his research in biogas production by converting plastics to diesel. Now, he has successfully produced biogas using human wastes, cow dung, and kitchen wastes.

Chia Basil is still an Advance level holder in sciences. He dived into the field back in 2015, when the government of Cameroon introduced electronics, environmental and energy resources in Physics.

The young inventor who already manufactured three bottles of biogas so far said, “They are still functioning properly, we use them in our house and I haven’t sold any of them yet.”

Basil says he uses cow dung, human feces, pipes, biogas plate, and a digester to build complete and sustainable biogas for household use.

The Cameroon engineer is now looking forward to building biogas in the household that would be directly connected to the toilet. “For sustainable biogas set up for a household, one might have to spend about 200 thousand FCFA. All I need for my setup is a digester, gas analyzer, and a biogas electric generator,” Basil added.

Basil, who can also successfully transform plastic waste into diesel, pavements, or ruffing sheets is seeking support from everyone who can help him realize his projects. He says, “most of my work needs high machinery and it requires a laboratory for testing.”

The environmentalist and engineer wants to see Cameroon as the greenest country in Africa. “We have all the resources, we just need to put everything together and develop our country. We can make Cameroon the greenest country in Africa or may be in the world”, said Basil.

Chia Basil has begun training youth and many others who are willing to learn the production process. He is also willing to sale some of his work at affordable prices.

Chia Basil lives in the country’s capital, Yaounde. He has opened a small workshop and is gradually moving on with his activities.

Military Crack Down On Protest Against Dictatorship

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Military Crack Down On Protest Against Dictatorship

CAMEROON. Cameroonians took to the streets on 22 September protesting against bad governance and dictatorship in the country.

With the announcement of regional elections planned for 6 December across the country, the leader of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MRC) political party, Professor Maurice Kamto, announced that his party won’t take part in the elections and will protest on 22 September.

In February 2020, the party boycotted the municipal and legislative elections, forcing the government to put an end to the Anglophone crisis in the two English speaking regions of the country.

History of 22 September

22 September is a very remarkable day for Cameroonians, especially the two English speaking regions of the country. On 22 September 2017, inhabitants of the North West and South West regions of Cameroon (the two English speaking regions) marched with peace plants demanding for freedom and separation from the other eight French-speaking regions.

Since the escalation of Cameroon’s Anglophone crisis in 2016, there has been unrest in the two regions which has led to the death of many people due to government forces and separatist fighters. This has been a major cause of the protests in Cameroon which seek to overthrow President Paul Biya and the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) political party which has ruled the country for over 38 years.

Protests across Cameroon

Earlier in the day, youth were led by the Secretary General of the Popular Action Party (PAP), Fabrice Lena, in the streets of the nation’s capital, Yaounde. They marched and chanted slogans such as “We must change Cameroon, you will get tired of killing us.”

In Douala, Cameroons economic capital and the most populated area of the country, protesters clashed with security officials as tear gas and water cannons were fired at the protesters.

Most of the protesters were students, motorbike riders, and taxi drivers who say they are suffering due to government actions.

In Baham, a town in the West region of Cameroon, protesters chanted as they matched, carrying banners and posters bearing sayings like “Enough is enough, no to civil war, yes to ceasefire, yes to a true national dialogue.”

Military crack down and arrests

Since 18 September, major cities and towns in Cameroon were militarised. Armed police and gendarme officers were spotted with armored cars and trucks ready to arrest protesters.

Professor Maurice Kamto, who announced the protest, was put under house arrest and security forces were stationed at his residence in Yaounde in order not to keep him from protesting.

More than a dozen protesters were roughly handled in Douala by security officials. Some were shot and have bullet wounds while others were beaten nearly to death and ended up in the hospital.

In Yaounde, journalist Lindovi Ndjio, was arrested for questioning by security forces as he stepped out to gather information about the protest. A similar incident occurred in Douala where two journalists, Tai Javis and Tebong Christian, were arrested while on coverage.

Reactions from officials

The government banned public gatherings, stating that it was not advisable to gather in large groups during COVID-19.

On 21 September, Rene Emmanuel Sadi, Cameroons Minister of Communication, cautioned the population to stay away from the protests in a press release where he said that the protests aimed to tarnish the image of the country.

Included in the press release was this statement, “I want to say here that, for the Government of the Republic, the announced unauthorized march of September 22, 2020 is actually just another attempt to defy public authorities, to undermine public order, and the desperate expression of a will to exist or to survive, of a sinking political party, victim of both its contradictions and its misguidance.”

Individual’s reactions

Some motorbike riders in the cities of Yaounde, Douala, Maroua, and Bafoussam who support the government, marched on the streets before 22 September denouncing the CRM’s call to protest.

Read also: Two Key Protesters Arrested, Released On Bail While 31 More Are Targeted

Others such as a biker interviewed by Transcontinental Times, do not want to involve themselves in any protests, “I am not a politician and I don’t see why I should involve myself into political issues by marching on the streets.”

While some protest, some protest the call to protest, and others do not wish to be involved, Jean François, a journalist with Le Messager newspaper, said “We must resist the corruption of the power elite, the brutality of the corrupt elite, we must resist.”

Cameroonian Student Builds Free Learning App

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Cameroonian Student Builds Free Learning App

CAMEROON. Bamenda. 18 year old, Mbah Javis, has developed an app for learning (The Network) where students can have access to free educational materials, and can learn, share ideas, and connect with entrepreneurs around the world. Users can as well link their Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts to the platform so that other users can also connect with them, The Network is fast, easy, open for sharing ideas and learning.

The upper sixth student says the ongoing crisis sparked the idea. “I saw so many youths who were not going to school, so I decided to build a place where students could learn and share ideas.”

Javis, like many others students from the North West and South West regions of Cameroon, has also suffered from the crisis. ” I wanted to provide free education to all those who have not been going to school in digital format.”

The young inventor says he started teaching himself computer programming in 2018, and his interest was to see Africa go digital.

The Network app provides educational questions for sharing in and out of the platform, provides a place where students connect, and keeps its users updated with current news.
Apart from the Learning aspects, Javis says his app also have sites for fun. “Learning without fun is boring so we have an entertainment tag for its users to share fun stuff with each other”

The Network is Javis’s first application on play store and more will be coming up as time passes. However, lack of resources, working machines, and payment for hosting sites has been Javis’s major challenges. “So far the only support I have gotten is encouraging words from family members and friends.
People pay me to make websites for them, and I make some for free depending on how much time it will cost me to build it.”
While Mbah Javis is pleading to the government to help realize his dreams and talents, he equally begs Cameroonian youth to be creative and don’t depend on the government alone.

“We should stay away from illegal and fraudulent activities like scamming because such things paint a bad image of our country and Africa to the world.”


Former Director of Vision 4 TV Arrested in Cameroon

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Former Director of Vision 4 TV Arrested in Cameroon

CAMEROON, Yaounde. Journalist and former director Ernest Obama was brutalized upon arrest, the cause of which has yet to be fully established. However, it is alleged that it has something to do with mismanagement of funds at the “Anecdote Group”, during his reign as Director of Vision 4 Television. He was picked up early morning on 18 June by security forces in Yaoundé, the country’s capital.

While waiting to be questioned, the journalist is presently in detention at the Yaounde Central Prison SED. Ernest Nana Obama Dieudonne is known for hate speech and his hatred towards Anglophones in Cameroon, which was present in his journalism career. He supported the government and even proposed that Anglophones be subjected to thorough house-to-house checks and massive interrogations.

On 20 December 2017, the National Communication Council suspended him for two months for unprofessionalism. He was also attacked by agents of La Brigade Anti-Sardinard (a movement that is against the current regime of Cameroon), in Paris France back in February 2019.

Cameroon: President Paul Biya Supports Private Education With 6.5 Billion FCFA

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Cameroon: President Paul Biya Supports Private Education With 6.5 Billion FCFA

As a measure to keep private institutions safe and relieve teachers of private institutions in the country who has been for months without salary as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Paul Biya has disbursed the sum of 6.5 billion FCFA as subvention money to encourage Private educational institutions to continue with their services.

This information is contained in a document signed on June 12 by the minister of secondary education, Professor Nalova Lyonga as she applauds the president for his kind gesture.

As we have spoken to an English Literature teacher Yaounde, Mr. Mbutuh Romanus expressed his dissatisfaction with his school authorities and said since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, he has not received even a single Franc as salary because they were not teaching.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Cameroon, life has not been easy with many of these private institution teachers in Cameroon especially those who solely depended on teaching. Many teachers have received the news of presidential subvention with mixed feelings saying they are not sure it may reach them.

In a related note, President Paul Biya on June 10 offered protective face masks to all universities, secondary and primary institutions in the country as a measure to help prevent the contraction of the virus as classes timidly resume across the country after more than two months of coronavirus break.

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