Mobile money tax revenue above target for 2022

Revenue from the Mobile Money tax in Cameroon stood at CFA7.3 billion between February and May this year, according to data published by the Directorate General of Taxes (DGI). With no revenue collected in January, this figure makes a monthly average of CFA1.8 billion.

If this trend is maintained, the tax on money transfers will generate CFA12.77 billion over the rest of the year. Overall, the Tax Directorate will collect CFA20.07 billion for 2022, up 7 million from the initial target.  The extra revenue could be higher since, according to the manager of a Mobile Money outlet, the end-of-year holidays and the back-to-school seasons (August, September, and October) are busy times for money transfer activity.

Many schools and universities in Cameroon now allow students to pay school fees via mobile payment services. Another good point is that people, especially economic operators, resort more and more to mobile payment services to pay taxes and other levies. Official data from the Ministry of Finance show that about CFA10 billion were paid in mobile money taxes in 2021.

Although this measure seems to inflate the government’s coffers, the International Monetary Fund fears it may backfire. The tax came into effect on January 1, 2022, and equates to 0.2% of the amount transferred or withdrawn by any traceable means. These include electronic means, mobile phones, telegraphic means as well as telex or fax. Considered a new revenue stream by the Cameroonian government, this tax has raised concerns in some international financial institutions.

In a report published in March 2022, the IMF indicated that “taxing mobile money can be fiscally inequitable and hinder the current low level of financial inclusion. The poor and unbanked segments of the population, who often live in rural areas and face high transaction costs from the formal banking, are negatively affected by the measure.” Despite this warning from the IMF, the Cameroonian government said it wants to capitalize on the explosion of electronic payments in the country in recent years. The Bank of Central African States (Beac) reported in 2020 that Cameroon alone held 19.5 million of the 30.1 million mobile money accounts recorded in the CEMAC zone. This is 64.8% of the total, three times more accounts than in Congo (7.1 million) and almost 10 times more than in Gabon (2.7 million), during the same year.

"By the number of transactions, payment service providers in Cameroon carry out 73.13% of the community's overall," the Beac said.

Courtesy: CBM

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Afriland First Bank CD shaken by internal conflicts fueled by malpractice accusations

For about a year now, Afriland First Bank CD - 95.6% owned by Afriland First Group- is ripped apart by internal conflicts. The bank’s majority shareholder accuses the former managing director and one of the minority shareholders -who died in circumstances deemed unclear by his supporters- of financial malpractice. The minority shareholders, on the other hand, accuse the majority shareholder of collecting “undue" dividends and robbing the DR Congo subsidiary through technical assistance contracts. The conflict has now taken on a political and legal dimension. Business in Cameroon looks into the case.

Since June 20, 2022, Afriland First Bank CD, the DRC subsidiary of Afriland First Group (AFG), is under provisional administration. The change of administration was notified to the public through a notice signed the same day by  Marie-France Malangu Kabedi Mbuyi, Governor of the Central Bank of the Congo (BCC).

The document signed by this Congolese economist, who is well known in Cameroon for having served as the IMF's resident representative, immediately appointed the seven members who make up the provisional management committee of this credit institution, which is 95.6% owned by AFG.

The decision comes just a few days after the Congolese Council of Ministers held on June 3, 2022. During this meeting, finance Nicolas Kazadi, who is also chairman of the Financial Stability Board, stressed “the urgent need for the central bank to resolve the challenges being faced by Afriland First Bank CD, in a strict application of the national banking law.” 

The shady game by the Congolese state

According to Afriland First Group, BCC is not being fair with its decision, which is the culmination of a dispute between Afriland First Bank CD’s management and shareholders since mid-2021. "Since July 1, 2021, the bank has slipped out of shareholders [ed. note: majority shareholders notably] and directors’ control.  It fell entirely in the hands of former CEO, Patrick Kafindo Zongwe [ed. note: his name appears in some documents as a minority shareholder] and the central bank’s supervisors.  On multiple occasions, the shareholders [ed. note: majority shareholders mainly] denounced and alerted relevant authorities on this situation which was paving the way to abuses, therefore harming public interest,” AFG informs in a June 3, 2022, release accessed by Business in Cameroon.  

In the same document explaining the origin of the crisis that led to the June 20, 2022, decision, AFG also pointed an accusing finger at the Congolese government. “The decisions issued during the January 21, 2022, board meeting reorganizing the bank and appointing new managers were surprisingly suspended by the  State Council despite the central bank taking note of those decisions. This situation paralyzes the bank, which for months now has no management or supervisory body (...), leaving the banking institution in the hands of the former MD and his supporters,” it wrote.  

Indications of financial malpractice

All the causes of the crisis shaking Afriland First Bank CD are not known yet. But, in its June 3 release, AFG indicated that as of June 30, 2021, the bank was in good financial standing “with Tier 1 capital of  $48.4 million (more than CFA30 billion), and was compliant with all the prudential ratios.” The crisis got worse from July 1. 2021, we learn. “When alerted by the auditor of possible financial malpractices with supporting evidence, the Chairman of the Board of Directors suspended the CEO (Ed.note: Cameroonian Souaibou Abary at the time) for further review, in line with the statutory provisions.”

But the Central Bank of Congo vetoed this decision and Souaibou Abary resumed his position the following day. It then withdrew the chairman of the board’s approval. Between July and November 2021, it did the same for all the remaining board members. In the meantime, the Board of Directors of January 2022 took place and a new management team was appointed. However, these appointments and other decisions, which had been approved by the Central Bank of Congo, were subsequently invalidated by the State Council.

The crisis was escalated by the bank’s former Deputy MD, who (according to documents seen by Business in Cameroon, became the acting CEO although we have no proof of his appointment to that post after the death of Souaibou Abary who died in circumstances deemed unclear and criminal by minority shareholders in a memo they sent to BCC’s Governor.  

A controversial legal battle

As acting CEO, Patrick Kafindo Zongwe, who is accused by Afriland First Group of waging "an administrative and politico-judicial war," asked the Kinshasa commercial court to appoint a provisional administrator on April 13, 2022. The provisional manager was supposed to temporarily manage the bank and proceed with an evaluation of the shareholders' capital, the appointment of a general manager, new directors, and the replacement of a deceased partner. But, although the Court had considered the request of the acting CEO admissible, during its hearing on April 22, 2022, it instead directly appointed two "ad hoc administrators" in the persons of Ide Bopilo Walo and Foko Lumengu.

Appointed for six months, the two ad hoc administrators have the following duties: audit the management, accounts, and assets of the bank; evaluate the debts and claims; convene an extraordinary general meeting to prepare the takeover of the bank by the managers who will be designated by the shareholders. But, against all expectations, Patrick Kafindo Zongwe, on April 29, 2022, appealed the decision and asked for its cancelation, on the one hand, and the appointment of new representatives of the bank, on the other hand.

Curiously, the court once again granted the request and appointed new representatives to head Afriland First Bank DR Congo. Subsequently, Ide Bopilo Walo, the ad hoc administrator appointed in the first place by the court, referred the matter to the same court which, on May 3, 2022, admitted to having been misled by Patrick Kafindo Zongwe. The latter was therefore denied the right to act on behalf of the bank, while the status of the two ad hoc administrators was confirmed. 

However, “the court decision was not enforced. Ide Bopilo and Lionel Foko were unable to assume their ad hoc administrative duties. They were prevented from doing so by law enforcement agents deployed by Patrick Kafindo. Following that episode, they never returned to the bank,” an internal Afriland First Group source told us. In addition, the decision issued by the central bank on June 20, 2022, to put Afriland First Bank CD under provisional administration stripped the ad hoc administrators of their duties even before the end of their 6-month mandate.  This situation could well lead to a new twist.  

Afriland First Group was accused of defrauding its Congolese subsidiary

For Afriland First Group, one of the main instigators of the crisis is Patrick Kafindo Zongwe. In a memo sent on June 3, 2022, to the governor of the central bank of the Congo, Patrick Kafindo Zongwe revealed several grievances made to Afriland First Group and its promoter, the Cameroonian Paul K. Fokam. Patrick formed a collective of minority shareholders with three other shareholders (including the wife of late MD Souaibou Abary).

First, the boss of Afriland First Group is accused of using technical assistance contracts signed between Afriland First Bank CD and companies affiliated with its parent company (including Afriland First Group Management), as a tool to illegally enrich Paul K. Fokam. The collective of minority shareholders cited two contracts still valid, signed in 2009 and 2015, and which allow Afriland First Group Management to receive as remuneration, respectively 10% and at least 2% of turnover (not profit) achieved annually by the Congolese subsidiary.

The collective claimed that “this technique of illegal enrichment has caused the bank to lose about $15 million (nearly CFA95 billion), excluding the effects of taxation..."

“As if much harm was not done yet, the payments are made in the form of installments, even before the annual-tax turnover are generated,” the minority shareholders wrote. As proof of the installment payments, they attached March and December 2019 payment invoices. 

Furthermore, the majority shareholder of Afriland First Bank DR Congo is accused of "collecting undue dividends" between 2009 and 2018, because, between that period, he did not pay the amount of the shares he subscribed to in 2009 when the subsidiary’s capital was increased. 

Finally, to prove that the promoter of Afriland First Group is accustomed to conflicts, the minority shareholders mentioned his once tense relationship with the regulator of the banking sector in Central Africa (Cobac). They also mentioned his suspension in 2019 from the post of chairman of the board of directors of his insurance company, as well as his recent exit from E. Guinea, which led to the transfer of his assets in CCEI Bank Equatorial Guinea to the state.

Shaken by internal conflicts?       

The situation suggests that Paul Kammogne Fokam's banking company is going through a turbulent period. In less than two years, the banking group has exited one of its subsidiaries (CCEI Bank Equatorial Guinea) and launched procedures for the voluntary liquidation of two of its subsidiaries. 

In Uganda, the group justified the voluntary liquidation process, after only two years of activities, by its strategic orientations. In Equatorial Guinea, the sale of assets worth CFA30 billion was the result of a breach of trust with President Obiang Nguéma Mbasogo, who had noted a lack of "transparency in transfers between CCEI Bank and the Cameroonian subsidiary.

Courtesy : CBM

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Ntumbow violates NW Gov's order in Mbawrong

Newly constructed house in violation of government order

It is foolhardy for a community to go against the instruction of the administration.Ntumbow people are reported to have continually carry out construction works and illegal harvesting of crops belonging to Njirong villagers in the disputed Mbawrong land, against the instructions of the northwest governor.

Mosque constructed after the visit of NW Inspector General in violation of his instructions.

A new foundation on going

The Inspector General of the Northwest Regional Governor's office , representing the governor in an official visit to the Mbawrong on the 31 May 2022, suspended all construction works and illegal exploitation of crops in the disputed area until a final decision as to who owns the land is arrived at. He warned  against further attacks and obstruction of Mbawrong people from    going to church, farms , markets etc. "there should be no construction of houses, no distribution of land to people for farming or construction". He said. 

Another new foundation . Errection of walls soon to start.

You will face the heavy arm of the law if you go against the administrative orders.’ He warned.

The injunction order came shortly after visiting and    accessing the houses and farm lands destroyed by Ntuwmbow villagers.  About  two hundred houses have been reduced to durst, rendering hundreds of people homeless. 

Moulding of block cement to start another construction

Victims have fled to Bankim Sub Division in Adamawa and   Maghba sub division in the West region, Those without relatives out of the village are compelled to squeeze in tinny rooms with friends and relatives. 

Appalled by the barbarism and the havoc wrecked on Njirong villagers, the SDO for Donga 

Inspector General in white trouser  Mbawrong flanked by SDO the fon of Njirong ,the subchief of mbawrong bare body

Mantung Division, Nkwenti Simon Ndoh said “it is Satanic to kill your own brother , destroy crops and burn down house, no matter the degree of problem you have with him”. He lamented that Santan has invaded the land and dehumanizing his people. On this note, he warned that anybody who dare attack anyone or go against the 

administrative decision, will face the wrath of the law. “ 

Subchief Fai Kuh of Mbawrong

 On the ground ,was the fon of   Ntuwmbow  who promised to abide by the law, explaining that  “ we come  here  to farm in peace  and feed our families and not to look for problems with Njirong and  any of my subjects who goes against the law ,   will be doing so at his or her  expense, as I will not stand by him or her”, He warned.  On his part, the fon, of Njirong craved for justice to enable his people regain their farms ,carry out their economic and social  activities  unperturbed by  the aggressive Ntumbow .

Inspector General visiting destroyed homes

 Surprisingly, nothing has changed on the ground as Ntuwbow people are still building houses and harvesting crops belonging to the Njirong. The worst of it is harvesting of palm nodes from the Palm plantation of the Fon of Njirong.   Ntumbow people are said to have  constructed a Mosque and two other houses while the foundation of yet another house on going with sun dry and blocks cement stolen  from destroyed houses belonging to Njirong villagers. 

"They are removing our  blocks, planks  and roofing sheets from our abandoned houses  to build their makeshift  houses".  One Alfred Mbanji lamented. The Sub chief of  Fai Kuh  has also confirmed that  Ntumbow people have continued with their illegal construction   and farming against the instructions of the  Inspector General of the Northwest Governor’s office.

 The population of Mbawrong is perplex and questioning if Ntuwmbow has become invisible and above the state of Cameroon. The inversion of Njirong by Ntumbow has been likened to Russian babric inversion of Ukraine.  The population is reportedly  waiting for the reaction of the administration, following the flagrant disrespect of the governor of the region.

 By Amadou Sanda in  Maghba 

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World Order: why Africa will continue to a poor continent

Do you know why the African elite, African wealth and African heads of state are at the service of the West? 

   Do you know why apartheid, colonization, neocolonialism or even Françafrique existed?

   Do you wonder why Africa is poor when the  continent is full of so much wealth? 

    Have you ever wondered why the black continent only know despots who squander without qualms the public funds that they deposit in the Western Banks ?

     Do you know why African nationalists (Lumumba, Sankara, Edouardo Mondlane or Amilcar Cabral) were assassinated? 

   Do you know why  Africans  are gagged or why do the Western "democrats" support dictatorship and spread the red carpet to welcome them with pomp the potentates ?

To all these questions, the Franco-Ivorian Mireille Saki found the answer at the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium. She discovered there is  an unpublished document long kept secret: The Charter of Imperialism. In this protocol of 28 articles is the macabre plan which maintains  Africa  in misery and which submits Africa in bondage.

“This charter was drawn up in Washington during the slave trade, then discreetly negotiated at the Berlin Conference in 1885 while the Western powers were dividing up Africa; secretly renegotiated in Yalta when the world was divided into two blocks after the Second World War and during the creation of the League of Nations, the ancestor of the UN.

The ills from which Africa suffers are not the result of chance. They have been planned for centuries. The African who we wondered if he had a soul is on a drip by the will of the masters of the world.

Mireille Saki gutted the boa by publishing this exclusive document in her book entitled

THE CHARTER OF IMPERIALISM:

A CHARTER OF SERVITUDE, AFRICA STILL DOMINATED IN CAMERA.

Samuel Malonga

FOLLOW...

THE CHARTER OF IMPERIALISM*

GENERAL PROVISION

Item 1

Of the Motto: – MOTTO OF IMPERIALISM: To govern the world and control the wealth of the planet; Our policy is to divide and conquer, dominate, exploit and plunder to fill our banks and make them the most powerful in the world.

Item 2

No Third World country is a sovereign and independent state.

Item 3

All power in Third World countries emanates from us, who exercise it through pressure on the leaders who are only our puppets. No body in the Third World can assume the exercise of it.

Item 4

All Third World countries are divisible and their borders movable according to our will. Respect for territorial integrity does not exist for the Third World.

Item 5

All dictators must put their fortunes in our banks for the security of our interests. This fortune will be used for donations and credits granted by us as assistance and development aid to Third World countries.

II. OF THE POLITICAL REGIME

Item 6

All power and government established by us is legal, legitimate and democratic. But any other power or government that does not emanate from us is illegal, illegitimate and dictatorial, whatever its form and legitimacy.

Item 7

Any power that opposes the slightest resistance to our injunctions thereby loses its legality, its legitimacy and its credibility. He must disappear.

III. TREATIES AND AGREEMENTS

Item 8

We do not negotiate agreements and contracts with Third World countries, we impose what we want on them and they submit to our will.

Item 9

Any agreement concluded with another country or negotiation without our endorsement is null and void.

IV. FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS

Item 10

Where there are our interests, third world countries have no rights, in southern countries, our interests come before the law and international law.

Section 11

Freedom of expression, freedom of association and human rights only have meaning in the country where the rulers oppose our will.

Item 12

The peoples of the Third World have no opinion or right, they submit to our law and our right.

Item 13

Third world countries have neither culture nor civilization without referring to Western civilization.

Item 14

We are not talking about genocide, massacres, war crimes or crimes against humanity in countries where our interests are guaranteed. Even if the number of victims is very important.

V. PUBLIC FINANCES

Item 15

In third world countries, no one has the right to put in their banks more than a ceiling of money set by us. When the fortune exceeds the ceiling, it is deposited in one of our banks so that the profits return in the form of loans or economic aid for development in cash or in kind.

Item 16

Only countries whose leaders show total submission to us, our puppets and our servants, will be entitled to the aforementioned aid.

Section 17

Our aid must be accompanied by strong recommendations likely to prevent and disrupt any development action by Third World countries.

VI. MILITARY TREATIES

Item 18

Our armies must always be stronger and more powerful than the armies of Third World countries. Limiting and prohibiting weapons of mass destruction does not concern us, but others.

Section 19

Our armies must help each other and unite in war against the army of a weak country to display our supremacy and be feared by third world countries.

Item 20

Any military intervention aims to protect our interests and those of our servants.

Section 21

Any evacuation operation of nationals of Western countries hides our real mission, that of protecting our interests and those of our valets.

VII. INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS

Section 22

The UN is our instrument, we must use it against our enemies and third world countries to protect our interests.

Section 23

Our objective is to destabilize and destroy the regimes that are hostile to us and install our puppets under the protection of our soldiers under the cover of the mandates of the UN forces.

Item 24

UN Resolutions are texts that give us the right and the means to strike, kill and destroy countries whose leaders and peoples refuse to submit to our injunctions under the cover of Security Council Resolutions of the UN.

Item 25

Our duty is to maintain Africa and other countries of the world in underdevelopment, misery, division, wars, chaos in order to dominate them, exploit them and plunder them through the United Nations Missions .

Section 26

Our rule of thumb is the physical liquidation of Third World nationalist leaders and leaders.

Section 27

The laws, resolutions, courts and tribunals of the United Nations are our instruments of pressure against the rulers and leaders of countries who defend the interests of their peoples.

Section 28

Leaders of Western powers cannot be prosecuted, arrested or imprisoned by UN courts and tribunals, even if they commit war crimes, genocide or crimes against humanity.

It is edifying this Royal Museum of Central Africa of Tervuren in Brussels in Belgium. It is a living witness to the slave trade  by white settlers. 

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Redeemer Baptist Church/CBC Saga: All 'in God's Name'

                     Rev Sam Jato

In ancient times, and even today, the paramount King of the Kom Kingdom would often send a message to a particular village or another Kingdom through a messanger, referred to in Komland as 'ntumfoyn'. When the messanger or 'ntunfoyn' appears in that particular village or another Kingdom with the royal spear, he is considered and treated in much the same way a fon would. 

At the moment the 'ntumfoyn' or messager is about delivering the message, all bona fide komnians are expected to maintain dead silence while the Fon's message is delivered. Sometimes the main messager simply holds the royal spear, symbol of Fon's presence, while another member of entourage does the talking, (since by Kom tradition the King doesn't talk directly to commons). By the time the message is being delivered, the messager is having the authority of the Fon. He therefore speaks in the name of the Fon of Kom.

In the Roman Empire, the King's letter would have a wax seal on it, and unto this seal, the King would have pressed his stamp (literarily a stamp of authority). This would tell the people that the messager had, indeed, come in the will and authority of the king. 

The same therefore, is supposed to hold true for those who have been entrusted the authority on earth to speak on behalf of God's people. If someone truly is doing something 'in God's name', then that means that it is according to God's will and by His authority. 

Last week, the Leadership of the Cameroon Baptist Convention, the CBC, under Rev.Dr. Nditemeh Charlemange,   went into open confrontation with the Pastor of the Redeemer Baptist Church, Mile III, Nkwen-Bamenda, Rev. Sam Jato, over the ownership of that Church. The misunderstanding have been brewing underground since 2004. Rev. Dr. Nditemeh Charlemange, who is new Executive President of the CBC, is having stiff and open resistance from an ordained CBC Pastor, Rev. Sam Jato, who swears on his honour, and 'in the name of God', that Mile III Redeemer Baptist Church, RBC, is not the property of the Cameroon Baptist Convention, CBC. 

Equally armed with documentation in his keeping that was handed over by his predecessors, Rev. Dr. Charlemange swears 'in God's name' and on his honour too, that NETS-the American missionaries who funded the Redeemer Baptist Church from scratch to finish-confirms RBC is CBC property. This saga comes to add to the Belo Field crisis that led to the breakaway of some christians of Kom extraction from mainstream CBC and the brewing Coastal conflict over the overbearing grassfield dominance of CBC leadership.

The millions of Christians who rely on the two men of God for their faith have, since the outbreak of this one-too-many conflicts, been having challenging times deciphering which of the two 'truths' is a lie. 

Although in Shakespeare's play: 'Macbeth', 'Two truths are told as happy prologues to the swelling acts of the imperial throne', and although it didn't take long for Macbeth to become Thane of Cawdor and later, King after murdering Duncan; the truths in the saga between the 'body of Christ', represented by the CBC, and that represented by RBC, are more complex than those in the famous riddle in Jennifer Connelly's movie, the 'Labyrinth', about the doors to Heaven and Hell. 

Like in David Yallop's book: 'In God's Name', the Redeemer Baptist Church/CBC saga beautifully illustrates the paradox of political institutions of religion versus the spiritual faith. Only that unlike the dreaded Muteff village deity of the Grand Order of Natang Yoh (juju) that is quick to anger and slow to forgive, God on the contrary, is slow to anger and quick to forgive. The two men of God may continue to withhold the labyrinth of which of the truths is a lie, counting on God's slowness to be angered. 

Unlike they who can afford to swear 'in the name of God' and still go about their activities peacefully (even as that is thorning society apart), devout members of the 'Natang Yoh' Grand mystical Order, dare not swear by Natang Yoh in vain. That explains why in that Muteff village (in Fundong Subdivision, Boyo Division of the North West Region of Cameroon), seat of the mystical Order; people prefer swearing by God to daring Natang Yoh. Here, if one swears in vain by Natang Yoh, (Ma nghvu natang), not even repentance and 'I am sorry' can enable you to get a refund of your one-way ticket to the world beyond.

Although the evidence of the matter is hard to ignore, the purpose of this write-up is not to point to where the truth of the matter is. That's the exclusive domain of the two men of God as they have been trained and immersed in the word of God to speak truth. In doing that, they must be reminded of late Cardinal Tumi's inuagural discourse at the inception of the Catholic University here in Bamenda, that: 'Truth is not a concept or a thing. Truth is a person'. He might have come to that conclusion based on Jesus' statement that He was 'the light, the way and the truth'.

The main purpose of my inkling is to ask the hard questions on purpose: Why the very men of God who, since the outbreak of the current deadly and escalating Anglophone conflict, have been faulting Government for not bending-over- backwards, and in humility, to resolve the Anglophone conflict, find difficulty resolving a minute, in-house, over-a-prayer misunderstanding

How comes those who have, over the years, admonished us to favour peace and reconciliation, meekness and 'sarcedoseness' by storing-up all our treasures in Heaven, are today storing theirs on earth? This, to the extent that the quarrel over RBC has been reduced to property and money, call it 27%? 

How comes the 'body of Christ' that has over the years castigated our corrupt political leadership and its judicial system, is fast in rushing cap-in-hand, to the same source to help it decipher which of the two truths is a lie? And what does the Bible they preach 'in and out of season', say about going to court? Although motive does not equal guilt, yet,  in the ongoing RBC/CBC saga, it does help make the theory of Church leaders fixing their eyes on earthly things plausible.

Beyond who is 'right' or 'wrong' in the ongoing saga, and also the near-possibility that both may be right and NETS instead the intriguing factor; God might have allowed it to happen for a purpose. And the purpose?: James 1:22. The challenge of practising what one preaches.

At a minimum, the saga is deeply disturbing for anyone who still believes that religious organizations exist purely to set humanity's moral compass. If only a small percentage of the two versions of the story is true, then the Church and the world have much to fear, for God appears too far from home.

The revelation that the said Rev. Sam Jato of RBC established both the land title and 'Deed of Conveyance' over the Church and parsonage in his personal name rather than that of the CBC, reflects the situation in Milton's 'Paradise Lost', where Satan claims to be exposing 'the hypocrisy of God'. Jato might have judged that it was hypocritical to claim that CBC property was for the commonwealth, when indeed, few individuals were enriching themselves from it at the expense of the collective. Rather than remaining under the CBC thereby 'serving in Heaven', he decided to 'reign in hell', even though Satan might be unwelcoming to him for fear he may take over.

Rev. Dr. Nditemeh Charlemange has been quick to refer to Sam Jato as a 'rebellious' Pastor, almost casting him to hell, as God does in Paradise Lost.  Although God assigns a new role to Satan,the fallen angel-that of tormenting those who disobey him and end up in hell- Rev. Dr. Nditemeh Charlemange ends his letter to christian faithfuls on this matter by wishing Rev. Sam Jato, like the Prodigal Son, changes his mind and return to the CBC fold. Intriguingly, the Executive President is categorical that Sam Jato's return cannot be on his own terms, but on those of the CBC. There again, we go back to the Bible. Did the Prodigal Son return on his father's terms? 

While @TheColbertFactor, we pray the two men of God see good reason to scale back the egoes of who is right or wrong and reconcile for the Glory of God, and not of man; we remind them of Albeit Einstein's advice to the effect that: 'The significant problems we face today cannot be solved at the level that we were at when we created them'. 

Until then, we can only borrow a leaf from David Yallop's book, Deliver Us from evil.

*Colbert Gwain is digital rights activist, author, radio host, Commitment Maker at UN Generation Equality Coalition, and content creator @TheColbertFactor

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Just think of what the media landscape in Cameroon today would look like without The Colbert Factor thinking out of the box. Who would accompany you in challenging the boundaries of conventional thinking? Who would help you relive John Naisbitt's paradym's shift to the effect that: 'The new source of power is not money in the hands of a few, but information in the hands of many'?

There's no gainsaying the fact that the kind of content we create not only helps in putting the right information in the hands of many, but is also necessary for democracy. It emboldens us to uphold our freedoms and inalienable rights.

In these perilous times, a truth-seeking and informative local news organization like The Colbert Factor is essential. But,  it's not easy, cheap or profitable. The Colbert Factor is a solution-oriented, independent non-profit content creation medium. It serves as the 'first draft' for newspapers, radio and TV stations, online news outlets and blogs. We don't have ads and we are independent of corporate and government interests. 

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By Colbert Gwain

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Rwandan President orders for immediate deportation of 18 Chinese nationals for maltreating Rwandans

President Paul Kagame

Pan Africanist

AFRICAN Giant Leader, President of Rwanda General Paul Kagame has ordered for immediate deportation of 18 Chinese nationals, "the 18 investors were found guilty of mistreating Rwandan workers and grubbing land on which they operated their business". President Kagame said.

Chinese investors exploited Rwandan people and also took advantage of them by making them work abnormal hours like slaves. "Africa is for Africans. We can't be slaves in Africa. We don't tolerate the nonsense of discrimination here" General Kagame added

"Rwanda is for Africans and those who mean well for us. I am directing the 18 Chinese investors to leave Rwanda immediately and must never return back. Rwandan people must enjoy their rights in their country. Let this be a lesson to the remaining Chinese investors"

Can this happened in Cameroon?

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Vehicles circulating in NW without CEMAC number plates shall be impounded . Gov. warns.

The days ahead are glomy for vehicle owners who resorted to use either chassi numbers or some fanciful number plates in the Northwest Region for obvious reasons.

The region has for close to six months resorted to use of only chassi numbers etc, contrary to the normal CEMAC number for some obnoxious reasons.

The seperatists Fighters are alleged to have threatened attack on vehicles carrying the CEMAC number plates in the region.

A source has hinted The Vanguard that it is against this backdrop that motor owners resorted to the use of chassis numbers in the region.

This anarchy has been very common in Bamenda town. This phenomenon went viral to the extent that even people coming into Bamenda from other regions mask their Number plates, concealing the region from where the vehicle is coming. If the vehicle is coming from Yaounde, CE is masked. If it is CA, the users masks the CA. According to our source, Vehicles with CA,LT and CE - CEMAC number plates were initially their first target until of recent that they extended the band to all vehicles circulating in the region.

Viang Mekah : SG NW gov. Office

According to the circular dated June 15 and signed by the Secretary General of the NorthWest governor's office Viang Meka on behalf of the governor and addressed to all the Divisional Officers of the region, all Vehicles both Administrative and private circulating in the Northwest region must carry the CEMAC number plate. Failure to do,so the vehicle or the motor owner shall face the wrath of the law.

This decision will be another source of revenue for some uncultured state servants charge with the implimentation of the decision, at the detriment of road users. Pundits have observed.

By Chifu Edward

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NW Urban Disorder blamed on Administration

Some Cameroon Administrative authorities who are supposed to be examplaries in the application and respect of  the law are inversely the first to abuse the law for obvious reasons. This explains why there is urban disorder in some towns and cities of Cameroon.

Achombong Paul,Bamenda city mayor   who deplored the attitude has challenged mayors and the Regional Delegate of  Housing and Urban Development to stamp out the arnachy in Bamenda town.

The city mayor   was reacting to worries raised by participants at the launching of the National Sanitation campaign and "cleanest town" competition by the Regional Delegation of Housing and Urban Development at the conference Hall of the region Delegation of Secondary Education in Bamenda. 

The city mayor indicted some  of the Administrators for violation of building norms. He equally lampooned the population and Regional Delegates for promoting the disorder and poor state of Hygiene and Sanitation in Bamenda town. " When I querrelled  some of the mayors of Bamenda town for tolerating construction of houses  in restricted  areas, the response they give me is that our hands are  tied, meaning they are most often overpowered by big guns". The city mayor urged the Regional Delegate of urban development to put an end  to the anarchy at all cost. 

Ndiwum Gilbert NW Regional Delegate of Housing and Urban        Development

In same vain,worries about the wanton disposal of waste and it's management were tactfully handled the Regional Delegate of Housing and Urban Development MINHDU Ndiwum Gilbert who emphasized on the need for the population to corroborate the state in the Hygiene and sanitation program to keep our towns and cities clean.

While expressing wish for everyone to take the hygiene and sanitation as a perminent exercise both in homes and offices, he announced that his Ministry on 30th of May 2022 signed an M O U with a certain French company SETEC Energy to build a transformation plant that would manage waste in about 27 towns of Cameroon.

"This will certainly free our streets towns and cities from environmental and health hazards and uncontrollable disposal of waste". Ndiwum Gilbert expressed satisfaction while noting that during the world Habit Day (WHD) celebration in Douala on October 5th 2020,one of the principal recommendations was institutionalization of the activities of Hygiene and Sanitation in Cameroon towns and villages to ensure continual cleanliness of towns and villages on the nation.

Gilbert expressed satisfaction that the exercise has since its introduction,had produces very good results, reasons why the exercise has become an annual exercise.

He noted that the introduction of the Hygiene and Sanitation competition code name" Clean towns" have had a positive result, as local initiatives in the sphere of hygiene and sanitation have stepped up in the entire Nation. Given the general mobilisation in collaboration with village Development Organizations, etc,several linears strains gutters were clean,tons of plastic bottles and household waste were 

collected , giving our streets,villages,towns and cities a new look.

Guilbert emphasized that the main objectives of the "Clean Town" competition is to select and motivate the cleanest town and councils of the country to spur the population continually live in a clean environment.

Apart from the objectives,awaited results, methodology and mode of operations of the cleanest town, selection creterial, the Delegate gave details of the roles and 

responsibilities of both the mayor's, the Civil Society and the senior Divisional Officers who as per text, are the chairpersons of the Divisional commissions charge with the evaluation exercise.

The declaration that Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has signed a Memorandum of Understanding ( MOU) with a French Company for management of waste in Cameroon was highly appreciated by the population.

By Chifu Edward

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NW Gov. calls on population to support Hygiene and Sanitation campaign

Ndiwum Gilbert : New NW Regional Delegate of Housing and Urban Development.

The population of NorthWest Region have been exhorted to join the councils in the hygiene and sanitation campaign and competition to enable the region grasp the millions reserved for this exercise.

City mayor left SDO Mezam and Regional Delegate MINHDU

The SG of the Northwest governor's office made the clerion call at the launching of the National Campaign for Hygiene and Sanitation and competition for the cleanest town for the 2022 edition.

The nation wide hygiene and sanitation campaign was officially launched in Cameroon in the first quarter of 2000 under the instructions of President Paul Biya.

The launching campaign and sanitation is but a reaffirmation to environmental management and planning concept of the government to continually spur the population to keep their towns and cities clean.

The immediate outcome of the program was a huge success as abandoned and repulsive structures and environments  were either cleaned, refurbished or demolished. This exercise gave a new face to most towns and cities of the nation.

It is on this premise that  the Hygiene and Sanitation has been instituted in Cameroon as a blend to the United Nations Human settlement program ( UN Habit).

This year's launching was done in Bertua East Region by the Minister of Housing and Urban Development ,Celestine Ketcha on the 11 of 2022 where she urged the Regional governor's to carry out the same exercise in their various Regions.

The Regional Delegate of Housing and Urban Development,Delegate,Ndiwum Gilbert gave a detail presentation of the terms of reference, ranging from National, Regional and the Divisional level.

It was on this note that the SG challenged the Senior Divisional Officers of the region to accompany the Councils in this exercise to enable win the competition.

He also underscored the importance of the exercise to human lives, owing to environmental and health hazards of uncontrollable refuse disposal in in homes, towns and cities.

In this regard,he challenged the entire population of the region to take hygiene and sanitation as a perminent duty.

Participants to the launching were edified on environmental hazards of wanton waste disposal, management and the role of the stakeholders in environmental issues.

Mbengwei council was the lone council that won the competition Last year in the Northwest .

See selection methodology in our next edition.

By Chifu Edward

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Eto'o stern warning to the lions spark controversy

Cameroon football fans are divided over Samuel Eto,o's frank and stern warning to the Indomitable lions players who might not have satisfied him in the match with Tanzania in which the lions won by one goal.

While others have opined that it was a stitch on time , some hold that it was not his place to address the lions .

Apart the fact that he was addressing them with one hand in his pucket hiting his chest, some say, the players and the couch are paid by the Minister of Youths and Sports, meaning Eto,o merely usurped the position of the coach and the Minister.

But as president of FECAFOOT and football icon,he has the prerogative even over the couch many have opined.

All he did was in a bit to spur the players to patriotic.

It should be noted that the qualifying matches for the 2023 Afcon shows that no team wants to be last. Ethiopia trashed Egypt by 2-0, and Lisotho drew with Côte d'Ivoire.

In Tanzania, Cameroon won 1-0 against Burundi.

Samuel Eto'o Fils video address to the Lions'during the after match evaluation session, where he virtually bullied the players for poor play style is what has ignited the brouhaha.

Left hand in pocket and right hand beating his chest, he poured warnings, how he fights their fights especially for their well being, how he played for 26 years, how he regrets missing the World Cup, etc, and that he does not want them to fail where he failed. What is wrong in that? Many have questioned.

He reminded them that they should know that not all of them who are there may not play in Qatar if he is not satisfied with their performance. He is right to have warned against laxity and in unpatriotic spirit.

Before concluding, that he is ready to lay his life for the team, how Cameroon is beautiful, how he loves Cameroon. That if players do not want to come and play they should go, while those who are (back home) will play. Correct. Some of you want him to be romancing the players to encourage bad results? No one Benjamin Wufe are in a bar at Ghana street Bamenda Sunday June 12 during an argument about Etoo advise to the lion as published in newspaper and social media.

"I could not help looking at the coach, Song Bahanag, wondering if he even has a say in that team". The fact that Eto'o is always with the players, and each time he repeats the same attitude, even during training sessions will soon produce negative effects. Lies ! Were you in Songs mind? Questioned.

How ever,one Senegalese journalist condemned the attitude in one word, "arrogance".When next you see the pichichi tell him that he needs to give back respect to the coach they recruited. The players will look low on him, if Eto'o continues this way. He should have even seen off the boys at the airport back here, so that the coach should go and prove his worth.

The impression he portrayed is that he selects the players. Not good attitude for an president, who should have some dose of diplomacy. Does football need any diplomacy?

By the time I left, the brouhaha was still going on.

Most of them condemned any subversive article about Etoo stern warning to the lions

One military shot Dead by Amba Fighters in Bamenda

Gendarms officers who were on control at a bridge crossing over to Mbessi quarter mile 4 Nkwen have been attacked by Amba Fighters. 

A military and a civilian died  on spot and two others, one civilian and a military  seriously wounded. 

 The soldiers were on control at a bridge below mile 4 market Nkwen 

  Developing story.

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NW Reg.Delegate of Housing and Urban Development Urged to Step up Hygiene and Sanitation in Bamenda City

NW New Reg Delegate MINHDU Ndiwum Gilbert

One of the major challenges of the newly appointed  Northwest Regional Delegate of Housing and Urban Development , is stepping up  the hygiene and sanitation of Bamenda town.

The town is prone to  cholera due to non collection of refuse  by Bamenda city council.

Bamenda town which hitherto was renowned for hygiene and sanitation over the years, has suddenly become  very dirty  due to wanton disposal and non collection of waste by the city council.

The attack and destruction of Hysacam and Council waste collection  trucks by seperatists ,is said to responsible for the abandonment of refuse in most quaters of the City.

Addressing officials of the Regional Delegation of Housing and Urban Development  at a Regional meeting held under the auspices of the newly appointed  Regional Delegate,Ndiwum Gilbert, the SG of the North West governor's office who represented the governor, challenged the Delegate to do all in his capacity to step up the state of hygiene and sanitation of Bamenda city.

While promising to support the Delegate in  new office to enable him succeed in his dounting task, he commented that the Regional meeting was worthwhile, as it   will enable him acquaint himself with his collaborators and challenges of the Ministry in the  Region.

 This will  enable him   fine-tune his administrative machinery to meet up with the demands of users of the ministry in the region.  He said. 

The meeting which brought together all Divisional Delegates and regional heads of services took place at the conference Hall of the North West Regional Delegation of Public works on Friday June 10.

 By Chifu Edward

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