OJ SLIM MEDIA

DEAR ELECTORS, DEAR COMPATRIOTS, On February 9, 2020, barely two weeks from now, we will all go to the polls to elect the Parliamentarians of the Nation as well as Municipal Councilors for the next five-year term. In these elections, the CAMEROON PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT, as the leading party, has nominated candidates in all the legislative constituencies and in all the municipalities. It is worth noting that the CPDM is the only political party that has done so. It means that, other political parties have nominated candidates only where they think they can be victorious. It also means that these political parties are more concerned with their personal as well as partisan interests. Whatever the case, these political parties will take part in the twin elections on February 9 and thus contribute to the progress of democracy in our country. The following four major reasons can best explain why the CPDM has nominated candidates nation wide: ...

During happy moments or sad ones, grand-ma will always gather her grand children around her during full moon or by the fireside, to tell them nice stories or discuss the differences some of them might have had during the day. GIDICom is the grandmother. Women, the grand children. Their differences, the ongoing  Anglophone crisis. The effects of the Anglophone crisis has buried so much hatred and pain in the minds of many and women are not exempted from this. Such pain and hatred has been manifested online and offline in hate speeches and violent attacks. Women have sometimes been the oppressor or the oppressed. It is against this backdrop, that Global Initiative for Digital inclusion and Communication GIDICom, as part of its #Act4peace237 Campaign which is a defyhatenow initiative organized a fireside chat with women, particularly women with special abilities. Their stories have gone unreported and GIDICom felt like including these set of women around the dialogue....

          Ahmed Mefire, le major de le 37 promotion reçoit ses épaulettes des mains du Chef de l’Etat. Le lieutenant Mefire Major de la 37ème PROMOTION de L’EMIA est le fils d’une vendeuse de beignets de Foumban. Le rêve camerounais ! La cour d’honneur de la Brigade du Quartier a servi de cadre à la sortie de la 37ème promotion des élèves officiers de l’Ecole Militaire Interarmées du Cameroun « baptiser promotion Général de Division Kodji Jacob ». Le Général de Division codji Jacob pour mémoire, était le commandant de L’Opération Emergence 4, l’unité d’élite de la lutte contre Boko Haram. Il est mort tragiquement il y a quelques plus années, précisément 22 janvier 2017 des suites d’un crash d’hélicoptère dans l’Extrême-Nord du Cameroun lors d’une mission commandée. Le Président de la République, Chef suprême des forces armée, faut-il le souligner a personnellement présidé la cérémonie ce 24 janvier 2020. Mais le héros d...

Over 25 media managers and personalities coverged on the Protestant Voice Radio Yaounde conference hall to launch the CCMN Centre Regional Chapter January 16, 2020. This was done in the presence of the National Coordinator of the CCMN, Rosaline Akah Obah, the National President of the Cameroon Association of English Speaking Journalists CAMASEJ, Jude Viban, the Project Assistant of SW and Producer of CBS Radio Buea, Gemnda Emmanuel and one of the Advisory Board members, the Rev Gustav Ebai, National Coordinator of CPS, National Communication Secretary of CEPCA and Station Manager of the Protestant Voice Radio. During the launch, the Regional Coordinator CCMN Centre, Moma Sandrine, expressed immense thanks to the PCC and partners for the vision of expanding the network to other regions in the country. She also introduced the media managers to Peace journalism which is one of the key tenets of the Cameroon Community Media Network CCMN.  The National Coordinat...

I have been following with pain in my heart comments and reactions from people concerning the stabbing to deadth of a teacher by his own student. I must confess that the problem is beyond the little boy who actualized the action. Let's look at this scenario  Classrooms harbor sometimes 100+ students for one person to manage while delivering lessons Texts written and signed in air conditioned offices forbid teachers from interfering in discipline but are blamed for poor class management  Syllabuses are far from reaching the need of learners talk less of being exciting and interesting to them. Maths for example though part of our daily interactions, remains a nightmare causing tension between teachers and students.  Why will the boy not stab his teacher whose subject he didn't make a passed mark when teaching and learning in our schools is examination focused.  I almost forgot the emphasis and pressure from the almighty work coverage ...

The Southwest Northwest Women Taskforce (SNWOT) has just ended a three-day retreat that took place in Limbe, Southwest Region of Cameroon. The event that took place from January 10-12, 2019, brought together 41 members of this coalition who passionately renewed their commitment to uphold the Vision and Mission of SNWOT in 2020. It is worth noting that SNWOT as an organization has as Mission to promote the meaningful participation of Women in Peace Mediation, Conflict Resolution and Decision Making at all levels of Sustainable Peace and Development. For its Vision, SNWOT envisages a society where Inclusive and Effective participation of women in all Peace Processes and Decision Making is a whole reality. The Retreat’s activities enabled women to commune as a family and discuss issues that will foster the activities of SNWOT for 2020. The highlight of the Retreat was a bold step taken by the Coalition to engage male Peace Builders with whom they will work hand in hand ...

Executive Members of the Cameroon Community Media Network (CCMN), have developed and adopted solid strategies that will facilitate the extension of the network to different communities across the national triangle. Meeting in Yaounde, recently, the Coordinators of the six different chapters (Northwest, Southwest, Centre, Littoral, West, and Grand North), plus executive members of the National Office, brainstormed on different ways suitable for bringing peace journalism to media persons across the 10 regions of Cameroon. “Since Dec 5, 2019, that the different chapters were created, the coordinators have been busy selling the objectives of the Network to heads of Community Media, and journalists in their respective regions. During this meeting, we reviewed how much work was done already, and what needs to be done. For the later, we plan to officially launch the new chapters this January, hold pieces of training on production of peace messages, as well as non-conflict repor...

Cameroonians are not in a mood to celebrate an independence many feel is flawed because of the perceived continued dominance of France in the country. They feel that mistakes of the past have led to the crises today. Cameroonian activist Andre Blaise Essama feels his country is still a far cry from decolonization. He has been repeatedly sentenced and jailed for damaging statues that, in his view, contradict all that independence stands for. In 2016 he spent six months in prison for destroying a monument to French colonial general Leclerc. Earlier he had been sentenced to three months for knocking over the statue of the Unknown Soldier, because it was represented by a white western man. The statue's head disappeared in April of this year. The suspicion fell immediately on Essama. On the 60th anniversary of the independence of the French-speaking part of the Cameroons on January 1, 2020 the activist plans to pay another visit to L...

Silencing the guns by 2020 — that was the proclaimed goal of the African Union back in 2016. A goal which many experts believe is unattainable, especially if illegal arms trade continues to flourish.  Two mass shootings, two deaths and 17 people injured. That was the scene on the streets of Johannesburg, just an hour into the new year. Assailants shot at passers-by in front of a restaurant and in the city's Mary Fitzgerald Square. "Right now in the last 24 hours we have reached a crisis point in the gun issue," said Adele Kirsten, director of the organization Gun Free South Africa. "In South Africa, most victims of gun violence are killed in armed robberies, but this is different. It is very worrying." Like South Africa, many parts of the continent are battling with crime, insurgencies or extremism , spurned on through legal and illicit flows of weapons across is often porous borders. Read more :  Kenya bus attack: Several dead, inc...

Herman J. Cohen is the former assistant secretary of state for African affairs (1989–1993), the former U.S. ambassador to the Gambia and Senegal (1977–80), and was a member of the U.S. Foreign Service for thirty-eight years. The Council for Foreign Affairs | The violent conflict in Cameroon, still rarely discussed in Washington, is becoming increasingly dire. Both President Paul Biya’s Francophone regime in Yaounde and the Anglophone separatists in the southwest region are accused of brutal human rights abuses, including the burning of villages, attacks on schools, and the killing of men, women, and children. Despite mediation attempts by the Swiss government and sanctions by the Trump administration, there are no signs of any progress towards a negotiated settlement. In 1991, I mediated an end to a different African conflict with some striking similarities: the Eritrean war of independence, which raged for nearly three decades. Lessons from that precedent offer clues to a po...

VOA| A chartered plane from the Nigerian city of Lagos landed at Yaounde’s international airport late Tuesday with 87 Cameroonian asylum-seekers and former separatists on board. The group of mainly women and children was the first to return to Cameroon after fleeing to Nigeria to escape fighting between government troops and separatists in Cameroon’s troubled western regions. Cameroon authorities say they returned voluntarily under an agreement with Nigeria and that at least 700 asylum-seekers and rebels are expected to return before the end of February. Marie Nash, 29, fled the English-speaking southwestern town of Mamfe two years ago when fighting first broke out, but returned amid renewed talk of peace. “Because of the war, I have experienced a lot of things,” she said. “I just thank God because they want to bring peace to Cameroon, and I am very happy for that. I want everybody to come back so that we should not fight again. Let us make peace.” Among the ...

The Republic of Cameroon has been in turmoil for about three years over the agitation by the people of Southern Cameroon to become an independent state. In this chat, veteran human rights activist and lawyer, Hon. Abdul Oroh share with ONWUKA NZESHI,  some  perspectives of  the political crisis What is the update on the Cameroonian leaders deported by Nigeria? When about 12 leaders of the Southern Cameron Resistance were arrested at Nera Hotel, Alex Ekwueme Street,  Jabi,  Abuja, on January 5, 2018, I was contacted by a member of the family to file a court action to enforce their fundamental rights. Mr. Femi Falana was also contacted and we now teamed up to work together for their release.  First of all, we went to various security agencies in Abuja to identify where they were being detained, We also approached the United Nations  High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR )in Abuja.  Eventually, we got to know that they were detai...