News & Analysis: Cameroon
“Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, secretary general at the president’s office, said in a statement that Biya urged Cameroonians to strictly observe government-prescribed social distancing measures during the commemoration of May 20 as well as the celebration of forthcoming religious feast days.”
“Cameroon has received a donation of 200,000 doses of Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccine, Sinopharm, after it suspended the approval of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines over safety concerns.”
“Health care workers in Cameroon say they are reluctant to take the coronavirus vaccines donated by China because they doubt the drug’s efficacy. On Sunday, 200,000 Sinopharm doses arrived in Cameroon’s capital. Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute accepted the vaccine donation on behalf of President Paul Biya at Yaounde’s international airport, in a ceremony that was broadcast live on state radio and television.”
“Mayor Tanjong Martin distributed sanitizers, soap, facemasks, wash hand buckets and other preventive gadgets. The outing was a follow up to earlier actions during which the Tubah Council undertook a massive disinfection exercise to the University community of Bambili, public institutions, some palaces and major junctions.”
“ITFC (a subsidiary of the Islamic Development Bank -IsDB) will provide $250 million (about XAF138 billion) to Cameroon every year for the acquisition of medical equipment and consumables as well as the importation of commodities in strategic sectors like mining and energy.”
“Across the region, the devastating impact of armed conflict in countries such as Ethiopia, Mozambique, Cameroon, and Nigeria, was compounded by the pandemic as a number of states weaponized it to crack down on human rights. The crackdowns included killings of civilians and arrests of opposition politicians and supporters and human rights defenders and activists in countries such as Angola, Guinea, and Uganda.”
“Alim Garga Hayatou, Secretary of State in the Cameroon Ministry of Public Health in charge of epidemics and pandemics, died in a hospital in the capital, Yaoundé on Monday, the Prime Minister’s office announced in a statement.”
“According to a note signed by the regional authority Monday April 5, the decision to suspend funeral ceremonies has as objective to curb the spread of the deadly Coronavirus pandemic at a time when the country is witnessing a resurgence of the virus.”
“An in-depth analysis of Cameroon, Ecuador, Egypt and Nigeria and found mixed results in meeting the IMF’s transparency commitments. There remained inconsistencies in the types of measures to which governments committed, their implementation, and the role of the IMF in ensuring compliance. The transparency commitments in the emergency loans spurred all four governments to produce information about their spending and contracts that they would have otherwise not published. However, the amount, accessibility, and quality of the disclosed information varied widely and was inadequate for meaningful oversight for any of the four countries.”
“Prisoners in Cameroon’s overcrowded prisons are protesting what they say is neglect in prison centers, leading to a rapid spread of the coronavirus. Over the past month, protests were reported in several locations, including the Kondengui Maximum Security Prison in the capital, Yaounde, the New Bell prison in the coastal city of Douala, and the central prison in the English-speaking western town of Bamenda, according to authorities.”
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