Day: May 12, 2023

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President João Lourenço unveils water system in Quissol

Angolan head of State João Lourenço inaugurated Friday the water abstraction, treatment and distribution system in Quissol locality, 12 kilometers east of the capital of the north-east Malanje province.

Estimated at USD 31.2 billion and funded by Chinese credit line, the infrastructure, with capacity to produce 720 cubic meters of water per hour from the Cuije river, aims to boost the water supply system to the Malanje city.

The infrastructure includes, reservoirs, pipelines, electromechanical equipment, administrative areas.

The abstraction system allowed 12,000 new household connections in urban area as well as the neighborhoods of Canâmbua, Maxinde, Carreira de tiro, Vila Matilde and Cangambo.

Quissol water abstraction, treatment and distribution system started in September 2017 and ended in April this year.

The infrastructure, which has the capacity to pump 15,000 cubic meters of water and store 3,000 cubic meters, has an extension of 120 kilometers of network.

Malanje is currently supplied from water abstraction, treatment and distribution center of Guinea, with a reduced capacity to meet the demand.

The newly inaugurated system will increase the water supply capacity from 575 to 1,295 cubic meters per hour, the national water director, Elsa Ramos, said.

As for the beneficiaries, she said that the number rises from 55,000 to 395,000, while household connections reach 22,000, compared to the current 10,500.

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)

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Over 244 billion to be used to finance 2023 humanitarian response plan

The Boko Haram insurgencies in the Far North, violence in the Northwest and Southwest, Central African refugees’ influx in the East region, and the conflict in the Lake Chad basin are some of the vital assistance needs in Cameroon at the moment.

The United Nations Coordinator has unveiled the 2023 humanitarian tesponse plan estimated at over 400 million USD about 240 billion CFA. This was during a ceremony attended by the Minister of territorial administration, Paul Atanga Nji on May 11th in Yaounde.

The humanitarian response plan seeks to address the immediate and urgent needs of the most vulnerable people in Cameroon in 2023.

“The needs range from food insecurity to issues related to housing, water and sanitation and so many others. This amount will improve interventions for internally displaced persons, refugees, and people to return to their localities of origin,” the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Cameroon, Mathias Naab stated.

Launching the humanitarian response plan, Minister Paul Atanga Nji thanked partners for their contribution to providing humanitarian assistance and urged the international community to provide easy, flexible, and sufficient funding to sustain this year’s plan.

“As a result of relative calm in the Northwest and Southwest regions, more than 377,000 internally displaced persons have gone back to their homes. This has been possible thanks to the permanent financial and material assistance from the Presidential Humanitarian Special Support Program,” the minister reiterated.

It should be recalled that In 2022, of the $376 million (F CFA 225.6 billion) expected, only $2083.7 million (F CFA 125.2 billion) was finally received, or a percentage of 55.5%, according to OCHA figures

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 2.7 million people, 77% of whom are women and children, need urgent assistance. This office reports that these people suffer from the effects of violence, climate shocks, and epidemics.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

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Conceiçao dismissal: CAS confirms over F CFA 1 billion fine imposed on FECAFOOT

The Court of Arbitration for Sport CAS has confirmed FIFA’s decision ordering the Cameroon Football Federation, FECAFOOT, to pay over FCFA 1 billion to former Indomitable Lions’ head coach Antonio Conceicao as compensation for breach of contract.

The federation was sentenced to pay the huge compensation last July 2022 following a complaint tabled by the former Indomitable Lions’ coach to FIFA. FIFA had ruled in favor of Conceicao and ordered FECAFOOT to pay over FCFA 1 billion for an “abusive breach of contract”.

The Federation appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sports, CAS, the highest jurisdictional organization in sports, and Fecafoot was again found guilty.

Reacting to the CAS ruling, Fecafoot indicated in a release signed by the Secretary General on May 10th that, “the relevant arguments developed at CAS do not seem to have been taken into account (non-respect of contractual clauses to name but these),”.

They however take note of this decision and reserve the right to appeal to the Swiss Federal Court.

It should be recalled that Antonio Conceiçao was sacked by FECAFOOT President Samuel Eto’o after the Lions finished third during the 2021 AFCON while he was still under contract with the Indomitable Lions.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

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Basic education: final year pupils anxious as they await common entrance results

Final year pupils in various primary schools across the country are in full focus as they begin their official end of year exams.

Common entrance and entree en sixième examinations begin this Thursday May 11th 2023 and candidates are doing final touches in group as well as individual studies in order to maximize their chances of succeeding the exams.

“I am Steve, pupil of Class 6 at Government Bilingual Primary school Babadjou Toumaka. I am preparing for my common entrance exams that will take place on Thursday. To succeed, I do revisions in school and at home,” a class 6 pupil told us 24 hours to exam time.

When asked if he is confident he will succeed, Steve tells us he is.

“I am sure I will succeed because I did succeed in the mock exams and the lessons are easy.”

On their part, head teachers and teachers are confident that their pupils will make them proud judging from their performances in the mock exams.

The head teacher of Government Bilingual Practicing School Babadjou Toumaka, says he knows that his pupils will be successful because all instructions given are respected to the letter and the school put in place a preparatory system that also involved the psychological aspects.

“The children are confident of themselves because we made them so. The psychological preparation is there. We tell them that what they will meet during the exam will not be strange. They are things we teach them everyday and in which they score high. To make sure our strategy works out, we do revisions,” Aloysius, head teacher of the school tells us.

“I will estimate a 90% success rate because you know many of our children are from the restive North West and South West regions. These children are traumatized either with the distances they cover each week to reach school or with the environment in which they find themselves. With this we only have to boost them morally and give them full psychological support, ” Aloysius adds.

Teachers on their part are aware of the stakes of the exams and say the instructions given by hierarchy are strictly followed.

“As you can see we are fully engaged in revising the mock exams. We don’t know what the real exam will reserve but we are hopeful that 90% of the lessons we revise will appear in the exams,” declares a class 6 teacher.

The Common Entrance Examinations are taken by final year school pupils in Cameroon as part of selective admissions process into secondary schools.

After the common entrance, the pupils will have a month before they face their final examination: the First School Leaving Certicate.

Source: Cameroon News Agency