Day: June 4, 2023

The ECOWAS Court of Justice has ordered the Republic of Burkina Faso to pay 50 million CFA as compensation to a retired civil servant, Mr. Kam Sibiri Eric, for the moral damages he suffered following his dismissal 20 years ago allegedly for ‘breach of the duty of discretion.’

Delivering judgement in the suit, Justice Ricardo Monteiro Gonçalves, the judge Rapporteur, held that the Respondent State violated the Applicant’s right to an effective remedy pursuant to Articles 7(1) of the African Charter, 14(5) of the ICCPR and 8 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Court also held that Applicant’s right to be tried within a reasonable time by an impartial tribunal by the Respondent was also violated in accordance with Articles 7(1) and 26 of the African Charter, 9 and 14(3)(c) of the ICCPR and 8 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In a suit, the Applicant said he worked as the Head of the Legal Affairs and Research Division of the Mediator of Faso until November 2002 when his appointment was terminated by decree for the breach of the duty of discretion.

He averred that several failed steps were taken to get the government to reconsider its action, including seizing the administrative court in Ouagadougou which after four years on 8th May 2007 annulled the decree and ordered his reinstatement.

But the Faso mediator appealed the judgment before the Council of State, which reversed the contested judgment and rejected as being ill-founded the request for annulment of the disputed decree.

In response to the decision of the Council, the Applicant lodged an appeal on points of law on July 6, 2007 which is still pending before the Council.

Faced with situation, the applicant, who was represented by his counsel, Mr Naboswindé Barthélémy Zongo approched the ECOWAS Court asking it to hold the government in violation of his human rights and to pay him the sum of seventy-six million nine hundred and twenty-nine thousand seven hundred (76,929,700) CFA francs as damages.

He averred that by delaying the case for more than 13 years, a situation he construed as a refusal to hear his appeal, the Council of State violated his right to fair and timely trial contrary to the country’s obligation under the various international instruments to which it is signatory, particularly the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

He also cited the preamble of the country’s constitution which provides under Article 8 that ‘Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.’

Unfortunately, the applicant pointed out that ‘although the appeal in cassation is instituted by law n°15-2000/AN relating to the Council of State, it is clear that the judicial body did not examine the case.’

He contended that effective remedy, even if it exists in law, had been rendered non-existent in this case as a fair trial is one that is held within a reasonable time.

In the present case, he said the Council neither communicated with the Applicant on the case nor notify him of the status describing this as a violation of a fair trial within a reasonable time, especially when it comes to restoring a civil servant to his administrative position.

The applicant relied on Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which stipulates that: ‘Everyone has the right, in full equality, to have his case heard fairly and publicly by an independent and impartial, who will decide either on their rights and obligations or on the merits of any criminal charges brought against them. »

Among the other international instruments relied on which the country is signatory, are the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in its article 2.3 paragraph a and paragraph b and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights in its article 7 (1) and (2).

The applicant said the violations caused him moral and psychological damages and that the inaction of the Council on his appeal, despite several unanswered correspondances, demoralized him while his premature retirement adversely affected him financially.

During the judgment, the Republic of Burkina Faso was not represented while Mr Sibiri’s lawyer was represented by Barthelemy Zongo.

Also in the three member panel on the case were the president of the Court, Justice Edward Amoako Asante, presiding, and Justice Dupe Atoki.

Source: Ghana News Agency

On May 25, the International Women’s Peace Group (Chairwoman Hyun Sook Yoon) participated in HWPL’s 10th Annual Commemoration of the Declaration of World Peace and Peace Walk, simultaneously held in Seoul, South Korea, along with approximately 70 other major cities in Korea and abroad.

Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a peace cooperative organization of IWPG, announced the Declaration of World Peace on May 25, 2013. As this year marks 10th anniversary of this declaration, joint statements were announced all around the world.

In her commemorative remarks during the event, IWPG Chairwoman Hyun Sook Yoon said, “Chairman Lee proclaimed the ‘Declaration of World Peace’ in 2013, and the youth started peace walks all over the world. The following year, on January 24, 2014, with the mediation of Chairman Lee, a civil peace agreement was signed, a war ended, and we are witnessing with our own eyes the reality that a culture of peace is taking root.”

Chairwoman Yoon also added, “IWPG also celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Together with IPYG, it has become one of the two wings of HWPL and has been striving to spread a culture of peace while reflecting on the spirit and inspiration of the ‘Declaration of World Peace’. Every year, we participate in CSW, the Committee on the Status of Women held by the United Nations. In addition, April 26th of this year marked the 4th Annual Commemoration of International Women’s Peace Day where the ‘International Women’s Declaration of Peace’ was proclaimed. The 10,000 women from 54 countries that participated in this event promised to implement Article 10 ‘Dissemination of a Culture of Peace’ of the DPCW and achieve the SDGs.”

The event included a Peace Walk to urge for the introduction of the DPCW as a resolution in the UN General Assembly and a DPCW Support Signature Campaign in which various women from all over the world participated.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

The government of Cameroon is looking forward to boosting and modernizing food production in the three northern regions.

The revelation was made at the launch of the 2023 farming season in Guider, North Region on Friday, June 2, 2023, by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Gabriel Mbairobe.

According to the minister, the launch and donations are to help in improving the productivity of farmers and help them achieve food self-sufficiency.

Statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development indicate that the Far North Region is the biggest producer of onion, rice, beans, and different species of millet in the country.

While standing tall, these cash crops including others like maize, sweet potatoes, a variety of vegetables, and fruits are cultivated under difficult climatic conditions marked by low rainfall levels and prolonged dry season.

It is in this context that more improved methods like fertilizers and pesticides, better farming tools, and training are being brought in to minimize enormous post-harvest losses.

The launch comes at a time when the government is stepping up efforts to increase food and crop production in the Far North Region in the face of reoccurring food insecurity.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

An estimated 40,000 Cameroonian artifacts are still in Germany according to a recent study jointly carried out by Cameroonian and German researchers.

Prof. Albert Gouaffo, of Dschang University and Bénédicte Savoy, a professor at the Technische Universität in Berlin headed the study and during their presentation, stated that the number of Cameroonian objects spread across German museums was far more than the meager 6,000 which are housed in Yaounde.

Germany colonized Cameroon from 1884 until her defeat in the First World War in 1918 and during the 34 years of German rule, colonial troops carried out at least 180 “punitive expeditions” to secure land, laying waste to villages and farms and looting or destroying cultural heritage.

The artifacts in German museums include textiles, musical instruments, ritual masks, royal stools, thrones, manuscripts, and weapons mostly taken from the Grassfields of Cameroon where German rule was strongly resisted.

Among the objects listed in the study are a beaded stool from Baham in the present-day West Region, looted during a punitive exhibition and brought back by German army officer, Hans Glauning. The stool is now in the Linden Museum in Stuttgart; a wooden carved drum, also a war trophy now kept at Berlin’s Ethnological Museum, and a beaded cap belonging to a Cameroonian traditional leader, now in the Linden Museum, that was one of 237 objects plundered over nearly 3 years by Glauning.

Cameroonian authorities at the Cameroon embassy in Germany have begun talks with German authorities to discuss a process of restitution for the items.

In June 2022, German authorities announced that they were returning the Ngonnso, a deity of the Nso People in the Grassfields of Cameroon, forcibly taken by German authorities in the early 1900s. The announcement was widely celebrated and the Ngonnso has since been returned to the Nso People.

Germany’s colonial past has come to haunt the country and discussions are underway to return these objects taken from Cameroonian villages and tribes over 100 years ago.

Source: Cameroon News Agency