African press review 4 October 2017

UN piles pressure on Cameroon's Paul Biya to probe deadly violence during "Anglophone" proclamation of sovereign Ambazonia state and Kenya's political arch enemies hold abortive meeting on rescheduled Presidential election.

We begin in Cameroon, where the papers focus on the attempt by English-speaking separatists to proclaim an independent state known as Ambazonia using the October 1 anniversary of the official unification of the English and French-speaking parts of the country.

The State-owned Cameroon Tribune says calm is returning to the two English-speaking regions, after what it describes as the "sporadic confrontations between security forces and protesters".

In an editorial, the publication claims that the 1st of October will have to be "dumped in the bin of Cameroon's history" as the dark day when an alleged "handful of extremists, deaf to calls for dialogue tried to proclaim a separatist state in the two English-speaking regions.

The paper claims that they acted "against the course of history, against the will of the majority and against what the publication's CEO described as "constitutional legality and in violation of international law".

Le Soir edited photographic clips of the so-called "crazy October 1", in the Buea the former capital of English-speaking Southern Cameroons and in the largest Anglophone city Bamenda

It also features the French speaking regions of Cameroon where the ruling CPDM party staged rallies "in support of a united, one and indivisible Cameroonian nation".

Meanwhile, Le Messager relays findings by Amnesty International that at least 17 people were killed by security forces in weekend attacks in the region which was once under British rule. The paper says that Cameroon's President Paul Biya is now under pressure from the United Nations to probe deadly attacks.

La Nouvelle Vision says that Catholic Bishops have denounced the government's attitude and urged the regime to "admit its errors in dealing with the crisisand to implement provisions of the constitution on the decentralization of the country.

In near-by Nigeria, Vanguard comments about the Biafra-like agitation for independence which has been unfolding in neighboring Republic of Cameroon since November 2016.

The paper reports that after "neglect of the region where the country's oil is found and allegations by the umbrella SCACUF organization that their people "have been turned into slaves” on their own soil" they decided to proclaim their own state just like the Indigenous People of Biafra.

Also from Nigeria the Nation takes up the bombshell revelations at the corruption trial in Nigeria of three former Nigeria Air Force (NAF) officials accused of diverting 41.5 million euros into their personal accounts.

The Nation reports that an agent at the Economic and Financial crimes agency who is heading the probe told the Federal High Court in Lagos that the former Chief of Air Staff, rtd Air Marshal Adesola Amosu, former Air Force budget chief Air Vice Marshal Jacob Adigun and former Director of Finance Air Commodore Olugbenga Gbadebo diverted the cash through several companies, which they registered personally.

Accordingto the paper, none of the companies had any transaction or contract with the Nigerian Air Force.

According to the Tribune, the EFCC operative said that some of the funds were used to acquire private properties for the defendants, including 24 blocks of flats on posh Victoria Island neighbourhood of Lagos, in Abuja and two luxury properties in the United Kingdom.

In Kenya, Daily Nation vents its outrage at news that nursery school children were tear-gassed by anti-riot police in the Nyalenda slums of Kisumu on Monday.

This, while security forces tried to stop a demonstration by Raila Odinga's National Super Alliance to push for systems and personnel changes at the country's electoral commission.

The paper reports that at the end of the day, the heaviest toll of the mid-morning assault, was not the protesters but their eyes and nostrils of the toddlers caught in the standoff while learning how to read and write.

Standard reports that hope for a deal on the re-run of the annulled August 8 Presidential election were dashed after incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta's Jubilee Party, and NASA leader Raila Odinga held a tripartite meeting with the elections body over stalemate on Tuesday.

The paper says while the Jubilee expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the talks NASA stated that none of the "irreducible minimum” conditions they set were addressed.

They include the sacking of officials blamed for bungling the August 8 poll, the hiring of a new ballot paper printing firm and another to provide electronic poll equipment and the shake-up of presiding and returning officers.

Standard however reports that NASA and the IEBC have resolved to form a four-member committee to try and hammer out a compromise.

And from South Africa, Times reports that Zimbabwe's first lady, Grace Mugabe, has bought a Rolls-Royce luxury vehicle for cash and is keeping it in South Africa.

The paper says that it learnt from two of its sources that the 2017 Rolls-Royce Ghost, worth about R6-million, 349,000 euros. The Times says it was able to learn from another source that Mugabe decided to keep the car in South Africa "to avoid bad press at home".