Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh

Cameroon
Paul Biya puts his justice minister in his place

A series of probationary magistrate appointments made on 13 December by Justice Minister Laurent Esso, on President Paul Biya's orders, was the first of its kind in over four years.

Cameroon
Dredger tasked with desilting Douala port still grounded, despite costly repairs

The boat 'Chantal Biya' has been immobilised for months, racking up vast repair bills. It is still broken, however, and unable to clear sand from the port of Douala, preventing large container ships from docking there.

Cameroon
Nathalie Moudiki behind sacking of Tradex boss Simon Paley

Simon Paley, who was sacked as Tradex's chief executive in early October, has paid the price for his strained relations with Nathalie Moudiki, wife of Adolphe Moudiki, the octogenarian director general of Tradex's parent company, Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures.

Cameroon
Yaoundé strives to save its arbitration against miner Sundance over Mbalam iron

Cameroon missed the deadline to submit its defence, but the president's office has contacted its legal counsel and experts in a bid to defend its position against the Australian miner. Meanwhile, Paul Biya's return to the country is likely to align the various parties in Yaoundé.

Cameroon
Mbalam-Nabeba iron: Ngoh Ngoh and Esso rivalry lies behind obstructed arbitration

The arbitration proceedings at the ICC between Cameroon and Australia's Sundance over the Mbalam-Nabeba iron ore deposit continue to stall, with the former's justice minister not acting upon the secretary general of the president's office's instructions.

Cameroon
Mining minister urges president's office to move forward on Sundance arbitration

When a Cameroon delegation headed to Beijing for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation one of the key issues they sought to bring up was the Chinese-funded Mbalam-Nabeba iron ore mine. Arbitration proceedings to settle a dispute with the former project developer are still at a standstill.

Cameroon
SNH's legal affairs exacerbate splits in Biya's entourage

The managing director of Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures, Adolphe Moudiki, and the president's secretary-general, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, have been at loggerheads in recent months. After escaping dismissal in early August, the SNH boss is hoping a trial in the UK will give him the upper hand again.

Cameroon
Presidency's secretary general probes state property dealings

The Cameroonian presidency's general secretary has called for the setting up of a joint commission to investigate the allocation of state-owned plots of land.

Cameroon
Yaoundé's unpaid bills threaten to derail iron ore arbitration

The Cameroonian government has not paid the costs of the proceedings, nor the fees of the lawyers and financial expert who have assisted it in the case against the Australian company Sundance Resources.

Cameroon
President Biya finally agrees to Higher Judicial Council meeting

Cameroon's president has allowed his justice minister to hold a Higher Judicial Council meeting in the coming weeks. The council has not met for nearly four years, paralysing part of the judicial system.

Cameroon
Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh opens fresh negotiations on SONARA refinery rehabilitation

The secretary general at the Cameroonian presidency has in recent weeks opened talks with Portuguese company Cimontubo regarding rehabilitation of Cameroon's only oil refinery.

Cameroon
Fecafoot rift places presidential 'high orders' in spotlight

Aides of Paul Biya see the tug-of-war between the government and football chief Samuel Eto'o as an opportunity to weaken the power of the president's secretary-general, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh.

Cameroon
Confidential note on Martinez Zogo affair has Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh worried

The investigation into the journalist's murder is continuing to shake the upper echelons of the Cameroonian state. A note from a judicial expert to Paul Biya accuses Ngoh Ngoh of having blocked investigation of the role played in the affair by himself and two government ministers.

Cameroon
Paul Biya pulls plug on bridge corruption probe

President Paul Biya has decided to halt an investigation into the so-called “55 metal bridges” affair, which several government ministers have been caught up in.

Palace Intrigues
Félix Tshisekedi, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, Macky Sall, Chantal Biya

Intrigues big and small: every Thursday, Africa Intelligence takes a peek into the corridors of power in Africa and beyond.

DRC/FranceTshisekedi turns down football invitation over Rwanda ads

SenegalHow Faye first learned of his election victory

CameroonChantal Biya buries the hatchet

Cameroon
Turbulence continues for Cameroonian external intelligence agency

The head of operations at Cameroon's Directorate General for External Research, a veteran of the institution, has been sacked just two months after taking office. The external intelligence agency has struggled to steady itself following the arrest of former director Léopold Maxime Eko Eko.