SOCIETY
SENEGAL – CNRA suspends the broadcast of the series “Baline Coumba”, initially titled “Thieuy Adji Sarr”
The president of the National Council for Regulation of Audiovisual (CNRA), Babacar Diagne, convened on Sunday, April 18, 2021, at the headquarters of the institution, the initiators of the television series “Thieuy Adji Sarr”, become “Baline Coumba”. Serigne Modou Diop, producer of the series, and Abdou Aziz Niane, the screenwriter, were present at this meeting of explanations on the meaning and the content of this play intended for the Senegalese public. At the end of the exchanges, the institution in charge of media control decided to suspend the series, the original title of which referred to a case pending before the courts.
In the presence of Germain Coly, director of Cinematography, and Pape FAYE, president of the Association gathering the Artists and Actors of Senegal (ARCOTS), the CNRA has called to order the producers of the series, “Thieuy Adji Sarr”, whose trailer generated a wave of reactions. The Senegalese netizens took advantage of this artistic production to severely attack Adji Sarr, the 21-year-old masseuse who accused the main Senegalese opponent, Ousmane Sonko, of rape and death threats. “The multiform reactions in the public space have not been ignored, either by the speakers in the series or by the National Council for Regulation of the Audiovisual”, suggests the CNRA in the statement published following the meeting.
This is the main reason why the title of the series was changed. But since the content remains the same, “Baline Coumba” will not be broadcast, indeed because, from the outset, it evokes a sensitive subject currently in the hands of justice. The CNRA welcomed the understanding of producers who measure the effect of such a series on the complainant’s image and the work of the justice system. “It didn’t take long for the main players involved in production, both upstream and downstream, to agree on what to do with Baline Coumba. The screenplay (provisionally) withdrawn from the broadcast, will be reviewed by the author with the producer’s agreement, in collaboration with the director of the Cinematography”, added the CNRA.
Adji Sarr is the young masseuse who worked at the salon named Sweet Beauté, in the Senegalese capital. On the night of 2-3 February 2021, she accused Senegalese MP and opponent Ousmane Sonko of rape and death threats. The leader of the Pastef party was charged and placed under judicial supervision. But this accusation, which was considered misleading and political by the person concerned, was the cause of a series of violent demonstrations in the country causing the death of 14 young Senegalese citizens. The trial is still pending since the release, on 8 March 2021, of the candidate who came third in the last presidential election. Thus, out of caution, the CNRA does not want to allow the fire to burn.
In Cameroon, about 7 million children, including more than 1.5 million in school, do not have a birth certificate. The absence of this essential document for access to education, health and other public services, particularly affects rural areas and the regions of the Far North, Northwest and Southwest. The subject was discussed during the 3rd International Economic Days of Municipalities (JEICOM), held from June 2 to 4, 2025, at the Palais des Congrès in Yaoundé.
A deplorable situation at the moment when Cameroon is celebrating the 5th edition of Children’s Day under the theme “Child-sensitive budgeting and planning: a strategic lever for the promotion and protection of children’s rights”.
Faced with the constant problem of establishing birth certificates in Cameroon, the government, through the National Civil Registry Office (BUNEC), collaborates with partners such as UNICEF or the World Bank in order to provide an effective response to the phenomenon.
In this dynamic, the Bunec provides the town halls with tools to ensure a “compliant and reliable registration of births”. It also supports them in the modernization of the civil status system, including the digitization of registers. UNICEF has enabled some town halls to strengthen their human resources capacities and develop innovative strategies.
Several initiatives were launched, notably the national forum on universal birth registration, organized in April 2024, which brought together mayors, civil status officials, and partners to discuss solutions to the problem.
A violent mutiny broke out this Tuesday, June 3, 2025, at the Maison Pénale de Bouaké in Ivory Coast. While the Prison Administration was conducting a routine search within the establishment, it encountered hostility from the inmates of Building E. According to the prosecutor’s statement, they “were attacking them with the help of clubs, machetes and other blunt objects.” To clear themselves, the agents were forced to carry out warning shots in order to cover their retreat.
Unfortunately, this incident led to a heavy toll: “the death of five (05) detainees is to be deplored. Twenty-nine (29) injured, including six (06) prison officers and twenty-three (23) detainees, were also recorded,” said the public prosecutor. He specifies that the injured were taken care of and a coroner was requested for findings of use in such circumstances.
The rapid intervention of the forces of the Gendarmerie and the National Police allowed to limit the violence and restore order. The search operation then continued without further incidents. She led to the discovery of “several blocks of cannabis, platelets of Tramadol tablets, eighteen (18) mobile phones, including eight (08) smartphones, three (03) grenades, knives etc… strictly prohibited in detention.
The prosecutor recalled that previous excavations had already led to the discovery of bladed weapons
More than 200 people were found dead after the sudden floods that hit the Central West of Nigeria on Thursday, May 29, 2025, announced the humanitarian coordinator of the state of Niger in a new report, Tuesday, June 3. Hundreds of victims are still missing.
The balance sheet is getting heavier. Trapped by sudden floods in west-central Niger, many people were still missing on Tuesday 3 June. The humanitarian coordinator of Niger state said that the death toll now exceeds 200, while hundreds of people are still missing.
“We have more than 200 bodies,” Ahmad Suleiman told Channels Television. “No one can say at the moment how many deaths there are in the state of Niger because we are still looking for other bodies,” he added.
The research continues
“We continue to search but sincerely, we cannot be sure of anything,” he added. Many victims were counted in Mokwa, the most affected agglomeration and a neighborhood of which was wiped out within hours Thursday by flood waters from the Niger River. Since then, volunteers and rescue teams have been combing the area under an overwhelming heat, sometimes finding bodies up to 10 kilometers away.
The coordinator’s announcement comes after the official toll remained stuck at 150 deaths, although some residents deplore the loss of more than a dozen family members.
Fifteen of the 36 states in Nigeria had been placed on flood alert a few days before the disaster. Climate change amplifies extreme weather events in Nigeria but for the people of Mokwa, the tragedy is also linked to human failures. In Mokwa, muddy waters swept away hundreds of houses in the town, including the lack of maintenance of the nozzles designed to evacuate floodwaters, which were clogged with debris on the day of the flood.
The death toll could exceed the 321 deaths from the floods that occurred in 34 of Nigeria’s 36 states in 2024. The Nigerian government claims to have provided aid, but on the spot, the inhabitants feel left to themselves and several families said they had received nothing.
Source: la-croix.com/ Photo credit: TV5
