April ministerial meeting:
PM instructs ministers to sack fraudulent temporary workers

Of the over 17, 500 temporary workers identified in 2007 for integration into the public service, over 7,000 have been declared ineligible for possessing forged certificates among other things. Ephraim Inoni urged the Finance minister at April’s meeting of ministers last week to mobilise funds to pay off the  frauds

By Eric Venyui in Yaounde

As government’s continues the operation to give workers, who hitherto served in the public service on a temporary basis, a permanent status many jobs are increasingly on the line.
Speaking on Thursday 30 April at the monthly meeting of ministers, Prime Minister Ephraim Inoni gave firm instructions to members of government to sack all temporary workers who got their jobs by fraudulent means.
   
By the same measure, the PM instructed the minister of Finance, Essimi Minye, to speed up the process of mobilising funds that would be used to pay off the sacked workers.
   
Meanwhile, of the 17,558 temporary workers counted in 2007 and their files placed under scrutiny for eventual integration into the public service, over 6000 of them were declared ineligible by 31 December last year, the minister of Public Service and Administrative Reform told Thursday’s ministerial meeting.
   
Emmanuel Bonde also revealed that over 900 more workers, who were initially declared eligible, were later disqualified after further thorough examination of their files.
   
According to him, those declared ineligible had used fraudulent means including forged certificates to get their jobs as temporary workers. He said the victims were exposed during the “authentication process” by which workers’ certificates and other documents were being verified.
   
It emerged from the Yaounde meeting that of the 4,981 workers, who have successfully entered into a contract with government, 2,182 are already receiving pay under their new status as permanent workers with the public service.
   
Another prominent issue discussed at last week’s meeting concerned the project to improve the communication of government policies at home and abroad.
   
The minister of Communication, Jean Pierre Biyiti-bi-Essam, told the meeting that a lot was already being done through the introduction of communication units at every ministry, the construction of a press centre which he said was near completion, and the setting up of a virtual news agency.

 

 

Ayuk Augustine Ayuk is no more

The former CRTV worker who died last week, barely months after he went on retirement, will be buried in his native Mamfe, Manyu division next weekend

By Vincent Gudmia Mfonfu in Yaounde

The remains of the retired environmental playwright and translator at the Cameroon Radio Television Corporation (CRTV), Ayuk Augustine Ayuk, alias AAA, who died in Yaounde in 29 April 2009 after a prolonged illness will be removed from the Yaounde Central Hospital mortuary on Thursday 7 May and conveyed to Mamfe, Manyu division in the South West region on Friday 8 May 2009 for burial.        
   
Ayuk A. Ayuk joined the Cameroon public service on 9 January 1984 as a senior translator and was seconded to CRTV on 6 June 1987. While in the corporation he developed a passion for journalism and anchored a number of radio programmes, salient among which are, “Morning Safari”, “Brunch Time Show”, “Saturday Special” and “Environment Tit Bit”.
   
Born on 13 January 1954 in Mamfe, Manyu division in the South West region, AAA attended Sacred Heart College Mankon and CCAST Bambili, both in the North West region, where he obtained his Ordinary and Advanced level certificates respectively.
   
Before his entry into the public service, AAA had obtained a first degree in Translation at the University of Yaounde. He later obtained a Master’s degree in Translation in Montreal. Canada in 1984. He also attended the Radio Netherlands Training Centre in 1992 where his passion for writing for the media was enhanced.
   
Before his death, AAA published a collective of environmental plays for radio and television titled, “The party is over”, which he dedicated to the government and the international community for placing wildlife law enforcement on the socio-judiciary agenda in Cameroon.
    AAA leaves behind a wife and seven children to mourn him.

 

 

61st anniversary celebrations:
Israeli embassy donates funds for free medical consultations

The money was handed at a ceremony in Yaounde to the president of Hope Solidarity in favour of free medical consultations and treatment of the underprivileged in Batibo, North West region

By Takang Bisong in Yaounde

Residents of Batibo subdivision who could not afford the cost of treating distressing diseases will now have the chance to do so thanks to assistance from the Israeli embassy in Yaounde.
   
During a press briefing in Yaounde on 29 April, Israel’s ambassador to Cameroon Alexander Galilee handed over a cheque of 4 million FCFA to the president of Hope Solidarity, a humanitarian NGO, to fund free medical consultations and treatment for the underprivileged in Batibo, Momo division, North West region.
         
The press briefing was part of activities to celebrate Israel’s 61st national day, which marks the anniversary of the founding of the Jewish state in 1948.
   
Hope Solidarity will use the money to pay for free consultations and to obtain drugs for treatment. The free consultations and treatment programme dubbed “Operation outreach patients” will run from 8 -10 May.
   
A team of over 100 medics, including paediatricians, gynaecologists, surgeons, general practitioners and nurses have reportedly volunteered to participate in the Batibo programme.
         
Alexander Galilee disclosed that he had already made a trip to Batibo to lay the groundwork for the implementation of the programme.
   
The Israeli ambassador explained that the humanitarian donation was part of the budget of Israel’s 61st national day celebrations and promised similar assistance to rural communities in the future.
   
He noted that since Cameroon established diplomatic relations with Israel, his country has always made efforts to support Cameroon ’s development.
   
“The Israeli government has assisted Cameroon in the training of personnel in the domains of agriculture, livestock, technology, medicine among others and both countries have maintained a fruitful relationship,” Galilee said.
   
Hope Solidarity president Tatafon Emmanuel thanked the Israeli ambassador for the humanitarian assistance. He challenged other embassies to emulate Israel example.

 

 

Press Freedom Day:
Cameroon’s press enjoys high degree of freedom - Syd Madicott

The British diplomat, however, tasks the government to establish adequate administrative and legal instruments that will permit the press to operate without fear, if they must be a veritable partner in the country’s development

By Ojong Ayuk in Yaounde

The British High Commissioner to Cameroon, Syd Madicott, has called on the government of Cameroon to provide an environment conducive enough for journalists of the country to exercise their profession.
   
Syd Madicott says even though the Cameroonian press enjoys such freedom that is not found in most other countries, there is the lack of adequate administrative and legal instruments that guarantee total freedom to journalists.
   
The British diplomat made the remark Wednesday 29 April at his Bastos residence following a volleyball match to mark World Press Freedom Day celebrated every 3 May. The match pitted the Cameroon Association of English Speaking Journalists (CAMASEJ) Yaounde chapter, against the high commission staff and alumni of UK’s Chevening scholarship programme. The match ended in a tie with either side scoring a set.
   
Syd Madicott swore his mission’s continuous involvement in press activities.
   
“Today’s event provides another chance for the British High Commission to engage with the media sector in Cameroon. We hope to combine serious discussion with a good sporting and social event,” he said.
   
Announcing the high commission’s project for 2009, the diplomat said a ‘training for trainers’ course will be organised for experienced journalists who will in turn train their less experienced colleagues.
   
Earlier, the UNESCO country representative here, Benoit Sossou, emphasised the institution’s role in sensitising media professionals and decision-makers on the need for an independent, free press.
   
He said thanks to UNESCO’s programme to reinforce communication in rural communities, over 20 radios have already been implanted in rural Cameroon while another was envisaged for Bakassi.
   
Meanwhile, veteran journalist Peter Essoka who spoke on the day’s theme: Media Dialogue and Media Understanding observed that the setbacks in Cameroon’s democracy were not unconnected to the lack of a free press.
 
The event was heavily attended by journalists of public and private media with the close support of SAMARITAN insurance company.
 
 World Press Freedom Day celebrated every 3 May was instituted by UNESCO in 1993.
 

 

 

Press Freedom Day:
Biyiti-bi-Essam shows journalists around new media house

The communication minister yesterday invited journalists from public and private media and presented the new structure set aside to house modern communication facilities that would help journalists in their work

By Ojong Steven Ayuk in Yaounde

The minister of Communication has presented the modern communication house under reconstruction to journalists of both the private and public media organs.
   
Jean Pierre Biyiti-bi-Essam used the occasion to celebrate World Press Freedom Day yesterday to show media practitioners around the communication house situated at the old presidential palace in Yaounde.
   
In a show that was largely described here as not typical of him, the minister expressed a high level of calm and camaraderie with journalists especially those of the private press during the barely over 30 minutes visit to the communication house.
   
The visit also provided occasion for the minister to evaluate reconstruction work at the site, which is near completion.
   
And even though the impresarion at the occasion announced that the minister would not make any speeches, Biyiti-bi-Essam could not hide his appreciation of what he saw.
   
But journalists at the event were stunned when the minister boasted of government’s resolve to encourage press freedom in the country, but referred to the provision of infrastructure as what was being done to achieve it. “This is our own way of encouraging press freedom; by providing adequate infrastructure for use by pressmen,” Biyiti said, smiling.
   
The small yet modern structure will house a cyber café, a conference room, a study, a meeting room and offices; the architect and builder of the house said.
   
He explained that even though the initial idea was to rehabilitate the structure, the minister thought it wise to destroy the former structure and build a more modern one.
   
The many journalists present on the occasion were unanimous that the new structure is befitting of a “communication house”. But they also questioned why the minister would summon them to report on a yet to be completed structure.

 

 

Pending doom?
Appointment of new French ambassador raises eyebrows

Gildas Le Lidec, who is replacing Georges Serre, was the French ambassador in Congo DR when President Laurent Kabila was assassinated and in Cote d’Ivoire when civil war broke. Superstitious Marc Ravalomanana expelled him from Madagascar , but that did not prevent his regime from tumbling. Does his coming to Cameroon portend trouble for the Yaounde regime?

By Clovis Atatah in Yaounde

French president Nicolas Sarkozy has appointed a new ambassador to Cameroon who Yaounde authorities may not be very comfortable with.
   
Gildas Le Lidec, who will be replacing George Serre as French ambassador in Yaounde in the coming months, seems to carry with him a plague that threatens the survival of regimes in the African countries where he serves.
   
Le Lidec was ambassador in DR Congo when President Laurent Désiré Kabila was assassinated and he was the top French diplomat in Côte d’Ivoire when President Laurent Gbabgo was nearly overthrown and his country plunged into civil war.
   
 Suspicious that Le Lidec’s presence in Madagascar as ambassador could invite trouble for his regime, former President Marc Ravalomanana expelled the French diplomat from his country in 2008. But barely months later, his regime collapsed under the weight of an uprising.
     
 A school of thought holds that Le Lidec, 62, is a hatchet man despatched to Africa by the French government whenever it wants to get rid of a regime that has fallen out of favour with Paris
   
 It is against this background that some commentators don’t think Yaounde will be enthusiastic about Le Lidec’s coming to Cameroon. Superstitious commentators are already predicting trouble for the Yaounde regime if Le Lidec eventually serves as ambassador here.
   
The announcement of Le Lidec’s appointment as ambassador to Cameroon was published last week by the official web site of the French foreign ministry. The web site also confirmed that the serving ambassador in Yaounde , George Serre, will be taking up prestigious job of deputy director of the new department of globalisation at the Quai d’Orsay, the French foreign ministry.
   
 Quai d’Orsay has not yet announced the precise date when George Serre will be leaving and when Le Lidec will arrive in Yaounde .

 

 

To minimise malaria prevalence:
Mama Fouda launches mosquito spraying campaign

Inaugurating the operation in Etam Bafia, Yaounde on 24 April as part of activities to mark the second international day for the fight against malaria, the minister of Public Health said the free campaign would be extended to other regions soon

By Takang Bisong in Yaounde

Pubic Health minister André Mama Fouda has adopted an aggressive approach to combat the growing prevalence of malaria, one of the major killer diseases in Cameroon. He launched an indoor anti-mosquito spraying campaign at Etam Bafia in Yaounde last 24 April to add to the ongoing free distribution of mosquito treated bed nets.
   
Expressing surprise at the surge in malaria incidence, with aged between 0 and 5 years dying after every 30 seconds in Cameroon, Mama Fouda called on Yaounde residents to always cooperate with the team in charge of spraying the anti-mosquito chemical when they come to spray their houses and immediate surroundings.
   
The Health minister said the operation which is free and limited to Yaounde for now, will subsequently be extended to other parts of the country.
   
In addition, Mama Fouda announced the distribution of 450 impregnated mosquito bed nets to hospitals, 700 to prisons and 1,200 to orphanages and centres for the old.
   
Apart from killing, the minister intimated that malaria also has the effect of limiting the intellectual development of children and therefore exhorted journalists to assist the government in the anti-malaria crusade by sensitising the population on prevention and treatment tips.
   
People should rush for medical consultations whenever they are hit by fever, persistent headache, lost of appetite, stomach ache etc, considered malaria symptoms, minister Mama Fouda advised.

 

 

CEMAC passports in force from January 2010

Apart from boosting free circulation of persons and goods and sub regional integration, the biometric passport will also check fraud

By Ntaryike Divine, Jr. in Douala

The severally delayed plan to institute uniform sub regional passports for citizens of the six-member Economic and Monetary Community of C. Africa, CEMAC, now appears feasible.
   
According to an announcement from the Gabonese ministry of External Affairs last week, the travel document will be available as from January next year. It was initially slated to come into being in July last year but was belated owing to logistical pitfalls.
   
Member countries are thus expecting to be supplied equipment for use in the production of the biometric passports which will carry codified photos and digital fingerprints of their bearers. It will be issued to citizens in the same way as national passports, but its production will be rooted on data saved at a central database accessible to immigration police of member countries, according to the announcement.
   
The project was initially adopted in 2001 and reiterated at the eighth CEMAC heads of state summit that held in Ndjamena, Chad, in April 2007. Inter alia, it seeks to enhance the rather snail-paced integration in the sub region, boosting freer circulation of persons and goods as well as eliminating visa barriers stalling cross-border mobility in the bloc.
   
Officials say they expect that the biometric nature of the travel document will considerably curb passport fraud in the sub region. Meantime, reports indicate that Gabonese authorities are making a significant head start with nationals urged to obtain the document by 30 April.
   
Integration in the CEMAC bloc has for several years, comparatively, lagged far behind other trade blocs like the West African ECOWAS where the economy enjoys massive intra-regional exchange from freer movement. Experts blame the situation here on egoism, protectionist inclinations and nationalistic tendencies by some member states.
   
Several joint community projects have nonetheless been considered the in the bloc. They include the creation of a CEMAC parliament, Air CEMAC, the ongoing rehabilitation of the Douala-Ndjamena and Douala-Bangui merchandise transit corridors, etc. Observers say gradually, decision-makers are finally coming to grasps with the notion of integration as a vehicle for greater integration in the global trade chain.

 

 

Ngoketunjia dev’t body amends constitution

A meeting of Ngoketunjia Development and Cultural Association officials from all the chapters across the country examined and amended several aspects of the organ’s constitution to be adopted on a later date

By Chrysantus Nchong in Bamenda

Steering committee members of the Ngoketunjia Development and Cultural Association (NDECA) has examined and amended a draft constitution for the body as it under went scrutiny pending adoption.

A major amendment in the constitution was a proposed change of the association’s name from NDECA to NGODECA, which according to the committee chairman, was intended to distinguish it from other development associations with similar appellations.
   
Meeting in Ndop recently in an enlarged gathering of the steering committees of all the association’s branches spread across the 13 villages of Ngoketunjia division and presidents of all the association’s chapters across the country, NDECA officials briefly reviewed the association’s development strides and sought ways of moving on.
   
The president of the body, Dingha Ignatius Bayin hailed the efforts of all NDECA officials who he said have done great in mobilising the people of the area to take development forward, adding that it was marvellous that within only one year, the current officials of the organ had done so much.
   
Dingha appealed to the committee members to remain steadfast and determined so that a more vibrant development association can be put in place come May 2009 when new elections will be conducted.
   
One of the major outcomes of the meeting during which some officials were installed was the constitution of four committees headed by Dingha Ignatius Bayin, Toh Daniel, Mohmbakwed Victor and Pingpoh Margaret to prepare for the 23rd general assembly of the association to be held next month.
   
Meanwhile, speaking on behalf of the Ngoketunjia divisional administration, Nsutapuoui Osoumanou expressed satisfaction with the serenity and maturity with which deliberations in the meeting were carried out, pledging the administration’s full support in view of the May general assembly.  

 

 

Swine Flu:
Gov’t encourages continued pork consumption

Gripped by fears of consumption slumps and a devastation of the pig-breeding industry reminiscent of the bird flu era, the ministry of Livestock says pork consumers run no risks of contracting swine flu

By Ntaryike Divine, Jr. in Douala

And amid fears that the swine flu scare could wreck the pig-breeding industry as much as it did the poultry sector three years ago, officials in the Ministry of Livestock are encouraging Cameroonians to continue consuming pork.
   
“Consumers need not fear anything because nothing scientifically proves that human beings can contract swine flu from eating pork,” Gabriel Toumba, Littoral delegate for livestock said here Wednesday. He said the virus had not even been identified in pigs.
   
In fact, he shared out 9.1 million FCFA in government subventions to 23 pig breeders drawn from farmers associations in the Littoral. They are expected to use the funds to raise pork production in the region to 40 tons by October, up from below 25 to address feared beef scarcity during the festive end-of-year period.

Just over a week after Mexico announced the first swine flu cases, over 150 human lives have been snuffed out there as the virus continues its rapid global proliferation.
   
On Wednesday, the WHO raised the alert level, announcing an imminent pandemic. It advised all countries to activate their epidemic contingency plans.
   
Reacting to the outbreak this week, the Cameroon government set up a monitoring unit. It announced stepped up countrywide surveillance, close monitoring of pig farms and tighter border controls. It also issued a travel advisory discouraging trips to affected countries.
   
It equally noted that so far, the country was swine-flu-free and that the national reference laboratory, Centre Pasteur, Yaounde, was aptly equipped for detection.
   
But just next-door in Gabon the authorities have gone a step further, joining the unfolding list of countries suspending all live pig and pork imports regardless of their origin. The most radical measure yet seems to come from Egypt where the authorities are slaughtering all of the country’s estimated 250,000 pigs.
   
Meantime, pig farmers in the USA are calling for a change of the flu name. The US National Pork Producers Council, for example, has warned that referring to it as swine flu is scaring consumers. Officials here fear that is what may happen if people are not correctly informed of contours of the yet another flu.

 

 

Vox pop on labour day

Is Labour Day worth celebrating? Why? How do you think the day could be better celebrated?

Most of those we met in Yaounde, Bamenda, Buea and Kumba said Labour Day should be observed and not celebrated as there is nothing to show. They said workers are exploited by employers; they work for long hours with little or no pay and that the insignificant pay is irregular. They say the T-shirts that are printed and distributed to workers are meant to fool them and onlookers. But others say the day comes once in a year and offers workers the opportunity to meet and count their achievements, failures and map out the way forward.

Views collected by Takang Bisong in Y’de, Chrysantus Nchong in B’da, Patience Toge in Buea and Ashu Manfred in K’ba

Workers are fooled
Normally it is good for people who work to have a day when they sit and reflect on their plight. That to me is the essence of Labour Day. But here you find workers who are exploited by employers either through horrible working conditions, meager salaries or with something that looks like salaries but which are not only insignificant but also irregular. On such days, the same workers are fooled with T-shirts to go match under either the scorching sun or torrential rains after which they are given a drink. That is an abuse. Let Labour Day be an opportunity for workers to sit and dialogue with their employers on their working conditions.
Mary-Anne L.

Yes
It is absolutely necessary to celebrate Labour Day because it allows workers of all walks of life to get off their busy schedules and relax with other workers in other sectors. It gives workers the opportunity to discuss with other workers and the experience shared during such celebrations always help the workers in one way or the other. I wish that we could focus more on the plight of workers rather than on T-shirts and drinks that usually characterise such celebrations.
Edwin Bella

It depends on sector
Whether or not Labour Day should be celebrated depends on a particular worker as different workers have different working conditions in different sectors. There are some who are well catered for, have a good career profile and enjoy what they do. On the other hand, there are others who are cheated, over-used for little or no pay and are laid off at will. The day should be used as a forum for dialogue between employers and employees on how the work environment and conditions could be made conducive for all.
Wilson Minka

Workers are exploited
There are people who are working and enjoying better working conditions. This category of workers can celebrate. But there are others who are exploited. No salaries, arbitrary dismissal and no safety at work. How I wish we could turn the celebrations to educative talks during which employers and employees are brought together and lectured on the need for better working conditions. For you to celebrate Labour Day you must have job satisfaction and it is difficult if not impossible to have job satisfaction when there is no job security.
Jato Richard

It should be commemorated
Labour Day in Cameroon can only be commemorated. It is not worth celebrating because most workers are ashamed to call themselves as such. It should be a time when workers and their employees take stock of what they have done, how they have worked and how they could forge ahead at the convenience of all rather than print T-shirts and fool themselves with when they are all but satisfied.
Franklin Ndi

Day of national mourning
Labour day in Cameroon is supposed to be a day of national mourning by workers who are exploited by employers. But it is rather funny that people who work with little or no pay are given T-shirts and if possible drinks to go to streets. This gives a different impression to onlookers meanwhile the workers themselves are suffering.
Thomas Aseih

It should be observed
We should say Labour Day is either observed or commemorated and not that it is celebrated because workers do not have anything to celebrate. You celebrate achievement and not failure.  There’s arbitrary dismissals everyday and workers are not covered by social security.
Ninpa Francis

Yes
Labour day is worth celebrating because it is the only day in a year that workers come together to share ideas in order to ameliorate their working conditions. Apart from ideas sharing, it enables the employers and the employees to copy the example of other companies. It also gives employers the opportunity to appreciate workers who excel in one way or the other. Let government use the day to seek solutions to workers’ pressing problems rather than turn it to a speech making ceremony.
Tepi Felix

It’s necessary to celebrate
Labour Day is worth celebrating since it is the only day set aside for workers to associate themselves with others and share experiences. It gives employers the zeal to take into consideration the ideas that would help improve on the conditions of their workers. Let the government think of the unemployed so that all Cameroonians of working age who want to work can have something doing so that all could celebrate the day.
Etaka Franklin

Opportunity to reflect
Labour Day gives workers an opportunity to reflect on what they do and how they do it. It also gives them the chance to interact with other workers in other sectors, see what they do and possibly share experiences. The government should always respect all the previous themes before coming up with new ones so that workers celebrate the achievements.
Nibah Rene Kakong

It brings us together
Labour day is worth celebrating because it is the only day within a year that workers both the skilled and unskilled come together to celebrate their achievements as well as table their grievances to their hierarchy. It is also a day that workers from other organisations copy the good example of others. It could be better celebrated when previous themes are followed up to ensure that their meanings are translated into concrete reality. 
Jam Fidele Fultang

Very necessary
It is very necessary to celebrate Labour Day as it comes once in a year and offers workers the opportunity to discuss their successes, failures and aspirations. They also share ideas on how to ameliorate their working conditions.
Tanyi Tambe Anomo

No need
I See no need celebrating the day because workers in Cameroon especially those of the public sector are not doing their jobs. They go to office late and leave early with little or nothing done. On the other hand those in the private sector are overused for no pay and their conditions of work are deplorable.
Domndi Samuel

It comes once
Labour Day comes once in a year and it is only then that workers can feel relaxed with others in other sectors and also receive compensation probably in the form of medals from their employers. They also use the opportunity to jointly discuss their plight and take collective decisions. It should be a day that government dialogues with presidents of various workers’ syndicates on how to improve the working conditions of workers rather than turn it into speech making and feasting, as is usually the case here.
Ayong Caleb

It’s worth celebrating
Labour Day gives workers the opportunity to meet each other, develop a strategy that could help improve their working conditions and also dialogue with their employers whe0.
n feasting. It also permits workers to do extra-curricular activities.  
Tambe Marry-Anne

An important day
Labour Day comes once in a year and needs to be celebrated by those concerned. This is the only day that brings workers of both the public and the private sector together, share ideas on the amelioration of their working conditions.
Fonkem Quinta

There is unemployment
Labour Day is not worth celebrating when people are not happy given the high rate of unemployment in the country.  For those who are working the salaries are down to earth and make life miserable. To better celebrate the day, government should create more employment opportunities and stop the age limit placed on employment. Government should also reinstate the pre-salary 1993 scale that was dramatically scaled down.
 Theodore Achuonjuou

There is poverty
Labour Day is not worth celebrating because there is a general outcry and visible poverty even on people who work. Also, there are so many who do not have anything doing. We need more employment opportunities so that we can have jobs and celebrate and also reinstate the salaries of civil servants so that they can have reason to celebrate.
 Eric Oben

 

 

Issue 2211

Wednesday 29 April - Sunday 3 May 2009

60th anniversary:
Commonwealth is indispensable partner in Cameroon’s development process – Eyebe Ayissi

The External Relations minister used the occasion of a ceremony commemorating 60 years of the Commonwealth to enumerate what Cameroon has benefited from its membership of the gentlemen’s club

By Ojong Steven Ayuk in Yaounde

Almost 15 years after Cameroon joined the Commonwealth of Nations in 1995, the achievements of the country thanks to this membership are not only laudable but also invaluable, says Henri Eyebe Ayissi, minister of External Relations.
   
Henri Eyebe made the remark as he presided over a ceremony to commemorate Commonwealth Day Tuesday 28 April at the conference hall of his ministry.
   
Enumerating some of the important gains of Cameroon due to its Commonwealth membership, the minister listed among others, Commonwealth’s contributions in enhancing democracy in the country especially in the area of electoral reforms. The minister thanked the Commonwealth for its role in the creation of the National Elections Observatory (NEO) that has matured today to Elections Cameroon (ELECAM).
   
 He equally cited the Commonwealth’s enormous contributions in reforming the penitentiary administration.
    
Other achievements cited by the minister include the drawing up of the new criminal procedure code, the holding of business forums, projects to boost tourism and credit schemes for youth.
     
Yesterday’s ceremony marked an end to a weeklong commemoration of the Commonwealth’s existence and achievements in Cameroon. Other activities during the weeklong celebrations included round-table discussions, debates and sporting activities.
   
The commemorative activities that started on 24 April on the campus of the University of Yaounde I were guided by the theme, “Commonwealth at 60: Serving a new generation.”
   
But though government continues to acknowledge the Commonwealth’s role in Cameroon’s development process, analysts believe the government has continuously reneged on the conditions for which it was admitted into the club of gentlemen.
   
The country’s electoral process is still far from being free and transparent, decentralisation is a farce, good governance and judicial reforms are only preached but never implemented etc.
   
Yesterday’s ceremony was witnessed by diplomats, ministers, personnel of the Ministry of External Relations and school children who performed sketches.

 

Desperate manoeuvres:
Biyiti-bi-Essam faces press tribunal

The Communication minister who last year warned media organs against reporting judicial investigations and even threatened sanctions to defaulters has now resorted to the press to fight a legal battle in which he is accused of  embezzling  money for press coverage of the pope’s visit

By Ojong Steven Ayuk in Yaounde

Jean Pierre Biyiti-bi-Essam, minister of Communication, is certainly on a media offensive to fight allegations that he embezzled money meant for press coverage of the pope’s visit last month.
   
In just about one week, the minister has granted interviews to CRTV and several newspapers and was on the BBC at the weekend.
   
This press offensive, observers say, is contrary to the prescriptions of Biyiti himself who last year warned media organs against reporting judicial investigations and condemned corruption suspects who granted press interviews.
   
The Communication minister came out forcefully in disapproval when Yves Michel Fotso granted several press interviews to deflect corruption allegations against him. Biyiti warned at the time that the media should not try to replace the courts. He threatened to punish media organs that reported on judicial investigations.
   
But after corruption investigations against him took a new twist with interrogations by the judicial police and state prosecutors, Biyiti resorted to press interviews to clear his name.
   
In the BBC interview and in another interview published by Le Messager on Monday, Biyiti even announced that he will publish documents proving that he did not embezzle funds allocated for the pope’s visit.
   
It is not clear why Biyiti has changed his mind about the press reporting judicial investigations. He however told one of his interviewers that he is granting press interviews because his accusers have chosen “popular justice” and because he has nothing to hide.

Biyiti has consistently denied embezzling state funds.

 

 

Deplorable working conditions:
Trade Unionist indicts poor implementation of ILO norms in Cameroon

The leader of the national trade union of post and telecommunications workers, Nkwadi Peter Temdia, says government has only facilitated a 20 percent implementation of International Labour Organisation provisions on security in the workplace

By Takang Bisong in Yaounde

The awful working conditions Cameroon workers are subjected to in both the public and private sector is a flagrant violation of International Labour Organisation (ILO) norms, Nkwadi Peter Temdia, national president of the Union of Post and Telecommunications Workers has reproached.

The Trade Union leader told participants Monday at a three-day workshop on job security in Yaounde that the government of Cameroon, in particular, has succeeded to respect only 20 percent of ILO standards on the treatment of workers, falling short of its obligation towards the institution.
   
“If universally accepted labour norms like decent working conditions, respect of working hours and health conditions at work are respected by the government, the country will witness a greater economic boom”, Nkwadi stressed.
   
Attended by unionists from West and Central Africa, the workshop is organised by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Foundation and Uni Africa, an international NGO safeguarding the interest of employees.
   
The workshop coincides with the 90th anniversary celebration of the ILO celebrated yesterday alongside the International Day for security in the workplace.
   
The workshop which ends today was designed to encourage interpersonal exchange of experiences and definition of common grounds for reducing poverty. It also presented an occasion for voices to be raised on the plight of workers and create a strong regional workers trade union to promote social justice.

 

South Africa’s Freedom Day:
High commissioner says ruling parties must be visionary

In what was considered as food for thought for the ruling CPDM party, the South African high commissioner in Yaounde said at a recent public function that when a ruling party fails to provide leadership and direction, the country becomes vulnerable

By Ojong Steven Ayuk in Yaounde

“In any country of the world, if the ruling party fails to provide leadership and direction, the country becomes vulnerable to disorder,” said NM Tsheole, South Africa’s high commissioner in Yaounde on 26 April.
   
Speaking at a reception she organised at her Bastos residence here on the occasion of the commemoration of South Africa’s 15th national day otherwise referred to as Freedom Day, Tsheole said her country is today a stable democracy because of the visionary leadership of the ruling ANC.
   
Equating her country’s burgeoning democracy to the survival and steadfastness of the ANC party, Tsheole underscored the clairvoyance and farsightedness of the first post-Apartheid South African president Nelson Mandela who despite long years in jail came out to preach forgiveness and reconciliation which has enabled South Africans to forget the dark days of liberation wars and “look beyond the murky horizons with hopes.”
   
To Tsheole, this type leadership is necessary for any country to make progress. “Ruling parties all over the world have to provide leadership and direction. A ruling party in a country is like the most powerful nation of the world. When that nation sneezes, the whole world catches a cold,” Tseole said.
   
The high commissioner said the Freedom Day commemoration was important and special because it not only reminded South Africans of their resilient struggle against the Apartheid regime but also makes them rejoice for the hope that the country’s future now offers as South Africa is today “alive with possibilities”.
   
Some Cameroonian attendees at the reception told this reporter that they considered Tsheole’s remarks as food for thought for Cameroon’s ruling CPDM party that has not provided the type of leadership that gives hope to citizens.
   
The Freedom Day commemoration was the first Tsheole presided over in Cameroon as high commissioner. It held three days before the real South African national day on 28 April.
   
The minister in charge of relations with the Commonwealth Joseph Dion Ngute represented the External Relations ministry at the event that was attended by other ministers, diplomats, MPs and general managers of state corporations, among others.

 

After tractor scandal:
Cameroon gets 19bn FCFA loan from India to mechanise farming 

The scandalous confiscation, by Yaounde regime dons, of tractors offered to support mechanised farming in the country has not deterred the Indian government from providing another aid to boost the agriculture sector here. Government cheerfully received an 18.825 billion FCFA loan from India last week

By Takang Bisong in Yaounde

Agriculture which is the mainstay of the Cameroonian economy has suffered enormous neglect over the years. Agricultural productivity has perpetually remained low owing to the absence of mechanisation of the farming activities of small scale farmers who own huge barely-exploited parcels of land, experts say.
   
The Indian government however, has taken interest in providing a mechanical boost to farming in the country.
   
On Thursday 24 April, Cameroon’s Economy minister Louis Paul Motaze signed up for an 18.825 billion FCFA loan from the Indian government through the Maxim bank to help acquire heavy duty agricultural equipment for small scale farmers in the country.
   
Specifically, the loan covering 20 years plus a five-year period of grace is destined to improve farming activity on over 10,000 hectares of land. Half of this surface area, the accord demands, will be used for maize cultivation while rice will be cultivated on the remaining 5000.
   
This is not the first time the Indian government is taking interest in mechanising farming here.
   
In 2006, the Indians made a donation of 50 tractors to government as support to the tedious activity of impoverished small scale farmers across the country. But this largesse was ridiculed as the said tractors ended up in the garages of some regime barons including ministers and army generals.
   
Observers here are wary about the judicious use of the new Indian loan to better the situation of ordinary farmers in the country and increase agricultural yield. The effects of similar financial grants in the past have not sufficiently trickled to peasants at the bottom of the ladder.

 

JCI Africa-Middle East conference:
Cameroonian leads green campaign to Ivory Coast

At a press conference at Djeuga hotel Monday, Roland Kwemain, executive vice president of Junior Chambers International, said 1000 tress would be planted as part of the association’s contribution to combat climate change

By Ndien Eric in Yaounde

The planting of 1,000 trees in one day in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast is the legacy Roland Kwemain wants to set as executive vice president of Junior Chambers International (JCI) during an eight-day JCI Africa-Middle East conference he will chair in Ivory Coast beginning 16 May. President Laurent Gbagbo will open the conference.
   
At a press conference organised in Yaounde Monday to announce the event, Kwemain, the lone African and Cameroonian in the JCI executive bureau said the expected 1,000 JCI delegates from 34 countries to attend the conference will each plant a tree.
The green campaign, he further said, is part of the association’s contribution to the fight against the adverse effects of climate change in the African continent in general and particularly in Ivory Coast, where he noted that all trees in Abidjan had be fell.
   
Junior Chambers International, an association specialised in promoting youth leadership skills via training and fostering community development via social responsibility projects, is organising the Yamoussoukro conference on the theme “Social Responsility and Leadership.”

Apart from tree planting, JCI delegates from Africa and the Middle East will organise training workshops and roundtable discussions to review their activities, and hold working sessions with 200 business magnates and 400 influential personalities expected to attend a JCI press release stated. It added that a trade fair, prize award ceremony, football match and a gala night will also be on agenda. The conference will cost 450 million FCFA, Kwemain averred.

Roland Kwemain also used the press conference to enjoin Cameroonian youth to stop complaining about their plights and instead join the association so that they can together bring change via non-violent approaches.
   
Asked what the organ has done in Cameroon, the executive vice president said the creation of ICT centers and the return of New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) to Cameroon etc, are their achievements.
   
The first secretary at the Ivory Coast Embassy in Yaounde, Ago Romauld Patrick, who represented his ambassador at the press conference, thanked JCI for choosing his country to host the conference noting that it will be an opportunity for investors to acquaint themselves with the country’s investment potentials and eventually set up businesses in the short or long term.
   
Created in 1919, JCI has its headquarter in the US.

 

Labour Day:
Informal sector workers most poorly remunerated
 
A conference held in prelude to this year’s Labour Day disclosed that informal sector workers generate about 70 percent of the country’s GDP but receive low wages

By Ntaryike Divine, Jr. in Douala

A Douala-based group of thinkers, the Kiele Reflection Circle has revealed that despite their huge contribution to the Cameroon economy, informal sector workers remain among the most poorly compensated.
   
The declaration was voiced Sunday 26 April, at the think-tank’s April edition of its ongoing monthly conferences on diverse themes. It came in prelude to the 2009 Labour Day which provided a pretext for the members to converge deliberations on the salary situation in Cameroon.

According to divulged figures, 90 percent of Cameroonian workers constitute human capital in the informal sector which represents over 80 percent of the Cameroonian economy and close to 70 percent of its GDP.
   
Unfortunately, according to experts, they take home some of the lowest and most disreputable wages. Salaries in the informal sector according to speakers range from 27,300 FCFA in non-agricultural sectors 11,100 FCFA for those providing labour in the agro-sector.
   
An official with the International Labour Organization, Paul Nonguini said 70 percent of workers in the country earn wages below the minimum hourly rate stipulated by the government. Other speakers blamed the reigning impunity being enjoyed by employers for the “deplorable” situation.
   
Jean Paul Ngemnang, a labor expert, decried the fact that employers across the country have been consciously taking advantage of the negligence of the authorities to blatantly infringe the country’s labour laws by paying their workers “chicken feed.”
   
Article 62 of the Cameroon Labour Code stipulates that salaries are not negotiated on a one-on-one basis between employers and job-seekers, but on the basis of collective conventions. According to Ngemnang, widespread ignorance of the labour law was partly responsible for the situation.
   
However, some Cameroonians who admitted they earned paltry wages complained that they had no choice in the absence of better opportunities and within the global economic slowdown context where many jobs are increasingly at risk. Many said they preferred the measly salaries than staying jobless and becoming pests to kin or delinquents in search of daily bread.
   
The Kiele Reflection Circle was flagged off several months ago by the SDF’s Douala I counsellor, Kah Walla to regularly ponder solutions to burning national issues.

 

Improving agricultural yield:
K’ba cocoa farmers urged to use micro-organisms technology instead of chemicals

Effective micro-organism farming technology, first used by Japanese, was demonstrated and recommended to cocoa farmers in Kumba on Saturday 25 April.

By Ashu Manfred in Kumba

Rather than invest on expensive environment unfriendly chemicals to improve agricultural yield, Kumba cocoa farmers have been enjoined to attempt cultivation using the effective micro-organism (EM) farming technology.
   
At a workshop organised Saturday 25 April by the Integrated Rural Enterprise Development and Environmental Project, IREDEP, and EM Cameroon, farmers had a hands-on experience on using the new farming technique.
   
Introduced by the Japanese following the Second World War, EM technology involves the use of a cocktail of over 80 beneficial micro-organisms that can forge mutuality with plants and favour agricultural yield, an EM Cameroon expert explained.
   
IREDEP manager Aaron Ndeh Ngwa told participating farmers that EM technology marks a revolution in cocoa production given that it is environmentally friendly. He assured farmers that the farming approach has already been experimented upon and that the farmers will not regret adopting it.
   
Aaron Ngwa further pointed out that EM technology would free farmers from the clutches of unscrupulous licensed buying agents (LBA) who sell chemicals to farmers at exorbitant prices. 
   
In the course of the workshop, Kumba branch manager of EM Cameroon Tikum Nosta had a practical session with farmers on ways of applying the EM technology to their crops, livestock etc. 
   
Tikum Nosta boasted that the technology is currently in use in about 54 countries in the world, among them six African countries, with tremendous improvements in productivity. He equally emphasised that EM Cameroon will not only train farmers to produce quality products but will also connect them with overseas buyers.

 

Fourth Afro-Canadian Forum:
Over 500 people to brainstorm on poverty alleviation strategies in Africa

The Forum to run from 5-7 October 2009 Montreal, Canada is aimed at providing innovative approaches for increased private and public investment with the aim of reducing poverty in the continent

By Takang Bisong in Yaounde

Over 500 general managers of companies, top African and Canadian decision makers, foreign organisations representatives among others are expected to participate in the fourth African-Canadian investment forum christened “Forum Africa 2009” that will run from 5-7 October 2009 at Fairmont Reine Elizabeth Montreal, Canada.
   
The forum to be jointly organised by Afrique Expansion magazine and Africa Business Roundtables in collaboration with Canadian Council for Africa, is aimed at brainstorming and generating innovative approaches to increase private and public investment with the primary goal of reducing poverty in Africa, Amina Nleng Gerba, Cameroonian and founder of Afrique Expansion magazinesaid at a press briefing organised in Yaounde recently.
   
The Canada-based woman disclosed that excellent awards would be handed over to companies and officials who have contributed exceptionally to Africa’s development in the past two years.
She invited Cameroonian businessmen and proprietors of enterprises to register massively and early too so as to give the Canadian embassy enough time to study their documents and prepare their visas.
   
Cameroon, Amina Nleng Gerba pointed out, has a lot to benefit from the Forum as they would be able to meet, discuss and eventually strike deals with renowned foreign investors and business magnates across the globe.
   
The investment forum is not an avenue for people to use to migrate to Canada clandestinely, she warned.

Afrique Expansion magazine is an international review on business and North–South partnership. Since its creation in 1998, the magazine has been an important source of economic news in Africa for investors and African decision makers.

 

CPDM restructuring in K’ba:
Militants encouraged to vote rich comrades into office

By Ashu Manfred in Kumba

A central committee representative assigned to pilot the reorganisation of the CPDM basic organs in Kumba has advised militants of the party to go for financially buoyant candidates who, when voted into office, can contribute their wealth for the development of the party.

Addressing Meme I section militants in Fiango on Friday 24 April, Peter Ekole Misodi, vice president of the supervisory committee appointed by the party’s central committee pointed out that the CPDM does not have a stockpile of money somewhere to finance its activities. He emphasised that it is incumbent on members to choose just leaders who are worth the salt financially and can bankroll party activities. “You can share your riches with people but you cannot share your poverty with people,” he remarked.
   
Misodi was speaking on behalf of Francis Nkwain, leader of the central committee delegation to Kumba who was not present at the occasion.
   
The Fiango meeting was intended to lay down modalities for elections into the local wings of the party: YCPDM, WCPDM and the main subsection executives.
   
Before reading out the rules governing the elections, Misodi invited members of the central committee delegation who aspire for positions in the grassroots structures to give up their positions in the supervisory committee. At that juncture, Adamu Uba, Njoya Abubakar, Atemkeng John, Nkembiwe Joseph and Aka John, all militants of the Meme section, gave up their seats in the divisional committee to pursue their political ambitions.
   
Reorganisation exercises, the official noted, help in creating a strong base for the ruling party.
The election date is yet to be announced.

Issue 2210

Monday 27 - Tuesday 28 April 2009

Commonwealth at 60:
Cameroon sizes up 15 years in Gentleman’s club

Weeklong commemorative activities that began on 24 April will round off tomorrow 28 with the event proper on the theme “The Commonwealth @ 60: Serving a new generation”

By Takang Bisong in Yaounde

The Commonwealth of Nations clocks 60 years tomorrow 28 April 2009. Commemorative activities to mark the event in Cameroon that began on 24 April will round off tomorrow at the Yaounde Conference Centre when stakeholders in the country meet to celebrate the organisation’s existence and achievements.
   
Weeklong activities launched Friday 24 April at amphitheatre 700 of the University of Yaounde 1 by minister delegate at the External Relations ministry in charge of the Commonwealth, Joseph Dion Ngute, included among others a sports walk dubbed ‘Commonwealth athletic walk’ and a football match that pitted the ministry of External Relations and MTN Cameroon at the BEAC sports complex on Saturday 25 April.
   
Monday 27 April morning, a roundtable debate grouping Cameroon youths holds on the campus of the University of Yaounde 1 on the theme Cameroon-Commonwealth partnership: a decade of fruitful cooperation.
   
In an interview with Cameroon Tribune, the External Relations minister Henri Eyebe Ayissi said in the outline and implementation of its youth policies, youth education has always been the guiding principle of the Commonwealth. Many Cameroonian youths, he said, have benefited from the Commonwealth scholarship and have also gained employment from the organisation.
   
Dion Ngute said since joining the Gentlemen’s club in 1995, the commonwealth has been of great help to Cameroon and relations between the two have always been fruitful.
   
However the celebrations, critics here say government has utterly fallen short of meeting the conditions on which it was admitted into the Commonwealth. Decentralisation, good governance, free and fair elections and computerisation of the judiciary are still far from being achieved.

 

Appointment of notaries public:
North West lawyers strongly reject Maurice Kamto’s plans

The minister delegate at the Justice ministry, who announced at a meeting in Yaounde last week that government will appoint notaries public to serve in the Anglophone regions, already has angry Anglophone lawyers to face

By Chrysantus Nchong in Bamenda

A dissenting opinion campaign is raging among barristers in the North West region against a plan announced during the 4th University of African Notaries on Tuesday 21 April by Maurice Kamto, minister delegate of Justice, to appoint notaries public in the two English-speaking regions of the country.
   
A heavily attended meeting of lawyers in the region at the weekend, launched biting attacks at Maurice Kamto’s announcement.
   
Addressing the press shortly after their meeting, barrister Kemende Henry Gamsy, the representative of the Bar Council in the region expressed disgust at the planned government move which undermines practising notaries public in the Anglophone judicial subsystem.
   
Kemende Henry insisted that the Common Law system, inherited from the British and practised in the English-speaking regions, allows barristers to cumulate their advocacy prerogatives with that of notary public. The legal mind expressed dismay that the minister did not instead question why Anglophone notaries were not invited to the heavily attended Francophone meeting in Yaounde.
   
The regional representative of the Bar issued a strong message to the Justice ministry that any such appointments will be stiffly resisted in the Anglophone regions.
   
The bitterness portrayed by the lawyers during Friday’s meeting, suggests the integrity of their profession is at stake. News reaching The Herald suggests that a similar meeting to propagate the movement in the South West is planned for this week by lawyers in the said region.
   
It is not the first time that Anglophone professionals are faced with ploys from a Yaounde official undermining approaches inherited from the British and recognised by law. An attempt to assimilate the English education subsystem into the Francophone subsystem in the 1980s met with stiff popular resistance that culminated in the creation of the GCE Board in 1993.

 

Many still feared buried in Douala landslide

Only one person has so far been declared dead, but there are fears many are still buried after a landslide occurred Friday at Bepanda in Douala, trapping scores

By Ntaryike Divine, Jr. in Douala

So far, only 15-year-old Melanie Nadege Tsakem Feutsop is known to have perished after a landslide gobbled up scores of children at Bepanda-Safari in Douala on Friday, 24 April.
   
At press time yesterday, medics at the Laquintinie Hospital said four other victims of the incident were still in an unstable condition. They also said no other victims had been rushed there in the meantime.
   
At nightfall Friday, many, including rescuers remained certain several persons were still buried in the landslide. Rescue workers took turns in digging the mound but efforts were vain as no additional bodies were found.
   
The rescue activity was hampered by heavy rains and more sliding land as the digging continued. It complicated things for the fire brigade which gave up participation in the operation for fear of being buried as well.
   
Friday’s incident occurred on a plot under preparation for construction works at a place called 54 Escaliers in the generally marshy Bepanda neighbourhood. We learnt that residents here have been digging the plot for soil they use in barricading their homes against typical rainy season floods.
   
And with the approaching rains, the place logically became a beehive as soil-vendors turned it into a source of income and children frequently came there to gather soil to help their parents safeguard their homes.
   
Hence, the place was packed full Friday with the diggers busy at work when a heap of earth suddenly caved in on them, trapping many beneath. Area residents, who were soon joined by elements of the fire-fighting brigade and local police, rushed to save them.
   
They managed to pull out several victims from the mound. But the operation turned sour only minutes later when another huge mass of earth collapsed  burying more people. “I am certain that there are at least five bodies buried there,” Mbang Theodore, an eyewitness said Saturday. Others held the same impression but said only reports of missing children in the neighbourhood will confirm the fears.
   
Douala V Mayor Francoise Foning, who rushed to the scene, did no more than blame the incident on irresponsible and chaotic. She announced a war against owners of houses illicitly erected in high-risk zones in her municipality. 

 

Kumba City Council:
SDO storms out of budgetary session in disapproval of procedure

Abath Zangbwalah Magloire said he could not be party to violation of the law whereby mayors dictate development priorities to a City Council. Although he boycotted deliberations, he however resurfaced when 1.98 billion FCFA was voted as City Council budget for 2009

By Ashu Manfred in Kumba

A Kumba City Council budgetary session held on Thursday 23 April, the first chaired by Victor Ngoh Nkele as government delegate, turned into a tempestuous event when Meme SDO Abath Zangbwalah Magloire picked holes in the meeting procedures and stormed out of the gathering.
   
Abath Zangbwalah, who as SDO is a vital actor in the budget elaborating process of the council, got frustrated when mayors of the component councils of the city council rejected his motion that the municipalities had no authority to dictate funding priorities to the City Hall.
   
While Abath insisted that the city council should decide on the priority projects for the Kumba I, II and III councils, the mayors and their counsellors argued that they alone knew what projects are most appropriate for their respective communities.
   
Speaking to The Herald, Chia Promise Ful, deputy mayor of Kumba II, said the law permits councils to make budgetary suggestions for water, health, electricity, the building of schools, parks, markets and other social amenities in their areas.
   
This resolve did not go down well with the SDO who called it a violation of the legal procedure on the matter, The Herald gathered. As a result, the SDO stood from his seat and charged out of the hall.  “I will not attend a session where government policy is being hijacked by persons who want to create a city council within their councils,” Abath said grumpily.
   
Attempts by some local government authorities here to dissuade Abath from driving away were unsuccessful.
   
In a similar attempt to douse the resulting tension in the meeting, the government delegate invited participants to a cocktail break but the SDF mayor of Kumba II, Asapngu Ferdinand snapped, “We are not here for food.”
   
The meeting went on until about 09:30pm when the counsellors adopted a budget of 1.98 billion FCFA for 2009.
   
To everyone’s dismay, the SDO appeared at the end of deliberations and congratulated counsellors for keeping cool throughout the meeting.

 

 

Wildlife crime:
Court orders three elephant dealers to pay 6m as damages

The magistrate of the Mamfe court said last 15 April that the traffickers will each face a two-year prison sentence should they fail to pay the money

By Vincent Mfonfu Gudmia, Yaounde

The Mamfe Court of First Instance in the South West region has ordered three wildlife criminals to pay over 6 million FCFA as damages and a fine of 200,000 FCFA each to the government for trading illegally in elephant parts in September 2007.
      
The court judgement which was passed on Iza Abraham, Mbu Take Pius and Eyong Mbi Peter on 15 April 2009 added that failure to pay the money would be tantamount to a two-year prison sentence for each of them.
     
 They were arrested in the process of selling 14 elephant tails, 4 ivories and 1 elephant tooth in total violation of the 1994 wildlife law that forbids trade in endangered wildlife animals. The South West Forestry and Wildlife brigade, security forces, judicial agents and the Last Great Ape Organisation (LAGA) participated in the successful operation of last September 2007.
   
“We have reinforced patrols and we have game guards who are working on a permanent basis in national parks,” Mbah Grace, SW Forestry and Wildlife delegate, said were some strategies put in place to track down poachers.
   
Forestry and Wildlife minister Elvis Ngolle Ngolle said earlier that Cameroon is seen more and more by the international community as a land of wildlife conservation and as a land where the wildlife law and policy are good and well balanced.

 

CEFAM Buea:
New graduates enjoined to enhance council projects

The minister delegate at the ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation made the call at the weekend in Buea as he presided over the graduation ceremony of some 125 students from the local government training school (CEFAM)

 By Patience Toge in Buea

The minister delegate at the ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation (MINADT) has urged the newly graduated students of the local government training school in Buea, CEFAM, to employ the knowledge gathered from the institution to help local councils to carry out productive projects.
   
Speaking at a ceremony to send off some 125 graduates at the school premises on Friday 24 April, Emmanuel Edou said the institution represented government’s policy to enable local councils to contribute to the country’s development drive, and to forge ahead with the decentralisation process.
   
However, the minister delegate regretted the perennial shortage of qualified personnel plaguing local councils and hindering development, castigating what he said appeared to be the reluctance of some mayors to ensure that employees of their councils sat for the competitive entrance exam into CEFAM.
   
Meanwhile, the director of the school, Hagbe Mathieu, was very pleased with the progress and good results recorded during the last academic year, mentioning the introduction of new courses such as land law to help the implementation of decentralisation as one of the successes obtained during the past year.
   
Admitted in 2007, the 125 graduates spent two years of training as local government officers, specialised in general administration and finance and treasury services for cycle one and council service employees for cycle two.

 

40 years of linguistic service:
SIL Cameroon counts achievements, promises to break new grounds

In its 40th anniversary celebrations Friday 24 April, officials said the organisation has made strides in adult literacy and Bible translation and are contemplating involving nationals as much as possible so they could take the relay

By Bainkong Godlove in Yaounde

The Cameroon branch of the international non-governmental organisation, SIL, which deals with linguistic research in all national languages of Cameroon and Bible translation into local dialects, has come of age and would want to involve nationals as much as possible in what it is doing, officials have said.
   
Speaking Friday during SIL’s 40th anniversary celebration at the organisation’s Cameroon Training Centre in Tropicana, Mvan, Yaounde, its general director Nelis Van Den Berg rejoiced that they have made considerable strides in preserving and promoting Cameroon’s numerous national languages and the translation of the Bible into local tongues, some of the main goals of SIL.
   
He said they do work in so many parts of Cameroon where they help to set up the mother tongue education in schools, a literacy programme in villages where all kinds of books on cultural preservation and development are produced. 
   
Commenting on the theme of the celebration, “language connects people”, Nelis Van Den Berg, said they have succeeded to encourage people in Cameroon to value their languages, most of which, he said, is now used in written form. Describing language as an effective tool in connecting people to their culture and each other, the director said it also helps in practical and spiritual development. “Without the right language, communication breaks down and people are isolated”, he said.

So far SIL has developed an education pilot project in schools where pupils are first taught in the mother tongue before they are introduced to the foreign official languages. An example is the Kom education pilot project in Boyo sub disvision, NW region where in partnership with the ministry of Basic Education, SIL wants to test whether or not multilingual education models could be feasible and effective in minority language contexts.
   
According to Nsah Philip, Coordinator for Finance and Accommodation at SIL, the project facilitates learning and the translation of the Bible into the mother tongue has eased the proper dissemination and understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ by all.
   
SIL’s director general announced that the organisation would spare no effort in building capacities of nationals so they could take the relay.

 

Health innovation:
First Telemedicine centre takes quality healthcare closer to masses

Thanks to digital telecommunication, patients in understaffed rural clinics will enjoy quality specialist care from urban based doctors without travelling to town. This is the mission of Genesis Telecare inaugurated in Yaounde on Tuesday by Public Health minister Andre Mama Fouda

By Ojong Steven Ayuk in Yaounde

After long years of lip service on the subject by government officials, telemedicine has finally become a reality in Cameroon. But government is, so far, only a spectator in the project.
   
Genesis Telecare, the pioneer Telemedicine centre intended to grant better access to quality care to communities in understaffed health districts in the country, is the initiative of Jacques Bonjawo, a Cameroonian based in the USA.
   
The centre located at Tsinga, Yaounde, is a subsidiary of Genesis Futuristic, a US based information communication technology organisation owned by Bonjawo.
   
Once connected to the telemedicine coordinating centre at Tsinga, for instance, small clinics in districts located as far off as Eyumodjock in the South West region, can have their heart patients consulted by a competent cardiologist in Yaounde in only a matter of minutes; without the patient doing the two-day trip to the capital city where most heart specialists are based.
   
Within such time, the specialist in Tsinga can discuss with the Eyumodjock patient, read his electrocardiogram, blood pressure and temperature, make a diagnosis and even prescribe drugs.
   
At Monday’s inaugural, Anshumali Bhushan, CEO of Genesis Telcare said the creation of the centre is in response to an urgent need to guarantee medical care for all in a context where practising medical experts are too few and unevenly deployed to fully attend to the needs of the entire population.
   
The centre, he said, will also facilitate economic access to quality health consultation and treatment for patients in urban areas as well.
   
With only about 10,000 FCFA, workers at the centre say, our Eyumodjock patient for example would get specialist attention and save immensely on displacement cost – fare, feeding, lodging and risks associated with travelling to Yaounde or Douala to attend a referral hospital.
   
And such care extends to other medical domains Bhushan said: tele-neurology, tele-pathology and tele-radiology among others.
   
Genesis Telecare already has centre in Yaounde and another in Douala. Plans are underway to link key peripheral health districts to the network so distant communities can start benefiting.

 

Chieftaincy dispute in Buea:
Chief drags alleged impostor to court

Ndumbe Michael, grandson of the late chief of Bonjia, says he is the legitimate heir to the throne and that Njie Mandenge forged his signature during a meeting last year at which he was designated chief. Mandenge denies the accusations

By Patience Toge in Buea

Njie Mandenge, a well-known politician in Buea, has been dragged to court for impersonating as the legitimate ruler of Bonjia village.
   
Ndumbe Micheal, grandson of the deceased chief of Bonjia, who claims to be the rightful heir to the throne, lodged a suit at the Fako High court in Buea recently questioning the traditional authority of Njie Mandenge.
   
The plaintiff said the alleged impostor forged his signature during consultative talks involving village kingmakers and administrative authorities last 20 August 2008 at the end of which he was designated chief of Bonjia.
   
Ndumbe Micheal further said he did not attend that meeting and was therefore very surprised to learn that a letter addressed to the Fako SDO stated that he took part in the talks and signed documents recognising Njie Mandenge as chief of Bonjia.
   
In a petition sent to the SDO last 25 August 2008, Ndumbe appealed to the administrative official to annul the consultative talks on grounds of gross irregularities, noting that Mandenge was not a member of the royal family and owns neither a piece of land nor a house in Bonjia village.
   
When this reporter met Njie Mandenge to react to these accusations, he maintained that he was the legitimate chief of Bonjia. According to him, it was the head of the royal family, Ndumbe Muwa Jacob alongside other kingmakers who designated him chief and presented him to the population in the presence of the former DO of Buea, Yves Bertrand Awoufac.
   
He however acknowledged that Ndumbe Micheal would have been the chief of Bonjia, but because of his five-year prison sentence, kingmakers dropped him.
   
Mandenge equally rejected claims by Ndumbe that he faked his signature.
   
The Muea police district has also opened investigations on the matter.

Issue 2209

Friday 24 Sunday 26 April 2009

 

Notary public profession:
Maurice Kamto considers appointment of Anglophone notaries

The minister delegate at the Justice ministry gave the hint while opening the 4th University of African notaries Wednesday

By Ojong Steven Ayuk in Yaounde

Unlike in the Francophone part of the country where lawyers are different from notaries public, this role in the Anglophone judicial subsystem is still played by barristers, cumulatively with their responsibilities in the Bar.
   
But government is closing in to change all that. In the not so distant future, notaries public will be appointed to work in the main English speaking regions of the country, Maurice Kamto, minister delegate at the Justice ministry has hinted.
   
Kamto raised the issue while opening a meeting of African notaries public in Yaounde dubbed 4th University of African notaries on Wednesday.
   
Notaries public are legal authorities with power to mediate and conciliate in out of court matters like land purchase and signing affidavits among others.
   
In an explanation to panellists justifying why the Anglophone regions do not have full time notaries public, the minister delegate said within the Common Law system, inherited from Britain, the role is considered as part of barristers routine.
   
However, Kamto maintained that there is no law preventing the appointment of certain legal professionals to carry out this important duty in the country.
   
Although clearly convinced about the appointment of notaries in the English sub-system in Cameroon, Kamto neither mentioned how soon such nominations would be made nor what criteria would be used in selecting lawyers.
   
A notary attending the Yaounde meeting told The Herald that becoming a notary public in the French subsystem requires a first degree in Law and two years of internship as notary secretary in a practising notary’s chambers.
   
The profession in Cameroon is coordinated by the Cameroon Chamber of Notaries.
   
The 4th university provided a forum for exchange of ideas, training and retraining of notaries of the African continent. Over 200 notaries from 15 Francophone African countries attended the meeting.

 

Fru Ndi raises 5 million for village development

The SDF chairman organised a fundraiser in his native Baba II attended by his friends and party cadres

By Teche Nyamusa in Bamenda

SDF chairman, John Fru Ndi, recently mobilised his friends and senior party officials to financially contribute to the development of his native Baba II village in Santa subdivision.
   
At a fund-raiser he organised at the Baba II Presbyterian Church on 18 April attended by MPs, mayors and cadres of the SDF, 5 million FCFA was raised and handed over to the Baba II Cultural and Development Association (BASCUDA-AZOPE).
   
Fru Ndi later told journalists that he invited his friends to help his native village that has been making strides in self-reliant development under BASCUDA-AZOPE.
   
The development association had the previous day organised an annual general meeting, attended by about 600 internal and external elite, which raised 3.5 million FCFA to fund development projects in the village.
   
The SDF chairman praised BASCUDA-AZOPE national president, retired governor Acham Peter Cho, for championing development in Baba II.
   
In a speech at the occasion, Acham Peter enumerated achievements of the village development association which include the construction of a church building, GTC Baba II and health units, provision of electricity, road repairs, among others.
   
He thanked the Cameroon government for fostering development in the village.
   
The money raised this year will go to start the construction of a community hall and complete some projects already initiated, it was announced.
   
Four Baba II elite were decorated during the occasion for their outstanding contributions towards village development. They included Ngu Eric, Achidi Asanga Zacharia, Chou Ndi and Ndele Lester.

 

Trade ministry promises war against illegal book sales

The ministry announced it will vigorously combat inflated prices and piracy in the book sector during the next academic year

By Takang Bisong in Yaounde

Dishonest book dealers who hike prices and book pirates who usually had a free reign in the past will be in for a rough ride next academic year if the Ministry of Trade means what it says.
   
The director of internal trade at the Ministry of Trade, Mbarga Biyina Valentine, Wednesday 22 April in Yaounde vowed that his ministry will crack down on all unscrupulous and illegal dealers in the book sector in the coming academic year.
   
Speaking at a meeting grouping publishers and distributors of books, Mbarga Biyina said government is fiercely determined to severely punish any person caught inflating book prices or engaged in the illegal sale of books which are not on the official list.
   
He said any person, including schools and publishing houses, caught in these acts will either have their licences revoked or fined heavily.
   
Mbarga Biyina urged publishers and book distributors to form an association in order to help the government combat the ills plaguing the book sector.
   
He equally challenged officials of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education to publish the booklist for the 2009/2010 academic year early enough in order that the Trade ministry and publishers can work to ensure the respect of regulations.
   
Participants at Wednesday’s meeting examined the possibility of harmonising the prices of text and exercise books, effective distribution of books in every part of the country and ways of controlling piracy in the book sector.
   
It was agreed in the meeting that efforts will be made to ensure that prices of books are maintained at last year’s level.

 

 

Defence appointments:
Biya finally recognises valiant Col. Weriwoh

The army physician, who miraculously saved 250 commuters on the Bertoua-Yaounde road from an armed gang of highway robbers in 2006, is now inspector at the Defence ministry

By Micheal Kimbi Tchenga in Yaounde

Among the senior officials appointed by presidential decree in the Defence ministry last Thursday is Col. Weriwoh Tembeng Godfred, a brave soldier who single-handedly saved about 250 travellers from highway robbers in 2006.
   
The colonel who is also a practicing medical doctor, will now serve as inspector at the Defence ministry up from a previous post as medical director of the first military region in the Centre region.
   
The appointment comes as a pat on the back of a man who has served the nation with fidelity bringing honour to his corps.
   
On 5 November 2006, Col. Weriwoh was travelling in a convoy of commuter transport buses from Bertoua to Yaounde that came under attack from a gang of 17 armed highway bandits.
Fearlessly emerging from the bus under heavy gunfire, Col. Weriwoh clutched his pistol and fought back. In a fierce exchange of fire that reportedly lasted about two hours, Col. Weriwoh killed two of the bandits and later helped to arrest and disarm the rest.
   
That done, he shed-off the military part of him and took up the role of the practising medical doctor he is; attending to passengers who incurred bullet wounds during the crossfire.
   
His courageous feat earned him accolades from civil and political authorities in his native North West region who organised a thanks giving church service in his honour.
   
But such praise and recognition was yet to come from the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, President Paul Biya.
   
Last July government decorated the 41 soldiers who later assisted Weriwoh to fish out the other highway robbers from nearby bushes. Surprisingly, Colonel Weriwoh, the main protagonist, was left out.
   
The head of state is generally not in a hurry to reward Anglophone military brilliance with promotion. Yenwo Ivo, the promising army captain who, in the heat of the 6 April 1984 failed coup, personally covered the president to safety, only waited about two decades to become army brigadier general.

 

 

UB students call off strike after two days

A crisis meeting by the University of Buea students’ union said the decision was for the interest of all stakeholders

By Patience Toge in Buea

It was with much relief that the entire University of Buea (UB) community Wednesday received news that the students’ strike had been called off.
   
An enlarged crisis meeting of the executive committee of the students’ union which held on that same day resolved to put an end to the crisis after agreeing that the strike action was not in the interest of students and the entire university.
   
The strike which lasted two days, started on Tuesday morning barely one-day after classes resumed following a week-long lecturers’ industrial action.
   
A memo issued after the crisis meeting and signed by the students’ union president, Shipuh Paul, and secretary general, Asaah Isidor, as well as Fred Woka Nguve, chairman of the students’ council, proposed calling off the strike in exchange of amnesty for the presumed ringleaders.
   
They did not ask for the lifting of the suspension of Fred Woka Nguve, whose alleged victimisation by the UB administration was one of the reasons for the strike. The memo also did not insist on the 11 grievances which students said pushed them to go on strike.
   
In a conciliatory note, the memo acknowledged that the strike was partly caused by internal conflicts in the students’ union, adding that students will work to bury their differences for the smooth functioning of the university.
   
But UB vice chancellor Vincent Titanji does not seem to be in a conciliatory mood. The Herald learnt that when the students approached Titanji to hand over their memo, he refused to receive it.
   
Sources quoted the UB vice chancellor as insisting that the presumed ringleaders of the strike will face the disciplinary panel to answer for their deeds.
   
No official statement had been issued by the UB administration when we went to press Thursday and it was not clear whether the disciplinary panel met.
   
Even though calm has returned to campus, classes are yet to resume. UB sources say the failure of classes to resume is partly due to the mass movement of lecturers to Yaounde to collect research allowances.
   
Tension however persists in the students’ residential neighbourhood Molyko as menacing police and gendarmes continue regular patrols.

 

 

 

Issue 2208

Wednesday 22 - Thursday 23 April 2009

Tragedy in Benin:
Three Cameroonian medical students perish in road accident

Two Chadians and a Niger national also died and scores suffered severe injuries in the crash at Parakou, Benin on their way back to Niamey from Cotonou where they had gone to attend a religious event to mark Holy week

By Ndien Eric in Yaounde

Consternation and shock gripped the Cameroon community in Niamey, Niger, when the brutal and sudden death of three Cameroonian students of medicine at the University of Abdou Moumouni was announced on 13 April.
   
Anastasie Kamdjom Ghomsi, 22, Abui Odile Armel, 24, and Gilbering Magni, 25, who were in the fourth and fifth year of studies, lost their lives in a violent accident involving a stationary truck and their transport bus at Parakou, Benin, on their way back to Niamey from Cotonou where they had gone to participate in a religious event to mark Holy week. Two citizens of Niger and a Chadian also perished while scores of the total 35 students involved in the crash sustained life threatening injuries.
   
Those wounded were rushed to the Parakou Hospital for medical care and the dead were kept at the hospital’s morgue.
   
The exact cause of the accident that occurred around 3 am is not clear, but some survivors variously attributed it either to over-speeding, reckless driving or poor visibility.
   
The eventual repatriation of the corpses of the three Cameroonian medical students has been planned for this weekend, reports Mutations. Students and well wishers resident in Niger are said to have contributed money to assist relatives of the deceased foot the cost of sending home their remains.
   
In addition, a series of wake keepings have been organised, a day of mourning declared last Tuesday 15 April and religious masses said in honour of the departed students.
   
The macabre incident happened exactly one year after 11 Cameroonian university students studying medicine in Guinea Conakry drowned in the high sea on their way to attend a birthday party.

 

 

Meme chiefs’ confab president launches biting attack on gov’t

Adolf Akama accused government officials of embezzling election funds and making fake campaign promises

By Ashu Manfred in Kumba

Government officials came under scathing criticism during the Meme Chiefs’ Conference which held in Kumba last weekend.
   
Adolf Akama, president of the Meme Chiefs’ Conference of running after traditional rulers during elections to ensure victory for the CPDM after making fake campaign promises.
   
Worse of all, he added, the government officials take the chiefs for a ride by pocketing campaign funds put at their disposal.
   
“We have been fooled for too long. We can no long be fooled,” Akama cried out.

In a change of tone, Akama appealed to the government to upgrade Mbonge and Konye subdivisions into full divisions alongside the creation of other administrative units.

He pleaded with the government to tar the 2km of road from Kumba-Mbeng to the Kumba Town Green, saying that it would be stupid if the government leaves that stretch 2km unpaved after the European Union have tarred the road from Muea to Kumba Mbeng.
   
Three other speeches were delivered at the Kumba city hall where the conference held on 18 April. The speeches were presented by secretary general of the Meme Chiefs’ Conference, Nawa Ngoh Martins, the secretary general of the Kumba City Council, Makoge Ivo Charles, and the SDO for Meme, Abath Zangbwalah Magloire.
   
Nfor Tabetando, paramount chief of Bachuo Ntai, presented a paper titled, “The role of traditional rulers in present day Cameroon”.
   
In his speech, the SDO of Meme blamed some of the chiefs for inciting their subjects to commit crimes and engage in violent acts and other atrocities. 

Some prominent chiefs in attendance at the conference were Nfon VE Mukete, DJ Ngoh, Tata Okie, Isoh Etoh, Sakwe William, Eseme Ellis, among others.

 

 

Inter-university cooperation:
Italian university trains Cameroonian food scientists in UNIYAO 1

Thanks to a partnership between the University of Udine, Italy and the University of Yaounde I, over 70 Cameroonian students have been trained to inspect and control foods of animal origin

By Ojong Steven Ayuk in Yaounde

Over 70 Cameroonian workers have in the past three years received specialised training in hygiene and inspection of products of animal origin at the University of Yaounde I.
   
Twenty-five of the 70 students who just finished their training programme were handed end-of-course attestations during a ceremony that held at the conference room of the university on Thursday 16 April.
   
According to a press release from the university authorities, the training project, which is thanks to a cooperation between the University of Yaounde I and the University of Udine in Italy, seeks to give Cameroonian food scientists quality training in the domain of inspection and control of food production of animal origin.
   
After the training, participants in the course are expected to have acquired skills to qualify food commodities of animal origin as suitable or unsuitable for consumption; improved on their capacity to define operational priorities and to intervene where necessary in the seizure of food commodities not suitable for consumption, the release says.
   
Still in its pilot phase, the project is expected to train at least 35 Cameroonians in each session. Eligible candidates are supposed to be professionals and senior staff of various administrations concerned with inspection and control of foods with at least a GCE ‘A’ level certificate plus three years of higher studies.
   
Thus those who have since benefited from the training include veterinary doctors, nutritionists, zoo technicians, agronomic engineers, physicians, pharmacists, biochemists; all workers of MINEPIA, MINSANTE, MINADER and MINRESI.
   
Candidates with exceptional results at the end of the training will be sent to the University of Udine on scholarship for further studies, the release says.
   
During the ceremony to hand over attestations to the last batch of 25 students last Thursday, the project coordinator Guy Tsala who doubles as vice chancellor of UNIYAO 1 in charge of cooperation said the project was elaborated in 2006 as a new form of inter-university cooperation to improve training and develop cooperation through partnership.

 

 

On the heels of lecturers’ sit-in:
Dead campus at UB as students go on strike

The army was called in to disperse striking students. There appeared to have been no arrests

By Patience Toge in Buea

Barely a day after resuming classes following a weeklong strike by lecturers, students of the University of Buea (UB) are again missing classes.
   
A strike action called by the chairperson of the UB students’ representative council, Nguve Fred, went into full swing early Tuesday morning and no classes held for the whole day.
   
Witnesses said students and lecturers fled the university campus shortly after 7:00 am when strike enforcers stormed lecture halls and beat up students who had turned up for classes.
   
Other students who later tried to get into campus were turned away by the strike enforcers — presumably supporters of Nguve Fred — who placed themselves at entrances to the university.
   
It is not clear how many strike enforcers were involved in the operation, but some UB students who spoke to this newspaper estimated their number at just over two dozen.
   
University authorities, we learnt, immediately called in the army which dispersed the students. After relative calm returned, anti-riot police replaced the soldiers.
   
We did not get any reports of arrests and serious injuries and there appeared to have been no destruction. UB authorities reportedly drove their cars to safety at a nearby police station.
   
Nguve Fred and some students’ faculty representatives issued a memorandum listing 11 grievances which they said justified the strike action. Some of these grievances include: the unjust suspension of eleven students for carrying switched off cell phones to class; closure of businesses and photocopiers on campus; insufficient and poor quality food at the campus restaurant; lack of potable water on campus; non-functioning campus toilets; victimisation and intimidation of students; and suspension of the chairman of the students’ representative council.
   
But not all students agree that these are genuine grievances. The students’ union president, Paul Shipuh, told journalists he was shocked when he was told that students were on strike.
   
He said the so-called grievances listed by the president of the students’ council as the motive of the strike were banal and unfounded.
   
Shipuh said the only students who had been suspended took their mobile phones into the examination hall at the end of the first semester. He argued that no businesses had been closed on campus, but had rather been relocated.
   
With regards to the issue of water and toilet facilities, Paul said although there was a problem there, it was not sufficient reason for students to go on strike.
   
Reacting to allegations that he had received bribe from the UB administration to betray students, Shipuh said as a Christian, he could not do such a thing.
   
Some students who spoke to us said they did not support the strike because after losing one week of lectures due to the lecturers’ sit-in, they were not prepared to lose more time. Others, however, said the strike was justified.
   
It would appear students are deeply divided over the strike action along the lines of two camps that emerged during elections into the students’ union.
   
Our efforts to talk to UB authorities on the strike were fruitless.
   
At press time Tuesday evening, there was calm on the UB campus. It is not known whether the strike will continue.

 

 

Despite embezzlement report:
Nguini Effa stays on at helm of SCDP

Board members of the petroleum depots company last Friday maintained Jean Baptiste Nguini Effa as general manager, disproving critics who announced the end of his career when a Supreme State audit accused him of misappropriating 1 billion FCFA in March

By Micheal Kimbi Tchenga in Yaounde

Jean Baptiste Nguini Effa, the man who was tasked in March by a Supreme State audit report to pay back about 1 billion FCFA which he embezzled from the national petroleum depots company, SCDP; will stay on as GM of the company after all.
       
Nguini Effa survived last Friday’s SCDP board meeting which rumours had earlier projected, would mark the end of his career.
   
Despite the discomfort particularly expressed by board members from the private sector over the maintaining of Nguini Effa, the meeting steered clear of sanctioning            Nguini Effa on the basis of the Supreme State audit report released on 4 March.
   
The said audit accused the GM of awarding fake contracts, violating due procedure in making payments, unjustifiably giving tips to companies among others.
   
Although  the official  proceedings of the meeting is yet to be published, a source present at the meeting confirmed that the 2009 budget of the company which was rejected by board members in December 2008 has been finally adopted. It stands at circa 3.4 billion FCFA.

 

 

New continental body to preserve African culture

A meeting of representatives of African cultural institutions which held in Yaounde last week resolved to create the body in a bid to save the culture of Africans and people of African descent from extinction

By Roland Akong Wuwih in Yaounde

A continental body will soon be created to safeguard African culture that has been the object of incessant assault from abroad for centuries, African cultural experts have resolved.
   
Meeting in Yaounde from 7 – 10 April during an international conference dubbed SICADIA, representatives of African cultural institutions on the continent agreed that the new body, to be called AFRESCO, will be engaged in the science and education of African culture.
   
They resolved that AFRESCO will encourage, initiate, facilitate and coordinate the retrieval and restoration of the natural and cultural heritage of Africans and people of African descent for the purposes of protecting, preserving and projecting them.
   
AFRESCO, it was also decided, will concretise collaborative relationships with institutions and corporate organisations on research and studies of cultural and historical significance.
   
It was equally announced during the SICADIA in Yaounde that an African cultural renaissance chart and a plan of action for the creation of an African cultural industry will be drawn up.
   
But the SICADIA meeting did not announce a timetable for the implementation of these resolutions. However, it was agreed that these ideas will be fine-tuned in a second conference to hold on a yet undetermined date.
   
The various SICADIA resolutions were taken following observations that the African culture is losing its value in the global competitive cultural scene despite its richness.
It was revealed in one of the exposes at the conference that 14 African languages have already been extinct, with 72 others threatened with extinction. Only a minority of the population speaks the 183 other languages.

Pathe Diagne, an Africanist, in his inaugural lesson at the opening of the summit, said African culture cannot be safeguarded if African languages are not promoted. He even proposed that Africans should adopt a common African language.
   
Amongst the African institutions spearheading this push for the continent’s cultural revival are the international centre for the Bantu civilisation, CICIBA, in Nigeria, the institute for Kiswahili in Tanzania, the pan-African strategy and policy research group, PANAFSTRAG, and the regional centre for research and documentation on oral traditions and development of African languages, CERDOTOLA, based here in Cameroon.

 

 

Clash of the titans:
Tsimi Evouna, Pierre Kwemo spoil for a fight

A visit last Thursday to Yaounde City Hall by Pierre Kwemo whose Cesar Nightclub gate was recently pounded by a council bulldozer ended in a fray. At the climax, Pierre Kwemo was on his feet fuming with anger while Gilbert Tsimi Evouna fired back with invectives inviting council thugs to come to his aid. But the worst was averted.

By Micheal Kimbi Tchenga in Yaounde

Council workers rushed to douse a brawl at the Yaounde City Hall last Thursday between their master, Gilbert Tsimi Evouna and the robust former National Assembly VP Pierre Kwemo whose gate of Cesar nightclub gate was crushed by a council bulldozen in March.
   
Precisely, the dreaded SDF baron visited the City Hall that morning to ask the government delegate why he was being obliged to clear the rubble left behind after the front wall of his nightclub was destroyed by a council bulldozer.
   
As reported by Le Messager newspaper, the discontented don was channelled to Tsimi Evouna’s director of cabinet to whom he presented his worry. No sooner had Kwemo explained than Tsimi Evouna himself showed up and asked him to repeat what he just said, the report says. Kwemo did.
   
But a harsh trading of invectives ensued. Tension mounted, placing both men at the brink of exchanging blows. Tsimi Evouna reportedly ordered municipal police to defend him but Kwemo daringly warned against anybody coming near him.
   
It took the secretary general of the council and other cadres at City Hall for calm to be restored. Kwemo left but Tsimi Evouna promised more repression.
   
On Friday, a mechanical shovel and two tippers from the City Council where reportedly stationed in front of Cesar nightclub apparently awaiting instruction to complete their job. However, they retreated later in the day.
   
The scuffle comes a week after Pierre Kwemo sought a legal settlement of the matter accusing Tsimi Evouna, in person, of ‘destroying another person’s property’. The case promises to be a showdown both in court and on the streets.
   
For the first time, Gilbert Tsimi Evouna is openly being challenged in his urban renewal campaign characterised so far by wanton demolition of buildings near the road.

 

 

Fighting poverty:
Villagers resolve to adopt commercial agriculture

One of the remarkable outcomes of a recent cultural week in Mpot village, Manyu division was the commitment by villagers to shift from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture

 By Vincent Gudmia Mfonfu in Yaounde

The people of Mpot village in Eyumojock in Manyu division of the South West region have resolved to shift from subsistence to commercial agriculture by establishing medium-size and large-scale plantations of cocoa and oil palm in a bid to alleviate poverty in their community.
   
The resolution was made during the 2009 cultural week, organised under the auspices of the Mpot Cultural and Development Association at the multi-purpose community hall in their village recently.
   
“I am not comfortable with subsistence agriculture; I want my people to shift to commercial or plantation agriculture,” said Chief Mbi Oruh Michael, the traditional ruler of Mpot village.
   
Rural development experts invited to the cultural week manifestations as resource persons urged the people of Mpot to create plantations of cocoa and oil palms of up to 30 hectares, citing examples of farmers who have succeeded in such endeavours in their locality.
   
“Glaring examples are seen around us. Profits from such projects are of paramount importance in raising household incomes in our village,” said chief Mbi Oruh.
   
The chief strongly advised his people to ensure that each family is proud of a university graduate and explained that a family with an average income could educate a child up to the university level in Cameroon.
   
Most villagers agreed with their leader and the experts and are now determined to make strides in commercial farming.
   
The cultural week offered an opportunity for members of the Mpot Cultural and Development Association to raise funds towards the realisation of some development projects for their community, notably, potable water and health services. To this end, the sum of about 1.5 million FCFA was raised during the cultural week.
   
This self-reliant development approach is what rural development experts call, participatory development.
           

 

 

Issue 2207

Monday 20 - Tuesday 21 April 2009

City modernisation:
B’da gov’t delegate announces imminent house demolition

Says in a press release issued last week that owners of properties considered to be on risk zones within the municipality have up to 12 months to ‘peacefully’ evacuate before the council is obliged to use force on them

By Chrysantus Nchong in Bamenda

The government delegate to the Bamenda City Council, Vincent Nji Ndumu, has given residents of what he calls risk zones within the municipality twelve months to peacefully evacuate the areas or have their houses forcefully demolished by bulldozers from the City Hall.
   
In a press released issued on Friday 17 April the delegate states that buildings which have been erected on escarpments in Sisia, New Layout, and Abangoh quarters, as well as those on swampy areas within the council area were done in absolute violation of existing building regulations. And owners must evacuate the areas before City Hall is obliged to evict them. 
       
 The release also says that the City Hall will, in the weeks ahead, effectively verify the authenticity of building permits of all buildings within the council area and notify residents in cases of any irregularities to correct them before the council takes any action.
  
According to the release, all construction works currently underway within the municipality without a building permit should be halted until the irregularities are rectified.
     
The delegate has also forbidden farming, especially along the major streets of the council area. Rather, the release encourages the population to plant flowers and ornamental trees along the major streets.
   
Similarly, the release also notifies roadside vendors and owners of makeshift containers within the council area to evacuate the streets within the next six months or be forced by the council to leave at their own expense,
   
The release also announces that the council will within the next two months embark on a sanitary inspection tour of all businesses within the city to ensure that they are all equipped with toilet facilities and made healthy for public use, warning that businesses with unhealthy facilities will be closed down.
   
The delegate also says that the city council is mapping out a strategy to relocate transport agencies and motor mechanic garages to convenient sites.
   
The release is reminiscent of the controversial demolition of houses in Yaounde and Douala that has impoverished and frustrated thousands of families.

 

 

University lecturers’ strike:
Payment of research funds limited to Y’de

A decision announced by Higher Education minister yesterday compels lecturers in far off universities to do the trip to Yaounde for their money

By Roland Akong Wuwih in Yaounde

Lecturers of state universities involved in research continue receiving financial handouts today at the lone payment point at the Higher Education ministry in Yaounde, a release signed by minister Jacques Fame Ndongo has announced.
   
Beneficiaries in far off Maroua, Ngaoundere, Buea and Dschang, who anticipated the creation of payment points on their respective campuses, are also expected to visit the 10th floor of the  ministerial block in Yaounde.
   
According to the schedule fixed by the release, beneficiaries are to report to the ministry as follows: Yaounde I and II lecturers on 20 and 21 April; Buea, Douala and Dschang lecturers on 22, 23 and 24 April, and Maroua and Ngaoundere on 27 to 30 April.
   
The said payment started last Thursday at the height of a nationwide strike by university lecturers. The Herald learnt that the special research entitlement ranges from 100,000 FCFA to 200,000 FCFA depending on the rank of the lecturer.
   
Minister Fame Ndongo personally handed out a wad of notes to the first beneficiary on Thursday evening.
   
Preceding the payment, the minister installed Yatchoua Jerome as the accountant charged with handling the payment of the special 4 billion FCFA research fund provided by the Finance ministry on orders from president Paul Biya.
   
During the ongoing payment, we gathered, 1 billion FCFA will be paid out accounting for the first quarter while the remaining 3 billion will be paid out in like manner in three more quarters of 1 billion each.
   
The payment comes barely over a week after president Paul Biya signed a decree creating the special research fund at the Higher Education ministry to facilitate the work of lecturers involved in research. But the decree initially failed to calm lecturers until the latest development.
   
Announcements that the strike has been suspended by the Syndicate of Higher Education teachers, SYNES, did not seem to have been respected in all universities. Lecturers in some universities reportedly failed to show up for lectures on Friday.

 

 

D’la city renovation:
Hundreds evicted from Nouvelle Route Bonaberi

Roadside traders who failed to voluntarily quit watched helplessly Saturday as bulldozers tore down their shops and crushed furniture on display

By Ntaryike Divine, Jr. in Douala

Bulldozers        deployed by the Douala City Council went to work Saturday, 18 April, tearing down roadside shops and pushing back open-air woodworks display rooms to ease the ongoing rehabilitation of the Bonaberi New Road .
   
Most of the victims admitted they had been notified of the demolition drive a couple of weeks before, but complained they lacked space to relocate to. Others curiously said they had no problem with the demolition aimed at mending the municipality’s ramshackled roads.
   
Until this year, and despite countless electoral promises; Bonaberi in Douala ’s west hosted some of the city’s most shameful roads. In fact, residents of the predominantly Anglophone settlement managed by SDF Mayor, John Ndangle Kumase believed they were paying the price of their dogged opposition inclination.
   
However, it now appears the government is breaking paths with politically tuned development. And many Bonaberi residents plus the thousands of motorists who ply the roads daily are elated as they envisage an end to the nightmarish traffic jams blamed on the poor state of Bonaberi roads. On bad days, motorists easily spend over two hours hemmed in snail-paced traffic.
   
The ongoing rehabilitation works on the Bonaberi new road (nouvelle route) are unfolding simultaneously with similar works on the old one (ancienne route), both projects funded by the City Council.
   
On nouvelle route, the works, executed by RAZEL will gulp 1.135 billion FCFA and span a period of six months. Mayor Kumase, who flanked Douala government delegate, Fritz Ntone Ntone at the formal launch of the works a couple of weeks ago, expressed profound joy. He said after all, the municipality which accommodates one of Douala ’s two industrial zones was gradually emerging from long years of neglect.
   
Bonaberi counts a debatable 500,000 inhabitants according to official statistics and is a major gateway into Douala . Its two main roads are plied by close to 35,000 vehicles daily including cargo trucks serving the Bonaberi industrial zone. Motorists moving to and from the SW, NW and West regions have been expressing delight with the project.

 

 

Boosting Cameroon’s literature:
Experts announce creation of literature encyclopaedia soon

This was one of the resolutions participants at a three-day international symposium on Cameroon literature made at the University of Yaounde I last Friday

By Ojong Steven Ayuk in Yaounde

Experts in literary discourse and practice have agreed to create an encyclopaedia for Cameroon literature as a means to advance the country’s literary works.
   
They took the decision last Friday at the end of a three-day international symposium on Cameroon literature that was organised at amphitheatre 700 of the University of Yaounde I. It was jointly organised by the Universities of Yaounde and Buea, the ministry of Communication and the ministry of Higher Education.
   
Apart from their decision to create a literary encyclopaedia, attendees also proposed the holding of such events annually so as to evaluate the progress of Cameroon’s literature. The University of Buea will host the next symposium in 2010.
In addition, annual prizes, it was agreed, would henceforth be awarded to authors of best literary works.
   
Holding under the theme “Perspectives on Cameroon literature” participants listened to presentations by experts on such topics as “In the beginning was the word: Oral literature in Cameroon,” “Theorising Cameroon Literature,” “Analytic Categories: The question of form and nomenclature,” “Historicity and Cameroon literature”, etc.
   
The presentations had as objective to examine Cameroon literature from a multi-dimensional perspective and to expose landmarks of literature dating from 1880-1990, organisers of the symposium said. It was also intended to revive declining literature by encouraging writers here to write.
   
Representing Higher Education minister at the closing ceremony, Bouba Oumarou, rector of Yaounde University I, urged organisers of the symposium not to go to sleep, but to ensure that the confab’s resolutions are implemented. Bouba Oumarou congratulated the organisers for the successful conference which organisers admitted was made possible with very inadequate financial means.
   
To John Nkemngong Nkengasong, one of the event’s organisers, the conference was the first ever in many years and expressed the hope that the country’s literature would grow based on this new spirit of knowledge sharing.
   

 

 

Fokam Azu’u to monitor elections in South Africa

The ELECAM board chair left the country yesterday to observe Wednesday’s presidential elections in South Africa, apparently to gain experience and use it in Cameroon when the time comes

By Bainkong Godlove in Yaounde

Samuel Fokam Azu’u, president of Cameroon’s elections management body, Elections Cameroon, (ELECAM), is in South Africa to monitor the country’s presidential elections billed for Wednesday 22 April 2009.
   
The ELECAM chair left the country yesterday, Sunday 19 April, and will during his stay in South Africa observe and evaluate the elections there probably with the aim of gaining experience to apply in Cameroon when elections are organised.
   
Fokam Azu’u is likely to follow scrupulously the functioning of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), South Africa’s elections management body, which could serve as a springboard to the effective takeoff of ELECAM, described here as a pro-CPDM elections body, manned by former senior barons of the party.
   
Reports say the election is expected to be hotly contested between the African National Congress, ANC, the Congress of the People, CoPE, launched four months ago by dissidents of the ANC and the Democratic Alliance Party. It is likely to be the most competitive elections since the end of apartheid in South Africa in 1994.
   
Former South Africa president Nelson Mandela made an unexpected appearance at the governing ANC party’s final pre-election rally yesterday Sunday 19 April in support of the party’s candidate Jacob Zuma, expected to emerge South Africa’s president after Wednesday’s polls.
   
Reports say the rare public appearance by Mandela is the biggest possible endorsement of Zuma.

 

 

African tourism on sale at MTN/FIFA South Africa 2010

Tourism stakeholders around the continent deliberated in Yaounde last week on ways of using the immense tourist-attracting potential of the continent to make economic benefits during the World Cup

By Takang Bisong in Yaounde

The Republic of South Africa may be the main host of the MTN/FIFA football World Cup in 2010 but all other African countries stand a good chance of making capital out of the event, economic operators say.
   
Before and after the tournament, millions of soccer fans, tourists and journalists will crisscross the continent to quench an ever present curiosity about life on the streets of the so-called poorest, yet, very hospitable continent.
   
The long awaited opportunity offered by the world’s biggest soccer event has also inspired stakeholders of tourism in Africa.
   
At the end of a three-day meeting in Yaounde last Friday, African regional members of the World Tourism Organisation resolved to adopt a common approach to make the best economic gains from the World Cup next year.
   
Drawn from over 48 countries around the continent, the tourism operators agreed to set up a platform on which all African countries can collectively advertise their tourist destinations and make economic gains.
   
Such common ground is intended to offer a boost to countries with less viable tourism sectors.  Participants from such areas, with a limping tourism culture, benefited from experiences and ideas shared by those from more superior tourism industries.
   
For its past football glories, Cameroon stands a better chance than many other African countries, to benefits from visiting tourists during the 2010 World Cup. It is likely that thousands of soccer pilgrims will be eager to visit the birthplace of Roger Milla, Patrick Mboma and even Samuel Eto’o Fils.
   
At Friday’s closing ceremony of the workshop, Tourism minister Baba Hamadou announced the imminent creation of an African tourism board and a tourism code to regulate activities in the industry.

 

 

Fight against poverty:
ILO announces projects for Kumbo, Bali, Wum

In order to check the rising incidence of human trafficking that has made headline news in most parts of the North West region lately, the ILO believes that poverty must be tackled first

By Chrysantus Nchong in Bamenda

An International Labour Organisation (ILO) official has announced that the UN agency would be carrying out development projects in the Kumbo, Bali and Wum council areas of the North West region to improve on the livelihood of families here as a way of checking the increasing incidence of human trafficking in the areas.
   
Jenny-norsky, a trainer at the ILO International Training Centre told reporters at the end of a weeklong workshop on gender equality in Bamenda on 17 April that by seeking to reduce poverty, the ILO hopes to provide inhabitants of these areas with decent living conditions to discourage them from giving out their children to traffickers.
   
According to her, the projects would focus mainly on local economic development that entails understanding the real needs of the local populations and building their capacities based on the needs. Training programmes would also be organised for vulnerable children, she added.
   
She said, the ILO would seek to encourage development partners in the various council areas to identify the economic potentials of the people and work towards harnessing them. 
   

Jenny-norsky was the resource person at the Bamenda workshop intended to create awareness on gender equality at the workplace.
   
Participants at the workshop included mayors, fons, leaders of village associations and stakeholders in economic development. El Housseynouly, the principal adviser of the ILO project concerned with the promotion of decent work at the sub-regional office in Central Africa was also present at the workshop.

 

 

Yaounde-Soa road:
Bus-load of UNIYAO II students narrowly escape death

A commuter bus transporting students, at breakneck speed, somersaulted several times and remained overturned inflicting major injuries on occupants. While the victims wailed in the bus for help, the amateur driver vanished into thin air.

By Ojong Steven Ayuk in Yaounde

At most fifteen students of the University of Yaounde II are responding to treatment at the Yaounde Gynaeco-obstetric and Paediatric Hospital and the Soa district hospital following a near-death car accident along the Yaounde-Soa road last Friday, The Herald learnt at the weekend.
   
The near fatal experience, reports here say, resulted from reckless driving.
That fateful day, about 20 passengers, most of them students, boarded a commuter transport bus in Yaounde on the way to Soa. Sitting on the steering wheel was a conductor (motor boy) whose name we got as Dahirou.
   
Cruising at high speed, Dahirou lost control of the bus at a sharp bend around Nkofoulou village on the Yaounde-Soa road, a victim recounted. Uncontrolled, the bus veered from one side of the road to the other causing passengers to shout at the amateur driver to turn out the engine of the car so it could stop moving.
   
When Dahirou abruptly turned off the ignition, the worst happened. The bus somersaulted several times and remained upturned, facing the direction from which it initially came, the victim said.
   
While commuters trapped in the wreckage wailed and prayed God for mercy, Dahirou managed to sneak from the bus and disappeared from the scene.
   
It only took the arrival of Prosper Essomba, president of Soa bus drivers’ association for the badly injured passengers to be transported to hospital.
   
Prosper Essomba reportedly took care of the first hospital bills and promised sanction for the real driver of the bus who gave out his car to an amateur.

 

Chomba fon urges jobless varsity graduates to take to farming

Fobuzie Martin Asanji argues that the soil has never failed anybody and graduates will make even better farmers than those who have not gone to school

By Chrysantus Nchang in Bamenda

Rather than fold their arms and idle because of unemployment, youths should adopt agriculture as a lifetime profession, Forbuzie Martin Asanji, fon of Chomba, has said.
   
Forbuzie Martin Asanji told journalists 11 April after the annual general meeting of the Chomba development association, CHODECCA, that he was advising youths to take to farming, which is lucrative because the soil never fails anybody.
   
He said even jobless university graduates should get fully engaged in farming, adding that those who have gone to school will make even better farmers than those who have not.
  
The Chomba fon said it will be a mistake for university graduates to think that they can only depend on white collar jobs for their livelihoods.
  
Talking about development, Forbuzie Martin showered praises on CHODECCA and elite of Chomba for working hard to improve their village. He said with the work the elite have been doing, Chomba will attain impressive levels of development in the years to come.
   
CHODECCA president, Moses Fon Asanji, on his part said the association has carried out many development projects in Chomba since its creation 27 years ago. He cited the construction of two bridges within Chomba, construction of roads linking Chomba and with three neighbouring villages, construction of four classrooms for the newly created GTC Chomba, among others.
   
In the course of this year, he announced, CHODECCA will embark on water supply projects and the construction of a health centre.
   
He however noted that there are still obstacles to Chomba’s development such as financial constraints and the nonchalant attitude of youths towards development.

 

 

 

 

Issue 2206

Friday 17 - Sunday 19 April 2009

Kumba CPDM militants sceptical about announced reorganisation

They observe that despite similar announcements in the past, no elections have taken place in the local party structures for years

By Ashu Manfred in Kumba

An announcement last week by the CPDM national secretariat that basic party organs will be reorganised in the days ahead is being taken with a pinch of salt by many militants in Kumba.
   
Militants who spoke with this reporter advanced several reasons why they doubt that the reorganisation exercise will take place, with most pointing out that nothing happened after similar announcements in the past.
   
They also noted that during the reorganisation of basic organs of the CPDM in 2007, the exercise flopped in the Kumba section, officially known as Meme I, and no effort was made to organise election re-runs.
   
Similarly, militants expected elections in the local structures of the party after the CPDM secretary general split Meme I into three sections over a year ago but that is yet to happen. Because of that negligence of the national secretariat, they pointed out, the section president of the defunct Meme I continues to call the shots in all the newly created sections.
   
Some of the sceptical militants hold that the national secretariat, which did not announce the date of the reorganisation, is just trying to soothe smouldering tensions in various sections across the country where the incumbent party leaders are very unpopular.
   
Prominent CPDM militant and deputy mayor of Kumba I, Otang Gerald Taku, however told The Herald that he was optimistic the announced reorganisation exercise is for real.
   
He said the commissions to supervise elections in all the sections across the country have already been constituted, which implies the party leadership was ready for the exercise.
   
CPDM sources told The Herald that the reorganisation team to Kumba division comprises Regina Mundi, Francis Isidore Nkwain and Daniel Lantum, among others.

 

 

Promotion of Momo culture:
Ama Muna pledges 2.5 million at Mbengwi cultural jamboree

The Culture minister has sworn her support for development efforts in her native Mbengwi township.

By Teche Nyamusa in Bamenda

The Meta Festival of Arts and Culture, MEFAC, like other development strides of the Momo people is fast gaining grounds. Key to this initiative is impetus vested by Ama Tutu Muna, Culture minister who hails from the tribe.

Last weekend, Mbengwi played host to what admirers came to call a re-make of FENAC 2008 which took place in Maroua last December.
   
Represented at the feast by Asheri Kilo, technical adviser at the Culture ministry, the minister pledged 2.5 million to further boost Momo culture and sponsor development in the area.
   
Teboh Louis, president of the META Cultural and Development Association, MECUDA, told journalists that MECUDA is presently tackling two projects for the community: a mortuary and a community hall. Muna’s contribution is likely to serve help the project.
   
Daniel Muna, owner of Polyclinique Bonanjo and eldest of the Muna children also contributed greatly to the organisation of MEFAC.
   
Featuring a display of the finest picks from the rich culture of the Momo people in the North West region of the country, MEFAC elicited approval from tourists and indigenes of the area that thronged Mbengwi for the festival.
   
The Muslim cattle-rearing Mbororos, who also inhabit the area, treated visitors to a horse race and other cultural parades including dances and pottery.
   
Gourmets had a field day relishing alluring Meta delicacies specially served for the occasion. Many used the occasion to ease-off from a busy planting season and equally celebrate Easter in typical village style.
   
Routinely, the Meta clan which has about 30 villages reserves this time of the year for their peoples to commune.

 

Land dispute:
Minister favours Islamic association over catholic mission

According to a ruling by Land Tenure minister, the Douala archdiocese will compensate an Islamic cultural association here for a piece of land on which the catholic mission erected a school

By Ntaryike Divine, Jr. in Douala

The Douala-based Islamic Cultural Association of Cameroon has regained ownership rights over a parcel of land it disputed for several years with the Douala Archdiocese of the Catholic church.
   
State Property and Land Tenure minister, Pascal Anong Adibime who doubles as head of the national ad hoc committee for the resolution of land disputes passed judgement on the twelve-year-old wrangling Wednesday, 15 April. He based his ruling on evidence indicating that the quarrelled plot was actually allocated to the Muslims 14 years ago by the then minister of Urban Affairs and Housing
   
The Douala Archdiocese, which constructed a Catholic Primary School on 1,300 square meters of the disputed terrain at Nkoulouloun in the New Bell neighbourhood, has also been ordered to pay compensation to the Islamic association. Adibime did not disclose the exact amount due.
   
On the whole, the plot that has been passionately disputed by both sides for over a decade is spread over 11,565 square meters. Several times before the matter was brought to the notice of the authorities, Catholic and Muslim youths in the area came close to physical confrontation.
   
Officials at the Archdiocese refused to make any official comment on the outcome of the case. Electing anonymity however, some said the Archdiocese also has documents attesting its ownership of the plot and will contemplate actions to engage an appeal in the days ahead.
   
Elsewhere, Adibime also formally handed over two plots at the Logbessou neighbourhood, attributed the Douala University via a presidential decree a few years ago. He proceeded to flag off the demarcation of another plot and the eventual issuance of a land ownership title to the same higher learning institution at Ndogbong.
   
He roused fears of the impending demolition of thousands of houses built illegally within the vicinities of the Douala airport when he supervised the delimitation of the airport boundaries. A similar exercise was conducted at the Douala seaport area.

 

Anomah Ngu’s vaccine:
B’da medic boasts of curing 27 AIDS patients in eight months

Achidi Ngu a physician running a little known private medical cabinet in Bamenda claimed on local radio that he drew inspiration from Anomah Ngu’s therapeutic regimen to treat 27 AIDS patients in the last eight months.

By Teche Nyamusa in Bamenda

Anomah Ngu’s proclaimed cure for AIDS which suffered criticism from health authorities here some time ago is still doing wonders, a practising medical doctor in Bamenda has asserted.

In a recently aired interview on CRTV Bamenda, Doctor Achidi Ngu, who runs a private medical cabinet with the supervision of renowned medical researcher and former Health minister professor Anomah Ngu, boasted that 27 patients who were positive for HIV before taking the treatment tested negative thereafter.
   
Claiming inability to get any of the said patients to publicly share their testimonies, the medic maintained that Anomah Ngu’s remedy for AIDS is a life-saving option.
   
Achidi’s clinic, which is relatively unpopular in Bamenda, was opened in August 2008.
   
Anomah Ngu’s VANHIVAX which attracted scorn from consultant immunologists working for the government, is based on the vaccination of patients with specific antibodies targeting the strain of HIV they are infected with. With this vaccine produced using the individual’s own blood, his/her immune system which had been weakened by HIV, is boosted to curtail the viral load, hence symptoms of the disease.

The so-called immuno-therapeutic approach is sharply in contrast with the use of anti-retrovirals which are pharmaceutical agents which directly attack and kill viruses circulating in blood.
   
Critics of Anomah Ngu’s treatment plan avow that VANHIVAX simply reduces the viral load of patients (just like anti-retrovirals) but does not guarantee an actively permanent immune response against the disease such as to declare a patient seronegative.
   
Scientific debate over the feasibility of different AIDS treatment protocols is clearly a world apart from the reality suffered by millions of persons infected with the deadly HIV in Africa.

Latest WHO statistics indicate that thousands are still lack access to regular treatment while preventive health campaigns have not yielded the best results on the continent.

 

National Day festivities:
Nationwide torchlight march, song contest planned to arouse patriotism

Ardoum Garoua emphasised the major innovations to the traditional May 20 celebrations during a preparatory meeting for the event here in Yaounde as part of a campaign to instil a sense of patriotic pride in Cameroonians

By Takang Bisong in Yaounde

In the days preceding the 37th National Day, a contest shall     be organised to select the most patriotic song composed by a Cameroonian to promote national unity; Youth minister Ardoum Garoua has announced.
   
A torchlight procession on streets across the country will equally be led by local administrative authorities to beat a feeling of national pride among Cameroonians.
   
Apparently, the resolved is intended to complement the theme for this year’s celebration; “defence forces and the nation for the promotion of social peace and development.” In the past, National Day themes have mostly addressed defence forces and ignored the rest of the nation.

Although Ardoum Garoua did not venture into the exact modalities of the slated song competition and the torchlight procession, last Tuesday’s preparatory meeting ahead of the May 20 celebrations was highlighted by a strong resolve to re-invigorate a lost pride for the Fatherland among Cameroonians.
   
Previous National Day festivities have typically remained an affair for defence forces and school boys and girls.

But this time, Ardoum Garoua revealed, even national utilities companies AES-SONEL and Camerounaise des Eaux would be marshalled to guarantee logistics for the patriotic torchlight march.

Commissions were setup at Tuesday’s meeting to supervise different civilian activities which will culminate in an official march-past which, in Yaounde, will be presided over by President Paul Biya.
   
Proposals made by the commissions will be examined in the next preparatory meeting before the month runs out.

 

Douala II:
Restricting bendskin circulation in D’la appears unfeasible

The determination of the new circulation plans has met with initial hitches at the Douala II district which has no peripheries according to riders

By Ntaryike Divine, Jr. in Douala

Plans by the Wouri administration to constrain the circulation of motorbike taxis to the periphery of Douala are already bumping into trouble in parts of the city.
   
Situated in the heart of the city, for example, confusion currently reigns in Douala II on the exact fringes of the district. A meeting aimed at demarcating future zones of circulation for the motorbike taxis Tuesday failed to bear fruits.

“We have set up a 10-man committee to reflect and suggest a circulation plan. If it rules that no part of the district can be considered periphery, I will take the suggestion to the divisional committee which has a final say on the matter,” Douala II DO, Mohammadou Bachirou explained.
   
A six-month deadline decreed by PM Ephraim Inoni last 31 December for the riders countrywide to comply with new requirements regulating the activity expires on 30 June. The order requires riders to possess drivers’ licenses, helmets, insurance, etc. But many are calling for an extension of the deadline by at least two months. Others are recommending the cancellation of some of the requirements.
   
Authorities here have taken advantage of the decree to chase the generally unruly riders away from the city centre. Addressing leaders of unions of riders and owners a week ago, Douala Government Delegate Fritz Ntone Ntone said they will henceforth be allowed to function only between major crossroads and back-laid quarters.
   
The decision follows announcements of the arrival, in a week, of 65 new city commuter buses to coincide with the completion of some road rehabilitation projects. It will bring the total number operating in Douala to around a hundred.
   
“Those plans are doomed to fail. At this moment when benskins are free to circulate everywhere, it is not easy to control them. So how will they be controlled when they are restricted to certain parts of the city? Douala counts over 50.000 bendskins and you can imagine the competition and anarchy that will result,” Ebone George, president of the union of riders and owners of motorbike taxis observed.
   
A meeting chaired by Wouri SDO, Bernard Okalia Bilai to definitively fix the new circulation plans for the motorbike taxis held yesterday.

 

Fire guts popular Douala nightclub

Merrymakers scampered to safety and night time glee turned to horror at Dreams nightclub, a popular amusement jaunt here, when fire ignited amid a turbulent rainstorm

By Ntaryike Divine, Jr. in Douala

Dreams Nightclub, one of Douala’s most-visited nocturnal hangouts has been razed. It was completely gutted by sweltering flames detonated by an electric spark as a result of erratic power supply during a raging rainstorm Thursday 10 April night.
   
Eyewitnesses said the flames that quickly flew into a rage erupted somewhere between the nightclub mezzanine and its roof. Others said they noticed fire sparks on an electric pole feeding the nightclub located in downtown Akwa just minutes to the incident.
   
The fire razed the entire nightclub dancing floor, bar and a storeroom. No human life was snuffed as the scores of night time merrymakers all scurried out to safety.
   
By 4 am Thursday, fire-fighters led by Col. Owono Nlend, Commander of the Douala Fire-fighting brigade were still putting out the last flames. Eyewitnesses said had it not been for the prompt intervention, the flames would have hopped unto two adjacent buildings including one hosting the Greek Consulate.
   
Dreams Nightclub came into existence only a few years ago, following the purchase and transformation of the Biblos Nightclub by an Indian expatriate. Staffers say it quickly gained fame with several guest star appearances featuring popular artists.
   
They said business was booming with hundreds of customers, including a sizeable number of Asians welcomed everyday until the fire outbreak.
   
Official loss estimates are still awaited from the incident that transformed a beautiful dream into a nightmare. But initial estimates put the figure at close to a billion francs.
   
Meantime, elsewhere across the city, the tempest reportedly caused the collapse of several electric poles and transformers, plunging parts of Douala into darkness. In fact, city dwellers are increasing their complaints against the country’s lone electrical energy producer, AES-SONEL for caring little about maintenance and replacement of old installations.

 

Minister decries abusive electricity use in gov’t offices

The minister of Water and Energy says he is already waging a war against the ill

By Takang Bisong in Yaounde

 

Government offices generally use electricity abusively, Bernard Sindeu, minister of Water and Energy has admitted.
   
Speaking at a press conference in Yaounde Wednesday 15 April, the minister said the rate of power waste in government offices is alarming at a time when the country is suffering from electric power shortages.
   
He disclosed that he has been waging a war against abusive use of electricity in government offices as part of his campaign to stem waste of electric power in the country.
   
Sindeu did not disclose the extent of electric power waste in the country, but empirical evidence suggests that it is enormous.
   
Theft of power from government offices is also a problem. A government source told this newspaper that for many years running, the presidency of the republic paid billions of francs every year for electricity that was illegally tapped from the mains cable supply of the Unity Palace and supplied to private homes and businesses.

The Water and Energy minister also announced that to solve the problem of power shortage in the country, the government will be increasing the generation capacity of the Edea and Dibamba power plants. Other plants to be constructed like Kribi, Lom-Panjor and Natchigal will also increase the generation capacity to the point where Cameroon will be able to export electricity to neighbouring countries.

Issue 2205

Wednesday 15 - Thursday 16 April 2009

Administrative interference:
Villagers chase away chief imposed by SDO

After two years of confusion, the SDO of Upper Nkam division, West region, decided to impose a paramount chief on Bandoumka village. But the population has risen against the new chief

By Tendong David in Bafoussam

Pagop Samuel was yet to sit properly on his new royal stool as paramount ruler of Bandoumka when angry villagers chased him out of the palace into exile.
   
A few hours after he was installed as paramount chief on 25 March by the SDO of Upper Nkam division, West region, Ivaha Diboua Samuel, amidst heavy security deployment, armed youths stormed the palace late at night forcing Pagop Samuel to flee to the neighbouring Bandja chief’s palace where he was still living as a refugee at the time of writing this report.
   
Most villagers, The Herald learnt, don’t recognise Pagop Samuel as the legitimate leader of Bandoumka and describe him as a stooge of the SDO of Upper Nkam division.
   
Ivaha Diboua imposed Pagop Samuel as the paramount ruler of Bandoumka ethnic group in Banka subvision, despite vigorous protests from kingmakers and the population.
   
The Herald learnt that tension started building on 1 March when the nine kingmakers, at an official ceremony to designate a new chief for Bandoumka village, following the passing away of the former traditional ruler Ngandeu Pangop III in January 2007, presented someone else to the SDO, instead of Pagop Samuel, who was on the SDO’s list. The SDO angrily stormed out of the ceremonial ground with his entourage in tow.
   
The nine kingmakers, in a letter to the SDO on 2 March, explained that the will of the late chief had been forged to give the impression that he had designated Pagop Samuel as his heir.
    Sources said several meetings held between the administration and the kingmakers but their differences were irreconcilable.
   
Ivaha Diboua then decided that the best way to stop the confusion that has been reigning in the village since the death of the former paramount ruler two years ago was to impose Pagop Samuel on the kingmakers and the population.
   
But after the installation, which was heavily boycotted, the population retaliated by chasing the imposed ruler away.
   
Ngaleu, one of the kingmakers, said Pagop Samuel will live and die in exile. Only then will a new paramount ruler be chosen by the kingmakers and enthroned.
   
We learnt that security services have already made several arrests in connection with the attack on the Bandoumka palace and the exile of the paramount ruler.

 

Striking health personnel want aged hospital officials to go

They also demanded an upgrade in their status, better working conditions and the recruitment of ‘temporary workers’

By Takang Bisong in Yaounde

Senior officials due retirement years ago are still calling the shots in Cameroon’s hospitals and stifling the environment with outdated ideas, striking nurses and paramedics in Yaounde have lamented.
   
Speaking to The Herald on condition of anonymity Monday, several nurses and paramedics at the Yaounde Central Hospital said they have asked the authorities to order aged hospital managers who have been clinging to posts many years after their retirement was due to immediately make way for younger people with fresh ideas.
   
They said apart from being tired and putting a clog on the wheel of modern health management, the aged officials are blocking the employment of new health personnel.
   
The striking workers, who regretted that many nurses and paramedical staff have been working for years without official contracts, said if everybody refuses to go on retirement, it will be very difficult for younger people to get jobs.
   
Apart from the issue of aged officials, the national trade union of medical and paramedical staff in public hospitals called the strike to pressurise government to upgrade their status, pay accrued allowances, improve their working conditions and sign formal contracts with so-called temporary workers.
   
Not all nurses and paramedics in Yaounde however heeded the strike call as some hospitals functioned normally. The Yaounde Central Hospital was hardest hit by the strike.
   
This newspaper learnt that the health workers called off the strike later on Monday after discussions with the authorities. A joint resolution by health minister Andre Mama Fouda and Balla Balla, president of the striking workers’ syndicate was published thereafter.
   
Yesterday, the Health ministry announced appointments of officials in regional hospitals and health districts across the country. Most of the personnel elevated and maintained by the reshuffle, were medical doctors.

 

 

Bamenda, Kumba nurses ignore strike

Say they were not aware of any strike called by the National Syndicate of Medico-Sanitary workers

By Chrysantus Nchong in B’da & Ashu Manfred in K’ba

Nurses, laboratory technicians and auxiliary staff of public hospitals in Bamenda and Kumba did not observe the nationwide strike the National Syndicate of Medico-Sanitary Personnel announced on Monday 13 April.
   
Unlike their colleagues working at the Yaounde Central Hospital and Laquintinie Hospital in Douala who downed tools, they went about their activities unperturbed.
   
Reacting to the non-respect of the strike in Bamenda, the North West regional delegate for Public Health, Ndiforchu A Victor, told The Herald that the concerned workers were not informed of any industrial action. This was the same reason a nurse at the Kumba district hospital gave us for their inaction.
   
Leaders of the union of Medico-Sanitary Personnel who called the strike dropped it yesterday after a lengthy crisis meeting with Public Health minister Andre Mama Fouda which provided partial answers to their demands.
   
Nurses, lab technicians and other staffers were among other things asking for a pay raise, increase in retirement age and the integration of contract workers into the public service.

 

Santa DO bans demonstration against Forjindam’s detention

But members of the Cameroon Association of Human Rights Protectors led by Bertin Kisob II held a secret meeting last Saturday and prepared a memo that called on President Paul Biya to free the former Chantier Naval GM who has been imprisoned illegally for nearly a year without a charge

By Chrysantus Nchong in Bamenda

A planned manifestation by adherents of the Cameroon Association of Human Rights Protectors (CAHRIP) to protest against the imprisonment of former Chantier Naval general manager, Zaccheus Forjindam, for nearly a year now without a valid charge was proscribed by Chekem Abraham, Santa DO last Saturday.
   
The founder and president of the rights association, Bertin Kisob II, told The Herald that the ban was masterminded by CPDM barons in the locality because the DO did not give any tangible reason(s) for prohibiting the protest march.
   
He said Forjindam’s detention in New Bell prison, Douala since May 2008 was illegal as the judiciary has been unable all this while to show evidence that the accused embezzled public money during his many years as Chantier Naval GM.
   
Armed security forces were deployed in Santa to crack down on any demonstrators who dared to contravene the DO’s order banning the planned manifestation.
   
Though CAHRIP activists did march, they however held a secret meeting at the end of which they came up with a memorandum calling on President Paul Biya to order the immediate release of Zaccheus Forjindam for the sake of justice, peace and national unity.
   
Like Forjindam, Jean Marie Atangana Mebara, the ex-secretary general at the Presidency, is another detainee at Kondengui prison who has not been formally charged.

 

 

Tractor scandal:
Anti-corruption commission submits report to presidency, Njonga vindicated

A “threat to public peace” charge brought against Bernard Njonga, the civil society activist who exposed a corruption scheme in the Agriculture ministry could be dropped when the matter is heard again next week at the Yaounde Court of First Instance. A report on the matter submitted to president Biya by the national anti-corruption watchdog endorses Njonga’s findings.

By Micheal Kimbi Tchenga in Yaounde

Bernard Njonga, the fiery civil society leader, who in December 2008 exposed a corrupt scheme by some regime barons who confiscated tractors destined for destitute small scale farmers in the country, may be vindicated of the legal charges against him.
   
Njonga, and eight of his companions of the Civil Association for the Defence of Collective Interests, ACDIC, are due in the Yaounde Court of First Instance on Friday 24 April 2009 for another hearing of the case brought against them by the state.
   
But the case against the activist and his comrades, which has attracted international and national media attention, may be halted to avoid giving further publicity to ACDIC’s findings which caused the regime much embarrassment.
   
A report on the matter submitted to the President at the end of February by the National Anti-corruption Commission (CONAC) could rather prove devastating to the career of some senior Agriculture ministry officials implicated in the affair; Jeune Afrique has reported this week.
   
Paul Tessa, CONAC president, constituted his dossier based on the ACDIC investigation presented to him by Bernard Njonga himself on 13 December 2008.
   
According to Njonga’s report which resulted from a meticulous two-year investigation, 50 senior government officials including ministers, parliamentarians and army generals audaciously confiscated tractors donated in 2006 to small scale farmers in the country by India.
   
Njonga substantiated his report with stunning pictures of the said tractors safely parked at the homes of some of the accused here in Yaounde.
   
ACDIC also revealed that about 1.2 billion FCFA had been embezzled in only two years at the National Maize Support Programme controlled by the Agriculture ministry.
   
When the activist engaged a public demonstration on 10 December following the publication of these findings, he and eight of his comrades were arrested by police and a charge of “threat to public peace” levelled against them in court.
   
With the usual executive influence on the judiciary here, observers believe the regime may get rid of the legal proceedings to avert further shame.
   
Behind Njonga, is a legion of impoverished local farmers’ organisations and international activists, prominent among them José Bové, the reputable anti-globalisation campaigner.

 

 

Demolitions in Douala:
City council to exhume, rebury 40 corpses

Not even mortal remains will be spared in the ongoing city demolitions intended to renovate Cameroon’s economic hub

By Ntaryike Divine, Jr. in Douala

Sity Council authorities here are demonstrating an ardent commitment to continue demolitions aimed at giving Douala a facelift. Not even tranquilly reposing corpses are safe.
   
“There are 40 corpses that will be exhumed to enable the rehabilitation of the road. It’s a delicate operation, but all necessary measures have been taken to ensure respect for human dignity,” Douala government delegate, Fritz Ntone Ntone said Monday, 13 April at the Ndogpati graveyard in Douala III.
   
Beginning this Wednesday, the corpses will be exhumed and relocated to new tombs at the Malangue cemetery behind the Douala General Hospital. The operation comes five months after concerned kin were first warned to dig up and dislodge the cadavers whose graves trespass the fringes of the burial ground.
   
In fact, some of the targeted tombs are only a meter away from the main road leading to Ndokoti from the BP Cité neighbourhood which is under rehabilitation and extension.
   
A 40-man team commissioned by Wouri SDO Bernard Okalia Bilai and led by the dreaded and fearless Ndoumbe, chief mortuary attendant at the Laquintinie Hospital morgue is in charge of the operation. “I myself will personally remove the mortal remains and put them in new coffins supplied by the City Council for re-burial at the new site,” Ndoumbe said.
   
Ntone Ntone who acknowledged the sensitive nature of the operation, said it was a culmination of months of intense negotiations between the City Hall, local traditional chiefs and concerned families. “All traditional and administrative conditions have been fulfilled. So, there’s no problem and we don’t envisage any complaints,” he said.
   
According to the government appointed mayor, some of the corpses will be lodged in more befitting tombs at a new site in Malangue.                               However, some concerned relatives of the dead present at the Ndogpati cemetery Monday, said they were not directly informed. Indeed, unable to hold back their emotions, some broke into uncontrollable weeping, while others mustered the guts to demand that the City Council pay them reparations!

 

3,500 technical school instructors get permanent state jobs

Government was already using their services but had not signed formal contracts with them

By Takang Bisong in Yaounde

Thousands of grade I teachers in the technical education sector who worked for years without a formal contract, will now have the new status of full-time state employees.
   
Emmanuel Bonde, minister of Public Service and Administrative Reforms, who is also chair of an ad hoc committee for the recruitment of temporary workers, announced in a press release issued last week that 3500 grade I technical school instructors will be recruited in the days ahead.
   
He said the list of applicants retained for the full-time employment by the state has already been published.
   
The minister said the 3500 teachers about to be recruited permanently will serve in the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training and in the Ministry of Secondary Education.
   
He invited all applicants to check whether they have been selected from the notice boards of his ministry and its regional delegations as well as at the ministries of Secondary Education and Employment and Vocational Training.
   
Bonde invited unsuccessful applicants who want to appeal to drop their petitions at his ministry latest 24 April.
   
He, however, did not say when successful applicants will sign their contracts.
   
Over 10,000 temporary workers in various ministries signed formal contracts for full-time state employment some works back.

 

 

 

Demolitions in Yaounde:
Pierre Kwemo drags Tsimi Evouna to court

The politician who owns the top-notch Cesar night club whose front wall was crushed in March by a City Council bulldozer is seeking a legal settlement of the matter

By Micheal Kimbi Tchenga in Yaounde

Yaounde City Council delegate Gilbert Tsimi Evouna has not yet recovered from a showdown with desparate traders he flushed from the Yaounde Central market area in the ongoing urban renewal exercise.
   
Now, Tsimi Evouna has a legal challenge staring at him in the face from Pierre Kwemo, a political heavyweight in the country whose private property was destroyed by a City Council bulldozer.

In March, we reported that the front wall of the Cesar night club was smashed by a Council caterpillar.
   
A month after that incident, Kwemo is now dragging Tsimi Evouna to court for “destruction of another person’s property” Le Messager has reported.
   
Kwemo has already filed a complaint to judicial authorities here, the paper revealed.
   
Rather than arraign the office of government delegate, Kwemo is seeking legal recourse against the person of Tsimi Evouna. Sources close to the business magnate suggest that Kwemo is considering the matter as a deliberate display of hatred for Cesar night club and its ower by Tsimi Evouna.
   
A reporter of The Herald, who visited the Cesar night club shortly after the demolition, learned from eyewitnesses that council authorities crushed the wall on grounds that it encroached into the public domain. But some regretted that the Cesar demolition was particularly spectacular and conspicuous in the area.
   
Economic activity at the facility has been grounded since the demolition with workers sent on technical leave. Kwemo has since ordered for the rubble not to be cleared to allow bailiffs make an inventory of the destruction.
   
Cesar is a highly cherished jaunt frequented by the high and mighty of the Yaounde society, most of them regime barons.
   
Commentators here have branded the legal adventure as a clash of the titans that promises to pull much sweat.

 

Town restructuring:
Second phase of French dev’t programme will start after 2011 – Georges Serre

The French ambassador in Yaounde was reacting to an appeal by the minister of Territorial Administration, Marafa Hamidou Yaya, that the ongoing embellishment works in Douala and Yaounde should be extended to the other 12 urban councils

By Ojong Steven Ayuk in Yaounde

“We cannot consider starting the second phase of the French debt relief and development programme (C2D) now. The programme can only be started after 2011,” the French ambassador said last Thursday in response to a request from the minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation (MINATD) that the French government should extend the ongoing town restructuring project in Yaounde and Douala to other towns.
   
This was during a medal award ceremony to a French woman, Nathalie Ephritikhine, who had come to the end of her five-year work contract as technical adviser on matters of decentralisation and local governance at MINATD.
   
Marafa Hamidou Yaya asked the French government to consider spreading the town restructuring and renewal programme to 12 other city councils here. The project is being financed under the French debt relief and development programmed christened, C2D.
   
The French ambassador in a rather diplomatic response said the C2D programme is carried out in phases and that the ongoing work was just the first phase. The second phase, George Serre added, could only be started after 2011.
   
No reason was given for this timing, but analysts speculated that the French were being cautious of the outcome of the 2011 presidential election in Cameroon.
   
Nathalie Ephritikhine was sent to work at MINADT by the French Foreign Affairs ministry as part of the French government’s assistance to the governance programme here.
   
During the farewell ceremony that took place at the MINADT conference room and attended among others by government officials and diplomats, Marafa thanked the French government for the continued assistance to Cameroon and Nathalie Ephritikhine for her precious role in the decentralisation process here. She was honoured with the medal of Knight of the Cameroon Order of Valour by the MINATD boss in appreciation of her services.

 

Experts consider mangrove forests in resistance to climate change

A capacity building workshop to hold with support from WWF in the Ntem mangrove estuary in the South region next week provides room for the implementation of a methodology to brace up mangrove forests against climate change

By Vincent Gudmia Mfonfu in Yaounde

Environmental experts from relevant government institutions and non-governmental organisations will in the days ahead start implementing a new conservation initiative known as the “Mangrove Resilience to Climate Change Project.”
   
A two-day capacity building workshop to that effect at Campo in the Ntem mangrove estuary in the Ocean division of the South region will hold on 21 and 22 April, 2009.
   
A generalised methodology for assessing the vulnerability of mangrove and associated ecosystems in Cameroon to climate change is expected to be the major outcome of the meeting.
   
The workshop is organised within the framework of the Cameroon Mangrove Network (CMN). Created on 25 January 2005 in Edea, CMN is a network of over 39 active grassroot national non-governmental organisations involved in sustainable coastal marine area management issues in Cameroon.
   
A five-year strategic plan in the domain spanning 2009 to 2014 is expected to be elaborated by CMN during the workshop.
   
Cameroon is among the few countries in the world with mangrove forests covering over 200,000 hectares today. “These mangrove forests have been playing important ecological roles, ranging from coastal zone stabilisation, microclimate amelioration and food chain support to acting as nursery for several marine and other aquatic forms,” states Gordon Ajonina, coordinator of CWCS. Mangroves also play key roles in the socio-economic life of coastal people providing forest material for building and wood for drying fish.
   
Mangrove forests are said to be the most productive ecosystems in the world, providing nursery areas for edible fish and habitat for migratory bird species.
   
Yet, this ecosystem is under threats from deforestation, industrial pollution, poor land-use planning and expansion of plantation agriculture. “Despite these vital functions of the mangrove forests, they have been badly degraded or lost in the past 20 years,” Gordon  regrets.

Issue 2204

Monday 13 - Tuesday 14 April 2009

Mapouro murder case:
Prosecution obliges life jail term for  Bamkoui

Wednesday’s hearing at the Yaounde Military Tribunal was marked by a call from the State Commissioner for the senior Gendarmerie officer to be slammed a life prison sentence, in accordance with Article 275 of the Penal Code, for killing police inspector Hervé Mapouro last November in Douala.

By Micheal Kimbi Tchenga in Yaounde

On going hearings of the case against senior Gendarmerie officer, commandant Emile Bamkoui who pleaded guilty to a murder charge earlier this year, reached a critical stage last Wednesday.
   
Both the state commissioner and the civil prosecution party launched appeals to judges at the Yaounde Military Tribunal for heavy penalties to be visited on Bamkoui for the murder of police inspector Hervé Mapouro in Douala on 13 November 2008 at age 33.
   
State commissioner Pierre Désiré Mviena argued that the life jail term should be slammed on the accused to serve as warning to other trigger happy military officers who are in the habit of using their arms to settle personal scores.
   
On behalf of the civil party, Barrister Tcheugueu advanced that Bamkoui deprived Mapouro of 27 more years to be served in the police force. He stated that the deceased could have become delegate general for national security had he lived to the age of 50.
   
The learned mind also maintained that Bamkoui has robbed Michealla Mapouro Pemboura, the 1-month-old daughter of the deceased, of paternal care. She was born on 8 March about four months after the death of her father.
   
As a result of the physical pain suffered, the career forfeited by the deceased and the moral and material prejudice sustained by Michealla, Mapouro’s fiancée and his siblings, Bamkoui should pay 746 million FCFA as damages to the family, Tcheugueu prayed the court.
   
At the demand of Bamkoui’s lawyers, the matter was adjourned to Tuesday 21 April to allow time for the Defence ministry to study the claims of the civil party.

 

 

National Assembly:
Monjowa Lifaka raises hell over office

The new VP of the House has vehemently refused to occupy Rose Abunaw’s office. She rather wants the office space Fonkam Azu’u occupied as assistant SG before leaving for ELECAM. However, the office she used formerly as deputy CPDM group leader has been refurbished to suit her taste and rank.

By Roland Akong Wuwih in Yaounde

In what could be construed as an issue of taste and convenience, Emilia Monjowa Lifaka has outrightly rejected the office previously used by her predecessor in the National Assembly Bureau Rose Abunaw Makia, brewing a new spate of tension in the august House.
   
The new vice president of the National Assembly from the Fako West constituency is threatening to break hell loose if she is compelled to move into Abunaw’s former office in the state in which it is, a reliable source at the Glass House told The Herald at the weekend.
   
Monjowa Lifaka reportedly commenced her exploit by asking to use the comfy office previously occupied by Samuel Fonkam Azu’u, the former assistant SG of the House, now ELECAM chair; but her request was turned down by authorities  responsible for allotting offices to officials of the House.
   
When this backfired, she redirected her quest to the office previously occupied by Danata Paul, one of the outgoing VPs of the CPDM. It again turned out to be a forlorn plea.
   
In the face of all these, workers at the general secretariat were taken aback when the VP reportedly admitted openly that she would not enjoy working in Abunaw’s former office.
   
To this moment, our source confirmed, Emilia Monjowa Lifaka still occupies the same office on the third floor of the administrative building which she used as deputy leader of the CPDM parliamentary group. However, the office has been given an upgrading to match her new portfolio as executive vice president of the National Assembly.

Rose Abunaw’s office on the fourth floor is now occupied by Philemon Adjibolo, one of the vice speakers of the House.

 

Stalled CAMAIR.Co take-off:
Regime officials implicated in resignation of Mitonneau

A memorandum from Lion Aviation Group addressed to President Paul Biya in the aftermath of Gilbert Mitonneau’s resignation as CAMAIR.Co GM evokes the theory that the French pilot could have been intimidated by some highly placed regime officials.  As a result, the president has weakened the authority of some key personalities involved in the project.

By Micheal Kimbi Tchenga in Yaounde

Before his departure for a private visit to Europe last Thursday, President Paul Biya gave some important instructions to the Secretary General at the presidency on the CAMAIR.Co project; The Herald has learned from a well placed source.
   
Reacting to a threat to quit served by CAMAIR.Co’s technical partner, Lion Aviation Group (LAG) following the resignation of French pilot Gilbert Mitonneau as pioneer GM of the new carrier, the president instructed that the terms of the engagement granting LAG authority to fully run the technical affairs of the company should be scrupulously respected.
   
Our source divulged that the president instructed that Economy minister Louis Paul Motaze should be the main regime man negotiating with the Atlanta-based company specialised in aviation matters.
   
This presidential instruction temporarily freezes the role of Yang Philemon, CAMAIR.Co board chair and Essimi Menye and Gonoukou Haounaye respectively Finance and Transport minister who were directly involved in the initial running of the company, our source said.

President Biya’s decision also quells the tension that has reigned between Yaounde authorities and LAG since the departure of Mitonneau.
   
Although Mitonneau was reluctant to cite the exact circumstances leading to his resignation in interviews granted the press, a source close to the French man intimated that his life was endangered after he refused to entertain shady deals proposed by an intricate network of regime barons.
   
One of the said officials allegedly threatened to use his authority “to make life in Cameroon unbearable, ‘‘for Mitonneau in a confidential letter sent to the French pilot before his resignation.
   
Frantic efforts by this newspaper on Sunday evening to get Mitonneau on his mobile line to France for a confirmation proved futile.
   
Meantime, the Executive President of LAG, Chicago-based Cameroonian entrepreneur Beatrice Mensah Tayui is expected in the country in the days ahead to re-engage the stalled process, our source said.
   
As technical partner, LAG is poised to propose a new GM to take-up Mitonneau’s place. The aviation company is also expected to soon bring at least three new Boeing passenger planes from an aircraft holder in Germany.

 

English language teachers association:
Dorothy Forbin speaks at high level US conference

She presented an attention-grabbing paper on “Gender Sensitivity in English Language Classrooms in more than Half the World” that moved delegates who came from across the world to attend the 43rd annual conference of TESOL which lasted six days in Colorado

By Ndien Eric in Yaounde

The National President of CAMELTA and National Inspector of Pedagogy at the Secondary Education ministry, Dorothy Forbin, participated at the 43rd annual conference of TESOL, Association of Teachers of English to speakers of other languages, which took place at the imposing Denver Convention Centre, Colorado USA, where the Democratic Party nominated Barack Obama as candidate for president. The conference ran for six days beginning from 24 to 29 March.
   
She was an invited speaker at the Board-sponsored session on behalf of the Diversity Committee of TESOL, of which she is the member for Africa Region.
   
Dorothy Forbin’s presentation on “Gender Sensitivity in English Language Classrooms in more than Half the World” was lively and very well received by delegates who attended the conference.
   
The US conference brought together delegates from all the continents including eight African countries. Publishers, authors, exhibitors, teachers, school administrators and some of the finest names in English Language teaching were present.
   
Dorothy Forbin who returned to the country last Tuesday was sponsored to the conference by the US Embassy in Yaounde and the ministry of Secondary Education.
   
TESOL has its headquarters in Virginia USA and encompasses 60,000 educators worldwide, representing some 1,000 affiliates of which the Cameroon English Language Teachers Association (CAMELTA) with 1,800 members, is one of the most recent.
     

 

Coping with economic meltdown:
Finance minister defends suggestion to raise retirement age

Says by raising the retirement age from the current 55 to 65, government may besides retaining its experienced workers save itself the burden of having to pay pensions that are arguably more than the amount the retirees earned as salary

By Ojong Steven Ayuk in Yaounde

Finance minister Lazare Essimi Menye has defended a suggestion that government could consider raising the retirement age of civil servants in the country from 55 to 65 years as a short-term measure to check the credit crunch that is currently threatening to dip the global economy into recession.
   
Speaking at a meeting with other ministers, the prime minister and members of a committee constituted to reflect on the global financial crisis and proffer short-term measures to check the situation in Cameroon at the Star Building in Yaounde Thursday, Essimi Menye said government spent more on retirees than it did on workers.

He explained that for every 100 FCFA that is curtailed from workers incomes to serve for pension, the government pays 200 FCFA, adding that when this is added to family allowances for children that must be paid until children become majors, the burden becomes almost unbearable for the government.                

Essimi Menye explained that pensioners had their pensions calculated on their salaries before the 1993 salary cuts thereby allowing some people to go away with pensions far higher than their salaries when they were in active service.

Besides observing that when government retired workers at 55 as it did, it spent more in pensions than in salaries, the committee advanced that at 55 workers were still very apt and strong enough to continue working. Corroborating their point, they noted that some of those retirees were experts, researchers and specialists who most often were hired almost immediately by international organisations and private companies at the detriment of the state that trained them.

It was also understood that raising the retirement age would naturally limit the period during which retirees are entitled to pension given that their age may not allow them live for long. Similarly, at 65, it is likely that their children are all majors who would no longer be entitled to any allowances.
   
   

 

 

Deplorable working conditions:
Trade union strikes to paralyse hospitals, universities this week

While the national union of medico-sanitary personnel who constitute the majority of health staff is calling a duty boycott from today, SYNES, the syndicate of Higher Education lecturers is staging a stay-off from amphitheatres until their demands for better working conditions are met.

By Akong Roland Wuwih in Yaounde

Activities in two important domains of national life will be blighted this week with widely publicised strikes by workers trade unions.
   
The national Union of Medico-sanitary Professionals and the Higher Education Lecturers’ Syndicate, SYNES are staging a boycott of duty fromin their respective spheres of influence from today.
   
Patients visiting public hospitals across the country Monday morning may not have auxiliary personnel attending to their needs in laboratories, x-ray units, hospital wards and other important hospital units.

Para-medical professionals are likely to hearken to the strike notice signed last week by Balla Balla, national president of the umbrella organisation grouping medico-sanitary professionals in the country.
According to Balla Balla, the union is poised to exert pressure on government for better working conditions and a full integration of medico-sanitary workers presently serving on contract basis into the public service.
   
Balla Balla maintains that the sit-down strike stems from the non-respect by government of the terms of a joint convention signed nine months ago between the government and the representatives of para-medical staff in the country following a similar strike action they organised.
   
A meeting at the Health ministry last Thursday failed to reach a consensus that dissuades the strike leaders from moving on with their boycott of work, The Herald gathered.
   
In the meantime, a similar strike announced by the Syndicate of Higher Education teachers promises to bring academic activities in all state universities to a halt. Clamours for a pay rise and a review of lecturer’s status and working conditions have gone unaddressed for a long time now, SYNES leaders say.
   
Higher Education minister Jacque Fame Ndongo failed to defuse the tension among university lecturers last Thursday during a crisis meeting.
   
Apparently meant to obviate the announced strike, a presidential decree signed last Wednesday creating a special fund for research has not quelled the tension among the aggrieved lecturers either.
   

 

Easter in Yaounde:
Reporters leave cathedral sad as Bakot cajoles gov’t

Unlike popular expectation before his Easter homily, the Yaounde archbishop rather showered praises on the regime for the reception offered the Pope stressing that Cameroon is a bastion of peace and unity

By Roland Akong Wuwih in Yaounde

Many reporters who thronged the Yaounde our lady cathedral Sunday 12 April for the Easter mass said by the archbishop of Yaounde, Victor Tonye Bakot, left the cathedral with a feeling of dissatisfaction.
   
Their expectations were not met in the homily said by the man of God. They had thought that like in most of his previous homilies on such occasions, Victor Tonye Bakot would denounce and condemn in very strong terms some of the vices plaguing the Cameroon society. But this was not the case. The prelate instead dedicated a greater portion of his homily to thanking Cameroon and Cameroonians for the total support they gave the Catholic church during the pope’s visit here last month.
   
He stressed on Pope Benedict XVI’s view that Cameroon enjoys unity and peace amidst religious diversity, stating that the successor of Saint Peter said he would call on other countries in the world to copy the example. Tonye Bakot described Easter as the biggest feast for catholic Christians. “Christ’s resurrection is a big sign of victory for all who believe in Him”, he said.
   
Last Easter Bakot condemned the attitude of many parents fleeing away from their family responsibilities as well as children who no longer respect their parents and elders in the soceity. In December 2006, Bakot took on the controversial phenomenon of homosexuality in his Christmas homily, a hot issue at the time which caught the attention of not a few media organs with some going as far as publishing the names of people suspected to be involved in the heinous practice.
   
Disappointed at yesterday’s homily, some reporters were heard saying that Bakot’s behaviour might have been influenced by government’s generosity to him. The government footed the archbishop’s hospital bills in a hospital in France after he miraculously survived an accident last year.
           

Violence against children:
Plan Cameroon director says education of parents, children is antidote

Amadou Bocoum said sensitisation on children’s rights is indispensable in overcoming child abuses which have caused many minors to drop out of school and become drug addicts

By Takang Bisong in Yaounde

Amadou Bocoum, the director of the child-centred NGO, Plan Cameroon, has prescribed the intensive education and sensitisation of parents and children on children’s rights as remedy to the rampant cases of child abuse here.
   
Speaking at the closing ceremony of a four-day seminar in Yaounde to arm journalists of the public and private media with skills needed to identify and report child abuse issues on 9 April, the Plan Cameroon director said reducing unwanted pregnancies, improving access to pre- and post-natal care, minimising harmful affects of alcohol and illicit drug use during pregnancy, training parents on child development, non-violent problem-solving techniques etc would help greatly in curbing violence against children.
   
He regretted that to escape corporal punishment, sex abuse and other forms of violence, many children most of them minors, have dropped out of school and abandoned their homes to become street children. While on the streets, Amadou Bocoum further said, they resort to drugs and alcohol consumption, armed robbery and other social vices.
   
Mirielle Ndje Ndje, a clinical psychologist at the University of Yaounde I, disclosed that every week at least 15 students complain to her during consultations that they are traumatised and are unable to study due to various forms of violence they undergo.
   
“There is urgent need to educate parents, children and the entire society on the rights of a child because many people are ignorant”, she added.

 

Demolitions in Y’de:
Armed forces thwart planned protest march by traders

Before destitute roadside traders planning a march on the presidency could even make it to their rendez-vous spot last Wednesday, about a thousand heavily armed defence forces were already strategically in place to crush any dissent. The traders never had the chance to vent their anger over wanton destruction of their stalls by Yaounde City Council authorities prior to the pope’s visit.

By Micheal Kimbi Tchenga in Yaounde

Alternative strategies are being considered by thousands of vendors flushed from the Yaounde Central market and Avenue Kennedy who were deprived of an opportunity to publicly express disdain over the demolition of their roadside stalls by City Council bulldozers in the build-up to Benedict XVI’s visit.
   
The traders who were left hopeless in penury following the gratuitous demolition of their stalls and the unlawful seizing of their merchandise have since sued for reparations from government to no avail.
   
The public march slated for Wednesday 8 April to raise public attention to their plight hit the rocks when Yaounde authorities responded with a heavy deployment of fierce-looking security men at strategic junctions in the centre of town.
   
Well before 10 am that morning, armed security men alighted from police vans at major road junctions around the central post office and Star Building roundabouts and the Intendance junction just beyond Avenue Kennedy just to name a few.
  
 Fiercely sweeping the streets in assault gear visibly ready to strike, they dispersed groups of onlookers and commanded passers-by to avoid standing together in a crowd at any point. They even dispersed street hawkers around whose merchandise customers seemed to be assembling.
        
On arrival at the vicinity already swarmed by truncheon-wielding and rifle-totting security men, protesters immediately retreated to safety, folding placards bearing their messages in fear of police brutality.
   
Along the May 20 Boulevard where the protest march was to begin, an intimidating security presence could be perceived compelling protesters to loiter timidly in small groups of three and four.
   
By nightfall, the planned manifestation was yet to begin. Some militants of the Traders’ Association, ANOSILF, which masterminded the strike, claims however that their threats are bearing fruits with government authorities attempting to negotiate with them.
   
But many traders here who now roam the streets in search of livelihood in the aftermath of the demolition, are still spoiling for a public march.

 

Illegal forest exploitation:
SW forestry and wildlife delegate cries foul

Says a huge shortage of personnel at the SW regional delegation for Forestry and Wildlife makes the fight against wanton exploitation of forest and wildlife practically difficult, exposing huge resources to illegitimate exploiters 

 By Patience Toge in Buea

The South West regional delegate of Forestry and Wildlife, Mbah Grace, has expressed disgust over the rampant and illegal exploitation of forest resources in the region.
   
Speaking at the 5th anti-poaching committee meeting in Buea at the weekend, the delegate said illegal exploitation did not only drain the country of its revenue, but also threatened the existence of endangered species posing as an ill omen for the country’s future.
   
The high point of the Buea meeting was the release of a six-month report that revealed that many endangered species now face an increased risk of extinction if rapid measures are not put in place to check wanton hunting of wildlife and exploitation of forests.
   
However, the report shows that some success has been made by government to crackdown on defaulters of forest rules. According to the report that examines forest activities from July 2008 to March 2009, a rapid patrol force put in place by government succeeded to return a marine turtle to the sea in Limbe after it was illegally caught and almost smuggled out of the area by an illegitimate exploiter.
   
The report also gives an account of cases of illegal poachers and Internet traffickers who were arrested and tried with some paying fines and/or serving jail terms while others are still being tried by the law courts.
   
Even though some progress has been made, Mbah Grace says the worst is yet to be tackled.
   
She regretted that while millions of Cameroonians were unemployed, their biggest challenge remains shortage of personnel, which she says makes their work practically almost impossible. Another difficulty, she added, was that of inadequate finances and vehicles to carryout regular patrols.

 

Cameroon-EU relations:
EU donates 11bn to build courts, computerise justice system

This was the subject of a convention signed last Wednesday between the EU delegate, Javier Puyol, and the minister of Economy, Louis Paul Motaze, intended to modernise the judicial system

By Ndien Eric in Yaounde

The European Union (EU) has come to the assistance of Cameroon’s snail-pace efforts of modernising the judicial system to make it favourable to citizens and foreign investors.
   
Javier Puyol, EU delegate in Yaounde, signed a convention worth 11 billion FCFA with the government via the minister of Economy, Planning, Programming and Regional Development, Louis Paul Motaze, Wednesday to attain this objective in the next four years.
   
The money, according to the terms of the accord, will be used for the construction and equipping of two courts of First Instance in the metropolitan cities of Yaounde and Douala and the furnishing of two commercial chambers at the High Courts of both towns. The EU funds will also be invested in the computerisation and rehabilitation of the administrative chamber of the Supreme Court, the modernisation of the judicial system as well as in the training of magistrates, lawyers and auxiliary staff on business and administrative laws.
   
Puyol said at the convention signing ceremony that he wished the 11 billion FCFA from the European Union Development Fund be properly managed to guarantee a friendly justice system favourable for investment here.
   
The minister of Economy  thanked the donor and called on officials who will be tasked with the implementation of the governance programme in the justice sector to show proof of rigour and transparency.
   
Observers were of the opinion that the EU’s support to transform the judicial sector here will not in any way render the sector and prosecutors independent of the executive arm of government.
           
In a related story, the EU on Tuesday 7 April offered a consignment of information and communication technologies (ICTs) gadgets valued at 2.5 billion FCFA, amongst them 70 computers, to the ministry of Economy through the National Institute of Statistics (NIS).

 

Nkwen Baptist Church:
Newly inducted pastors urged to check infighting

The field pastor of Bamenda instructed the two men of God to use their positions as heads of the church to fight the spirit of infighting and other ills that have reportedly dampened the image of the church for so long

By Chrysantus Nchong in Bamenda

Reverend pastors Njini Edward and Achu Luther, who were jointly inducted last Sunday 5 April as the main  and assistant pastors of the Nkwen Baptist Church respectively, have been tasked to rid the church of infighting that has dented the church’s image for sometime now.
   
Speaking at the induction ceremony, the Bamenda field pastor, Joseph Bamu, who conducted the induction ritual, instructed the men of God to prioritise the fight against blackmail, gossip, non-respect of hierarchy and other forms of ills, which he described as satanic.
   
He cautioned that for the two pastors to succeed in their assigned duties to save the declining image of the church, they must work hard to resist all forms temptation and aim at restoring the strength of Christianity and freeing the church from the spirit of fear and confusion.
     
The field pastor appealed to the Christians to show maximum love and support for the two pastors, if they expect them to do their work correctly. He also enjoined the families of the two pastors to stand by them as they perform their difficult task of leading God’s children.
   
On his part, the appointed deacon of the church, Fombih Michael, said now that the two pastors have been officially charged with leading the church, they would face greater challenges which demand that they be stronger in faith and trust in God.
   
The Divisional Officer for Bamenda III subdivision, Balungeu Confiance Ebune, was amongst the dignitaries present at the occasion

Issue 2203

Wednesday 8 - Sunuday 7 April 2009

 

Santa council budget drops by 17 mn FCFA

The mayor of the SDF/CPDM-run municipality, Clement Wankie, said HIPC money which the council received recently was responsible

By Teche Nyamusa in Bamenda

The Santa SDF/CPDM-run council has voted 321 million FCFA as its 2009 budget. The budget which is down by 17 million FCFA compared to last year’s 338 million FCFA budget was adopted during a recent council session in Santa, North West region.
   
Clement Wankie, the SDF mayor, attributed the budget decrease to HIPC funds (amount not disclosed) which the council benefited this year.
   
Addressing the 35 SDF and 10 CPDM councillors who attended the budgetary meeting, the mayor said of the 338 274 452 FCFA budgeted for 2008, only 209 946 361 FCFA was collected and 209 946 802 FCFA was spent. He also regretted that the council’s support fund from FEICOM fell by about 29 million FCFA last year and said it may drop further this year. To avoid this situation from affecting the running of the council, Wankie said he had put in place stringent revenue collection strategies.
   
Speaking on his part, the council’s treasurer, Nutoto Jacob, said last year’s expenditure budget was used to maintain roads, to rehabilitate council buildings, to provide youth employment and subsidies to schools, and to clear civil status registry bills among others.
   
CPDM councillors led by Erick Ndikum criticised the SDF management of the council for abuse of office stating for instance that mayor Clement Wankie bought a 4-million FCFA vehicle for the council without the approval of councillors.
   
The council session was attended by Mezam SDO Mache Njouonwet, Santa DO Tchetkam Abraham and the Chief of councils, Shey Henry.

 

 

 

Widows fight off police dispatched to disrupt their meeting

Police trying to stop a banned meeting of widows in Bamenda II withdrew after the women put up stiff resistance

By Teche Nyamusa in Bamenda

A banned meeting of widows in Bamenda went ahead despite efforts by police to disperse them.
   
Bamenda II DO, Guiakam Jacques, banned the meeting on grounds that the organiser, AI-CHRISWOV, a faith-based NGO fighting for widows’ rights, was operating illegally.
   
But officials of the NGO dismissed the DO’s claims and proceeded to hold the meeting in spite of the ban.
   
When Guiakam Jacques learnt the widows had defied his orders, he led a squad of police to the Bamenda Church Centre where the meeting was holding, determined to disperse the women.
   
The over 45 widows present held their ground, vowing that only their corpses would be taken out of the hall by force. They argued that the DO’s attempt to disperse them was wicked and prejudicial to their welfare.
   
Judging the situation volatile, the DO withdrew with the police squad and the widows proceeded with their meeting which held for two days in late March. The meeting was co-chaired by two senior AI-CHRISWOV officials, Atunka Christina and Tanwani Dorothy.
   
SDF chairman, John Fru Ndi, who later came to the scene, expressed consternation at the action of the DO.
   
Behind the banning of the meeting was a long-standing conflict between former partners.
   
The founding president of AI-CHRISWOV, Stella Fomumbod, some years back, changed the name of the organisation to IVFcam. Her vice president, Atunka Christina, and communication officer, Tanwani Dorothy, among other members, opposed the move.
   
Fomumbod was booted out and she went ahead to operate IVFcam, claiming that AI-CHRISWOV no longer existent.
   
This conflict was reported to the ministries of Social Affairs and Territorial Administration for arbitration, but contradictory decisions were taken.
   
Since then, both AI-CHRISWOV and IVFcam have been operating independently, but Stella Fomumbod insists only her organisation is legal. Fomumbod said in an interview granted The Herald that AI-CHRISWOV had been outlawed.
   
Atunka Christina on her part accused Fomumbod of instigating the DO to ban the widows’ meeting in Bamenda.
   
The meeting aimed at building self-confidence in widows to help them face the challenges of widowhood in a male chauvinistic society.

 

 

 

Anglophone/minorities problem:
Visiting peace laureate recommends federation to Biya

Johan Galtung hopes to use his meetings with Cameroonian authorities, including President Paul Biya, to press for a federation in place of the current centralised system that breeds Anglophone discontent. The scholar is convinced that the Anglophone problem is a threat to peace in Cameroon

By Micheal Kimbi Tchenga in Yaounde

Renowned international peace crusader, Johan Galtung,who is currently on a high profile visit to Cameroon, has said he will advocate for a federal system in the country to solve the Anglophone problem were he to meet President Paul Biya.
   
The winner of the 1987 Right Likelihood Award, otherwise known as the Alternative Nobel Peace Prize, told The Herald in Yaounde that he is convinced that the solution to the Anglophone problem is some form of autonomy for the English-speaking part of Cameroon.
   
“I am still learning about the country but I know there is a problem about the Anglophone minority here,” Johan Galtung said as he retired from a busy morning at a colloquium on peace at the Protestant University of Central Africa in Yaounde. “The history of the Anglophone part of the country is not so comfortable.”
   
The distinguished scholar told The Herald he is ready to table the issue, among others, to President Biya if he meets him in the course of his one-week stay in Cameroon.

Although no such meeting has been confirmed, a state security source told us last week that it was likely that the peace crusader will be received at State House this week.
   
Already confirmed is a meeting between Gultang and Prime Minister Ephraim Inoni during which the Alternate Nobel Peace laureate said he will propose a federation and/or confederation as a means to ensure sustainable peace in Cameroon.
   
He said a federal system or confederation will be more helpful than the strong-arm tactics employed by the authorities to silence activists advocating minority Anglophone rights.
The widely published university professor on Peace Studies cited 25 federations in the world that inspire hope for their peoples.
   
Sources at the Protestant University, that invited Galtung to Cameroon, told us the audience with the PM is scheduled for today, Wednesday.
   
Commenting on the origin of numerous unresolved conflicts in Africa, Galtung said the continent will remain doomed as long it continues to cart away its natural resources to the West on very weak trade terms.

“Don’t sell away your gold,” Galtung exhorted. “You are the masters of your own development.”

 

 

Varsity lecturers announce nationwide strike

They are protesting against failed promises to raise salaries and the non-payment of some allowances

By Ndien Eric in Yaounde

State-run universities across the country will soon be grounded if lecturers go ahead with a planned strike.
   
The union of teachers of higher education, SYNES, announced in a press release 2 April that they will be engaging in a series of strike actions starting 13 April to protest against failed promises by government to raise salaries and the non-payment of several allowances owed university lecturers.
   
SYNES secretary general, Innocent Futcha, who issued the release after a meeting of the union’s executive committee, announced the programme of the strikes as follows: 13 – 23 April (boycott of lectures, tutorials and practicals); 11 – 31 May (downing of tools by researchers); and from 13 June (indefinite strike).
   
He explained that the series of industrial actions is a sequel to a strike that SYNES called off in November last year after government made promises to satisfy their demands. But after a long wait, no concrete actions have been taken to improve the working conditions of lecturers, he complained.
   
SYNES said the government had put in place a programme to increase university lecturers’ salaries between 2001 and 2004 but it has not yet been implemented.
   
Le jour newspaper however quotes Jean-Paul Mbia, head of the communication unit in the Ministry of Higher Education, as saying that government has already started implementing the programme.
   

Mbia said technical and research allowances for teachers of higher education are in the 2009 budget and this was supposed to have become effective as from January this year. He said the dossier is following its normal course in the Ministry of Finance.
   
He added that as from 2010, lecturers will start receiving car allowances as well as allowances for water and electricity consumption.

 

 

Expensive university lodging:
Y’de varsity authorities to collect rents on behalf of landlords

Higher Education minister Jacques Fame Ndongo made the decision in submission to pressure from ADDEC, the students’ rights association, which masterminded a strike action on the Yaounde 1 university campus on Monday.

By Ojong Steven Ayuk in Yaounde

Students of the University of Yaounde 1 living in the heavily congested neighbourhood of Bonamoussadi will henceforth pay their rents through the lodging office of the institution who will in turn transmit it to landlords, Higher Education minister Jacques Fame Ndongo has instructed.
   
This was the outcome of a crisis meeting last Monday at the university campus chaired by the minister on the flank of a student strike action led by ADDEC, the Association for the Defence of Students’ Rights in Cameroon, on the school premises.
   
The crisis meeting was attended by ADDEC representatives, the university’s rector Oumarou Bouba and some landlords from Bonamoussadi.
   
In candour typical of a minister who narrowly survived the 2005 nationwide university strike, Fame Ndongo rushed to the Ngoa Ekelle campus Monday to nip the strike movement in the bud before it spiralled out of control with potential of infecting other state universities with similar problems.
   
Rallied in front of the students affairs and lodging division of the university, the striking students chanted liberation songs brandishing placards and pulling crowds of student passers-by into their league. As has always been their credo, they kept the movement pacific.
   
“We cannot continue to allow ourselves to be fooled all the time”, “We want immediate answers to our demands not promises”; two of their placards read.
   
ADDEC’s action comes on the heels of a call from Fame Ndongo asking landlords to respect the homologated rates for rents in the student residential area during a visit to the neighbourhood at the weekend.
   
But ADDEC rejected the minister’s call saying that it was an expedient move to calm them down without giving solutions to their problems.
   
Despite the resolutions reached, it is still not clear how such a measure would work given that majority of the landlords are very unsatisfied with the categories allotted their mini-cités, reducing rents to be paid by tenants.
   
Meantime, ADDEC has not issued any official statement calling-off their strike. They hope to extend their action into the period of the university games which will be hosted by the Yaounde 1 university.
   
As we went to press yesterday evening, a meeting between landlords in Soa and Bonamoussadi to be chaired by trade minister Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana was announced for tomorrow at the Chamber of Commerce to discuss the homologated rents

 

 

Violence against children:
Plan Cameroon trains journalists on reporting child abuse issues

As part of a global campaign dubbed “Learn without fear”, Plan Cameroon is organising a seminar here to equip journalists with skills needed to identify and treat news items pertaining to child abuse

By Takang Bisong in Yaounde

Journalists of both the public and private media have been requested to pay more attention to all sorts of violence perpetrated on children in schools.
   
Casimir Youmbi, support program manager of Plan Cameroon told journalists at the opening of a workshop last Monday that the media have a responsibility to promote the rights of the child and end child abuse in society.
   
Citing sexual abuse and corporal punishment as the major forms of abuse suffered by children in schools, the Plan official advocated for better sensitisation, education and information as the best means to combat the ill which affects close to 80 percent of children.
   
The seminar is part of a global campaign against violence on children in schools christened “Learn without fear”. It is intended to reinforce the capacity of journalists and equip them with skills that can help them treat news material on child violence related issues, Casimir explained.
   
In conformity with the United Nations Convention on the rights of the child and the African charter on the rights and wellbeing of the child ratified by Cameroon, Plan Cameroon is out to protect, educate and develop the child both at family and school levels.
This mission was saluted by the Communications minister’s representative at the opening, Claude Laurent Medjo Mintom.

Medjo Mintom emphasised that the maltreatment of children produces school dropouts, initiates delinquency, armed robbery and insecurity among others.
   
He explained that children who are victims of violence today will turn out to be perpetrators of violence in future.

 

 

Recognition of literary works:
Literary icons who died in tragic accident honoured

Bate Besong, Hilarious Ambe and Kwasen Gwangwa’a who died two years ago, were praised for their literary achievements during an event in Yaounde last weekend

By Takang Bisong in Yaounde

It was a pitch dark day in Cameroon’s literary arena when three giants, Bate Besong, Hilarious Ambe and Kwasen Ngwangwa’a, all perished in a road accident in the wee hours of 8 March 2007. Two years later, memories of their works and lives are still very green.
   
Praises were showered on the three icons, who were incidentally all engaged in the dramatic arts, during a literary event organised by the Anglophone Cameroon Writers Association (ACWA) at the University of Yaounde I last weekend.
   
Various speakers at the event used different words to venerate the three men, but the general message was that their lives and works will be celebrated through the ages.
   
Bate Besong, an Anglophone Cameroon playwright with many published works, was also a senior lecturer at the universities of Buea and Yaounde I. Hilarious Ambe was also a playwright, stage director and lecturer at the University of Buea. Kwasen Gwangwa’a was a playwright, producer of tele-films and staff of CRTV.
   
They died when their car had an accident near Edea on their way to Yaounde.
   
Speaking at the ACWA event during which prizes were given to winners of a poetry competition organised by the association, Mem Pierre, representing the minister of communication, after praising the three heroes for contributing enormously to Cameroonian literature and the enhancement of society, announced that his ministry has plans to give grants to writers to help them publish their works.
   
He praised ACWA for the initiative of honouring heroes and organising a competition.
   
ACWA president, John Nkemngong Nkengasong, said the association has been making laudable strides.
   
“Anglophone Cameroon writing in English has grown from strength to strength and today we are confident that our voices can be heard on the pages of poetry, drama and fiction with the major aims of making our society a better place, of projecting the socio-cultural riches of our nation and to provide alternative visions for the future,” Nkengasong said.
   
Nkengasong congratulated the six winners of the 2008 poetry competition in the adult and children’s category. The winners were awarded prizes ranging from 10,000 – 100,000 FCFA.
   
He said it is ACWA’s wish to organise a national literary contest every year and called on the ministry of Culture and potential sponsors to support this initiative.

 

 

 

Issue 2102

Monday 6 - Tuesday 7 April 2009

K’ba business magnate receives Nation-builder award

Mbatchu Jacob Kay was recognised last Wednesday by the Association of Young Cameroon Jurists for his contribution to the Kumba community and Cameroon at large

By Ashu Manfred in Kumba

The Nation-builder Award managed by the Association of Young Cameroon Jurists, AYCJ, has been conferred this year to Kumba business magnate Mbatchu Jacob Kay.
   
Mbatchu was selected by the award jury for his contribution to the socio-economic and political well-being of Cameroonians.
   
Receiving the award last Wednesday at a ceremony organised at the Kumba amusement park, the laureate said that the recognition would spur him to work harder towards fostering development for his Kumba.
   
AYCJ president, Emile Agbor told invitees that it is the mission of the association to recognise fearless, hardworking Cameroonians who have made bold steps in the development of the country.
   
The AYCJ is a conglomeration of pupil barristers, aspiring jurists, law students and graduates motivated by the zeal to fight injustice and encourage peaceful resolution of conflicts.
   
The nation-builder award already counts laureates like Nfon Victor Mukete, traditional ruler of Kumba, Caven Nnoko Mbele, former Kumba government delegate and Hon. David Ngoh.

 

 

Palm Sunday:
Palm fronds sell like hot cake in Yaounde!

Some people who sold palm fronds here at the weekend affirmed they did brisk business

By Ojong Steven Ayuk in Yaounde

Commemorative activities marking Palm Sunday in Yaounde yesterday Sunday 5 April, a day Christians believe Jesus Christ triumphantly entered Jerusalem, provided a rare opportunity for some youths to make quick money.
   
Because palm fronds could not readily be got from nearby bushes as the case in rural areas, some smart persons came in with huge quantities that they put on sale in front of churches here.
   
Some of the palm frond dealers who spoke to The Herald admitted they did good business. Anaclet Ngono, one of them, said he had already sold about 45,000 FCFA worth of palm fronds when we met him at mid-day in front of the St. Paul’s Parish at Melen Yaounde. Though he still had a huge stock remaining, Ngono said he was sure he would sell everything before returning home.
   
Just like Ngono, another dealer we talked to, Henry Ndjana, said he came to Yaounde from Monatele just to sell the fronds. He said he had sold about 75,000 FCFA and was still hoping to sell more.
   
Ndjana who said he was not a regular flower dealer told us that he only thought of the business when he realised that palm fronds would be scarce in Yaounde for the Palm Sunday.
   
Christians who appropriated the palm broaches brandished them to and from church.
   
At the St Paul’s Parish here, the officiating priest, Claude Mbarga, in his homily reminded Christians how crowds came out to welcome Jesus into Jerusalem, the same crowd, he said, later turned against him when he said he was the king of kings.
   
He asked Christians to remain faithful to Christ no matter what and not to betray him like Judas did.
   
Claude Mbarga urged the faithful to ask for pardon whenever they failed Jesus like Peter did after he denied Christ three times.
   
Palm Sunday precedes the Holy Week that will end with the commemoration of the death (on Friday) and resurrection (on Sunday) of Jesus Christ.

 

 

Apostolic Nunciourges PKFokam Institute to trust in God

Eliseo Antonio Arrioti used the occasion of the launching of a new academic year at the PKFokam Institute of Excellence in Emana, Yaounde last week to warn that without faith in God there would be no success

By Takang Bisong in Yaounde

The Apostolic Nuncio to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea has prayed the officials and students of the PKFokam Institute of Excellence in Yaounde to make God the head of the institution and trust in Him.
   
Eliseo Antonio Arrioti was speaking at an ecumenical service organised at the institute in Emana on Thursday 2 April to mark the beginning of a new academic year.
   
Without faith in God, there would be on success, the man of God warned, adding that it was by God’s grace that the institution was functioning today and distancing from Him signified switching the light that God has put on. He called on the institution’s officials to ask God for wisdom, grace and mercy if they must properly manage the school.
   
Antonio Arrioti also frowned at people, who he said, allow themselves to be manipulated and used by others for selfish interest. “It is an obligation for everyone to be witness of God’s words in order that ills like fear, panic, doubt, unbelief and discouragement be killed in man,” he advised.
   
Corroborating the Apostolic Nuncio’s words, Isaac Batoumen, another priest at the event, recalled that except God lays the foundation and builds, the builder wastes his time, and if God does not protect a place, then the watchman watches in vain.
   
The president of the board of trustees of the institute, Paul K Fokam, for his part said he believed that with the help of God coupled with hard work, the institute would champion the transformation of Africa into a knowledge-based society.
   
Moslem Imams, ex-members of government, students and choir groups, among others, attended the ecumenical service.

 

After Atangana Mebara:
Court extends Abah Abah’s pre-trial detention period

The decision to prolong the stay in Kondengui prison of the ex-Economy and Finance minister was taken last week and is intended to enable the prosecution to wrap up their investigations

By Ndien Eric in Yaounde

The Mfoundi High Court has prolonged the pre-trial incarceration of former Economy and Finance minister Polycarpe Abah Abah in Kondengui prison just like it did a few weeks ago with Jean Marie Atangana Mebara, ex-Secretary General at the Presidency, The Herald has learnt.
   
An examining judge took the decision Thursday, 2 April after a grilling session with the ex-minister that lasted several hours, a usually reliable source told The Herald.
   
Our source did not say for how much longer Abah Abah will stay in pre-trial detention, but the criminal procedure code limits the duration to six months renewable on the orders of a judge. Abah Abah has already been in detention for more than one year.
Prosecutors, we learnt, asked for the extension of Abah Abah’s detention to enable them complete investigations against the embezzlement suspect and then charge him to court.
   
Abah Abah was arrested and thrown into jail last 31 March 2008 on the instruction of the government which accused him of misappropriating a colossal 6 billion FCFA, a charge which he has repeatedly denied. It was on this same day that his colleague, the erstwhile Public Health minister, Urbain Olanguena Awono, was also arrested and put under formal investigation over the swindling of billions of Global Fund money set aside for the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
   
Details of the content of last week’s discussion between Abah Abah and the Mfoundi High Court magistrate were not disclosed to us, but it is believed to have centred on the prosecutor’s charge that he embezzled state funds during his time as director general of Taxes.
   
Several incarcerated former regime heavyweights have severally complained about long pre-trial detentions without charge. Jean-Marie Atangana Mebara protested against what he described as illegal detention two months ago, but a judge extended his detention.
   
Former Chantier Naval GM, Zaccheus Forjindam, in prison now for 10 months over corruption allegations, has tried unsuccessfully to be released on bail.
   
Like Abah Abah, Mebara and Forjindam are yet to be formally charged.

 

 

Sustainable forest management:
Experts seek to include indigenous populations in policymaking

A joint GTZ-COMIFAC support project for improved forest management launched Friday in Yaounde has as objective to review forestry laws to meet the needs of local and indigenous communities

By Ojong Steven Ayuk in Yaounde

Laws and policies guiding the management of community forests can hardly bring about adequate and sustainable management of these forests if they are not adapted to suit the needs of the local populations, forest management experts have observed.
   
The forest experts, who met at the Yaounde Hilton hotel on Friday 3 April, are advocating the representation and participation of members of forest communities in laws and policy-making bodies for improved forest management.
   
It was against this backdrop that the Yaounde meeting launched a joint GTZ-COMIFAC initiated project supervised by the World Resources Institute (WRI) to seek to support reforms in forestry management policies of Cameroon and DR Congo.
   
In order to implement the project proposal in these two countries, GTZ, COMIFAC and WRI say they will work with networks of NGOs concerned with sustainable management of the environment.
   
Also, the focal point of WRI, Anne-Gaelle Javelle, said at the launching Friday that the project will create a favourable environment for parliamentary caucuses that advocate sustainable forest management notably REPAR in Cameroon and REPALEAC in the DRC.
   
Speaking at Friday’s meeting, Theophile Baoro, the vice president of the national assembly who sat in for House Speaker Cavaye Yeguei Djibril said forests in African countries are indispensable to the populations and any policies for proper management must take into consideration their needs and aspirations.
   
Acclaiming the GTZ-COMIFAC project, he said Cameroon’s parliament has, thanks to REPAR, continued to reflect on the role of indigenous populations in forest management.
   
Other speakers at the occasion including representatives of NESDA-CA, GTZ-COMIFAC, REPALEAC and REPAR, all echoed the need for an increased representation and participation of indigenous populations in forest management policy making forums.
   
They regretted that until now policies on forest management have only emphasised on conservation without providing alternative solutions to local populations that depend almost entirely on forest resources for their livelihood – food, medicines, water, shelter.

 

 

 

Lapiro appeal case:
Witness contradicts self in cross-examination statement

The jailed outspoken musician’s lawyers scored several points during a cross-examination last week when Cyrille Kingue contradicted himself on Lapiro’s involvement in the February 2008 riots. They are optimistic of more gains when hearings resume this Wednesday

By Ntaryike Divine, Jr. in Douala

Attention-grabbing incongruities have begun trickling from the appeal case pitting incarcerated ace musician Lapiro de Mbanga against the state, the Mbanga-based banana plantation, SPM, and the Ministry of Finance.
   
A key witness testifying against the outspoken musician in the rather snail-paced hearings which began since November last year sharply contradicted himself at the Littoral Appeal Court last week. Cyrille Kingue, 23, told the court Tuesday 31 March that he was never given time to peruse a statement he signed at the onset, naming Lapiro as chief instigator of the February 2008 riots in the Mbanga area.
   
Lapiro, whose real names are Lambo Pierre Roger Sandjo, initially detained on 9 April last year, was eventually slammed a 3-year jail term and fined 280 million FCFA in September by the Moungo High Court in Nkongsamba. Judges found him guilty of spearheading property destruction and looting during the deadly unrest.
   
During the trial that culminated in the disputed verdict, Kingue said he and 16 other youths from a village known as Muyuka were informed Lapiro had mobilised a group of rioters to wreck the SPM banana plantation. He said as patriots and autochthones, they went for Lapiro and found him in the company of local administrative authorities, a claim that was substantiated by an SPM official.
   
But during his cross-examination last week, Kingue came back on the statement, telling the court they found Lapiro alone in the plantation filming scenes of destruction. He said they seized two handsets from him and destroyed his video camera before handing it to the authorities to blot out evidence that could incriminate them as the real perpetrators of the SPM destruction.
   
Defence lawyer, Rene Manffo, told the court that Lapiro was actually filming to help the authorities eventually identify the rioters. Despite his incarceration, Lapiro promised to file a lawsuit against Kingue and co for destroying his camera as well as confiscating his handsets.
   
Expected to mount the witness-box when the hearings resume this Wednesday 8 April, is 53-year-old Philippe Mukwelle, described as one of the Muyuka youths and from whom the defence counsel is hoping to obtain further contradictions. So far, the court has ignored all objections on procedural flaws raised by the defence.

 

 

Corporate leader advocates speedy work at Kribi gas plant

Says it’s only then that the aluminum factory in Edea can function at full capacity

By Bainkong Godlove in Yaounde

Jean Philippe Puig, president of Europe, Middle East and Africa region of one of the world’s biggest mining and exploration companies, Metal Premier of Rio Tinto Alcan group, has called on the government of Cameroon to speed up work at the Kribi gas plant.
   
After leading a delegation to Unity Palace Thursday 2 April where they were granted audience by President Paul Biya, the corporate executive told reporters that it is only when work at the gas plant is effective that the Edea aluminum factory can function at full capacity.
   
He said one of the concerns of his group during the close to an hour audience with Paul Biya was the long delay in realising the project for the extension and modernisation of Alucam that has been in the pipeline since 2005.
   
He disclosed that following an agreement signed by Alcan and AES SONEL, energy production projects were to be undertaken to enable Alucam function well. The Lom Pangar dam, he went on, had to be constructed to stabilise the water flow in the Sanaga River, leading also to the construction of a hydro-electricity dam at Nachtigal. “Unfortunately these projects are two years behind schedule,” he regretted.
   
The Alcan president said he and his collaborators briefed president Paul Biya on the need to get these projects going and also to have the Kribi gas power plant operational as soon as possible so as to enable Alucam to function at full capacity, while waiting for the dam projects to be put in place to enable the extension of the Alucam factory.

 

 

Insecurity in Yaounde:
Bandits haul millions from Express Union Nsam

The gang of four armed robbers neutralised police guard at the money transfer agency last Thursday morning and emptied the agency of all its cash

By Ojong Steven Ayuk in Yaounde

Police are yet to track down four armed bandits who stormed the money transfer agency, Express Union at Nsam in Yaounde on Thursday morning and made away with all money, variously estimated at millions of FCFA.
   
The four men of the underworld, witnesses said, brandished automatic pistols and neutralised a policeman on guard before carrying out their operation.
   
Witnesses said one of the robbers first walked into the agency and collected a money transfer slip which he asked the police cop to help him fill. In the process, his three other colleagues then came and surrendered the policeman asking him to give his gun. He was shot on the arm for resisting.
   
While inside, they brandished their guns and asked all the workers inside to lie flat and for those at the cash counters to bring out all the money in their keeping.  For fear of their lives, the ladies stuffed banknotes in black plastic bags and gave the bandits. The exact amount of money was not known, but some workers there who asked not to be named estimated it at several millions of francs CFA.
   
When they came out of Express Union Nsam, they fired three times in the air and then ran away. They did not come in a car.
   
GSO, the rapid intervention police squad who arrived minutes later could not trace them.
   
Some policemen, we learnt, who were controlling traffic in viccinity quarter escaped for safety when they heard the sound of the bandits’ gunfire.

 

 

 

Manyu farmers visit Achidi Achu’s Rock Farm

In a move believed to be politically motivated, a former aide to the ex-PM led a delegation of Manyu farmers to Santa to see the Rock Farm. Achidi Achu gave them CPDM party uniforms and foodstuffs

By Teche Nyamusa in Bamenda

A delegation of farmers from Manyu division in the South West region on Wednesday 1 April paid a courtesy visit to former Prime Minister Simon Achidi Achu at his Integrated Rock Farm in Mbei village, Santa, Mezam division.
   
Ayuk Victor, an adviser at the cabinet of the PM’s office during Achidi Achu’s rein, who led the farmers, explained that their visit was intended to improve socio-cultural and political ties between Manyu and Santa.
   
Speaking at the Rock Farm, Ayuk Victor appealed to the former PM to accept to be patron of the confederation of trade unions in Manyu.
   
Hoping that the vice prime minister in charge of Agriculture and Rural Development would visit the South West anytime soon, he invited Achidi Achu to accompany the minister to the area.
   
As a former aide, Ayuk also thanked Achidi Achu for being a friend of their farming group in Mbang Clan, describing him as being a good person to the Mbang people and the South West in general since his days as PM. He said Achidi Achu’s works have greatly encouraged farmers’ common initiative groups in Manyu division.
   
For his part, Simon Achidi Achu, who expressed gratitude for the visit, did not give any prompt answers to the Manyu farmers’ requests, but noted that agriculture was an important source of income that should be embraced by all Cameroonians.
   
Together with his aides, he took his visitors on a driving tour of the vast Rock Farm, which covers an area of 10 km². Driving for over one hour, they barely covered half of the farm, which derives its name from a huge rock located on the farmland.
   
Besides cultivating crops like carrot, cabbage and potatoes, the former PM also breeds cattle, goats, horses, domestic birds, among others. We learnt that the farm generates about 6 million FCFA every month from sales of farm and animal products, with some customers coming from abroad.
   
After about five hours at the Rock Farm, the Manyu farmers, who included two chiefs – Samuel Eyong and Ayuk Martin – and women and youths, left for Dreams Farm, a neighbouring pig farm owned by one Joe Akufungwe.
   
Achidi Achu donated CPDM uniforms and food items to his visitors.
   
Observers, however, questioned the objective of the visit, pointing out that the donation of CPDM uniforms rather than farm implements by Achidi Achu to the Manyu farmers suggests that the trip was politically motivated.
   
The team that flanked the former PM in welcoming the visitors included the DO for Santa, Tchetkam Abraham, and the president of North West contractors, Kodang Rex.

 

 

 

Issue 2201

Friday 3 - Sunday 5 April 2009

After break-in:
SW police boss grills Meme treasury chief

It is suspected that the haul by presumed bandits who broke into the Meme treasury last weekend was huge as the SW regional police chief decided to personally handle the investigation

By Ashu Manfred in Kumba

A break-in at the Meme divisional treasury last weekend is being taken with the utmost seriousness by the authorities.
   
The Southwest regional chief of the judicial police is personally heading of team of investigators probing the incident.
   
Beefed up by some local security operatives, the regional police boss Tuesday 31 March interrogated the chief of the Meme divisional treasury and other senior staff of the treasury.
   
 Nothing filtered out of the interrogation sessions and no arrests were immediately made.
     
No official figure has been given on the amount of money that was discovered missing from the treasury after the break-in. But the presence of the SW police boss in Kumba suggests that the haul was huge.
  
The treasury is thought to have been broken into on Saturday breaking Sunday, but it was only discovered on Monday morning when staffers resumed work after the weekend break.
   
Thieves are said to have gained access into the treasury by scaling the fence of the Kumba City Council complex and drilling a hole through the ceiling of the building housing the treasury to get into the strong room containing the safe and fiscal stamps.
   
Following destructions during last year’s February strikes, the treasury and some government offices temporarily relocated to Kumba City Council complex.
   
Though the thieves are yet to be identified, security forces told The Herald that suspicion is on senior administrative officials who were apparently after sensitive documents on contracts.
   
Stamps and money were stolen, a security source told The Herald.

 

Awing/Baligham conflict:
SDO orders seizure of firearms, invokes colonial boundaries

At a reconciliation meeting between warring Awing and Baligham villagers, the SDO of Mezam sought to find a lasting solution to the over 3-decade-old land dispute

By Teche Nyamusa in Bamenda

 

Mezam SDO, Mache Njouonwet, believes he has found the formula to put an end to a decades-old boundary conflict between Awing and Baligham villages in Santa subdivision.

After bloody confrontations last week, the SDO in a meeting at his office on 31 March ordered the seizure of all firearms in both villages and announced a resort to maps drawn by the colonial administration to determine the boundary between Awing and Baligham.
   
During the meeting attended by the warring parties, the SDO asked all villagers keeping firearms to hand them over to their fons within two months. He also set up a commission to study the colonial maps.
   
At least two people were reported dead, scores wounded, about 20 houses burnt down and property looted and destroyed when fighting erupted between the quarrelling villages last week.
   
The quarrel is over piece of fertile farmland which used to be run by the defunct Santa Coffee Estate and later transferred to the North West development authority, MIDENO.
   
With MIDENO not using the land, farmers from both villages have been farming on it, but there is bitter disagreement on who originally owned the land.
   
For over three decades, this disagreement has led to several confrontations with fatalities recorded on both sides.
   
Last week’s conflict, according to North West officials, was provoked by Baligham which attacked Awing in a bid to scare them from the land at this beginning of the farming season.
   
It is hoped that the SDO’s reconciliatory meeting and efforts to establish the boundaries between the two villages will permanently halt hostilities.
   
Active participation at the meeting by fons Fouso II and Galabe II of
   
Awing and Baligham respectively, as well as the presence of renowned peacemaker, Ntumfor Nico Halle, an elite of the area, were seen as positive signals.
   
The DO of Santa, Tchekam Abraham, like the Mezam SDO, said at the meeting that a lasting solution is achievable if the two parties collaborate with government in tackling the misunderstanding.
   
The administrators also called on the traditional rulers and elite of the belligerents to dissuade their people from taking to the path of war.
   
But some observers are sceptical, saying previous administrators had promised to resolve the dispute, just to turn around to fan flames of conflict in order to harvest bribes from both sides.

 

 

Police recruitment exams:
Fraud victim to face Yaounde court today

Vasquese Nkolo was accused of using a fake national identity card to sit the examinations

By Ojong Steven Ayuk in Yaounde

A fraud perpetrator at last weekend’s competitive entrance examinations for the recruitment of 300 police inspectors is presently answering questions at the Centre region Judicial Police headquarters pending transfer to the Kondengui prison, The Herald has learnt.
   
Vasquese Nkolo will appear before an examining judge today before being transferred to Kondengui to allow the case against him to be constituted, police sources say.
   
Vasquese Nkolo was spotted in one of the examination halls during a routine check on identification papers by a police officer.
   
According to police sources, Vasquese’s ID card had a picture that did not look like him, thus causing the police officer invigilating in the hall to suspect some foul play.
   
When questioned if the picture was his, Vasquese expressed surprise admitting it did not look like him. Quizzed further on the ID card, Vasquese fumbled with a plea that he did not know the person who affixed the picture on his card.
   
Asked to say his date of birth, Vasquese said he was born in 1971 but quickly retorted again saying 1984, the date cited on the fake ID card.
   
Convinced that the young man had masterminded fraud, the police reportedly whisked him off to the judicial police headquarters here.
   
Police investigators later paid a search visit to the home of the accused here in Yaounde where they found fake birth certificates and diplomas granting more evidence in the case being constituted against him.
   
Vasquese is not the first fraud case reported so far in police exams this year. Police have reported the arrest of 13 fraud cases since the beginning of the competitive examinations. Police say 10 of the 13 have since been taken to court.

Over 38000 candidates reportedly sat the entrance exams for the recruitment of 300 police inspectors. The exams took place in all regional headquarters.
   
The exams for the recruitment of police inspectors followed that for the recruitment of 100 superintendents of police and another for the recruitment of 150 junior superintendents.

 

African Synergy partners with pharmaceutical giant

An accord between African Synergy and Sanofi-Aventis signed in Yaounde Wednesday aims at reinforcing the fight against diabetes, breast cancer and epilepsy

By Takang Bisong in Yaounde

With the incidence of non-transmissible diseases increasing disturbingly in Africa, African Synergy for the Fight against AIDS and Suffering, a Yaounde-based international NGO, and pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis have joined hands to reverse the trend.
   
Both outfits signed an accord Wednesday 1 April in Yaounde to work together to fight non-transmissible diseases like diabetes, breast cancer, hypertension and epilepsy in Africa.
   
The accord envisages cooperation between African Synergy and Sanofi-Aventis in the areas of capacity building of health professionals, education of vulnerable children on the dangers of these diseases, research and the general fight against non-transmissible diseases in Africa.
   
The cooperation accord will run for two years and it is not clear whether there are provisions for a possible extension or renewal after its expiry.
   
Sanofi-Aventis vice president Didier Rousselle who represented his company, said at the signing ceremony that in the near future non-transmissible diseases will be a major health problem for both developing and industrialised countries.
   
He said the situation was already becoming alarming in Africa, with 10 million people afflicted by diabetes.
   
“It is because of the fear of future health hazards caused by these diseases that Sanofi-Aventis has entered into partnership with the African Synergy to start combating the ills,” he explained.
   
Rousselle urged African governments to wake up to the urgency of the problem of non-transmissible diseases, noting that these diseases have received scant attention on the continent in the past.
   
With Sanofi-Aventis laboratories dotted across Africa, the pharmaceutical giant has the potential of providing important infrastructure and technical assistance in the fight against non-transmissible diseases.
   
African Synergy, which was founded by Cameroon’s first lady Chantal Biya, has social outreach and research programmes as well as field presence which could prove vital in combating these diseases.
   
African Synergy and Sanofi-Aventis signed the accord at the former’s headquarters in Melen, Yaounde. The NGO was represented by its executive secretary, Jean Stephane Biatcha.

 

PCC pastor disavows dishonest leadership in church

Rev Ngwa Julius Ambe of the PCC Musang congregation appealed to newly dedicated elders of his church to eschew adventures that don’t glorify God and tarnish the reputation of the church

By Chrysantus Nchong in Bamenda

The Presbyterian parish pastor of Musang in the North West region of Cameroon has enjoined newly dedicated elders of his church not to make God’s word a thing of ridicule.
   
Rev Ngwa Julius Ambe issued the message while dedicating 25 new elders in his congregation last Sunday March 29.
   
The man of God beseeched the laity to abstain from dishonest adventures which could tarnish their reputation and that of the church providing material to critics of the church to question the message of christ.
   
Ngwa Julius Ambe prescribed discipline and respect for the canons of the PCC in the execution of responsibilities inside the house of God.
   

The Herald gathers that being an elder in the PCC is considered an achievement in the spiritual life of church Christians. But elders in some congregations have regularly failed to live beyond reproach in their congregations.
   
Once they take off their church tunics after church service, some elders are known to engage in immoral behaviour that questions the essence of their belief in Christ.
   
Ngwa Julius Ambe’s message could thus be considered as appropriate. He encouraged elders to be mediators in case of conflicts and peacemakers both inside and out of the church. 
   
The youngest among the elders dedicated on Sunday, Valentine Akah, told The Herald he was humbled by the opportunity to serve in a 5000-Christian congregation. He promises to invest his youthful exuberance in preaching the gospel of Christ, winning more souls and impacting the spiritual lives of many.

 

Cameroonian is acting UN rep in Bangui

After Guinea’s Françoise Lonseny Fall resigned as the UN SG’s special representative in the Central African Republic, Sammy Kum Buo from the NW took over the post on an interim basis. He will be seeking confirmation in the near future

By Eric Venyui in Yaounde

If all goes well for him, Sammy Kum    Buo from the North West region may soon become the permanent special representative of the United Nations secretary general in the Central African Republic.
   
Currently holding the same post on an interim basis since 18 January when the former prime minister of Guinea, Françoise Lonseny Fall, resigned from the post, it is believed here that the Cameroonian stands a good chance to retain the post.
   

Sammy Kum Buo hitherto held the post of director of the Africa division of the UN department of political affairs.
   
Other candidates tipped for the post include: the current UN secretary general’s special envoy to Madagascar, Tiébilé Dramé of Malian nationality; the former Mauritius ambassador to the UN, Jagdish Koonjul, and the deputy head of the United Nations peace keeping mission (MONUC) in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ross Mountain from New Zealand.
   
Françoise Lonseny Fall, who is said to have done well as head of the UN Office in Bangui, especially at the close of 2008 when he succeeded to organise a “National Dialogue”, reportedly abandoned the post to concentrate on politics in his country where presidential elections may hold by the end of 2009.

Guinea is currently being ruled by a military junta that took power in a bloodless coup after the death of former president Lansana Conte early this year.

 

UNIYAO I rector calls for stringent management of funds

The rector used a training seminar at the institution on Tuesday to urge all those concerned with public finance management in the institution to respect the prescriptions of the Finance minister on budget management

By Ojong Steven Ayuk in Yaounde

University of Yaounde I rector Bouba Oumarou recently called on actors in the budget execution chain at the institution to ensure strict respect for prescriptions by the finance minister on the management of public finances.
   
Speaking at a one-day seminar on proper budget management procedures that held on the university campus, the rector asked all those with budgetary allocations to be careful and stringent in their manner of using funds.
   
He noted especially that it was unwise for payments to be made in excess of revenue.
   
Bouba Oumarou also called for vote holders to ensure that contracts are properly executed before payments are effected.
   
Also speaking on the occasion, the finance controller at the university, Joseph Mbita, re-echoed the rector when he remarked that the over 10 billion FCFA budget allocated for the institution for 2009 was inadequate especially if the student population of over 40,000 has to be properly taken care of.
   
Joseph Mbita said that only a strict, stringent and objectives-oriented approach to budget execution will ensure the realisation of projects earmarked for 2009.
   
“It will be unwise to engage projects without looking into your coffers to see if there’s enough money to pay for the work,” Joseph Mbita advised vote holders.
   
Finance ministry staffers at the university coordinated discussions at the seminar.         
   
Authorities said the one-day seminar falls in line with the resolve by government for public managers to ensure respect for good governance principles.
   
“There cannot be good academic governance without proper finance management,” the rector said.

 

France arms Cameroon police

The French interior ministry has donated security equipment to Cameroon to help the police stem the rising crime wave in the country

By Takang Bisong in Yaounde

France, apparently alarmed by mounting insecurity in Cameroon, has donated equipment to the police force here.
   
At a ceremony in Yaounde to officially hand over the equipment, the French ambassador to Cameroon, George Serre, said the donation was to help the police force to fight the rising crime wave in the country.
   
The equipment included 12 intervention vans, 500 helmets, bullet proof vests and some transmission equipment.
   
Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o, delegate general for national security, who received the equipment on behalf of Cameroon, thanked the French for their concern.
   
He said the equipment “will reinforce the operational capacity of the police force in fighting crime and protecting goods and properties of Cameroonians”.
   
The delegate general added that the equipment will enable the Cameroonian police tackle the increasing armed attacks and banditry in many parts of the country.
   
Mebe Ngo’o hailed the long-standing security cooperation between France and Cameroon.
   
Although the French donation was welcome, some senior police officials are said to have grumbled that it was not substantial. They noted that Cameroon can afford a few helmets and vans and if help is to come from elsewhere, it should target areas where the country is facing difficulties.

Issue 2200

Wednesday 1 - Thursday 2 April 2009

Douala IV Council Strike:
SDF mayor heaps blame on City Council

John Ndangle Kumase told grumbling workers at a crisis meeting Monday that delays in disbursing their salaries was due to the late disbursement of allocated funds by the City Council

By Ntaryike Divine, Jr. in Douala

Barely a week after officials at the Douala II Council chilled a workers’ strike by promising a 15 percent pay rise, it was the turn of the SDF-led Douala IV Council earlier this week.
   
Mayor John Ndangle Kumase was welcomed at the council premises early Monday 30 March, by scores of placard-waving workers demanding the immediate disbursement of several months of unpaid wages as well as an improvement in their working conditions.
   
Apart from the accrued salaries, the workers also decried the non-existence of paid vacations, the non-forwarding of the monthly contributions to the National Social Insurance Fund [CNPS] as well as “prolonged reluctance” by the council executive to enact the 15 pay rise decreed by President Biya in the aftermath of the 2008 hunger unrests.
   
The mayor who admitted that the peeved workers were legitimate in their claims, reacted by instantaneously summoning a crisis meeting. He seized the occasion to heap blame on the Douala City Hall headed by Government Delegate, Fritz Ntone Ntone.
   
According to Mayor John Kumase, the recurrent delays in the payment of workers’ salaries were due to tardiness on the part of the City Council in disbursing allocated funds. And so after about five hours of intense negotiations, punctuated by several phone conversations presumably with officials at the City Hall, the mayor told the workers they will begin receiving pay this Wednesday, 1 April.
   
“The problem has been resolved and we’re resuming work while hoping to get our three months salary dues on Wednesday, without which we will come back in full force,” Mbuh, a staff representative there explained. He said the council owed them three months worth of accrued salaries, but elsewhere, some temporary workers claimed they were due eight months.
   
And so logically, the workers will turn up for work today with high hopes of going back home with fatter wallets. “If it turns out that the Mayor was playing for time by promising us pay, then he can be sure to expect the worst. We are ready to bounce back with even greater force if all those promises turned out to be April Fool,” Agnes B, a female worker at the council warned.

 

Suzanne Bomback in trouble!
CPDM SG queries minister’s loyalty to Biya

Rene Emmanuel Sadi is demanding an explanation from the Women’s Empowerment and Family minister  for her naïve exposure of a letter from a CPDM youth calling on Biya to resign during an event to mark the 24th anniversary of the party in Yaounde.

By Micheal Kimbi Tchenga in Yaounde

When Susan Bomback angrily read a letter from an unidentified YCPDM militant, calling on President Paul Biya to resign, at a festivity marking the 24th anniversary of the party in Mfoundi last week, little did she know that she was doing harm to the party and to herself.
   
In her capacity as Central Committee delegate to the Mfoundi IV section of the CPDM, Bomback was irked when the said letter was presented to her at the party anniversary event. She angrily seized the letter, read out its contents to militants and threatened to send out all youths from the reception venue.

It took apologies from a youth leader for the minister to change her mind not to punish the youths.
   
But the seemingly banal affair has now turned into a political storm which, party supporters fear, might hurt her career.
   
CPDM scribe Rene Emmanuel Sadi is now bent on having minister Bomback provide explanations to the act which certainly caused embarrassment to party overlords including president Biya.
   
A source close to the party’s leadership told The Herald that Sadi raised the matter at a meeting he chaired at the CPDM party headquarters in Yaounde last Saturday.
   
Sadi’s reprisal, our source suggests, is the first step in a disciplinary process that Bomback is expected to undergo.
   
Some CPDM militants hold, in support of Bomback, that she acted out of ignorance and inexperience. But others insist that the damage has already been done so she should be punished anyway.
   
The said letter widely reported by the press called on president Biya to step down as party chairman and as head of State, accusing him of being too old and running out of ideas. But the author has since not been identified.
   
Observers here believe that CPDM party leadership is not taking the matter kindly given the recent spate of attacks by YCPDM militants against the leadership of the party.
   
Only last week, President Biya’s cousin, Evrad Eyenga, resigned as YCPDM section president for the Dja and Lobo frustrated at the poor management of the party  by the local leadership.

 

 

Police officer killed by colleague posthumously acclaimed

No sanctions have so far been pronounced for the officer who wasted his cartridge on his colleague during a field operation a fortnight ago

By Ntaryike Divine, Jr. in Douala

The Delegate General for National Security, Edgard Alain Mebe Ngo’o, was in Douala Friday, 27 March to pin a medal of valour on the chest of a police officer slain by a colleague in the line of duty recently.
   
Thirty-four-year-old police constable, David Ekotto was shot dead by a colleague during a field operation in Bonaberi, Douala in the wee hours of Wednesday 18 March. Police accounts said Ekotto detached himself from the rest of the group as he and his colleagues of the police rapid intervention unit, ESIR, closed in on marauding bandits in the Ngouelle neighborhood.
   
But the operation turned sour only minutes later. A colleague whose names police have warned not to mention reportedly mistook Ekotto for one of the bandits and instantly opened fire on him as he emerged from vantage position behind a pile of bricks. Ekotto died from severe blood loss as he was rushed for medical intervention.
   
Flanked by Littoral Governor, Fai Yengo Francis at the state recognition ceremony Friday, Mebe Ngo’o told kin of the slain officer that his descent to Douala to condole with them was instructed by President Paul Biya. He said the medal of valour posthumously pinned on the chest of the deceased policeman symbolised the ultimate recognition by the state of his merit and bravery.
   
According to the police boss, Ekotto’s “supreme sacrifice” should serve as a source of inspiration for his living colleagues in the fight against soaring criminality especially in Douala and nationwide.
   
However, kin of the slain officer were not entirely comforted. Some, speaking unofficially, said they expected the Delegate General to overtly pronounce sanctions slammed against “the killer of our brother.” The unnamed colleague was reportedly dumped in custody at the judicial police headquarters in Bonanjo pending the outcome of investigations.
   
Though the incident occurred during one of the currently recurrent power failures, kin of the deceased officer say that cannot serve as an excuse. They have voiced the wish to see the judicial police probe allegations that the incident could be the outcome of an unsound relationship between both officers.
   
Colleagues of the “killer” say he faces several years behind bars or expulsion from the police corps.

 

SOCAM:
Board members adopt organisational chart to rest conflicts

During an ordinary board meeting Saturday at the institution’s headquarters in Yaounde, board members also appointed different departmental heads

By Ojong Steven Ayuk in Yaounde

Conflicts that arose at musicians rights body, SOCAM, since the appointment of a general manager last year because of the undefined roles of officials may now be put to rest following the adoption of an organisational chart for the outfit.
   
The organisational chart, that defines the different services and their prerogatives, was adopted during an ordinary meeting of the board of directors of  SOCAM on Saturday 28 March at the body’s headquarters in Bastos, Yaounde.
   
When the general manager, Simon Richard Mbappe Koum, was appointed several months ago, one of the missions board members charged him with was to propose an organisational chart for the institution whose absence was believed to be at the centre of a series of conflicts that characterised the functioning of the office of board chair and that of GM.
   
During a recent extraordinary board meeting last month to end the situation, board members constituted an ad hoc committee to come up with a road map for the institution and study the files of applicants for different jobs at the organ.
   
The GM was also asked to hasten the drawing-up of an organisational chart for the body.
   
The GM’s proposed organisational chart was adopted Saturday after a few amendments by the board.
   
Then board members also appointed persons to head the different services contained in the chart.
   
Other resolutions of the board meeting included the adoption of a salary scale for workers and various allowances.
   
Board members also instituted a national day for musicians to be called “SOCAM Day”.
   
It is believed that the conviviality that characterised the atmosphere at Saturday’s meeting marked the beginning of a new era for SOCAM. The signing of the resolutions by both board chair Odile Ngaska and GM Koum Mbappe Richard in the presence of the SG of the ministry of Culture was interpreted as their readiness to work together.

 

New US under-secretary for Africa:
Sporadic coups, rampant term extensions await Obama’s pick

Johnnie Carson who holds a rich diplomatic experience in Africa is the man President Obama has chosen to execute his foreign relations agenda in a continent where armed coups abound and sit-tight leaders have thrown democracy to the dogs, extending presidential terms.

By Micheal Kimbi Tchenga in Yaounde

Addressing a global audience from the Lincoln Memorial minutes after being inaugurated as 44th US president last 20 January, Barack Obama issued a strong message of change to dictators who cling to power and cause misery to their people.
   
His firm warning was perceived as a beacon across Africa where US foreign policy over the years has not helped much in improving democracy to bring hope to millions who live in poverty and disease.
   
With Africans looking up with desperation to his hope caravan, Obama has appointed Johnnie Carson, a man with impressive diplomatic credentials on Africa, to execute US foreign policy on the continent. The new under-secretary of state has, in the past, served as US ambassador to Nigeria, Uganda and Kenya.
   
Carson returns to a continent which, in just the past year, has witnessed successful military coups in Madagascar, Guinea Bissau, Guinea and Mauritania with new leaders undemocratically seizing power.
   
Elsewhere on the continent, the new US envoy would have to face a trend of constitutional amendments by fuddy-duddy leaders seeking to perpetuate their rule beyond legal mandates.
   
The case of Cameroon, strategically located in the Gulf of Guinea where the US nurses economic interests, is particularly preoccupying, observers here say.
   
President Biya who has ruled for 26 years revised the constitution in 2008, amidst bloody street protests, making him eligible for re-election when his current 7-year-term expires in 2011.
   
Biya who enjoyed warm diplomatic ties with Washington on the eve of the 2003 Iraq invasion, fell out with his US friends shortly after poorly organised presidential elections in 2004.
   
Sources even had it that Biya promised the US leadership he would step-down when his term expires in 2011 only to stun Washington later with the constitutional amendment.
   
Observers here believe that if US foreign policy remains uncompromising on democracy with leaders like Biya, it is likely to achieve a sane socio-political climate for its economic operations in the region.

 

European MPs promise to lobby for Cameroon anti-malaria funds

A team of visiting European MPs who held a meeting with health ministry officials Monday pledged their commitment to join in the fight against the killer disease

By Takang Bisong in Yaounde

Cameroon which is already receiving substantial international aid to combat malaria may get even more financial assistance if a delegation of visiting European MPs keep their promise.
   
Five members of the European parliament who held a meeting with health ministry officials in Yaounde on Monday 30 March pledged to lobby governments in Europe to allocate more funds to Cameroon to help the country fight malaria.
   
The MPs from Spain, Belgium and Romania said malaria was devastating Africa and it was only natural that Europe should help out.
   
Apart from financial assistance from European governments, the MPs said they will also encourage researchers in Europe to get more interested in finding a cure for the disease.
   
“We will do everything to make sure our governments do not only put [the fight against malaria] in their political agenda but also to inculcate it in the hearts and minds of the people in order that researchers will continue to visit Cameroon as well as the other African countries for the treatment of malaria,” said Rosa Fortury Torrella, a member of the delegation.
   
The permanent secretary at the national commission for the fight against malaria Ndong A Bessong Prosper said during the meeting with the MPs that government should use such occasions to canvas for financing of the anti-malaria campaign.

 

Experts recommend teaching of local dialects in schools

Means of implementing the idea around the country are being sought by education authorities and indigenous language experts

By Takang Bisong in Yaounde

Teaching subjects like Arithmetic, Nature Studies and Hygiene using local traditional African dialects would improve performance in schools, experts at the Christian Language Development Organisation, SIL, has found out.
   
Dispensing lessons using indigenous dialects is the surest way to improve the quality of education in Cameroon, Van Den Berg, director of SIL suggested at a workshop to initiative the implementation of the idea in Yaounde last Friday.
   
Citing a pilot exercise in Bui division of the North West region, Van Deb Berg affirmed that children who received lectures in their local dialect showed proof of better comprehension than when provided the same material in French and English. Sufficient reason thus, to give the approach a try in the hope to raise education standards in the country, he concluded.
   
Pius Tamanji, a lecturer of Linguistics at the University of Yaounde 1 corroborated the motion saying that learning complicated science subjects is usually a frustrating experience for rural children who learn in a language they did not use as they grew. Besides, the scholar pointed out, the colonial heritage of French and English is now a threat to indigenous languages in Cameroon.
   
Participants at the workshop supported by Basic Education ministry are seeking ways to implement the scheme along side regular use of French and English in teaching at schools.          
Appropriate legislation, most of the pedagogues at the workshop said, is not in place to facilitate implementation of this in the country.
If the ideas sail through, school boys and girls in Bali, for instance, would study Munga’aka, those in Manyu may learn in Kenyang dialect while those in the coastal Sawa hearltland would learn Duala.

 

Improved work conditions in view for maritime workers 

Labour and Social Security minister, Robert Nkili has told maritime transport sector workers that a bill seeking to improve their conditions may be sent to Parliament soon

By Ntaryike Divine, Jr. in Douala

Maritime merchandise transportation is increasingly playing a crucial role in international trade. In fact, current estimates suggest that as much as 90 percent of world’s entire bulk of finished goods as well as raw materials is transported by cargo ships crisscrossing the world’s seas and oceans.
   
However, seafarers manning the ships and ensuring safe maritime freight transportation have been complaining they do not work in ideal conditions. Apart from poor pay and prolonged isolation, such grumbling has considerably soared in the past few years especially taking into account increasing pirate activity on the high seas.
   
It is within that perspective that seafarers worldwide in collaboration with the International Labor Organization formulated a maritime labor convention three years ago. The document, according to Mme Doumbia Cleopatra, Director of International Labor Standards at the ILO, spells several advantages both for workers in the maritime freight and fishing sectors.
   
She spoke Monday, 30 March at the start of a four-day Douala workshop aimed at acquainting seafarers in the CEMAC bloc with the convention. The workshop among others, seeks to convince decision-makers on the need for the ratification of the convention by CEMAC member states.
   
Prof. Robert Nkili, Minister of Labor and Social Security, under whose aegis the workshop is holding, said it was increasingly imperative for seafarers to work under the best conditions. He said in the last few years, the sector had witnessed rapid expansion and predicted further growth with the ongoing development of new sectors like maritime tourism.
   
“Your sector is currently one of the fastest growing and that means it is need of more and more labor which will only come if you put in place attractive salaries and encouraging work conditions,” he prescribed.
   
Amidst thunderous applause, he pledged his support for seafarers associations and unions in their strides to have the convention ratified by the Cameroon government. “After this seminar, the convention could be sent to the National Assembly for ratification,” he announced.

 

US Doctors for Africa/African Synergy summit:
African Synergy set to lead African First Ladies to Los Angeles

The first-of-its kind health summit to hold in Los Angeles next 20-21 April is the fruit of an accord signed between African Synergy and US Doctors for Africa

By Roland Akong Wuwih in Yaounde

Cameroon’s First Lady Chantal Biya, founding president of African Synergy against AIDS and Suffering will in April lead a delegation of African First Ladies to a health summit in Los Angeles in the US.
   
The health summit is a joint venture by African Synergy and a US-based organisation of doctors called US Doctors for Africa. It is the first step by both NGOs after they signed a convention to join efforts in fighting the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS on the continent.
   
Final preparations for the summit are underway both in Los Angeles and the Cameroon headquarters of African Synergy to guarantee success for the event Jean Stephane Biatcha, executive secretary of African Synergy said at a press briefing in Yaounde Thursday 26 March.
   
After several meetings and visits to the different sites of the international conference in Los Angeles, Biatcha assured, almost all is in place for the event.
   
“The US State Department, authorities in California and all other actors concerned are mobilising to ensure a resounding success of the event”, Biatcha said.
   
He also announced that US First Lady Michelle Obama and the wife of British PM, Sarah Brown, will be part of the event alongside US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and former First Lady Laura Bush.     
   
It also promises to be a star-studded event as many Hollywood star actresses including Angelina Jolie are expected. Jessica Alba is planned to be impresario at the gala where major leaders and actors in the domain of health, education of the girl-child and sustainable development will be compensated.
   
African Synergy, it is hoped, will come out of the summit with stronger partners and more valiant ideas to move on in its activities to reduce misery around the continent.

 

CATTU scribe blames deceit, antagonism for civil society failure

Nkwenti Simon was addressing civil society organisations at a workshop organised in Bamenda recently

By Chrysantus Nchong in Bamenda

Deceit, antagonism, blackmail and a weak lobbying potential are the key reasons why civil society organisations (CSO) have been a failure in Cameroon, Nkwenti Simon, North West regional coordinator of CSOs told participants at a workshop recently.
   
Nkwenti also advanced that for civil societies to act as a vehicle for social change, they must forge unity, protect the interest of the common man and advocate democracy.                                   
He called on the organisations to be partners with government; not spectators without initiative in the fight against injustice and corruption.
   
The information exchange and capacity building workshop was organised by the North West Association of Development Organisations, NOWADO, coordinated by Ngang Eric Ndeh.
   
Ngang underscored the need for unity and lobbying in the face of a legal difficulty faced by CSOs in the region which have not been granted the status of NGO under Cameroonian law.
   
NOWADO is an umbrella organisation grouping 27 CSOs from different development domains, facilitating effective networking with each other to enhance development in society.
   
The opening of the workshop was chaired by 2nd assistant SDO for Mezam, Muma Charles.

 

ENS Bambili:
Deputy director foresees bright future

Says the granting of the second cycle, the tarring of the access road to the institution and the renovation of hitherto abandoned buildings, among others, announced a new dawn for the school. He promised to step up discipline on campus so as to render the school a veritable training ground

By Chrysantus Nchong in Bamenda

The pioneer assistant director delegate of ENS Annexe Bambili, Lukong Kenneth, has described the granting of the second cycle to the institution and other projects going on on campus as a new dawn for the school.
   
He said though belated, the second cycle is a dream come true to people of the North West region. Besides, he added, the tarring of the access road leading to the campus, the construction of pedagogic blocks and the renovation of abandoned buildings have given the institution a new look.

Dispelling fears that the announced granting of a second cycle to the school and the creation of a section for the training of technical teachers might just be one of the unfilled promises of the Yaounde regime to the North West region, the deputy director delegate said the decision falls within the competence of the Minister of Higher Education and not the Presidency and so needed no presidential decree as expected by many people.
   
Speaking in a news conference in Bambili recently, Lukong Kenneth said to match discipline with the evolution in the institution; his administration will spare no effort in stamping out all forms of malpractices in the school. He said lecturers or students caught in acts of indiscipline will pay dearly for it.
   
He said the only challenge now is the recruitment of quality teachers to handle the seven new technical departments when the new cycles go operational next October.
   
The pioneer deputy director delegate announced the imminent construction of two new pedagogic blocks and two hostels for boys and girls of 500 places each to conveniently host the students.

Issue 2199

Friday 30 - Sunday 31 March 2009

Returning to an old idea:
Biyiti bi Essam relaunches communication New Deal

Addressing a seminar last week the Communication minister disclosed that he will soon start an electronic news agency with the goal of increasing the flow of information about Cameroon at home and abroad. He initiated the project in 2007 when he was appointed to the job, but it failed to take off

By Takang Bisong in Yaounde

If all goes well the coming months will witness an explosion in the flow of information around Cameroon and about Cameroon abroad.
   
Biyiti bi Essam, the minister of Communication told a seminar attended by communication delegates from across Cameroon that he envisaged to start an electronic news agency of which they would be its divisional correspondents.
   
The minister also announced that there will be a substantial increase in the number of community radios across Cameroon. All of that, he said, would greatly multiply the amount of information in circulation within the country. It will also provide information about Cameroon abroad.
   
He intimated that with the news agency would equally make it possible for local news organs to have access to certain news sources and pictures of happenings.
   
In view of the project, Biyiti bi Essam said he would personally undertake trips around various regions here in order to acquaint himself with its feasibility. He said furthermore that journalists would be sent to the United States and elsewhere abroad to train on news agency practices.
   
It was the second time that Biyiti bi Essam announced a similar project. Shortly after he was appointed communication minister in September 2007, he won applause from communication circles by announcing a similar project which he called a communication New Deal. At the centre of the project was a substantial flow of information.
   
It is hoped that this time around he will get the project off the ground.

 

Strike at CUSS:
Fame Ndongo reaches compromise with striking PhD applicants

A four-hour crisis meeting between striking students of the Faculty of Medicine and Higher Education authorities culminated in a decision to officially open a PhD cycle at the institution

By Eric Venyui in Yaounde

Beginning this 2008/2009 academic year, the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, FMBS, (formerly CUSS) will train professionals at the PhD level in biomedical sciences, medico-sanitary sciences and nursing. A doctorate level course shall also be created in sanitary engineering at the faculty.
   
These were the resolutions of a four-hour crisis meeting, held on Friday 27 March at the Higher Education ministry to address the demands of striking graduates of the institution, a source present at the meeting told The Herald.
   
Chaired by Fame Ndongo, the brainstorming session was attended by seven student strike leaders, the dean and vice dean of the faculty, the rector of the University of Yaounde I and vice, and senior ministry officials.
   
Strike leaders told us they were briefly suspending their hunger strike in front of the rector’s office at the University of  Yaounde I for the minister to publish the said decision.
   
The strike was sparked-off by the scandalous admission of six out of 48 PhD applicants into the Faculty of Science of the university rather than the FMBS where they just earned Master’s degrees and had applied to further their studies.

The rector was guided in his controversial decision by the FMBS dean, Tetanye Bonaventure Ekoe, who advised that his faculty cannot train PhD students.

But at Friday’s meeting, Fame Ndongo threw his weight behind the administrative notice signed by Tetanye Ekoe on 22 December 2008 inviting Master’s students at the health faculty to tender applications for PhD studies.

At this point, we learnt, Tetanye Ekoe tried to disengage himself from his act but Fame Ndongo warned, «We must find solutions here and now. If these students return on the streets unsatisfied, I will be forced to take sanctions,» Fame Ndongo cautioned his collaborators.
            «Cameroon must evolve,» he said.

 

Pope bashing over condom use:
Controversy worsens as medical journal calls on Pope to withdraw comments

After the international media, French and German governments, and world NGOs, the reputed medical journal, The Lancet, condemned the pope’s statement on condom use during his trip to Cameroon and called on him to retract or correct it

By Ndien Eric in Yaounde

Whereas the Yaounde authorities, the Church in Cameroon and Cameroonians continue to hail the Pope’s recent visit to Cameroon as a huge success, Benedict XVI is himself in great difficulty. The comment he made on condom use during his flight to Yaounde on 17 March has continued to draw international anger.
   
The International press, the governments of France and Germany, and non-governmental organisations around the world continue to express sharp and bitter disagreements with the head of the Catholic Church. He told journalist in answer to a question on condoms that its use did not guarantee the prevention of AIDS. AIDS «is a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms. In fact it even aggravates the problems,» the 81-year-old Pope said.
   
The latest attack on this position is by the reputed International medical journal, The Lancet. In an editorial in its latest issue at the weekend, The Lancet condemned Pope Benedict XVI for being either ignorant or haven spoken out of ill will and called on the Catholic pontiff to withdraw his statement which it said publicly distorted scientific evidence to promote Catholic doctrine.
   
«When any influential person, be it a religious or political leader, makes a false scientific statement that could be devastating to the health of millions of people, they should retract or correct the public record,» the medical journal said in the editorial «Anything less from Pope Benedict would be an immense disservice to the public and health advocates, including many thousands of Catholics, who work tirelessly to try and prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS worldwide.»

 

Chantal Biya re-enacts Women’s day in Meyomessala

The First Lady who was conspicuously absent during official Woman’s Day celebrations on 8 March, was seen marching enthusiastically in Meyomessala at the weekend during an event to launch a community radio

By Micheal Kimbi Tchenga in Yaounde

It is common knowledge that Chantal Biya enjoys joining other women to march in celebration of International Women’s Day. But this year she was absent. In fact, she and her husband president Paul Biya returned to Yaounde from a private stay abroad on the evening of 8 March 2009.
   
To quench the First Lady’s well-known appetite for public fanfare and communion with her womenfolk, government authorities used the launch of a small community radio at Meyomessala in the Centre region, to simulate another Women’s Day event.
   
The grand stand erected in front of       the Meyomessala City Hall was parked with government officials; women had lined up in the official Women’s Day fabric and music from a marching band came alive.
   
Chantal’s coveted moment had come. Clad also in Women’s day ‘kabba’, Chantal leaped to her feet and made a display of her youthfulness leading a march-past of elderly female ministers and CERAC officials. And yes she got just what she enjoys most – a standing ovation.
   
From time to time the First Lady was seen clapping and even standing to dance to cheer up women groups assembled from all over the country for a re-make of the Women’s Day march-past.
   
Chantal Biya took time at the end to tour exhibition stands manned by women’s groups and also cut the symbolic ribbon to inaugurate a new community radio opened by the Communication ministry in partnership with UNICEF.
   
As she drove home at the end of the hectic event, Chantal Biya was visibly satisfied. She certainly had made up for the fanfare she missed on 8 March, after all.  

 

Gendarme officer disappears with boat-load of ammunition

Deadbeat silence on part of security officials is fuelling rumour and controversy over the true destination of the ammunition

By Ntaryike Divine, Jr. In Douala

Early this month, according to reports garnered afield, a convoy of seven boats loaded with military supplies was sent by the ministry of Defense as equipment for a new gendarmerie brigade in Bakassi. At term however, only six are known to have arrived.
   
Trickling reports, which security officials here refused to confirm at press time yesterday, indicate that all but one of the gendarmes escorting the missing boat are known to have been killed. However, the exact identity of the killer (s) is hemmed in controversy following the iformation blackout on the matter.
   
While some sources hold that the missing gendarme must have fallen into the hands of pirates now wreaking havoc in the Gulf of Guinea and especially in the Bakassi area, others suggest he killed his colleagues and disappeared with the boat-load of arms and ammunition, probably to sell to militant groups in the Niger Delta.
   
More official sources trace the incident back three weeks. Electing anonymity, some told yesterday that officials at the Secretariat for Defense who made a visit to the area soon after the incident were informed that the missing boat fell in an ambush manned by Niger Delta rebels from the Freedom Fighters’ movement.
   
An investigation was reportedly launched amid tight secrecy. But pending the outcome of the probe, rumour on the probable whereabouts of the gendarme officer have continued to circulate and in rather wild manner. Observers say usually, the Freedom Fighters claim responsibility when they attack Cameroonian troops on the peninsula and their not doing so after the claimed ambush provides other leads for the investigators.

 

Sasse College clocks 70!
Nostalgic ‘Old Boys’ storm Sasse to relive college days

Some returned to the college orchard to harvest guavas, others rushed with plates to the refectory to savour the much cherished corn-chaff meal while a few flexed their muscles in a football match; all in celebration of the good old days at Sasse

By Patience Toge in Buea

Thousands of Sasse Old Boys, SOBANS, trooped to Sasse at the weekend to celebrate the 70th anniversary of their 1939 college.
   
In an atmosphere charged with nostalgia last Saturday, SOBANS from all corners of the country and representatives of branches abroad converged on the Saint Joseph’s College campus on the slopes of the Buea Mountain to relish school days once again.
   
Surprisingly showing up among them was an Old Boy who was there when the Sasse story began in 1939. Augustine Valimbe was given a rousing round of applause as he stepped forward during the march-past and ambled at the head of the file.
   
As is always the case, other batches marched pass in order of arrival at Sasse College brandishing a placard bearing their year of admission.
   
To beat up the nostalgia that usually accompanies such a day, the Old Boys reverted to activities that strongly adhered them to the college.
   
Some went harvesting guavas in the college orchard; others took turns sharing testimonies of their school days with the younger generation while a few played a football match in celebration of the Feast of Saint Joseph.
   
The ex-students also presented gifts from SOBANS in the USA to booster the IT centre at their alma mater. They also earmarked a health centre to be constructed to meet the health needs of current student at the college.
   
Earlier in the day, a mass was said by Bishop Emmanuel Bushu of Buea, proprietor of the college, himself a SOBAN. In his homily, the bishop hailed the college for producing great Cameroonians who have served the nation in all works of life.
   
In its 70-year history, Saint Joseph’s College has produced an estimated 1 million Cameroonians among them prominent professionals who have served both government and private organisations worldwide.
   
Examples include former prime minister Peter Mafany Musonge, archbishop of Bamenda Cornelius Esua, prominent professors in medicine like Anomah Ngu, Daniel Lantum just to name a few.

 

Economic backwardness of NW:
Nico Halle says greed, blackmail by elite is responsible

The North West fons’ spokesman said Governor Abakar Ahamat’s development blueprint for the region will be achieved if elite put aside their differences and work for the interest of the region

By Teche Nyamusa in Bamenda

The North West Fons’ spokesman, Ntumfor Nico Halle, has blamed the socio-political and economic under development of the North West region on blackmail and selfish interest of some «misguided elite.»
   
«Elite of this region have for the past years been devastated, and torn apart by greed, inordinate holding and request for money, power, appointment etc and that has completely destroyed the NW region,» Nico Halle told journalists in Bamenda on 25 March at the end of a massively attended meeting of NW elite which was geared at producing a development blueprint for the region.
   
He did not call the names of those he claimed were responsible for retarding the growth of the region, but said they were about 10 in number including three fons.
   
The meeting which saw the participation of over 300 influential indigenes of the region amongst them CPDM deputy chairman Solomon Anye Angwafor; assistant secretary general at the Presidency, Yang Philemon; minister delegate for Special Duties at the Presidency, Atanga Nji Paul; secretary of state for Minies, Industries and Technological Development, Fuh Calistus Gentry and NOWEFU president, Aneng Francis, was the initiative of Abakar Ahamat, NW governor.
   
Many proposals were made for the economic salvation of the region and the governor appointed an ad hoc committee to examine it and draw up a blueprint within three months that will serve as a reference working document for peace, unity, socio-political and economic growth of the region.
   
But Ntumfor Nico Halle, who lauded the governor’s initiative, intimated that his dream for the region would materialise if all the elite came together in love and harmony. He also said divine intervention was indispensable. In the absence of these, he added, nothing positive can happen.
   
Inter-tribal wars have equally contributed in slowing down the economic growth of the region. Before leaving Bamenda last week Nico Halle told The Herald he had been busy struggling to calm down flaring tempers amongst natives of Awing and Baligham and dissuading them from going to war.

   

 

Growing unemployment:
ASMAC sends out 7 batches of graduates into jobless market

The graduates received symbolic end-ofcourse certificates at a ceremony that held at Amphi 700 of the University of Yaounde I on Friday 27 march

By Ojong Steven Ayuk in Yaounde

Some graduates from the national advanced school of mass communication, ASMAC, of the University of Yaounde II on Friday 27 March received symbolic end-of-course certificates at a graduation ceremony that took place at the Amphi 700 of the University of Yaounde I.
   
The over 400 graduates who showed up at the event represented a cross-section of seven batches of graduates who had completed training at the institution from 2000 to 2008 but had not been awarded diplomas. The real certificates are still being expected.
   
The graduation ceremony that was supposed to be jointly presided over by the ministers of Higher Education and Communication, Jacques Fame Ndongo and Biyiti bi Essam respectively was finally presided over by the director of the training centre, Charels Boyomo Assala. Some authorities of the Universities of Yaounde I and II attended the event.
   
Speaking at the event, Boyomo congratulated the graduates for the courage and steadfastness in going through the school’s rigorous programmes, describing them as future torchbearers of the country’s communication landscape.
   
He also thanked the sponsors and organisers of the event for making the graduation ceremony possible.
   
Admitting that the ceremony was fraught with many setbacks, Boyomo hoped that future ceremonies would be better organised.
   
Some students who distinguished themselves in the different batches received prizes of about 100.000 FCFA each.
   
Even though most of the students expressed joy and gratitude to the school authorities for making the graduation possible, they appeared worried and uncertain about their future given the country’s high unemployment incidence.
   
Some of them complained of frustration due to joblessness and questioned why despite a government text stating that graduates from the school should be absorbed into the public service, they were still left on the streets without jobs.
   
«The presidential decree creating ASMAC states that graduates of the school are supposed to be absorbed into the public service but the last over eight batches have not enjoyed this privilege,» one of the graduates noted in disappointment.

 

Misaje sub-division:
Elite hail Fuh Calistus for fighting against illiteracy, poverty

They praised the Secretary of State for Mines, Industries and Technological Development for launching the Misaje and Ako scholarship fund and for supporting farmers with maize seedlings in a bit to alleviate poverty. This was on the occasion of the CPDM 24th anniversary celebration in Misaje

By Chrysantus Nchong in Misaje

North West elite from Misaje have showered praises and blessings on their illustrious son and Secretary of State for Mines, Industries and Technological Development, Fuh Calistus Gentry, for his relentless effort at combating under scholarisation and poverty in the sub-division.
   
To reduce the level of illiteracy in Misaje and Ako communities, Fuh Calistus launched a scholarship fund last year and a few hundreds of meritorious secondary and varsity students benefited, Saidu Magaji, CPDM section president for Donga-Mantung IV said on the occasion of a joint section CPDM seminar and the ruling party’s 24th anniversary celebration in Misaje last week. Many more students are expected to be awarded scholarships this year.
   
He also hailed the Secretary of State for alleviating poverty amongst the local population especially in the domain of agriculture. Farmers’ groups were distributed maize seedlings at the close of the party’s anniversary while Fuh Calistus also promised to inaugurate a business fund next month to spur up development in the area.
   
Saidu Magaji equally used the CPDM anniversary event to thank President Paul Biya for the development projects he has carried out there including the construction of eight classrooms in Misaje, the creation of more secondary schools and the grading of the Nkambe-Misaje road. In addition, the elite also expressed the population’s gratitude to the head of State for the appointment of their son as Secretary of State. President Paul Biya also received kudos for his diplomacy in the peaceful resolution of the oil-rich Bakassi dispute with Nigeria last year.
   
The CPDM section president on behalf of the population therefore assured the president a 100 percent vote during the 2011 presidential elections like was the case during the 2007 twin polls.
   
For his part, another elite Kenda Simon Sunday, Mayor of Misaje council, congratulated Fuh Calistus for negotiating development projects in the area and called on him to do more.
   
Answering to the development demands of the population, the Secretary of State for Mines, Industries and Technological Developments announced the realisation soon of new projects such as electricity, potable water, health centre and roads in Misaje by the Spanish government.
   
Twenty SDF militants who decamped to the CPDM were decorated as part of activities to celebrate the party’s anniversary in Misaje.
         

 

New Central Hospital Director urged to create a patient-friendly milieu

Marie-Therese Obama Abena was installed last Friday by Health minister Andre Mama Fouda

By Takang Bisong in Yaounde

The new director of the Yaounde Centre Hospital, Marie-Therese Obama Abena has been urged to marshal her collaborators to achieve a conducive environment for patients seeking help at the reference health institution.
   
Marie-Therese Obama took charge of the hospital 27 March at an installation ceremony chaired by Public Health minister Andre Mama Fouda.
   
Appointed by prime ministerial decision on 17 March, the reputed clinical professor of Paediatrics replaces Magloire Biwole Sida who has been called to other duties at the ministry.
   
Obama inherits a hospital fraught with regular complaints from patients and users of the hospital’s services over the poor reception conditions they are subjected to at the health institution.
   
Yaounde Central Hospital also hosts a large number of health professionals ranging from nurses, doctors, laboratory scientists and others who commonly complain of poor working conditions and dilapidating infrastructure.
   
Minister Andre Mama Fouda encouraged the seasoned medical practitioner to manage the hospital with a humanitarian touch given that a good number of persons seeking help at the hospital do not have the financial means to pay for treatment.
   
Obama, The Herald gathered from jubilant personnel at the hospital, is so motherly and caring towards others and is believed to be the good guarantor of dialogue between staff and management in times of crises.
Accepting the new task ahead, Obama promised to invest her best for the smooth running of the hospital.
   
At the occasion, Mama Fouda also installed the new Human Resource director of the Health ministry, Samuel Kingue, professor in Cardiology and three inspectors general of medical and para medical services at the ministry.

 

CBC health board launches community counseling clinic

The Nkwen-based health centre will provide moral and spiritual reformation services to the public

By Teche Nyamusa in Bamenda

At last there could be relief for victims of domestic violence, dyed-in-the-wool perpetrators of mischief, gamblers, adolescents struggling with deviant behaviour and other persons in society fangled in mental torture due to unwanted habits.
   
A new clinic launched at the Cameroon Baptist Convention Hospital in Nkwen, Bamenda will attend to the needs of people, from all classes of society, in need of moral and mental reformation.
   
Presenting the clinic to the public last Wednesday 24 March, Tih Pius Muffih, director of the CBC Health Board said the novel healthcare idea is intended to take the Christian mission of offering spiritual relief to those in need beyond the Church house. 
   
Some of the services to be offered at the clinic range from counselling on marriage, moral reformation and professional capacity building among others.
   
It is hoped that the immediate windfall from the idea would be fewer cases of dismissal from secondary schools, better rehabilitation of prisoners and ex-convicts and a lower crime wave in society at large.
   
In a clarion call at the opening event, Ndongndeh Godlove, clergy and sub director in charge of the counselling clinic urged principals to bring their recalcitrant students for counselling instead of dismissing them from schools and abandoning them to society.
   
Ndongndeh also appealed to prison authorities to send inmates to the centre for regular evaluation of their moral reformation while in prison.
   
The authorities also revealed that the centre will be a training point for community counselling agents since CBC alone cannot cover the entire country.
   
With six staff to man the clinic, the CBC Health Board is poised to make a difference in healthcare delivery in the region. The board counts over seventy health facilities around the country.

 

Eighteen new departments created in ENS Bambili

A ministerial decree publishing the new departments Friday 27 March also appointed heads of department in the institution

By Bainkong Godlove in Yaounde

Eighteen new departments have been created in the Higher Teacher’s Training College, ENS-Annex Bamili, and new heads of department appointed in the new departments as well as other departments in the school.

This information is contained in a ministerial decree published Friday 27 March by the minister of Higher Education, Jacques Fame Ndongo

The creation of the departments and appointment of departmental heads came barely weeks after the minister told a group of NW CPDM Members of Parliament and the Secretary General of the Cameroon Teachers’ Trade Union, Simon Nkwenti, that a second cycle and a section for the training of technical education teachers will go operational in Bambili as from the next academic year.
   
The new departments are as follows: Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Science of Education, English Modern Letters, Bilingual Letters, History, Geography, Administrative Techniques, Philosophy, Economic Science, Geology, Civil Engineering Forestry Techniques, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Sciences, Social Economy and Family Management, and Electrical and Power Engineering. 

Heads of Department
History – Gwanfobe Matthew B.
English Modern Letters - A. Sadrack Ateke
Science of Education – Foncha Peter
Physics – Fai Cornelius Lukong
Administrative Techniques – Lukong Kenneth M.
Bilingual Letters – Ngendjo Emile
Biology – Futsong
Chemistry – Assobo Forche Peter
Economic Sciences – Anye Peter E.
Geography – Ndencho Neba Emmanuel
Geology – Margaret Tita
Mathematics – Kum Cletus
Civil Engineering and Forestry Techniques – Nyam Emmanuel
Mechanical Engineering – Kana Thomas Florent
Computer Sciences – Atangana Roman
Social Economy and Family Management – Patrick Konyuy
Electricity and Power Engineering – C. Tchago
Philosophy – Necodemus Y. Nji.

Issue 2198

Friday 27 - Sunday 29 March 2009

 

CDU Wouri leadership tussle:
Ndam Njoya imposes favourite, sacks rival from party

The CDU president’s decision to expel a militant aspiring for the post of president of the Wouri section of the party has ushered in resentment among his supporters

By Ntaryike Divine, Jr. in Douala

The CDU national president, Adamou Ndam Njoya has seen his reputation considerably eroded, at least in the Wouri division. His decision to «impose» a grassroots party executive there backfired Tuesday 24 March, when scores of irate militants stormed the event hall in Douala II, openly accusing him of dictatorship.
   
«It is now clear that we cannot trust any of the political leaders in this country. They all criticize Biya and then turn around and do the same thing. We, the militants of the CDU in the Wouri are against the decision by the national president to impose a local president. Why is he refusing to let us elect our president,» a militant choosing to be named only as Rabiatou questioned.
   
Recently, the CDU organized a grassroots executive bureau overhauling in the Wouri. But the planned election was stalled by in-house bickering and leadership wrangling. Adamou Ndam Njoya then chose to appoint one Mongwet Amadou as interim president. But the grumbling militants say they were appalled Tuesday, when the national president came to commission the interim president, sacrificing their rights to democracy by cancelling planned election.
   
The protesters, who blocked the entrance to the event hall Tuesday were supporters of one Swaibou Njankou, who had been folding sleeves to challenge Mongwet in the election.
   
Ndam Njoya, on the spot, decreed Njankou’s immediate expulsion from the party. He accused the challenger of inciting violence among militants and influence-peddling, adding that he [Njankou] had used money to manipulate the consciences of the protesters.
   
«Those claims are all false,» Rabiatou, a fervent pro-Njankou supporter shouted. «The truth in the matter is that Mongwet enjoys a certain degree of fondness with the national president. It is clear that he is the one who names people to big posts in his party; else, someone other than his wife should be at the national assembly. It is clear that we as grassroots militants have no place and we shall leave in communion with Njankou,» she explained.
   
Ndam Njoya was in Douala to unveil his newfangled Social Contract for Cameroon, a document that preaches the return to moral and traditional values as the only means of rescuing the country from what he called a steady socio-economic plunge blamed on bad governance.

 

 

CAMAIRCO collapses!
Gov’t unable to pay general manager

Gilbert Mitonneau, the French pilot employed to run the new national carrier has returned to his job at Airbus frustrated at the stalling take-off of the company. Mitonneau is bitter that he has no office and that his bills on working trips to the country have not been refunded

By Micheal Kimbi Tchenga in Yaounde

Concern that the sluggish take-off of CAMAIRCO, the new national airliner, could amount to an eminent grounding of air transport activity by government for longer now been justified with the departure of the first general manager of the company.
   
French born Gilbert Mitonneau who was appointed to head the carrier by presidential decree on 30 December 2008 has fully resumed his flight testing job with plane manufacturer Airbus in Toulouse, France, this newspaper has learned.
   
Mitonneau told our colleagues of Le Jour newspaper last Tuesday that he is fed up with working under stringent financial circumstances without an office and nobody to talk to.
  
Of the regular working trips he made to Cameroon, government footed his lodging bills only once leaving him to personally incur the cost of his stay in the country, the general manager revealed.
   
The pilot also complained of the taut working relationship he has had with the board members of the company who he says do not master their responsibility. Neither the board chair, Philemon Yang nor other board members representing the Transport and Economy ministries have been friendly enough in working relations, Mitonneau claims.
   
Besides, Mitonneau’s confidence in the project hit the rocks when Lion Aviation Group (LAG), the US-based shareholder of CAMAIRCO that recommended him for the job remained lukewarm to his financial predicament.
   
Created in 2006 in the same year as the publication of the decree creating and fixing the status of CAMAIRCO, LAG is a strategic technical partner holding a share of 51 percent. LAG is based in Atlanta and headed by a Cameroonian Beatrice Mensah Tayui.
   
Although reluctant to admit resignation, Mitonneau’s technical decision to stay aloof deals a blow to current negotiations between government and LAG on the operation of CAMAIRCO.
     
   

 

Leadership conflict:
Minister encounters resistance from Bafia CPDM section president

The central committee delegate Pascal Anong Adibime imposed Bafia town and not a village which section president Siam Adamu had proposed as venue for the party’s 24th anniversary. Adamu vehemently disagreed and rallied his supporters to organise a separate event but was stopped by the Mbam and Inoubou SDO

By Roland Akong Wuwih in Yaounde

In spite of President Paul Biya’s decision in 2006 to empower grassroots CPDM leaders to manage party activities, Yaounde barons still impose their authority there during party events and create problems. This was the case on Tuesday when Pascal Anong Adibime, minister of State Property and Land Tenure imposed Bafia town as the venue for the celebration of the ruling CPDM party’s 24th anniversary as opposed to a village locality which Siam Adamu, section president had proposed.
   
The CPDM section president’s vehement disagreement with the minister and Central Committee envoy’s choice of venue almost sparked division were it not for the prompt intervention of the SDO of Mbam and Inoubou.
   
Adamu frowned at the fact that Yaounde barons were fond of holding party activities in town, away from the grassroots militants, and thus decided to snub the minister and his delegation and attempted organising a separate party event with his supporters at his own ceremonial ground. But he was stopped by the Mbam and Inoubou SDO who ordered security agents to disperse the dissident militants.                                It was only after the SDO’s intervention that the central committee delegate, Anong Adibime held the CPDM rally in Bafia, which we learned did not pull a crowd. This was because the majority of the CPDM militants were supporters of section president Siam Adamu.
   
In a related story, disagreements over venue caused an unenthusiastic turnout in Buea. (See tit bit on page 3)
   
The Herald learned that a budget of 11 billion FCFA was set aside for the ruling party’s anniversary across the country and abroad.

 

 

CPDM Anniversary:
Security forces deployed to Kumba during CPDM celebrations

Two truckloads of heavily armed police and gendarmes arrived in Kumba to beef up security during the event, following rumours of a planned disruption

By Ashu Manfred in Kumba

Kumba looked like a city under military occupation on Tuesday as militants of the ruling CPDM party celebrated the 24th anniversary of the party.
   
Two truckloads of heavily armed student police from Mutengene and gendarmes from Buea reinforced local security forces to quash any demonstration.
   
Authorities decided to take extra security measures following rumours that Kumba CPDM dissidents were planning to disrupt the official anniversary event.
   
Although the presence of the security forces in Kumba was intimidating, residents calmed down when they noticed that most of the police and gendarmes were having a swell time in bars drinking beer and conversing boisterously.
   
Anniversary celebrations were hitch-free and an atmosphere of vivacity was witnessed after concerns over possible trouble subsided.
   
Meme I section president Ekale Mukete presented the keynote address. Other speeches were delivered by Nfon V.E. Mukete, Central Committee representative and Beatrice Mbome Ntuba, WCPDM section president.
   
In his address, frequently interrupted by applause from militants, the section president, in a veiled attack on dissidents, observed that joining any political party was a voluntary affair in which one was free to come and go.
   
While Nfon Mukete called for a closing of ranks among CPDM militants, Beatrice Ntuba saluted Paul Biya for promoting women to senior government positions.
Prior to the anniversary celebration, accusing fingers pointed at an influential CPDM elite in Kumba, David Motaze Ngoh, of bankrolling the dissidents who allegedly planned to disrupt the event.
   
On the eve of the anniversary, Motaze was designated one of the Central Committee representatives to Meme I. Some militants now believe the hitch-free event was achieved because Motaze had a stake for it to succeed.
   
But speaking to reporters, Motaze dismissed these allegations, adding that some events were disrupted in the past because some members of the same family wanted to air their views.

 

 

 

CPDM anniversary:
Absentee SW civil servants to face sanctions

The head of CPDM Central Committee delegation to the 24th anniversary celebration of the party in Buea Tuesday was disappointed with the scanty attendance at the event when he called on the regional governor to take note of absentees for proper sanctions

By Patience Toge in Buea

Paul Meoto Njie, the director of civil cabinet at the Prime Minister’s Office, who led the CPDM Central Committee delegation to Buea, South West region, to celebrate the 24th anniversary of the party on Tuesday 24 March, was not happy with what he saw on the ground.
   
«You cannot expect to eat from a government you don’t show loyalty to,» the visibly unhappy Yaounde bureaucrat blurted, expressing disgust with the scanty turnout at the event that took place at Bokova, the native village of former prime minister, Peter Manfany Musonge.
   
Meoto Njie was particularly concerned about the absence of some senior civil servants including regional delegates at the event when he called on the regional governor, Eyeya Zanga Louis, to take note of those who were absent for proper sanctions. «Please Mr Governor, warn your delegates, those who are absent [from this event] must be sanctioned.»
   
He cautioned that only those who showed proof of true militancy should expect rewards, singling out the vice chancellor of the University of Buea, PK Titannji, as a shining example to those who are being compensated for their loyalty to the party.
   
Fako division, Meoto added, has benefited a lot from the CPDM, but the Fako 3 section where he belongs has benefited the most as result of their true and unflinching loyalty to President Paul Biya.
   
Faced with another presidential election in 2011, Meoto Njie called on party militants here to remain vigilant and united as never before. «If we are not united, we run the risk of losing all we have,» he feared.
   
He said Fako was a very special place in Paul Biya’ heart, given the key government posts of responsibility occupied by their sons and daughters.
   
He reassured militants of government’s true intention of implementing the law on decentralisation, while calling on them to be prepared to work as a people in order to develop their region.
   
Some senior civil servants, who spoke to this reporter after the event on condition of anonymity to avoid vindictive sanctions from the authorities, condemned Meoto Njie’s call for sanctions on absentee officials. They argued that he had no moral authority to make that kind of statement, adding that the event was not the right forum for such declarations.

 

Titbits on CPDM anniversary

By Patience Toge in Buea

Low turnout in Buea
For the CPDM party to be celebrating 24 years in power, one would have expected an enthusiastic crowd of militants, but the reverse was true on Tuesday in Buea. Attendance of militants was unusually timid, with some curious onlookers watching the manifestations at the ceremonial ground from a distance. Observers attributed the low turnout to loss of interest in the CPDM party by militants. Some militants told The Herald that the holding of celebrations away from Bokova, a rural community and one of the hubs of CPDM militants, was also to be blamed. Paul Njie Meoto, Director of Civil Cabinet at the PM’s office, was the central committee’s delegate in Buea.
  
Speeches awash with Pope’s visit
Speaker after speaker at the ruling CPDM anniversary in Buea spent time saying pope Benedict XVI’s pastoral visit to Cameroon last week was a major political achievement of party chairman president Paul Biya. But analysts argued that the Pope was invited to Cameroon by the Cameroon Episcopal Conference and not by the president as the government claimed.

Lifaka gets hilarious welcome in Buea
Emilia Lifaka, who was recently elected as first vice president of the National Assembly, received a hero’s welcome in Bokova, Buea, where CPDM party militants gathered on Tuesday 24 March to celebrate the 24th anniversary of president Paul Biya’s party. Speeches during the event centred on her election. Fako 3, one of the speakers said, was blessed because Paul Biya had seen their loyalty and given them a vice speaker at the National Assembly. Her appointment was priceless, an indication of greater things to come, another speaker stated. «First, we had a prime minister, then a secretary of state, then a vice chancellor, and now a vice speaker,» another one said joyfully. Meanwhile Lifaka called on CPDM party militants here to remain loyal and united. To maintain this political advantage, she added, they had to show their loyalty more than ever, by winning all future elections.

Kumba council debates budget
Kumba government delegate Victor Ngoh Nkele, appointed on 6 February, will  today 25 March preside over his first council budget session. Super councillors (the 15 designates from the three sub-divisional councils in Kumba) will scrutinise the draft budget presented by the government delegate after deliberating on the annual financial and management accounts of the council since 2006. The budget session promises to be marathon as the super councillors will pore over several voluminous documents.
By Ashu Manfred

             

 

 

Demolitions in Yaounde:
Tsimi Evouna exposes gov’t unconcern over plight of victims

The Yaounde government delegate says long before the recent clampdown on roadside stalls in Yaounde, he proposed a relocation site to government for the construction of a big market for hawkers. But government, he says, rather appears uninterested

By Ojong Steven Ayuk in Yaounde

The cries of persons affected by devastating demolitions effected around markets and along streets in Yaounde have not left many dwellers of the capital city indifferent.
   
Surprisingly, Gilbert Tsimi Evouna, the City Council czar spearheading the distressing activity, seems to be concerned the most about the fate of the unfortunate victims of his urban restructuring drive in Yaounde. The government delegate has publicly bolstered the pleas of the victims.
   
In an interview aired on Radio France International Wednesday, Tsimi Evouna revealed his resolve to present the rehabilitation plight of victims to government, for a second time, after the latter failed to react to his first letter asking for the unfortunate vendors to be provided an alternative market facility.
   
«I have already proposed a site to government around Mvog-betsi where there’s expansive, unused land. I have also proposed a plan on how the market should be constructed, to solve everybody’s problem. But I am still waiting,» Tsimi Evouna said.
   
According to Tsimi Evouna’s proposal, the new site will have a section for traders specialized in used clothes commonly called fripperies, a section for electronics, bars, food stalls among others.
   
But observers here doubt how soon government will act. They say ever since Tsimi Evouna started the demolition campaign 3 years ago throwing thousands of people and families on the streets, government has not issued any reassuring statement to victims.
   
In an earlier press statement before the Pope’s visit the City Council head said he informed PM Inoni before undertaking demolitions, asking him to see into the problem of victims. But the prime minister did not take any action to curtail the impact the devastating demolitions had.
   
«If people in high places in government cannot reflect and find solutions to problems facing citizens what do you want me to do,» Evouna questioned.
   
It is still unclear how authorities will take Tsimi Evouna’s now regular statements against government’s apathy towards the plight of ordinary citizens.
   
Tsimi Evouna, however, has called for calm among the victims, telling them that it is only a matter of time before lasting solutions are found.
   
In a related interview granted state media early this week, Tsimi Evouna has pledged to take his urban renewal exercise to the end; a clear admission that more demolition will be underway soon.

 

 

Temporary workers rejoice at last

Over 1085 persons retained in central services of ministries for permanent employment, signed their  contracts on Wednesday

By Takang Bisong in Yaounde

After years of a gruelling selection and verification process, contract workers in the central services of government ministries retained for permanent employment finally signed contracts on Wednesday.
   
Over 1085 put their pen to their contracts on the first day the public service began the final stage of making the workers permanent. Over 9000 of them are still to sign contracts in the central and external services.
   
The faces of many of the workers glowed with pride and joy, as what had remained an elusive dream for many years concretised into reality.
   
Beyang Catherine, one of the workers who signed a contract under the ministry of Environment and Nature Protection, radiated with happiness when she spoke with this reporter.
   
«The signing of the employment contract will go a long way to relieve me from many financial problems since I have worked for many months without  a salary,» she said.
   
Roland Ewane of the communication unit of the ministry of Public Services and Administrative Reforms explained that those who have signed their employment contracts will start receiving full salaries plus arrears this month.

 

 

March parliamentary session:
Parliament authorizes Biya to ratify three conventions

At a plenary on Wednesday, House members voted bills authorising the president to ratify the trade agreement between Cameroon and South Africa, amendments to the Montreal protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer, and the Maputo protocol on the rights of women in Africa

By Roland Akong Wuwih in Yaounde

Meeting in plenary on Wednesday 25 March, parliamentarians deliberated and voted three bills that grant president Biya authority to ratify three international conventions on trade, ozone depletion and protection of women’s rights.
   
Preceding the voting of each bill, House members took to the rostrum addressing questions to the respective ministers who tabled the bill before parliament.
   
The bill related to the trade agreement signed between Cameroon and South Africa on 22 September 2006 in Yaounde, generated more interest in the House with MPs taking turns to quiz Trade minister, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, on the economic windfalls of the convention.
   
Containing 17 articles, the agreement seeks to enhance trade between the two countries and contribute to the development of international cooperation in trade.
   
The agreement is a win-win partnership, providing South Africa with a market for its industrial products and Cameroon an opportunity to market its commodities namely cotton, cocoa and coffee and in the long-term, take ownership of the innovative technologies developed by South Africa.
   
In the second bill, parliament authorized the president to ratify, on behalf of Cameroon, an amendment to the Montreal protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer.
   
Explaining the bill to MPs, Nana Aboubakar Diallo, secretary of state at the Environment and Nature Protection ministry said the amendment to the Montreal protocol circumscribes the prohibitions and restrictions regarding the use of substances such as methyl bromide that deplete the ozone layer; a very important improvement in the fight against global warming.
   
The last bill on the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the rights of women in Africa was adopted at Maputo, Mozambique, in 2003 and urges states to prohibit and condemn all harmful practices against women. The Maputo accord enjoins governments to guarantee appropriate compensation for any woman whose rights and freedoms have been violated. Women’s Empowerment and Family minister Suzanne Bomback was on hand to answer questions pertaining to the document.

 

 

Maritime security:
France stations warship in Douala

It is intended to secure Cameroon’s coastline that has witnessed increasing activity by pirates and criminal gangs in recent years

By Bainkong Godlove in Yaounde

The French government has placed a warship in Douala to check rampant insecurity along the Cameroon coastline, the French ambassador to Cameroon, Georges Serre, has said.
      
The diplomat made the disclosure in Yaounde Wednesday 25 March after an over one hour audience granted him by Cameroon’s president Paul Biya at Unity Palace.
      
Georges Serre also informed reporters of the organisation of a seminar grouping all countries of the sub region and experts from France in collaboration with the Americans with the aim of stepping up security in the Gulf of Guinea. The seminar was scheduled to begin in Douala yesterday Thursday 26 March.
   
With the imminent holding of the G20 meeting in London, which according to Georges Serre will shape economic relations in the world in the coming years, he said his meeting with Paul Biya was also to seek ways of cooperation between Cameroon and France so as to talk with one voice at the event.
   
He said the various departments concerned with the announced visits of the French prime minister to Cameroon and that of Paul Biya to France in the days ahead are working out technical details.
Business

 

 

Cameroon gov’t to organise trade fair in Calabar this year

A team from Cameroon is already in Calabar for feasibility studies, Trade minister told parliament Wednesday

By Roland Akong Wuwih in Yaounde

Cameroon will not be outdone by the Nigerian government which organised a trade fair in Douala a fortnight ago.
   
The Cameroon government will also be organising a trade fair in the Nigerian city Calabar later this year, Trade minister, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, told parliament Wednesday.
   
Mbarga, who was responding to a question posed by SDF MP, Awudu Mbaya, disclosed that a team is already doing groundwork in Calabar ahead of the trade fair.
   
He did not disclose the exact date of the trade fair.
   
The minister also addressed a worry by the MP that Cameroon is not signing trade agreements with Nigeria, pointing out that there are agreements dating back to 1963 which only need to be implemented.
   
He said following the successful and peaceful resolution of the Bakassi conflict, both countries are now working to implement these trade agreements.

 

 

EU readies customs department for trade barrier dismantling

Over the next four years, the customs department will fast-track reforms thanks to a 6.5 billion FCFA support grant from the EU

By Ntaryike Divine, Jr. in Douala

The European Union is disbursing the sum of 6.5 billion FCFA to prop efforts at modernising the Cameroon customs department in view of the eventual dismantling of international trade barriers within the framework of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs).
   
The allocation of the grant was announced Friday, 20 March in Douala . European Commission trade officials said the funding from the 10th European Development Fund, will over the next four years, support reforms in customs programs aimed at boosting revenue, enforcing good governance and transparency as well as enabling the acquisition of better customs control equipment.
   
Despite a generally lukewarm attitude manifested by the entire C. African bloc vis-à-vis the EPAs, Cameroon, last 15 January signed an interim accord with the EU. The stepping-stone deal stipulates that 80 percent of European goods will over the next 25 years progressively benefit from free access to the Cameroonian marketplace.
   
Critics held that the decision by the government to sign the deal was a deliberate move to cajole the EU within the context of the putting in place of the controversial elections management body – ELECAM.
   
However, Customs General Manager, Li Libong Likeng Minette described the EU support as a prompt response to assist ongoing reforms in the department that last year fetched 460 billion for the state coffers. «The modernization plan has been elaborated and we needed the means to begin implementing it especially in view of the dismantling of customs barriers. The government does not always have the means,» she explained.
   
She said over the next four years, the EU technical and financial support will translate into strategies to enable the customs department fully play its fiscal role as well as continue to protect the national economic space with the projected free entry of European goods.
   
Concretely, the EU support program for customs modernisation, abridged PAPMOD in French, will boost strides at computerisation of operations via the nationwide expansion of the automated customs procedures system, SYDONIA operational only in Douala since its introduction in 2007.
    
Likeng said there are also plans to set up a customs intranet as well as improve the department’s website. More customs will benefit from training, while performance indicators will be put in place as well as the acquisition of better control equipment.

 

 

Plan of Action for NW:
Governor backs Bamenda free trade zone proposal

A committee created by the governor will examine the proposal which was articulated at a heavily attended meeting of North West elite in Bamenda

By Teche Nyamusa in Bamenda

A heavily-attended meeting of North West elite on 25 March in Bamenda to produce a development blueprint for the region proposed the creation of a «Bamenda Free Trade Zone» which was enthusiastically welcomed by Governor Abakar Ahamat.
   
Many proposals were made for the economic salvation of the region but it was the free zone which struck the North West governor.
   
He appointed a committee to examine the proposal as well as to put the deliberations of the meeting into a single document. The committee will present its work at a different meeting of North West elite in three months time.
   
Edison Fru Ndi, the business magnate who proposed the creation of the free trade zone, said it had the potential of transforming the economy of the North West.
   
He said the free trade zone will target the economic giant Nigeria, which shares a border with the region, with goods from that country imported into the North West free of tariffs.
   
This will create unprecedented trade in the region with people coming from all over Cameroon and abroad to do business in the North West.
   
Participants at the meeting who agreed that the North West was one of the most economically backyard regions in Cameroon, also welcomed Edison Fru Ndi’s proposal.
   
The meeting was attended by top personalities from the North West including CPDM vice chair, Solomon Anye Angwafor, assistant secretary general at the presidency, Yang Philemon, minister incharge of missions, Paul Nji Atanga, secretary of state Fuh Calixtus, the North West Fons Union president, Fon Aneng, North West fons’ messenger, Nico Halle, trade unionist, Simon Nkwenti, AFP chairman, Ben Muna, among many others. Aseri Kilo, technical adviser at the ministry of Culture, represented her minister Ama Tutu Muna.
   
While most North West CPDM MPs attended the meeting, SDF MPs were conspicuously absent.

 

 

Chantier Naval workplace atmosphere worsens

A widely-circulated letter claims that the company frequently cited by Paul Biya as an example of refined management is at the brink of collapse

By Ntaryike Divine, Jr. in Douala

Last January, we reported a steady downturn in the working climate at the Cameroon Shipyard and Engineering Ltd, Chantier Naval. Two months later, the deteriorating situation now appears to have taken a nosedive for the worse to judge from a missive spreading like bushfire on the Internet.
   
An email-distributed protest letter, authored by a worker whose names we are withholding, opens with claims that Chantier Naval «management has lost credibility and most of the cream of its skillful technical staff. More than 80 percent of certified welders have left the company to pick up jobs elsewhere».
   
Presumably, the letter should warm the heart of Zaccheus Mungwe Forjindam, the ex-general manager of Chantier Naval dismissed, arrested and placed under pretrial detention at New Bell last May over allegations of embezzling close to a billion FCFA. Investigators are yet to establish evidence that demands a verdict in the now-controversial case.
   
The letter deemed a fire-fighting venture by some observers here claims that Forjindam’s successor, Antoine Bikoro Olo’o spearheaded a clique comprising high-profile government officials who masterminded his demise. It claims Bikoro faked an audit report that implicated Forjindam, considered an obstacle to the political ambitions of the clique members.
   
It is illustrated by emails served Bikoro by the company project managers and clients fuming over project execution and delivery delays. In one of such dated 3 March, Paul Daigle, chief operations officer for a rig drilling company in Lagos writes; «Due to your refusal to allow our personnel on board we will inform Transocean not to come to Cameroon and avoid this place due to problems created by you and your lack of understanding of the industry.»
   
In his [unedited] reply to the letter in approximate language Bikoro ends with the warning: «You are wrong and we can request your immediate departure from this country. I require apologies for our self and all CNIC partners involved with note of explanation from your side.»
   
The author of the email-circulated letter says such is an example of the arrogance and management inexperience rocking Chantier Naval since the fall of Forjindam. He says apart from the non-payment of suppliers, workers have lost enthusiasm resulting in poor project execution and a massive departure of clients.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Issue 2197

Wednesday 25 - Thursday 26 March 2009

inister condemns stigmatisation of TB patients

Reveals that a TB patient who is already two weeks into treatment is no longer a health threat and should be treated normally as any other person in the society

By Takang Bisong in Yaounde

The minister of Public Health, Andre Mama Fouda, has said that persons suffering with tuberculosis do not pose a health threat two weeks after they commence treatment and so should not be treated as outcasts.
  
He made the statement on Monday 23 March at the Yaounde Hilton hotel during a press conference to mark the world tuberculosis day, which is observed every 24 March.
  
Minister Mama Fouda used the press conference to persuade people living with TB patients to not be afraid that they would be contaminated and/or treat their patients badly especially after they have started receiving treatment because they are no longer a huge threat as people are made to believe.
  
He called on all and sundry to stop stigmatising TB patients but try to make them feel as free as every normal human being should do.
  
Mama Fouda used the occasion to invite all stakeholders to actively take part in the fight against tuberculosis in the country.
  
The press, he added, has an essential contribution to make in the fight against the spread of TB, which is currently on the rise as it is one of the opportunistic AIDS infections.
  
However, the minister underscored the importance of sensitising the people on the dangers of the disease.
  
He disclosed that the treatment for TB, which normally runs for six to nine months, is free of charge in all the health centers specialised in the treatment of tuberculosis in the country.
  
The government with both national and international partners has been doing so much, he added, to curb the spread of the disease in the country.
  
He said constant vaccination campaigns for children, organisation of national programmes and refresher courses for medical personnel are some of the measure government is taking to fight against tuberculosis in the country.
  
He however regretted the fact that despite the government efforts, the resistant form of the disease and HIV/AIDS related cases, which now stand at 40 percent, still posed a major obstacle to achieving significant success.
  
A sensitisation campaign to mark this year’s TB day was started on Monday with educative talks on radio, visit to the Yaounde Jamot hospital and lectures and works involving students.

 

 

Baccalaureat board chair orders review of workers’ conditions

Catherine Ndoumbe Manga invited the director of the examinations authority to elaborate an organigram for workers in view of improving their working conditions

By Ojong Steven Ayuk in Yaounde

Workers of Office du Baccalaureat, the body in charge of managing public exams in the Francophone subsystem of education, may have their work status and conditions improved in the months ahead.
  
An organisational chart ordered by the management board of the exams authority will offer a better recognition of their status and benefits as workers of the body.
  
Meeting in Yaounde on Monday 23 March, members of the board also voted the 2009 budget for the exams authority.
  
In addition to these, the meeting chaired by Catherine Ndoumbe Manga, board chair of the Baccalaureat Board, also reviewed activities of the board during the last year.
  
Congratulating Zacharie Mbatsogo for his reappointment as head of the examinations body, Catherine Manga tasked the director to improve the management of exams this year and guarantee a more conducive atmosphere for workers of the examinations body.
  
The chair of the board of directors urged Mbatsogo and his new vice, Martin Ngouh Ndam, to take advantage of the renewed confidence placed on them and institute positive reforms that would promote good governance, ameliorate the quality of life of workers and the social climate that reigns at the board.
  
Upon adoption of a 5.6 billion FCFA budget after close to five hours in session, board members instructed management to handle the funds in strict honesty.

 

 

 

SDF legal adviser says there’s no replacement for Fru Ndi

Ben Suh Fuh, a barrister, says only  detractors want the SDF chairman to quit the stage

By Teche Nyamusa in Bamenda

An SDF legal adviser, Ben Suh Fuh, has lashed out        at those calling for John Fru Ndi to quit the political stage, saying the SDF chairman is irreplaceable for now.
  
Suh Fuh said those claiming Fru Ndi has overstayed his welcome at the helm of the SDF are yet to suggest a veritable alternative.
  
In an interview granted The Herald on 22 March, the lawyer said Fru Ndi is championing a cause which needs doggedness and unrelenting commitment and that it was not logical for him to leave the road when he has not reached destination.
  
He cited Nelson Mandela, the freedom avatar, whom he said succeeded to dismantle apartheid in South Africa not by abandoning the cause midway but by his tenaciousness for over 30 years.
  
Fru Ndi, who has been SDF chairman for nearly 19 years, he said, has been doing a great job and should continue leading the party.
  
The lawyer’s arguments will not go down well with the school of thought which holds that Fru Ndi’s continuous stay at the helm of the SDF will defeat the philosophy of regular alternation of power which the party preaches.
  
Suh Fuh, who was an unsuccessful candidate at the SDF parliamentary primaries in 2007, was elected Bafut SDF District chairman two weeks ago.

 

 

 

NGO decries biased eviction from state land

The Cameroon Civil Society organisation says people have taken cover under their membership in the CPDM and government positions to evade eviction from state land

By Ntaryike Divine, Jr. in Douala

A Douala-based NGO calling itself the Cameroon Civil Society has vowed to take up the challenge of indiscriminately expelling all illegal occupants from state lands across the city.
  
Speaking at a news conference here Monday 16 March, the group led by renowned activist Robert Simo, said so far the authorities have been glaringly selective in their application of the law. «We have the impression that there are two laws in this country; one for the poor and the other for the rich. But we are determined to show that the law is the same for all Cameroonians,» he said.
  
The association claimed that some Cameroonians have taken cover under their membership in the ruling CPDM, financial weight or government positions to sidestep eviction drives from state-owned lands in Douala and Yaounde. According to Simo, such individuals he referred to as «white collar thieves,» own over 360 houses on state land in Bonanjo, Bonapriso and Bali in Douala.
  
Reiterating the existence of a 1996 presidential decision enjoining Cameroonians to assist the state in the protection of its property, Simo announced trouble in the days ahead. «We have not invented anything. The decree gives all Cameroonians the right to defend state property and we shall, in the days ahead, barricade all houses standing illegally on state land,» he warned.
  
Organisers said the news conference, held at the headquarters of the Douala-based opposition party, MANIDEM, was the first step in prelude to concrete action by the organisation on the ground. Simo said he had addressed a missive on the issue to Littoral Governor Fai Yengo Francis, reminding him of the 1996 decision and his role in ensuring its wholesale application.
  
‘‘There is no reason why some people suffer while others are celebrating. The authorities cannot only target the underprivileged,» Simo warned.

 

 

 

Deputy mayor petitions MINATD over elections at Kumba I

Otang Gerald, in an umpteenth challenge of the actions of his boss, argues that elections of super councillors instigated by Mayor Ekale Mukete were irregular

By Ashu Manfred in Kumba

Otang Gerald Taku, first deputy mayor of Kumba, who is perpetually at loggerheads with the mayor of Kumba I, Ekale Mukete, has protested against the election of councillors to represent Kumba I at city hall.
  
In a petition addressed to the governor of the South West region and the minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation (MINATD), Otang called for the annulment of the elections believed to have been instigated by Ekale Mukete.
  
In the elections that took place on 19 March and supervised by the South West regional chief for councils, Emile Njonkeu, 12 councillors out of 25 voted five super councillors to the Kumba City Council.
  
Otang argues that these elections were irregular because a similar exercise had taken place on 1 August 2007. He said the sole purpose of the elections was to ensure the election of super councillors from Kumba I who were stooges of Ekale Mukete.
  
He rejected the argument by the regional chief of councils that the elections were necessary because Kumba was upgraded to a city council, pointing out that the 2004 law on councils does not have that provision.
  
The deputy mayor said the elections were null and void because only 12 councillors out of 25 voted for the super councillors, which was not a simple majority as required by the law.
  
He said the regional chief of councillors who ordered the elections has a history of always backing Ekale Mukete.
  
Otang Gerald and Ekale Mukete have been having an acrimonious relationship for some time now, with the former repeatedly challenging the actions of his boss.

 

 

 

Rehabilitation work flagged-off on Nouvelle Route, Bonaberi

Roadside traders have been advised to voluntarily evacuate the stretch within one week or face pitiless eviction

By Ntaryike Divine, Jr. in Douala

For several long years, the two main roads traversing Bonaberi in Douala’s west end have remained in shameful state. Residents of the predominantly Anglophone settlement managed by an SDF mayor have usually tagged the situation to a form of penalty for their dogged opposition inclination.
  
However, things are changing. Rehabilitation work on the Bonaberi New Road [Nouvelle Route] have been flagged off, months after a similar venture began on the old one [Ancienne Route]. Douala Government Delegate, Fritz Ntone Ntone, was on the site Friday 20 March, to announce the imminent start of the project.
  
It will gulp 1.135 billion FCFA, span six months and be executed by French contractors, RAZEL. Douala IV SDF Mayor, John Ndangle Kumase, who flanked the government delegate, expressed profound joy at the announcement. He said after all, the municipality which accommodates one of Douala’s two industrial zones was gradually emerging from long years of neglect.
  
Bonaberi, which counts about, 500.000 inhabitants according to official statistics, is a major gateway into Douala. Its two main roads are plied by close to 35,000 vehicles daily including cargo trucks serving the Bonaberi industrial zone. Motorists moving to and from the SW, NW and West regions have been expressing delight with the project. It is commonplace to spend an hour or more in nightmarish traffic jams in Bonaberi.
  
However the general satisfaction at the announcement of the rehab works is not universal. The adage that says it is impossible to make omelets without breaking eggs will be fully respected. Hundreds of roadside traders and other business people along the six-kilometer road stretch will pay the price. They have been given a week to willfully evacuate the roadside to facilitate the smooth unfolding of the project or face forceful expulsion.
  
Such include welders, car washers, carpenters, traders, ete who have been warned they will see their makeshift stalls (some of which have encroached into the road) demolished if they fail to respect the government delegate’s one-week evacuation order. At term, the road’s width will be enlarged from six to twelve meters, according to the rehab plan.
  
Alongside the ongoing rehabilitation project on the Ancienne Route and the completed enlargement of the Rond Point Deido entrance unto the Wouri Bridge , circulation through Bonaberi will be rendered considerably fluid.

 

 

 

Denial of bail for detained SCNC activists stirs anger in B’da

National leaders of the movement meeting in Bamenda last week issued a clear warning to regional police authorities who have held the activists for close to two weeks already

By Teche Nyamusa in Bamenda

Readers of the pro-Anglophone independence movement, the Southern Cameroons National Council, SCNC, have expressed alarm at the unlawful detention of nine activists rounded up and incarcerated by police in Bamenda before the Pope’s visit.
  
National president Chief Ayamba Otun, vice president Nfor Ngala and legal adviser Harmony Bobga were the frontline participants at a conference at Che Street in Bamenda during which the warning was made. 
  
In what the activists described as an indictment on the human rights of patriotic Southern Cameroonians, police hurried to the SCNC secretariat about a fortnight ago, on a tip-off, and arrested Ngewih Asunkwan, national communication secretary of the movement and eight other activists attending a meeting.
  
Police sources at the time claimed the activists were meeting to address a petition to the pope on the deplorable human rights violation exacted by the regime on activists.
  
In a recent development to the matter, the eight activists appeared in court on Monday 23 March but their case was adjourned to 26 March. Attempts to secure their release on bail were again futile.
  
Speaking at the recent congregation of the movement in Bamenda, Harmony Bobga expressed frustration at the reluctance of the judiciary to grant liberty to his comrades calling the act a flagrant violation of the criminal procedures code.
  
The issue which was widely discussed at the meeting sparked fears that the activists were likely to boil-over in revolt over the imprisonment of their comrades at the Upstation prison in Bamenda.

 

 

Tunisia celebrates 53rd national day:
Tunisia-Cameroon relations are fruitful - Essid Riadh

The head of Tunisia’s diplomatic mission here Essid Riadh used the occasion of the anniversary cocktail at his Bastos residence, to talk on the state of relations between Tunisia and Cameroon

By Ojong Steven Ayuk in Yaounde

Relations between Tunisia and Cameroon have been described as fruitful and excellent.
  
The remark was made Monday, by the charge d’affaires and head of Tunisia’s diplomatic mission in Yaounde, Riadh Essid, as he addressed guests at a reception he and his wife organised at their residence at Bastos here.
  
The reception was part of the embassy’s activities to celebrate Tunisia’s independence anniversary on 20 March.
  
The impressively attended cocktail afforded occasion for persons of almost all walks of life to communion and exchange pleasantries with one another and especially with Riadh Essid and his wife, and other personnel at the embassy.
  
The convivial yet intense moment in the embassy’s confines witnessed government ministers, heads of other diplomatic representations in Yaounde, general managers, businesspeople, press workers among others, interchanging positions and exchanging pleasantries and smiles as they walked up to the several positions where drinks and snacks were tabled aplenty, for consumption by guests.
  
Such intense moments could be felt right at the entrance into the expansive compound, where Riadh Essid, his wife and other dignitaries at the embassy welcomed guests with hugs and warm handshakes before ushering them into the protocol-free cocktail.
  
Even though some guests only whispered to their closest neighbours their disappointment over the absence of alcoholic drinks, most persons still had broad smiles on their faces as they chatted with friends and colleagues.
  
In a short address that was preceded by the singing of the anthems of both countries, Riadh Essid said though relations between Cameroon and Tunisia dated decades back, the last three years have witnessed an appreciable progress especially after the holding of two successive mixed commissions, several economic forums, a sectorial commission on tourism and many study missions in the domains of energy, SMEs, sports, professional training, urban development and housing and secondary and basic education.
  
He used the occasion to also inform guests about Tunisia’s development which he said was a model in Africa going by reports of some international development NGOs.
  
«Tunisia is a modern country that has succeeded to reconcile its development equation with the social wellbeing of citizens,» Riadh said, adding, «Tunisia cannot boast of having much natural resources but we have invested in the development of human resources to attain our development objectives.»