Worthless Reunification celebs

 John Fru Ndi

The SDF chairman has said that Cameroonians stand to gain little or nothing from the reunification anniversary celebration. Fru Ndi made the remark shortly after the official ceremonies at the grandstand at Bongo Square in Buea.

 

John Fru Ndi, SDF chairman

    “The celebration does not bring anything new to Cameroonians,” Fru Ndi said, questioning how many Anglophones were involved in the organization of the event. He noted that Anglophones were not the least happy and wondered why the 50th anniversary should be celebrated in 2014 and not in 2011.
    Fru Ndi recalled how in his address to the youths on 10th February President Biya promised creating 250.000 new jobs. “How do you create jobs without industrializing the country,” Fru Ndi wondered aloud, noting that the message read out by Biya in Buea was out of place. “Cameroonians are fed up with Biya’s lies,” he said, wondering why nothing was mentioned about Ahidjo, Foncha, Endeley, Muna and why their photos were not also pasted all over the place like Paul Biya’s. “What then are we celebrating,” a visibly disappointed Fru Ndi wondered aloud.

50th Anniversary of Cameroon’s Reunification

Great Expectations, hollow outcome

The people of the South West expected a surprise package from the President, and he served them in truckloads. Without mincing, every South-westerner without exception, even the zealots and hallelujah singers who went on air the day following the main reunification event, should naturally be dissatisfied with the address delivered on the occasion by the President of the Republic, H.E. Paul Biya.

From the editor’s suite

With the curtains now drawn on the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Cameroon, time has come for a first appraisal of the event. The people of the South West expected a surprise package from the President, and he served them in truckloads. Without mincing, every South-westerner without exception, even the zealots and hallelujah singers who went on air the day following the main reunification event, should naturally be dissatisfied with the address delivered on the occasion by the President of the Republic, H.E. Paul Biya.

Great Expectations
    A translator friend once told me that “Great Expectations” should have been a more acceptable rendering for “Grandes Ambitions,” which were the compass of President Paul Biya’s maiden seven-year tenure. And since then, wherever he went, the President announced projects which, at the beginning of his second seven-year mandate in 2011, became “Grandes Réalisations” which should translate as “Major Achievements.” These were to be given concrete expression through the integrated projects, better known by the French appellation “projets structurants.”
    It was thus normal for South-westerners to expect much from the President’s address during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Cameroon in Buea. Speculation was rife, and with good reason: transformation of the Buea Council into a City Council, transfer of the regional transport office facilities from Limbe to the regional headquarters in Buea, official confirmation of the construction of the Limbe seaport, creation of a referral hospital in a town in the South West, establishment of more professional and higher educational institutions in the Region, construction of roads to link up the inaccessible divisions of the South West region, construction of a reunification road to glue the reunification pact, appointment of a son of the soil to appease the region  prior to the celebrations and following the incarceration of Chief Ephraim Inoni. South-westerners dreamt of all these and much more.

Embarrassing Outcome: SW emerges as best losers of Reunification!

By Ojong Steven Ayukogem, on special assignment in Buea

Beyond the fanfare, colour and thunderous drum-beats of a successful celebration of the reunification 50th anniversary, the event has gone down in the annals of history as one during which president Biya reneged on his old tradition, when he failed to announce any important projects for the host region, during his 5-day stay in Buea to preside over the sovereign events. The president in his anniversary address did not as much as promise even a single project for the South-West region neither did he give assurances that some projects long announced by his appointees would be realized at term.

Teachers’ strike grounds schools in B’da

By Njodzefe Nestor in Bamenda

As promised government teachers of basic and secondary education have embarked on a nation wide strike which has grounded classes in institutions in the country with Bamenda getting its own share.
    The industrial action was announced at a press conference in Yaounde on February 5, 2014. According to a release issued after the conference signed by 11 Trade Union Leaders of the Basic and Secondary Education sectors, the strike which started on February 17 is expected to end on February 22 for the first phase and another to start from April 28 to May 2, 2014.

Mutengene: Woman survives gunshots from armed bandits

By Sarah Nkongho Ojong in Mutengene

Tuesday February 4, 2014 barely some few minutes after 7pm, a woman selling fruits whose name we got as Bodeh Marceline was ambushed by some two armed bandits while she was returning from the market, at quarter four b in Mutengene.
    Found in their middle and facing directly one of the armed bandits, Marceline was asked to hand over the waist band she was carrying, but before she could do so, she was shot in the stomach. According to report from the victim, she fell on the ground helplessly and watched the bad guys struggle to remove the waist band they had asked for as they also asked her to roll down her trousers. Faced with death, she could only indicate with groans that everything was in the waist band as she pleaded for help from the same guys who removed the band and disappeared into thin air.

Endemic Infant malnutrition in North Cameroon

44.7 percent of children in the North, Far North, East and Adamawa regions are highly malnourished, according to medical statistics.

By Morine Ncheke Tanyi in Yaounde

A sensitization campaign that will run from February 17 to 28 February is under way in the North, Far North, East and Adamawa regions of Cameroon. Organized by the Ministry of Public Health in partnership with the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization and UNICEF, the campaign is aimed to boost the fight against an alarming incidence of malnutrition in these parts of the country.

Curbing Infant and maternal mortality: UNFPA donates 10 million dollars to Cameroon

By Morine Ncheke Tanyi in Yaounde

With maternal mortality rising sharply in Cameroon, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has offered to help the Cameroon government reduce the phenomenon. The announcement was made public during a press conference granted in Yaounde by the Assistant Secretary General and Deputy Executive Director of UNFPA, Kate Gilmore.

Anglophones should accept responsibility for their decision to re-unite!

 By John Kefua Nkefua in Yaounde

I have read with keen interest the many articles written by some authors on the reunification issue. While some of these authors were very philosophical, others were more sentimental and others purely biased. In most of the write-ups one thing was common: Each writer chose appropriate adjectives to buttress their stand on the subject of the reunification. 

Political Parties sidelined at 50th anniversary celebs in B’da

By Njodzefe Nestor in Bamenda

Opposition political parties were conspicuously absent from the march pass organized as part of activities in the North West region to commemorate the 50 anniversary celebrations of the reunification of Cameroon.
    Like in other regions and divisions, in Mezam a series of activities took place to mark this event which culminated with a match pass at the Bamenda commercial avenue and  presided over by the Governor of the North West region, Adolf Lele L’Afrique assisted by the Senior Divisional Officer for Mezam, Nguele Nguele Felix.

                                 Mama Anna Foncha (middle) at the celebs in Bamenda
    Schools and colleges that marched passed demonstrated their patriotism through songs and messages brandished in placards praising national integration, unity, peace etc. 
    Unlike in other divisions where political parties were highly represented and animated the march pass; in Mezam they were conspicuously absent. Only the military, nursery, primary, secondary and higher institutions of learning marched pass the grand stand. This attracted curious onlookers who wondered aloud why political parties could be sidelined in an event of such magnitude.
    Before the march pass proper, the population that gathered to witness this ceremony watched and listened live, the speech of the Head of State in Buea from a big screen mounted around the grand stand.
    Amongst those who came to grace the event was Mrs. Anna Foncha, wife of the late John Ngu Foncha who was a front runner of the reunification.
    Responding to questions from journalists why she did not go to Buea for the anniversary, the 91 year old Anna Foncha said it was partly because of her ill health and the fact that her invitation from the presidency was not delivered until the very last hour before the celebrations were due to open.
    In an interview granted reporters after the event Governor Adolf Lele L’Afrique said he was honored to be given the opportunity to pay tribute to the heroes of reunification while calling on youths to work hard towards the attainment of vision 2035.

Reunification colloquium: Hail Mola Litumbe! Shame Bishop Lysinge

By NFOR, Ngala NFOR

Dear Mola,

I write to sincerely thank you for the frank and patriotic message at the
so-called Colloquium on Cameroon Reunification and National Integration held yesterday Feb. 17 at the Amphi 750 of the University of Buea where in 2005 La Republique du Cameroun occupation forces murdered our unarmed youths, maimed, looted, and raped our daughters.
    That you were stopped in spite of your pleas was no surprise to me.
Nevertheless, what was a real mark of treachery was Retired Bishop
Lysinge's admonition to you and all of us for "conversion! Conversion!
Conversion!!
    Did God preach conversion to Moses and the Isrealites in Egypt? No!
    The battle cry was, "Let my people go!"
    Did Arch Bishop Desmond Tutupreach conversion to Nelson Mandela and fellow South Africans? No. The battle cry was freedom, democracy and majority rule. And they have had
it as of DIVINE LAW and international law.
    Instead of talking and defending Truth, Love, and Justice for Southern Cameroonians, Bishop Lysinge preaches that we should be converted to embrace Lies, Falsehood, Annexation, Assimilation, Colonial Occupation, Slavery and Economic Plunder under La Republique du Cameroun. Never! Never! Never!!!
    Though you never landed, history has recorded your stand. You are on the side of progressive history.
    Since I heard, you were to speak at the Colloquium and even yesterday after the fake colloquium, I have made several attempts to get you on tel. No. 79 82 04 73 without success. This has forced me to write. Have you changed your number? Mine is still 70 38 12 62.
    Those who win, do so not because it was easy but because they remained steadfast. As the annexationist never gives up enjoying the sweet cheap honey, FREEDOM is never gotten on a platter of gold. The world is moving forward not backwards. Like South Africa, we shall be FREE!

God bless.

Interview

SCNC cannot become a political party under La Republique
 - Nfor Ngala Nfor, SCNC National Chairman
The Chairman of the Southern Cameroon National Congress, SCNC has declared that the 50th anniversary celebration of reunification which president Biya presided in Buea is a non event, as there is no legal document binding Southern Cameroon and La Republique du Cameroun. Contrary to PM Yang’s wish for the SCNC to be transformed into a political party for it to negotiate with the Cameroon government, Nfor Ngala Nfor said SCNC can never become a political party under a colonizer (referring to La Republique)

After much speculation especially from SCNC ranks that Biya will not go to Buea he has finally presided over the 50th anniversary celebrations of reunification. What do you have to say about this?

Firstly, I want to thank The Median for sparing some of your time to come and find out our opinion on the issue of the so called 50th anniversary of reunification. To your question I want to say that the SCNC never said that Biya will not go to Buea. What the SCNC has all along tried to do has been to prove the illegality, the emptiness of the slogans and the fact that Biya is talking of celebrating a Union which does not exist, Biya is celebrating a Union that never was. That is what we have been doing and that is what we shall continue to do and that is the basis for which we are talking of the restoration of the statehood of Southern Cameroon
The firebrand SCNC Chairman, Nfor Ngala Nfor
because there was no union between Southern Cameroon and La Republique. Let me also draw your attention to the fact that even some Francophones have now come to admit that there is no legal document binding Southern Cameroon and La Republique du Cameroun. Note that the former United Kingdom High Commissioner to La Republique before he left made it clear that he has never seen any document on the unification of the two Cameroons. These are facts and I will like to make you understand that the issue of a union of peoples, of nations is an aspect of international law. It is not based on the whims and caprices of individuals, it is not an issue of political slogans but an issue of law and history and once it does not conform to established norms you cannot sit down and begin to say this has taken place when you cannot prove it. We have challenged Biya to show the document, the treaty of the Union. But no one has so far been able to do so.

Welcome address: Buea Mayor’s disappointing outing

By Sarah Nkongho in Buea and Njodzefe Nestor in Bamenda

If there is one thing that South Westerners will keep in mind as souvenirs for the reunification celebrations, it is the fact that the Mayor of Buea Council disappointed them by not telling president Biya the truth.   Patrick Ekema was given the opportunity to tell Biya the realities about the South West Region but he dashed the hopes of the entire region into the gutters.

Reunification Special

Reactions to President Biya's message


He escaped the question of the day
- Henry Shey Nganji, S.G Kumba City Council

The Head of State escaped the real question of the day .We expected a lot of things from him but did not get them. The Mayor of the Buea Council who asked for the creation of a City Council was simply ignored by the Head of State. We were expecting him to tell us that work on the Kumba-Mamfe road would soon start and when it is expected to be completed. Other developmental projects were also highly awaited. But he only said he wants other Regional Head Quarters to look like Buea. To me the visit did not profit the south West.

His English was satisfactory
-Chief Esambi Peter Ngoh 11 of Malende

I think the message was very good especially because he spoke in English. But I was disappointed by the fact that the promises he has been making were not fulfilled. Such promises like the tarring of the Kumba-Mamfe road and others. In a nutshell he did not give reasons why he was in Buea.
 
No answers to problems of SW
-Esapa Patrict Enyong, S.O.W.E.F.C.U President

I think the Mayor of the Buea Council made an error by limiting his speech only to Buea alone as concerns development. He failed to realize that at the moment he was presenting his speech he was speaking on behalf of the entire Region. Since he limited himself asking for the creation of a City Council in Buea and the granting of a full status of Buea as Divisional and Regional Headquarters, the Head of State simply ignored him. If he had even mentioned some of the problems of the Region in his speech the Head of State would have made some impromptu response to his questions.

Why Titus Edzoa & Thierry Atangana were freed!

A presidential decree signed on 18 February 2014 commuted the prison sentences of some inmates and granted freedom to others.

By Ncheke Morine in Yaounde

At long last and after sustained pressure from national and international circles, the former SGPR and his alleged partner in crime, Michel Thierry Atangana, have regained their freedom.
    Titus Edzoa and Thierry Atangana had stayed in prison since 1997 when they were arrested and detained at the SED in Yaounde.

Cameroon Bar Association is waxing strong

Sama Francis Asanga, Bar President

By Ncheke Morine in Yaounde

The president of the Cameroon Bar Council has said that the club of learned men and women is doing very fine. Batonier Sama Francis Asanga made the remark on the sidelines of the entrance examination into the Cameroon Bar Association that kicked-off on Saturday 22 February 2014 and will run until the 24 February 2014, at the campus of the University of Yaounde 1.
    Speaking to The Median at the examinations venue, the Batonier said all had been put in place to make sure the examinations are conducted in all transparency and fairness.

Who Killed Ateba Eyene?

-The early and untimely exit of Charles Ateba Eyene could be described as a most cruel death of a talkative patriot and political gadfly
By Ojong Steven Ayukogem in Yaounde

The journalist, philosopher-scholar, prolific author, social critic and political gadfly succumbed to an undisclosed illness, on Friday, 21 February 2014, at the CUSS hospital here. As the sad news of his death spread like bush fire in the harmattan during the later part of Friday, It was also immediately speculated by many here that he might have been cut down by those he so unreservedly and untiringly criticized and exposed as belonging to the cabal that has hijacked Cameroon and are playing with it like a toy to the detriment of the majority of Cameroonians who continue to wallow in an orgy of repression, want, joblessness, squalor, disease and reckless abandon and despite the bountiful and limitless natural endowments of the country.

FIFA Football for Hope Centre: Ultra-modern stadium in Besongabang

 By Paddy Besong Tarkang in Mamfe    

When the foresighted social developer, Mayor Orock Thomas approached the Besongabang community in Manyu Division of the Southwest region of Cameroon,  in 2012 , to solicit  for a piece of land  for the construction of an ultra-modern mini-football pitch, some skeptics took him for a joker.  Today, everyone is mesmerized by the sophisticated state-of-the-art mini-football playground that has been erected in the heart of Besongabang.
    Known as the Besongabang FIFA Football for Hope Centre, it is situated a few kilometers from Mamfe town, the headquarters of Manyu Division. The wonderful project was realized thanks to the dynamism and clairvoyance of Mr Orock Thomas and assistance and support from FIFA, in partnership with Adidas, Kia motors, VISA, Emirates, Sony and Hyundai.