SW Governor exhorts populations to fight Boko Haram, Ebola

 By Johnson Mbu in Kumba

Bernard Okalia Bilai

The people of the South West region have been exhorted to unite with the government in the fight against the Islamic terrorist group known as Boko Haram and the spread of the Ebola virus. The governor of the South west region, His Excellency Bernard Okalia Bilai made this appeal on the first day of a two days (23rd-24th October, 2014) South west Administrative Security coordination meeting that took place at the conference hall of the Kumba City council.  The meeting was attended by all the SDOs, DOs, mayors, parliamentarians, senators drawn from all over the South west region. Also in attendance were regional security chiefs, regional delegates, traditional rulers, the clergy, political leaders, representatives of the civil society etc.
    In his address on the occasion, Governor Okalia Bilai decried the spiraling insecurity in Meme division and declared that security concerns are a two way lane and that the population should join the administration and the security forces in combating criminality and banditry.

    Addressing the issue of contracts, the governor urged contractors to ensure that state contracts are completed before the end of the year, especially given that the rate of execution in the region stands at 52%. He instructed the SDO’s to detain any defaulting contractors. The governor also prohibited wake keeping with corpses in the entire SW Region. He instructed SDOs to ensure that corpses are sealed with zinc after removal from the mortuary before burial, adding that these measures are intended to prevent the spread of diseases.
    Recalling the Reunification anniversary that was celebrated in Buea early this year, the governor hailed all the actors who helped in the preparations, saying that it was a huge success. 
    The meeting also discussed among other things the execution of the 2014 Public Investment Budget for the South west region and the 2014/2015 back to school.
    The South West Regional Delegates of Basic Education, Secondary Education, SDO’s, taxation, etc, presented balance-sheets of their activities for the year.