Marafa urges gov’t to prioritize
education
In an open letter made public recently, the
VIP Kondengui inmate posits that spending 550 billion FCFA on the building and
rehabilitation of infrastructure meant for the organization of the 2016 and 2019
Africa Cups of Nations would be a misplaced priority. To him, this money should
be spent on the thorough education of Cameroonian children who need it very
badly
By EssanEkoninyam in Yaounde
 |
| Marafa Hamidou Yaya |
MarafaHamidouYaya is one high-profile
prisoner in Cameroon who gives the impression that he truly has the running of
the country at heart. In a letter released from his Kondengui prison cell last
week, the former SG at the Presidency of the Republic and minister of
Territorial Administration and Decentralization considers the budget allocated
to the building of infrastructure necessary for hosting of the 2016 and 2019
Africa Cups of Nations (AFCON) as being exorbitant and wasteful. He suggests
that the money be directed to the educational sector.
The
said budget, meant for the construction of new stadia in Yaounde and Douala,
for the rehabilitation of existing ones in Garoua, Bafoussam, Douala and
Yaounde and for the refurbishment of road networks and hotel infrastructure in
the towns concerned, is to the tune of 550 billion FCFA. Marafa sees this
amount as unbearably high for the purpose for which it is meant and as it “is
more than the budget for education (basic education, secondary education and
higher education put together) in 2016, which comes up to 499 billion FCFA.”
Given
that “education is one of the most efficient and important vectors in the fight
against extremism,” the prisoner posits, the money should rather be pumped into
that sector. He says this is imperative at a time when extremism is the order
of the day in and around Cameroon. Hear him: “Our soldiers can defeat Boko
Haram, but only education and employment will permit a lasting defeat of
extremism.“ To him, education should be made compulsory for every Cameroonian
child up to the age of 16.
The
former minister does not however propose that Cameroonian authorities should
drop the idea of hosting the men’s AFCON in 2019. Rather, he suggests that
Cameroon co-host it with Nigeria and Chad.
“Co-host
the AFCON with our neighbours and friends with whom we are fighting against
Boko Haram: Nigeria and Chad. These two countries have befitting stadiums as
well as adapted hotel infrastructure. This kind of co-hosting of the AFCON
would not cost any or would cost little of supplementary investment,” Marafa argues.
As
for the women’s AFCON in 2016, he further suggests, Cameroon could organize it
with the stadiums which are already in the process of refurbishment.
It
should be recalled that Marafa is the only Operation Sparrowhawk victim who has
been releasing open letters from his prison cell. The first of such letters,
meant particularly for the Head of State, came out on 2 May 2012. In it, he
expressed profound surprise at his arrest. Those that followed carried
information about many issues that he had been privy to while he was member if
government. All attempts by the powers that be to silence the illustrious son
of Garoua went down the drain. Not even the pronouncement of his 25-year-jail
term could stop him.
It
is true that the letters no longer come out as frequently as before, but he
releases them all the same. The last one, which was as “hot” as the first,
dates back to 24 March 2014. It had as subject the summary killing of his
assistant for more than 20 years, Mrs. Christiane Soppo, who was found dead in
her house on 26 January 2014.
(See full text of the translated version of
Marafa’s letter elsewhere in this newspaper).
No comments:
Post a Comment