For challenging Fon’s authority:

Kumbo populations to sanction SDF mayor in 2018

-Say mayor DonatusNjong will answer to them if ever gov’t takes over Kumbo water authority

By Njodzefe Nestor in Bamenda

Fon of Nso

Kumbo Council, NSODA, KWA and the Fon of Nso, the main parties involved in the crisis that have rocked the Kumbo Water Scheme for some time now have been given less than two weeks to agree on who should be at the helm or risk receiving a ruling from the government.

                This was the outcome of yet another reconciliatory meeting held recently in Bamenda that brought together the rival parties presided at by the Governor of the North West region, Adolf LeleLafrique

                It also filtered from the meeting that the regional delegation of water and energy shall be in charge of the treatment of the water for the time being.

                However, it is reported that Cameroon Water Utility corporation CAMWATER is finalizing its strategy to take over the management of the water scheme taking into consideration that the belligerents have agreed to disagree on who should be at the helm.

                Informed sources told The Median that since the meeting with the governor, the warring parties have not met to iron out their differences thus giving credibility to the reports about Camwater’s eventual takeover.

Genesis of the crisis

               

 Kumbo Council

On 10 July 2015 the fon of Nso, SehmMbinglo I sealed the doors of Kumbo Water Authority KWA faulting it for gross mismanagement.

                KWA however transferred their offices and activities to the old Kumbo Council building after councilors sitting in an extra-ordinary session deliberated and approved to harbor them.

                On 29 July 2015 HRH SehmMbinglo 1, after a meeting convened to resolve the issue at the instructions of the SDO for Bui ended in a fiasco, announced to a crowd of curious subjects and journalists that he had decided to take full control of the water scheme.

                An office under the banner of kumbo water with an interim water management committee was set up by the Fon and started collecting bills.

                Since then, the Fon and the Mayor have been engaged themselves in a gory public spectacle with some self-seeking individuals   and some politicians seeking political gains fanning the flames.

                One of the central issues aggravating the crisis is a controversial Memorandum of Understanding signed between Kumbo Council, The Nso Palace and Nso Development Authority in 2008 giving Kumbo Council the supervisory powers over the water scheme.

                Talking to The Median newspaper on the issue earlier this year the Mayor was emphatic that the MOU which was aimed at giving KWA legality is bidding and will not be reversed despite calls from major quarters that the terms of the MOU be revisited.

                The management of NSODA and the Fon, the major stakeholders in the MOU have however distanced themselves from it and have considered it as null and void.

                Kumbo Council is also acting within the precincts of the 2004 decentralization laws which give the council the supervisory power over water schemes.

                However, Shushey Barrister Akuwiyadze Joseph one of the “frontliners” of new water committee has challenged this law saying the jurisdiction applies only to public water schemes. He added that the text of application of the said law is yet to be made available.

SDF losing grounds to CPDM?

                Although the water crisis is far from being a political issue, it will not be gross exaggeration to insinuate that it has political undertones taking into consideration that the main rivals, Mayor NjongDonatusFonyuy and HRH SehmMbinglo I belong to the SDF and CPDM respectively, parties that animate the political scene in Bui division.

Mayor Njong whom hilltopvoices.com considers as one of the “first sons” of the SDF is national coordinator of the SDF investiture committee and mayor of Kumbo Council for over a decade while HRH SehmMbinglo I is a member of the Central Committee of the CPDM.

                Taking into consideration that a majority of Nso sons and daughters supported the Fon’s position during the crisis, commentators were quick to see mass “cross carpeting” from the SDF to the CPDM.

                Reports which The Median could not independently confirm indicate that a majority of SDF militants joined the CPDM during the crisis.

                However, these reports were put to question when the SDF as usual showcased their numerical strength during the 26 anniversary of the party in Bui.

What if CAMWATER takes over?

                With Kumbo Council, NSODA, KWA and the Fon agreeing to disagree on the fate of the Kumbo water scheme and on who should hold the command baton, the question that is on every lip now is whether they will accept CAMWATER to manage it if reports of a possible CAMWATER take over are anything to go by.

                Commentators have been quick to point out that a possible 1984 scenario will happen when the water was handed over to SNEC (now camwater) and eventually a 1990 scenario when the population rallied and took over the scheme on conditions of high bills and mismanagement forcing SNEC out of Kumbo.

                Thomas Fru, a public policy analyst, who talked to The Median purported that if the government takes over the water scheme, there will never be any possible reclamation. He buttressed his point by saying that the population of Kumbo succeeded in 1990 because of the fragile political situation of Cameroon at the time.

About Kumbo Water Scheme: A history of complex ownership claims

                The Kumbo water supply system initiated in the late 1960’s and completed in 1972 has a complex ownership claim. On the one hand, it is claimed to be aNso community water scheme realised with the financial support of the people of Canada through the efforts of an elite of Nso, Prof Fonlon.

                Others consider it as a government-owned scheme considering the provisions of the national legislation relating to water supply, and the technical and diplomatic role of the Government of Cameroon in the construction and mobilization of financial resources from the Canadian government.

                In 1984, a presidential decree institutionalised state operation of all urban water supply systems under the then Cameroon National Water Corporation (French abbreviation SNEC). It would appear this paradigm was of concern to several individuals due to non-involvement of locals in the management structure of SNEC.

                However, the real trouble started when the Kumbo Council was billed for water consumed at public standpipes. This was compounded by the subsequent disconnection of over 60 public stand pipes and what the Nso people considered as deteriorating services, and escalating water tariffs.

                In April of 1991, in the light of the political upheavals in the Cameroon, a locally orchestrated campaign led to the forceful expulsion of SNEC from Kumbo in October of 1991. A community based local institution, the Kumbo Water Authority (KWA), under the chairmanship of the traditional ruler, with support from the elites, was created to manage the Kumbo Water Supply.

                This structure had problems of legality (in the light of national legislation for water management) that were compounded by regular conflicts in, and a litigation case over the catchment area that threatened the sustainability of Kumbo municipal water supply.