Buea: OIC Board Chair Resigns

By Boris Esono in Buea

Board Chair Ekeke Moses Njumbe finally bowes to pressure

The board chair of the Cameroon Opportunities and Industrialization Centre, COIC, Moses Ekeke has succumbed to pressure and resigned from the local NGO. His decision to resign came after a few months of unrest by the workers who are demanding about seven months of salaries owed them.

                Last December 20, 2017, some workers stormed the premises demanding seven (7) months’ worth unpaid salaries owed them.  According to the workers they are human beings and not slaves or military men and women and there should be an end to employment of friends and relatives at the NGO. 

                The regional delegate of Employment and Vocational Training, John Igondoh Atosoh, who was notified about the strike action, asked the workers to stay calm stating that their problems will be looked in to. The Divisional Officer of Buea, Kouam Wokam Paul who equally heard of the unrest enjoined the workers to be calm and as their grievances will be looked at.

                According to a staff Delegate of OIC, he only got the sudden resignation of the Board Chair through an Executive member. “The staff was not aware of the resignation but they knew that only the Interest Group Meeting, IGM, which was scheduled last Saturday January 7, 2018”.

                During the meeting, the Board chair said his resignation does not call for jubilation. “We are indeed happy but we need to carry out our respective responsibilities the best we can. We need to prove our diligence to show our mettle as I met it. But one thing should be made clear. We only want the public to understand that though people may desperate for employment; they should be treated with some dignity and as human beings”.

                Earlier on, the board chair Moses Ekeke Njuma, denied the allegations of misappropriation of funds, usurpation of power and unfair treatment. “Those are their allegations but the details are for everyone to see. The workers are not the ones to appreciate or not to appreciate the management of the new team. We have asked them to be patient and we are working hard to see to it that their salaries are paid”.

                “We happened to be a team that inherited near FCFA 500 million because of the massive embezzlement that has been going on”.