As separatist fighters multiply attacks:

Otte Mofa Preaches Yeace, non-Violence in Kumba

-But commentators have questioned why he did not begin his peace crusade in his native Mbonge where separatist fighters have made their stronghold

By Doh Bertrand Nua in Kumba

Senator Otte Andrew

The Questor of the Senate, Otte Andrew Mofa, has stood out from the plethora of Meme elites to champion calls for a return to normalcy in the division following the fratricidal and kamikaze battles pitting government forces against separatist fighters. 

The Senator made the appeal on Monday 12 February 2018 during a chat with reporters in Kumba.

            “I am back on my feet after I was put down by a mishap. I have met the people of my Division in tears and in distress. I have met a division which before now was full of life, with fantastic, lovable, hardworking, welcoming and open-minded people, whose hard work always contributed to the economic activity of the country through farming of both cash and food crops, but which is now in a sorry state,” regretted senator Otte, who expressed fears that because a purposeless war his division that was the bread basket of the country may soon disappear from the map.

            Senator Otte, who doubles as the section president of the ruling CPDM party for Meme II, Mbonge, and who is arguably the most outstanding politician of Mbonge subdivision used the occasion of the chat with pressmen to call for non-violence and a return to peace and normalcy.

            He urged displaced persons to return to their villages and resume their farming activities so that they don’t die of hunger.

The political crowd puller used the opportunity of his stay in Kumba to also rally local politicians and opinion leaders in Meme irrespective of their political leanings and enjoined them to join voices and call for non-violence and a return to normalcy.

            As a political Field Marshall who masters his political terrain, Otte warned that any attempt to continue the violence in the ongoing crisis might lead to an intra-Anglophone civil war.

            “Why should Anglophones be killing themselves? Why should Cameroonians be killing themselves? This thing can turn to a civil war if we are not careful,” Sen. Otte feared.

            He added: “When we start losing our loved ones the frustration and anger only deepens and the resulting enmity and frustration could lead to other things like vengeance, hatred and destruction. My appeal is for our peace loving people to come back to their senses and stop the violence. I also urge the chiefs who have fled from their villages to return.”

            Otte also regretted the slow pace of works on the Kumba-Ekondo-Titi road which he blamed on the violence in the project area.

Quizzed why Meme elites have not been able to rally forces and assist their displaced brothers like the Manyu elites did recently, Senator Otte said he has in an individual capacity given enormous assistance to the displaced and distress people in Mbonge and Meme Division in general. But he at once noted that the realities in Meme are different from those in Manyu. He explained that in Manyu the displaced persons can easily be identified and localized, while those of Meme cannot be easily localized because of the cosmopolitan nature of the population.

            Yet, even as many have hailed Senator Otte for his peace initiative, some others have questioned why he is coming out only now and not when situations were really hot. Some have also questioned why he did not start his crusade in his native Mbonge, which is now arguably the epicenter of Anglophone hostilities and brutal killings.