Facing Challenges Together:

Kupe Muanenguba Elites Unite for Back to School

By Ojong Steven Ayukogem in Yaounde

Min. Elung Paul flanked by Ngole Philip, Justice Epuli & Okie Ndoh

Sons and daughters of Kupe Muanenguba Division living in and around Yaounde, have vowed that schools must effectively resume in their division this academic year and that they will do all it takes to bring socio-economic life of the division back to normalcy.

            The elites took the commitment in a meeting in Yaounde, on Wednesday 29 August 2018, convened by the chief elite of the division, the Minister Assistant Secretary General of the Presidency, Paul Elung Che.

            Attended amongst others by the former forestry minister, Philip Ngole Ngwese, the GM of CSPH Okie Johnson Ndoh, the President of the Judicial bench of the Supreme Court Chief Justice Mathias Epuli, the AGM of Maetur Micheal Mbong, the former CRTV’s Unity Palace Correspondent, Dr. George Ewane Ngide, Professors Alobwede Junior and Senior, other senior elite including Directors, business elite, chiefs etc the elite were meeting under the banner of what they called the Kupe Muanenguba family fraternity and solidarity come together.

            Addressing his kith and kin at the over 3-hour meeting, Minister Elung Paul said as elites of the division, it is incumbent on them to let their brothers, who have taken to the bushes and terrorizing the populations with arms, under the guise of fighting a senseless war of secession, to know that they are on the wrong side of history; that they are not working in the best interest of Kupe Muanenguba and that it is time they became wise.

            Elung emphasized that it was an apolitical family fraternity come together and so participants should feel very free and speak out their minds so that together they can meet the challenges that are rocking their division and which have brought socio-economic life in the division to a halt, causing untold suffering to the local population.

            “It is our duty as the elite of our division, to let our brothers to know that what they are doing is wrong; that the struggle they have embarked upon is not working for the division and that it is high time they came out of the bushes and drop their weapons for normalcy to return,” minister Elung Paul said, enjoining his kith and kin to make their contributions and suggestions, so that together they can seek a way forward for the ongoing menace.

            The meeting gave occasion for the Kupe Muanenguba Cultural and Development Association, KUMUACUDA, President, Herbrt Ediage Apande, to present the report of the mission that Yaounde elites undertook to some major towns in the country, to sensitize Kupe Muanenguba kindred on the negative impact of the unrest on their division and its people. The mission was commanded at an earlier meeting that was also called by Minister Elung Paul, in Yaounde, on 25 May this year.

            The report noted among other things that after a thorough analysis of the situation in K/M division, it emerged that K/M has been out-smarted and fooled by other dvisions in the struggle; that the negative consequences of the struggle in K/M are far more overwhelming  than in other places.

            For instance, the elites noted with utter bewilderment, the very poor performance of K/M children in certificate exams notably the GCE, common entrance and first school leaving certificate exams; that K/M has the highest number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in both the NW and SW; that all PIB projects earmarked for the division have been forestalled including notably rehabilitation works on the Konye-Nyandong road in Western Bakossi, Bangem-Melon road, Bangem-Nguti road, bridge over the Nchide River to disenclave and link Western Bakossi to mainland Bakossi, grading of Tombel-Kumba road and electrification project in Tinte Assome among several others.

            With the foregoing, the elite admitted that it was high time they came together and work towards reversing the crippling situation.

            The interactive discussions at the meeting permitted various speakers to express their opinions and also suggest ways and means that could be used for K/M to come out of the worrying situation.

            The elite were unanimous for example that they needed, first and foremost, to ensure and encourage a hitch-free and non-negotiable back to school in September and also provide humanitarian assistance to IDPS from the division.

            To do these, the K/M elite agreed to create a K/M Solidarity Fund to help parents to send their kids to school and aso provide social assistance to IDPS.

            The elites also agreed to lobby the Amba fighters to abandon the camps and return to normal life; organize regular meetings in major towns to sensitize on back to school; raise funds for the K/M solidarity program; create and sustain vigilante groups in all villages amongst other strategies.