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Gov’t Is Liquid, It Has No Problems Paying Salaries

-Service providers are also being paid chronologically

-Moh Sylvester, DG of Treasury, Monetary and Financial Cooperation

What is the situation of the treasury at the moment?

               

Moh Sylvester, DG of Treasury

The treasury can never be empty. We paid salaries on December 21, 2018. Contrary to what people write and claim that we will not be able to pay salaries in January, we have no issues with paying salaries. Our main concern right now is to make sure that small and medium-size enterprises are paid regularly. We are trying to catch up with the delays we had due to certain circumstances. What I can say is that we are continuing to pay service providers chronologically - first in, first out- though we may have emergencies from time to time.

                Why do you put so much emphasis on payment of service providers?

                There was a time it came to our notice that people were no longer interested in public tenders, we focused on making improvements and so now that we are paying regularly, they will only have to come running. The Treasury Department has always had as objective to pay service providers and those who have accounts with the state in 30 days. That has always been the major objective contrary to the 90 days which is indicated in CEMAC texts. We have been doing that for the past five to six years. In June 2017, we started having financial difficulties and that is why we signed the Financial and Economic Programme with the International Monetary Fund to enable us meet up with our objectives of paying people regularly.

                Did you meet those objectives in 2018?

                We did, though the results were not what we expected. One of the reasons we could not meet up with our objectives in 2018 is the security situation of the country which was not very good. There was quite a huge expenditure on security and the situation also contributed in reducing government revenue. This was greatly witnessed in the brewery industry and telecommunications sector. The tax contributions of these companies actually reduced. We also had a reduction in customs revenue due to those difficulties in the North West and South West regions. The second challenge we had was the presidential election. A lot of expenditure on it caused the treasury to shrink. We had operations of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) which had to be paid with a lot of diligence since we were struggling to meet up with a deadline. Then, we also had the PLANUT programme which was also being executed alongside the normal execution of the budget.

                We gave priority to salaries, not forgetting small and medium-size enterprises. I think those who were carrying out supplies with government realized that at one moment we were no longer following chronological payments. But from October 2018, most of them were called up by their bankers who informed them that their money was being paid. These payments were made, thanks to the budgetary support we got from our partners and with the FCFA 200 billion we raised from the financial market. The FCFA 200 billion helped us pay outstanding bills. By mid-December, payments for state suppliers were made chronologically. Even if we have difficulties, we do not have to give the impression that one needs to know someone in the treasury department in order to be paid or that there is disorder in payments. So even if we do not pay in 60 days, we make sure that payments are done chronologically. Most service providers can attest to that.

                We also got some budgetary support of FCFA 98billion from the African Development Bank and about FCFA 105 billion from the European Union in mid-December and we will use it to pay service providers. Service providers should rest assured we shall continue with payments.

Another Red Feather:

CSPH’s Okie Johnson Ndoh Wins Oscar Award

The Oscar Award for Management Excellence offered by Paris-based International Council of African Managers, CIMA, was handed Friday, in Yaounde, to the CSPH General Manager, by CIMA President, Senegalese-born SidiAbd Allah Sy. Okie Johnson is thus the 7th Cameroonian, and the 1st Anglophone to have won the prestigious Award, in 33 years of CIMA’s existence.

By Ojong Steven Ayukogem in Yaounde

CIMA President, SidiAbd Allah Hands Oscar Award to CSPH DG Okie Johnson

The Director General of the Hydrocarbons Prices Stabilization Fund, CSPH, Okie Johnson Ndoh, is the winner of the 2018 edition of the African Managers Leadership and Excellence Academy Award. Okie thus becomes the seventh Cameroonian, and the first Anglophone to win the Oscar distinction, which is awarded by the International Council of African Managers, CIMA.

                Other Cameroonians who had also won the CIMA Oscar Award include Finance Minister, Louis Paul Motaze; Tradex General Manager, Perriel Jean Nyodog; DG of the Douala  Ports Authority, CyriusNgo’o; DG of Standard Chartered Bank, Mathieu Mandeng, Francis Nana Djomou and Joseph Celestin Tinjou of Afriland First Bank.

                Handing the Oscar Award, during a dual ceremony to present the Award and New Year wishes to the CSPH DG, on Thursday, at the esplanade of the CSPH head office in  Yaounde, CIMA President, SidiAbd Allah Sy, said the organization’s Supervisory Committee found Okie Johnson worthy for the Oscar Award because of his exceptional patriotism, his high-level performance as GM of CSPH and above all, his commitment to nation building and contribution towards the emergence of Cameroon by 2035.

                SidiAbd described Okie Johnson as an “exceptional and astute manager”, who, apart from being the DG of CSPH, is also the National President of the Catholic Men’s Association of Cameroon, CMA.

                He exhorted the Oscar laureate to remain assiduous and committed to his exalting duties, reminding him that the Cameroonian people, and especially President Paul Biya, are watching him.

                Sidi used the occasion to extol President Biya, noting that it was upon his “wise advice” that CIMA was created in 1986, at the Mont Febe Hotel in Yaounde.

Post-Election Protest:

Police Open Fire on Kamto’s Supporters in Douala

-Two prominent opposition figures, Celestin Djamen and Lawyer Michelle Ndoki rushed to hospital with bullet wounds

-Protesters also dispersed with tear gas in Yaounde, Bafoussam and Mbouda

-Protesters storm Cameroon Embassies in France, Germany and Belgium

Barrister Michelle Ndoki was shot on the leg during the protests

Two frontline opposition figures, Celestin Djamen and Lawyer Michelle Ndoki were shot by police as they led a protest demonstration in Makepe, Douala II. They were immediately rushed to hospital where they are receiving treatment for the bullet wounds they incurred. Their lives are not threatened, we learned.

                Meanwhile, the leader of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement, Prof Maurice Kamto has to his supporters he ready to make sacrifices to bring about change in Cameroon. He was speaking Saturday morning at the Ndokoti neighborhood, in Douala III Subdivision, after members of his party were brutalised and maimed by the anti-riot Police, as they were staging a protest demonstration in the area.

                “The time is now or never. We have to sacrifice for you,” Kamto said.

                “Tell all those who are still at home to come out; tell your parents to come out. I am a parent and I am here,” Prof Kamto commanded.

                “There is no turning back. This is just the beginning of justice in our country,” he said.

                The peaceful protest saw over 1000 members of CRM marching in the streets. They were protesting against what they considered as electoral hold-up and bad governance by the regime of President Paul Biya.

                Social media images showed protesters being teargased by anti-riot police and gendarmes. The protesters in their thousands were beaten and some wounded. Many were arrested, according a government statement.

                CRM militants were seen carrying placards denouncing electoral fraud, military violence in the two Anglophone regions and corruption in the country.

                We received report that the police watched Prof Kamto talk at Ndokoti without touching him. Maurice Kamto declared himself the winner of the 7th of October 2018 presidential elections. He says he will fight to the end to secure his “stolen victory”.

                Protest marches were also staged in the towns of Yaounde, Bafoussam and Mbouda. Riot Police dispersed the crowds in all these towns. Many were arrested and dumped in police cells, while some in Douala were simply rounded up and driven to their party headquarters.

                Reacting to the protests in Yaounde, Douala, Bafoussam and Mbouda, the minister of Communication, Rene Sadi, and the the minister of territorial administration, AtangaNji, called a late night press conference in Yaounde, during which they condemned the protest in very strong terms.

                Rene Sadi noted that in Yaounde, Bafoussam and Mbouda, several protesters caught in flagrante delicto disrupting public order, were arrested and put in custody. He said 62 persons were arrested in Yaounde, while 42 were rounded up in Bafoussam. 13 were arrested in Mbouda.

Human Rights Violations:

D’la Shooting Further Soils Biya Regime

Celestin Djamen shot on the leg by police in Douala during peaceful protest

Biya’s Government’s report card is definitely red. Apart from favorable gesticulations from supporters of the Cameroon People Democratic Movement (CPDM) to which Paul Biya is National President, very few Cameroonians in the last few months ever wrote or said anything good about the Biya regime. Diplomatic missions have also expressed concerns over growing insecurity in the North West and South West hit by armed conflict, hoping the situation gets better.

                The Regime already has a dampened image at the International Scene. This has forced it to hire lobbyists, paying them huge sums to mend its really battered international appearance resulting from reports of Human Rights violations in the two English-speaking Regions as well as reports of consistent scenes of war crimes. Cameroon already has enough to handle and the International Community might have as well seen enough already.

                Reports of gross Human Rights violation are now being filed in from places other than the two English-speaking Regions, a thing that would only go a long way to reap Biya off the auxiliary good image.

                The government Saturday confirmed that Celestin Djamen, a militant of Prof. Maurice Kamto’s Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM) was shot on the left leg by anti-riot police in Makepe, a neighbourhood Douala, in the Littoral Region, Saturday January 26, 2019.

                In the same line of protest, Barrister Michele Ndoki who hitherto was assaulted was also shot several times on the thigh.

                Celestin Djamen and many other CRM militants were participating in a peaceful protest called by Kamto, Chair of the CRM against what he describes as Electoral Hold-up and the declaration of war in the two English-speaking Regions of Cameroon, when police clamped down on them, government spokesman, Rene Sadi, confirmed Saturday evening. Djamen is a former militant of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) who resigned to join the CRM on August 9, 2018.

As a former member of Union for Active Diaspora while he lived in France, Celestin Djamen, on the behalf of this organization, filed a lawsuit against Paul Biya in December 2010 in a Court in Paris, Franc, for embezzlement of public funds in Cameroon.

Clampdown on Secessionists:

At least 10 Youths Killed in Mpundu, Muyuka

At least 10 youths were Friday shot dead in the village town of Mpundu, near Muyuka in the South West region, according to reports and graphic pictures that went viral on social media.

                The reports accused government forces of killing the youths, said to be former fighters of some Ambazonia militias groups but who had abandoned the fighting to return to normal life.

                National Telegraph quoted an Amba Commander as saying the ten youths had returned to normal life before they were rounded up and killed. The commander said the victims were unarmed and did not pose any threat to security.

Protesters Storm Cameroon Embassy in Paris, Pull Down Biya’s Photo

Protesters Storm Cameroon Embassy in Paris

Hundreds of protesters have attacked the Cameroonian embassy in Paris, leaving the premises severely damaged, including damaging the portrait of President Paul Biya, sources have confirmed.

                The attack occurred in the evening of Saturday 26 January, according to an eyewitness.

                The Cameroon Ambassador to France and his family had fled the Embassy at the time of the attack, reports said.

                The attack occurred as part of protest demonstrations organised by the Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon CRM party, in dozens of cities in Cameroon and in foreign countries.

A Bizare Case of Defamation:

L’be Court Slams Jail Term, Heavy Fine on Two Journalists

-The Star Publisher, Chief FuanyiNkemayang Paul, absolved of embezzlement allegations

-Journalists file separate appeals against the Court’s ruling

Journalists Franklin Bayen and Ndi Eugene Ndi, haveappealed the judgment of the Limbe Judge, handing

them a one year suspended sentence and a fine of 7 million cfa

The Judge of Limbe Court of First Instance has slammed a one year suspended sentence on journalists, Ndi Eugene Ndi, Publisher of NewsWatch newspaper, and Franklin SoneBayen, publisher of MediA People newspaper.

                The two were finally convicted Wednesday following an unending trial which lasted over three years.

                The journalists were dragged to court by Chief FuanyiNkemayang Paul, Publisher of The Star newspaper, who accused them of soiling his name and tarnishing his good public image, integrity and reputation.

                Chief Fuanyi claimed damages amounting to fcfa 30 million. But the learned trial judge, Justice Mrs. Nambangi Beatrice Ntuba, in her ruling, awarded 7 million, to be paid jointly and severally by the accused, Ndi Eugene, Franklin Bayen and MediaPeople newspaper.

                The case against Ndi Eugene as first accused and Franklin SoneBayen as second accused started in July 2014 and was first heard in chambers.

                Chief Fuanyi had dragged the two journalists before the Limbe state council over allegations of defamation and character assasination.

22 Cardinal Tumi Progenies Kidnapped in Cameroon

When the Greentree Agreement was signed on June 12, 2006, resolving the Cameroon-Nigeria border dispute over the much contested gas-rich Bakassi Peninsula, most, if not, all Cameroonians and the World saw Paul Biya, Cameroon’s President as the father of peace.

But it now appears Biya might have been frightened by Nigeria’s military might to subdue his itchy lips from declaring war against Nigeria. Fair enough, Cameroon went through the UN to secure a Diplomatic Win during which Ghanaian mascot son, Kofi Annan, the then Secretary General of the United Nations supervised the peaceful boundary deal.

                Sad enough, same Paul Biya who would have had nothing to lose, denied listening to only a slice of the grievances of Anglophone lawyers and teachers back in 2016 and would later declare war on the English-speaking Regions of Cameroon. No one doubts the fact that there would have indeed been no armed conflict if Biya had acted like Emmanuel Macron who addressed the concerns of disgruntled Yellow Vest French protesters.

                In Biya’s case, he clamped down on peaceful protesters who were demanding for an improvement in basic amenities. One thing led to another and war emerged. The war then spread like an airborne across the two English-speaking Regions of Cameroon.

                The peaceful protest moved from mere demands for basic amenities to the demand for the Restoration of the statehood of the former British Southern Cameroons aka Ambazonia. Armed groups would later emerge from every corner of the North West and South West, leading to audacious insecurity. Cameroon has now officially become another Baghdad. It’s indeed another Baghdad, if not, worse than it.

                If the insecurity isn’t as audacious as it’s reported, how come dead tolls are on the horizons and kidnapping has become the new Religion? The situation is that bad! It’s bad so much so that Cardinal Tumi was literally touched. National Telegraph gathered that twenty-two (22) elements of a school in Cameroon named after the Man of God were kidnapped.

                A source expressed shock at the level of insecurity, adding that he couldn’t have imagined it happening to something that has the Cardinal’s name. National Telegraph has confirmed that on Saturday January 19, 2019 between 8PM and 9PM, a group of unidentified gunmen stormed Christian Cardinal Tumi Comprehensive Catholic College (CATACCOL) Mantum in Jakiri, Bui Division of Cameroon’s unruly North West Region.

Anglophone Conflict:

UN Calls for Urgent Humanitarian Action in NW & SW

The United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Cameroon, Allegra Baiocchi, and Cameroon’s Civil Protection Director, Yap Mariatou, have warned key donor countries of the worrying developments in Cameroon and the drastic increase in humanitarian need in the country.

                “Cameroon today can no longer be a forgotten Crisis; it needs to be high on our agenda,” the UN Humanitarian Coordinator, Allegra Baiocchi stated.

                While presenting the 2019 United Nations and Partners Humanitarian Response Plan, Allegra Baiocchi stated that “Hundreds of thousands of people on Cameroon’s territory need urgent assistance and protection. Attacks against civilians have increased and many conflict-affected people are surviving in harsh conditions without humanitarian assistance due to the dramatic underfunding of the response. Cameroon today can no longer be a forgotten crisis; it needs to be high on our agenda,” she reiterated.

                With needs rising by 31 per cent in a year, the UN estimates that around 4.3 million people in Cameroon, one in six people and mostly women and children require life-saving assistance. The joint Humanitarian Response Plan 2019 seeks US$299 million to assist 2.3 million vulnerable people, more than half of those in needs. Last year, a US$320 million response plan for Cameroon was only 40 per cent funded.

                According to Cameroon’s Civil Protection Director, Yap Mariatou, the Government has been at the forefront to protect the wellbeing of the people of the two English-speaking Regions.

                “The Government of Cameroon is responsible for the protection and wellbeing of its people and has been at the forefront of the response with its national and international partners”.

                “We acknowledge the scale of the different crises we face, and we encourage all the actors to work in close partnership to address the needs of Cameroonians and of the people we host,” Yap Mariatou added.

Courtesy Visit To New PM:

SW Community Storms Dion Ngute’sOdza Residence

-Sons and Daughters of the SW region resident in Yaounde Saturday converged on the Odza residence of newly appointed Prime Minister, Chief Dr. Dion Ngute, to congratulate, encourage and honour him, as well as to assure him of their unalloyed and unflinching support following his merited appointment to the coveted post of PM, Head of Gov’t of Cameroon

By Ojong Steven Ayukogem in Yaounde

The courtyard and precinct of the  Odz, Yaounde residence of the new Prime Minister, H. E. Chief Dr. Joseph Dion Ngute, were not enough to contain the huge crowds of SW elite and Chiefs resident in Yaounde, who thronged at the residence on Saturday evening. The Sw community in Yaunde had come to pay a courtesy visit to the PM, who is their son, brother, father and chief.

                The activities during the long evening that started from 4 pm and extended until after midnight, were telling of the joy in the hearts of the PM’s august guests. They danced, sang and feasted, in a veritable showcase of the traditions and customs of the people of the five divisions that make up the SW region, notably Fako, KupeMuanenguba, Manyu, Meme and Ndian.

                Speaking on the occasion, senior statesman, the Rt. Hon. Peter MafanyMusonge, who is former PM and current Grand Chancellor of the National Orders of Cameroon and the President of the National Commission for the Promotion of Bilingualism and Multi-Culturalism, noted the “profound joy” of the people of the SW region, following the appointment by President Paul Biya, of Chief Dr. Dion Ngute as the Prime Minister, Head of Gov’t of Cameroon.

                Musonge, who is also the head of the CPDM Central Committee’s Permanent Delegation to the SW region, told the host, HRH Dr. Dion Ngute, that, his brothers and sisters of the SW had come not only to congratulate him but also to encourage and honour him for the big achievement he has gained for the region through his brilliant appointment.

                “We, your brothers and sisters, are here today to express our very warm congratulations to you on this extra-ordinary mark of confidence bestowed on you by the Head of State, H. E. Paul Biya…….We are here to encourage you, as you take on this demanding, yet, exciting challenge in your political career. Above all, we came to honour you, as one of our eminent traditional rulers who has been anointed to work closest to our “NaliomoNfonMbwog”, and to assure you of the big support-base you can count on in Yaounde.”

Annual Conference:

Finance Minister Hails Performance of Taxation & Customs Sectors

Minister of Finance, Motaze Louis Paul

The minister of finance, Motaze Louis Paul has hailed the Taxation and Customs sectors for their role in financing the state budget. Addressing participants at the Joint Annual Conference of Internal and External Services of the Ministry of Finance holding at the Yaounde Conference Centre on Friday, Motaze lauded Taxation and Customs officials for commendable revenue collections in 2018.

                The Minfi noted that both sectors exceeded their revenue collection projections in 2018, something he described as a feat, given the challenges of the times, marked by insecurity in most parts of the country including notably the conflict in NW and SW and Boko Haram insurgency in the North.

                The minister noted that while the taxation sector brought in 1913 billion cfa francs as opposed to the 1912 billion that was projected, the customs collected 803 billion fcfa, one billion above their expected target of 802 billion.

                The minister added that with these financing of the state budget, the state was able to service much of its internal and external debts, apart from financing other important projects including notably the financing of the 7 October 2018 presidential election and the management of the state’s payroll through a physical head count of government employees.

Frantic Efforts To End Ghost Towns:

Mayor Ekema Patrick Impounds Taxi Cabs, Seals Business Premises

By Boris Esono in Buea

Impounded taxis parked at Buea Council Premises

The Mayor of the Buea Municipality, Patrick EkemaEsunge, has again demonstrated his ability to impose order in the City of Excellence that has seen its activities mired by ghost own operations that have crippled economic activities.

                On Monday, January 21, the Mayor went out sealing shops at random from Great Soppo down to Molyko. Helped by security forces, the Mayor and his entourage destroyed market-sheds and make-shift business stands.

                He impounded taxi cabs and provided them with fuel, forcing them to ply the roads. But most of the taxis that collected free fuel from the Mayor ended up parking. This was perhaps because they were few on the roads and there were no passengers on the streets. 

                Some business persons whose shops were not sealed also ended up closing them, as there were no buyers. Those that kept their shops open, closed their doors intermittently, while observing keenly whether the Mayor was going to surface again to seal locked shops.

                Mayor Ekema in justifying his action said he needed to remove fear from the loyalists of operation ghost town. But some city occupants voiced out their disgruntlement, saying that the Mayor seems to be targeting only Molyko, Bunduma, Great Soppo, Small Soppo and Buea Town while leaving out mile 16, 17 and Muea, considered hot zones of the activities of the separatist actors. These areas avoided in the Mayor’s roadmap of action have witnessed the highest killings, highest gunshots and confrontations between separatist fighters and the Cameroonian military.

                In collaboration with some Senior Administrators in the Town, the mayor ordered security forces to confiscate car documents and identity cards of some taxi drivers and re-directed their taxis to the Council premises where they were parked.

Horror in Kumba:

Man’s Head Chopped Off, Paraded On A Stick

By Boris Esono in Buea

The on-going crisis rocking the two Anglophone regions in the country has begun taking a different dimension in Meme Division and Kumba in particular. This follows the discovery early Tuesday January 21 of a decapitated human head hung on a stick along a street.

                The head that was found placed around the campus of Government Bilingual Primary School Kosala in Kumba II Sub-Division. The incident is said to have occurred Monday, a ghost town day. The barbaric act has left the population of the said area in shock and disbelief with many fleeing the area for fear of the unknown.

                Beside the head was a written note stating “this should serve as a warning to other black legs”. Beside the note was some identification document of the said person

Kumba, Meme Division:

Two HTTTC Students Kidnapped

-Prison guards also stripped naked in public

By Boris Esono in Buea

Two students of the Higher Technical Teachers Training College, HTTTC, Kumba have been abducted by unknown armed men suspected to be pro-independence fighters. The incident occurred in front of the Sonac Street lecture hall of the said institution on Tuesday January 22, 2019.

Sources around the institution revealed that, the students, both males, were kidnapped after been surrendered by unknown men with knives and weapon and taken away on board motor bikes. As it stance the whereabouts of the said students are still unknown and no group has claimed responsibility for the said act.

No Amount of Money Can Rescue CDC without Security

- FranklineNgoniNjie, CDC GM

CDC GM, Frankline Ngoni Njie

The Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) may completely collapse if nothing is done to resolve the on-going crisis rocking the two English-speaking Regions of Cameroon.

                The sickening situation of CDC forced the General Manager, FranklineNgoniNjie, to grant a press conference over the weekend in the corporation’s head office in Bota, Limbe, during which he begged Anglophone Cameroonians to protect the company, which he described as their own heritage and patrimony.

                Njie maintained that no amount of money can save CDC if security in and around the plantations is not guaranteed.

                “No amount of money can put CDC on tracks if there is no security assurance for the various farm workers. The Palm estates in Boa in Iluani are no longer under the control of CDC. Even the offices and houses of managers, workers are occupied by non CDC persons”.

                The GM added that “what is even worse is that a portion of the plantation is being hired out for exploitation by a third party”.

                CDC, the second biggest employer after the State, is the most affected by the Anglophone crisis.

                “We cannot pretend that we did not see that CDC was a target. Fellow Anglophones have told lies against the CDC that is why it is constantly under attack.”

                Most of the workers from different part of the South West Region have abandoned the plantations due to threats, others have been beaten, killed and the fingers chopped-off by unidentified gunmen believed to be members of the pro-independence fighters.

                The current crisis has led to huge financial and material loses for the corporation as many workers have now become internally displaced.

Insecurity in Plantations:

12.500 CDC Workers Now Without Jobs

-General Manager, NgoniNjie Cries for Urgent Rescue

Franklin NgoniNjie, General Manager of the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) second largest employer after the Government has disclosed that over 12,500 workers of the entity have been forced out of their jobs owing to rising insecurity linked to the Anglophone crisis.

                The CDC GM made the revelation as he presented the corporation’s situation to the media in Limbe Friday January 18. Speaking at the meeting, the GM said the major problem facing the corporation remains that of insecurity.

                According to Njie, since 2016 when the Anglophone crisis sparked off, over 12500 workers have been forced to abandon the plantations and stay at home due to rising insecurity. The CDC boss told journalists that, workers are ready to go back to the farms but the major problem remains that of insecurity.

                “Our greatest problem today remains that of insecurity. Without security, we cannot restart work. Our biggest cry is that why a battle whose product is a political problem should be fought on the corporation’s plantations. This is the biggest frustration of the CDC.

                We need security, No worker can successfully stand to tap a rubber tree if he or she is not sure that, there is no one standing behind with a machete or a gun. We need it and we need it now” The CDC boss lamented.

                Aside those, over 7000 staff of the corporation with mostly supervisory and administrative roles are caught in the snare of insecurity and cannot do any effective work.

                The GM lamented that, despite adopting a budget of over FCFA 98 billion with hopes of resuming work on 2 January 2019, some workers of the corporation were rather attacked right in their homes in Tiko.

                Ngoni affirmed that, most of the company’s operations in the conflict-hit areas are no longer under the control of the CDC. He disclosed that, farms in Ndian, Tiko, Meme Division, Buea Sub Division and other areas are under the control of separatists fighters.

Nkambe, NW region:

Investor Loses Two Caterpillars in Arson Attack

Road construction equipment worth millions belonging to the Section President of the Dunga-Mantung I of President Biya’s Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) party, Monday breaking Tuesday, January 22, 2019 went up in flames.

                The equipment belonging to Gerald Ngala comprising of a grader and a compactor were only discovered in the morning destroyed by fire.

                Given the unstable atmosphere in the two English-speaking Regions, the incident is suspected to be the handiwork of separatists’ fighters.

Mbengwi Completely Shut down Despite Observing Ghost Town

-Imposed Ghost Town

Mbengwi the headquarters of Momo Division, in the North West Region, has failed to pick steam after observing a ghost town on Monday, owing to fear of the unknown.

                The Median gathered that inhabitants emerged from their homes early Tuesday to resume activities but everything came to a standstill as information surfaced from the unfamiliar ordering businesses to shut down.

                A source confirmed that the information which made rounds that morning said activities could only resume at 3:00pm same Tuesday.

                The same source confirmed that the information was neither coming from Government officials or security forces. Our source maintained sealed lips over whether it was separatist fighters who ordered for such.

Five Arrested with Hippo Teeth and Pangolin Scales

Four arrested traffickers helping the police in investigations

Five people have been arrested with pangolin scales and hippo teeth in Douala during a crackdown operation carried by the Littoral Regional Delegation of Forestry and Wildlife. The five were attempting to sell the illegal products when an operation team comprising wildlife officials and the judicial police stopped them, checked and found the illegal products in their possession. The operation was carried out with the technical assistance of LAGA (EAGLE Cameroon).

                The pangolins scales which were packed inside bags and transported in the taxi car from the Elf neighbourhood in Douala to Ndokoit, were mostly sourced from local poachers around the Nkam Division. The hippo teeth, according to sources close to case that requested to speak on condition of anonymity, were brought in from Chad by two of the traffickers. Two of the four traffickers have been in the pangolin scales business for long time now and this information was eventually out. This enabled the opening of investigations against them. The car that was transporting the pangolins scales was closely followed by one of the traffickers on a motorbike to keep watch.

                The operation comes just 24 hours after a couple was arrested in Douala with a baby chimp they were just about to sell. The operation was also carried by wildlife officials at the Littoral Regional Delegation in with technical assistance from LAGA. The couple was suspected of being in the chimp business for a long time, shipping chimpanzees to Europe as prior investigations carried out indicated.

Hold-Up at National Football League:

Elite I Clubs Boycott Championship Opening

Pierre Semengue

The Elite I football championship that was programmed to kick-off Saturday at the Yaounde military stadium, did not start after all. The teams that had to open the championship, Eding Sports Academy of Douala and Yong Sports Academy of Bamenda, did not show up at the stadium.

                Present in the stadium, the match officials did their normal routine as if the match were to play and then write a report which they will forward to the NPFL.

                Also present in the field to watch the start of the championship were officials of the NPFL with its president, General Pierre Semengue.

                Talking to reporters after the failure, a visibly ruffled Semengue said both teams have lost the match by forfeiture.

                After the failure Saturday, all eyes were turned towards the match that was to be played in the same stadium on Sunday. But the match also did not take place. One of the teams that were supposed to play, AS Fortuna, did not show. The other team TonnerreYaounde, were present and only did their pre-match warm up and left the pitch.

                Present in the field of play, the referees and match delegate concerted and did their reports. Sources said Tonnerre had won the match by forfeiture.

Women's World Cup:

Alain Djeumfa is new  Lionesses Coach

Cameroon's Indomitable Lionesses reached the knock-out phase of the last World Cup in 2015

Cameroon's football federation (Fecafoot) has appointed Alain Djeumfa as coach of the national women's team, just four months before the start of the World Cup in France.

Djeumfa replaces Joseph Ndoko who steered the Indomitable Lionesses to a third place finish at the Women' Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana, sealing their place at France 2019.

                46-year-old Djeumfa will be assisted by former Lionesses' skipper, Bernadette Anong.

                "I feel honoured with the appointment and I'm aware there is a daunting task ahead with the World Cup in France fast approaching," Djeumfa told BBC Sport.

                "We are starting work immediately and we need to have a great preparation ahead of the France event. We want to do better than in 2015 and we think we have what it takes to succeed."

Professional Training & Youth Employment:

50 Youths Trained in ADB Financed Projects Receive Certificates

The certificates award ceremony at the Yaounde Hilton Hotel on Friday was presided over by Economy and Planning Minister, AlamineOusmanMey

By Mercy Neba in Yaounde

ADB projects trainees pose for a shot with the Minepat, AlamineMey, 

ADB country representative and gov’t ministers

The Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, AlamineOusmaneMey, has presided over the award of end-of-course diplomas to 50 students who undertook a professional training on projects financed by the African Development Bank, ADB, in Cameroon. The ceremony on Friday, at the Yaounde Hilton Hotel was in the presence of the ADB country representative in Yaounde, SoulemaneKone. It witnessed by several government Ministers including IssaTchiroma of Employment and Professional Training, Dr. Taiga of Livestock & Animal Husbandry, MounounaFotso of Youth Affairs, Libom Li Liken of P&T among others.

                The trainees during the period 2017-2018, benefitted professional training on diverse domains including contracts awards, evaluation and follow-up, accounting and finance, domain and land surveys, telecoms, road construction, electricity development, civil engineering, communication, audit and control etc.

                The training courses were carried out in diverse ADB sponsored projects in the country including notably: the project to clean-up the city of Yaounde (PADY), the Lom-Pangar Hydro-Dam Project (PAHLP), the Project of Assistance to the Modernization of Land Surveys (PAMOCCA) among others.

                Speaking on the occasion, AlamineOusmane said the government was happy and proud to hand the certificates to the youths because they have demonstrated assiduity during the training.                          He thanked the authorities of ADB for making possible the training which falls squarely in line with president Biya’s youth empowerment and employment policy. He noted that ADB projects in Cameroon have a portfolio of over 1000 billion Fcfa.

Matters Arising at Bilingualism Commission:

Did Musonge Deny Nico Halle A Medal?

Douala-based Lawyer & International Peace Crusader, NtumforNico Halle, was not among the members of the Bilingualism Commission who were recently knighted with Medals of Valour by their Chairman, Peter MafanyMusonge. Musonge doubles as the Grand Chancellor of National Orders in Cameroon. Sources say Nico Halle might have been denied the medal perhaps because he has not proven to be a good team player in the Commission.

By Ayukogem Steven Ojong in Yaounde

Hon. Peter MafanyMusonge

When this reporter visited the headquarters of the Bilingualism Commission last week it was all calm and serenity around and inside the offices. But one could extrapolate that the calm was more apparent than real, especially given the disappointment of some commission members who were not shortlisted for medal awards by the Chairman of the Commission, the Rt. Hon. Peter MafanyMusonge. One such Commission member is Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle, The Median can state.

                The Medal Award ceremony took place on 19 December 2018, at the Commission headquarters in downtown. It came on the heels of the second and last ordinary session of the Commission for the year 2018. It emerged that 9 out of the 15 Commission members were knighted with different categories of medals of valour by Musonge. But Nico Halle was not one among the privilege few.

                As Grand Chancellor of National Orders, Musonge awards medals of valour to persons on behalf of, and by virtue of the powers confered on him by the Head of State. Recipients are selected on the basis of their loyalty, patriotism and contribution to nation building. 

                Musonge’s exclusion of Nico Halle in his shortlist of medal recipients can therefore be understood, given the context of events said to be happening at the Bilingualism Commission. Ntumfor’s exclusion was the wind that blew and has  exposed the not-to-attractive posterior of the Bilingualism Commission. It has laid bare the bad blood that has since for some time now, characterized the rapport between Chairman MafanyMusonge and some members of the Commission including notably Nico Halle.

                The Median has it on good authority that during the last ordinary session of the commission holding on 18 December 2018 that is, a day before the Medals were awarded, Chairman Musonge had openly chastised Nico Halle for not playing by the rules of the Commission. Musonge observed that Nico Halle was not a team player. Chairman Musonge did not conceal his vexation at Nico Halle’s rather loose remarks in the press, which he (Musonge) considers not only inimical to his authority but also damaging to the public image of the Commission.

BIYA Pays Homage to Fallen Soldiers at EMIA Graduation

The President of the Republic, Paul BIYA Friday 18 January, presided over the 36th graduation ceremony of the Combined Services Military Academy (EMIA). 

                The ceremony marked the end of 36 months of training that the cadet officers undertook at the school. The batch was christened: “Unity and Diversity”; in reference to the current socio-political situation in Cameroon.

It was an memorable day for the 174 graduating cadet officers and the entire nation as the former received their epaulets at the ceremonial ground of the Headquarters Brigade in Yaounde.

President Biya personally wore the epaulette on the best graduating cadet officer, Lieutenant MboumEdinguele Davy Gildas. The others had their epaulettes put by the Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Defence, the Secretaries of State in the Ministry of Defence, Generals and other high ranking military officers.

Prime Minister’s Office:

Dion Ngute Picks ANdian Son as Dir. of Cabinet

Senior civil administrator, Ebungeli Confiance Ebune, is the new DICAB of the PM’s Office

The Head of State Paul Biya has on Thursday January 17 appointed senior civil administrator, ConfianceBalungeliEbune as the new Director of Cabinet of the Prime Minister’s Office.

Senior Civil Administrator, BalungeliConfianceEbune, until his appointment Thursday was the SDO of the Menoua division. He had earlier served in Fako as 1st assistant SDO (2000-2003); in Tiko as DO (2003-2008); in Bamenda III as DO (2008-2010); SG of NW Governor’s Office (2010-2012) and as SDO of Mayo Louti, North Region (2012-2017).

                Reacting to the appointment, EbungeliEbune, said: “I wish to heartily thank the Head of State and the Prime Minister for this mark of high confidence. I was not waiting for it. I am really very surprised. I promise the Head of State and the Prime Minister that I will do all in my power and with the help of my collaborators to not fail them.

                The New DICAB of the PM’s Office was in Baham with his colleagues of the administration to condole with the wife of their colleague who died suddenly earlier in the week, when his appointment was read on radio.

Terror in Meme Division:

Amba Boys Confiscate People’s Wives & Properties

By Doh Bertrand Nua in Kumba

A traditional ruler in one of the Bafaw villages in Meme Division in the restless South West Region has revealed that pro-independence fighters have confiscated all their belongings and even forcefully taken away their wives.

                The traditional chief whose name and village we are withholding for security reasons narrated his ordeal and that of his subjects in the hands of the Ambazonia fighters in the presence of the entire Meme administration, other Meme chiefs, political leaders, religious authorities, members of the civil society, opinion leaders amongst other personalities who matter in the Division.

                The chief was speaking as he presented to the SDO what he called a true picture of what is happening on the ground concerning the on-going arm conflict in a crisis meeting summoned up by the SDO to suggest ways on how to better dialogue with the ‘Amba’ boys, convince them to drop their weapons, surrender and start a new life. The meeting took place Tuesday January 15, 2019.

                “All our belongings in the village have been seized by ‘Amba’ boys. We don’t even own anything in the village again…. You don’ dare complain when your property, farms are seized by the boys. It has even gotten to a level where our wives are forcefully taken away and raped by the boys” narrated the grief-stricken chief.

Interview

We Will Talk with Our Brothers in the Bushes 
  -Chief Bate Epey, Mayor of Tinto Council
-Separatist fighters took advantage of the enclave nature of Tinto and made it their hideout and fortress
-All dev’t projects in Tinto council in 2018 were abandoned because of insecurity
- We will accelerate the development projects in Tinto in 2019   
The Mayor of the Tinto Council, in Upper Bayang subdivision of Manyu division has said that he and his collaborators will engage dialogue with separatist gunmen if only to convince them to allow for development projects to be carried out in the municipality. Far from indiscretions by some persons that he and staffers of the council had escaped the council area and sought refuge elsewhere, Chief Bate Epey Robert says he had long returned to Tinto and has been busy working and sensitizing the populations on the need for projects to be executed and for life to return to normalcy. Mayor Bate Epey made these and other remarks during a chat with The Median’s editor, Ayukogem Steven Ojong, shortly after the budget session of the council, holding in Mamfe, on 18 December 2018. The following are excerpts.

**The Tinto council has just held its last session for 2018 in Mamfe town, instead of at the council chambers in Tinto. What informed your decision to carry the session to Mamfe?

Chief Bate Epey, Mayor of Tinto Council

--Thanks for this question which I consider very pertinent. You may want to know that the Tinto council area is very porous, apart from the fact that it is situated at the crossroads. That is to say the roads leading mainland Southwest, NW and Lebialem including notably the Kumba-Mamfe, Ekok-Mamfe-Bamenda, Kumba-Batchuo-Bamenda, Mamfe-Bakebe-Menji and Kumba-Bakebe-Menji all go across the Tinto council area. So, just as the vehicles crisscross our municipality so to do other persons crisscross the municipality. This includes even the separatists who are in the bushes with arms and who have for some time now been terrorizing the populations of the council area and making life almost unbearable for inhabitants. So we thought that it would not be secure to rally the councillors in Tinto for the council session. This is because the Mayor does not handle security issues. Security issues are the prerogative of the SDO and DOs. So when we put the matter to the SDO of Manyu and the DO of Tinto, they advised that we rather assemble the councillors in Mamfe where the security is guaranteed. So the decision to hold the council session in Mamfe was upon the express advice of the SDO and not the Mayor. You know that the SDO is the supervisory authority over the councils in the division.

**You just adopted a new budget for the council for the year 2019. Given the high level of insecurity in the council area which has brought council activities and economic life in the council area to almost zero level, how do you expect to finance this budget not to talk of realizing planned projects?

--It may interest you to know that we took all these concerns into consideration during our review of the budget. We took into consideration the insecurity and the economic slowdown. We took into consideration that all the population have either relocated to other towns or to the bushes and it would be difficult to collect taxes. We noted that those carrying arms have made the mayors and councillors their primary targets and this pushed the latter to seek refuge in the divisional headquarters. We brainstormed on other issues of concern like the logging companies that have been prevented from operating. In voting the budget therefore we took into consideration the fact that virtually all the economic activities in the municipality have witnessed a lockdown and that it would be difficult to raise money from taxes. But we at once also contemplated measures that can rekindle these activities because we cannot just sit and fold our arms while our council area goes in ruins. So, we decided that we would clean up the markets so that business activities can start again. We told ourselves that to do this we must first see how we can talk to our youths who are in the bushes with arms and let them to know that it is not reasonable for them to make the development of the council impossible because it is the locals who feel the pain and not those they claim to be fighting. We plan to make them to know that the development of the council area knows no colour and that whether you are a secessionist or federalist or an economic operator, everybody needs development. Everybody, be it the so-called Ambazonians or Cameroonians, we all need roads, markets, hospitals, schools, water, electricity and more. So, we took all these into consideration during our review and adoption of the budget. Happily enough the government has set the pace for appeasement and has put in place practical modalities on how the appeasement, disarmament and rehabilitation plan would proceed, it is our hope that normalcy will return and business and social life can return to Tinto council.

**Can you paint a picture of how the 2018 budget was realized giving the insecurity and the fact that you and your staff were out of the council for most part of the year?

-- I should say that in spite of the frightening insecurity, we tried what we could to realize some projects. But I must emphasize that aside the Ambazonia conflict which has made life in our council area very difficult, the council is naturally very enclaved. You may want to know that apart from the trans-Africa highway that passes from Bamenda through our municipality (Numba-Batchuo) to Mamfe and Ekok, and the portion of the Kumba-Mamfe road also passing through the council (Nfaitok-Bathuo), there is no other Km of tarred road in the Tinto council area. So for a municipality that counts 59 villages and which stretches from Widikum in the NW to Batchuo and which borders Lebialem, Meme and Kupe-Muanenguba divisions, there’s only about 80km of tarred roads. The Bakebe-Tinto-Menji which is about 95 Km is barely motorable. To cut it short, I should say roads are the bane of Tinto (Upper Bayang) council area. However, we are comforted by the fact that the ministries of public works and that of town planning have allocated some funds to us which can help alleviate our road problem. I hope that our brothers in the bush will permit the projects to be realized by the contractors especially giving that development projects have been stagnant for a complete year. As for the year that just ended I must say that we did not achieve much in terms of realization of projects. We had to build classrooms in Diffang, Tinto-Mbu and Ekourite. Only one of these classrooms was realized. We had a building to attach to GS Kepele. It was not realized. We had to provide a medical facility in one of the villages. This also was not done. We had to provide benches, chairs and other equipment for some schools, but this could not be done. The reason for all of this was because the contractors said they could not go and risk their lives just because they want to execute projects for the council. However, we hear that the government has extended the execution time for some of these projects up to February. So we hope that some of them can be realized within this period. I seize this opportunity to once more tell our brothers who have up arms that development has no colour and so they should allow for these projects to be carried out.

Fako People Are the Rightful Owners of CDC

- Lawyer IkomiNgongi Esq., ASG Bakweri Land Claims Committee

Interviewed by Ayukogem Steven Ojong

                *Much is being said today about a land crisis in Fako Division. The problem is the subject of heated debates in political circles in the SW region and beyond. Can you enlighten the public on the what has come to be known as the Bakweri land saga?

              

Bar. Ikomi Ngongi Esq

  -There are several aspects of the Fako land problem or crisis: The first is what the British Colonial Administration in the British Southern Cameroons called “the Stranger Problem”. The second is the “New Layout Problem”. The third is the privatization of Government Residential Areas (GRA’s, Clerks’ Quarters, Federal Quarters, etc. The fourth is the CDC land “surrender”.

                Let us start with the “Stranger Problem”.  After having seized vast lands from the Bakweris, the German colonizers set out to make vast plantations on them.  They tried to force our ancestors to work on these plantations as slaves.  Of course, the proud, noble Bakweri people would not be subjected to such humiliation. Many of them preferred to commit suicide, die, rather than be enslaved as laborers on their own ancestral lands by their conquerors. And so began the importation of much needed labour for the German plantations; slave labor from North West Cameroon, from the then East Cameroon and other parts of West Africa.  But the Germans had to pay these “imported” laborers salaries, which gave them economic and social privileges only money can buy. This is how the first aspect of the Bakweri – Fako - Land Crisis emerged. “The Stranger Problem” as it was called by Messrs W.M. Bridges, Victoria District Officer in 1935 and D.A.F. Shute, Victoria District officer in 1938, both working under the British Colonial Government in Southern Cameroons. In their “Intelligence Report on the Bakweri”, prepared for the British Colonial Authority in London and long before the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) was established in January 1947, Bridges and Shute wrote this about the Bakweri land problem, in paragraph 41, on pages 11 to 12:

                “The stranger problem now requires attention. Since the inception of plantation work, an increasing number of native strangers have found their way to this country [Fako].  Some remain continually at work on the plantations and do not affect the local native organization at all. Many others, however, give up their plantation work and settle down in the various villages….Friction thereby ensues and the locals term the strangers “strong-headed” while the strangers consider that the Bakweris are trying to take advantage of their being foreigners.”

                These problems described above, and the practice of illegally selling off land that does not belong to them, by these “strangers” has continued to this day here in Fako.  Today, it is done not only by private settlers or “strangers” but by agents of the Government: SDOs, DOs, lands surveyors, ministers, and, sadly, even by some of our own Bakweri (Fako) elites and chiefs.

                The Second Facet is the “New Layout” Problem. It showed its ugly face after the political independence of the then Southern Cameroons. Successive directors of the Lands and Survey Department, in the then West Cameroon KNDP government, in an effort to disguise, or cover up, “the Stranger Problem” I have just described, started an unlawful program of creating so-called “New Layouts”. The Director of Lands and Surveys of West Cameroon, created a “New Layout” in Great Soppo, Buea, and proceeded to populate it, almost exclusively, with his own tribe’s people.  The evidence is there for us to see today.

                Incidentally, the lands transformed into New-Layouts were appropriated ostensibly for various purposes, most often without compensation or rents as leaseholds to the indigenous owners – the Bakweris.  Since the early sixties a “new culture” of fabricating “New Layouts” has become a popular, if offensive, practice of subsequent administrators – D.O.’s and S.D.O.’s, especially.  This has enabled them to GRAB land in Fako with the complicity of a succession of some land surveyors, elites, chiefs, businessmen and influence brokers of questionable character, etc. This practice, in its many ramifications, continues to this day with unimaginable impunity!

                The Third Facet of the Bakweri land problem is the Destruction and “Privatization” of Government Residential Areas (GRA’s’), Federal Quarters and Clerk’s Quarters in Fako. This problem constitutes the illegal carving out and making PRIVATE property of Government Residential Areas (GRA’s) by some influential government officials and private individuals.  Again, this practice is rife only in Fako.  In Victoria, now Limbe, the GRA we all knew and grew up in as children, has been decimated, totally destroyed.  It is no longer the low-density residential area designated for Government workers by the previous colonial administrations.  Through crooked officers of the Lands and Surveys Department, with the connivance, support or encouragement of successive administrators (SDO’s and DO’s and others, plots of land are carved out from otherwise beautifully manicured government residential compounds and made into private property for which land certificates are hastily awarded overnight by the Ministry of State Property, Land Tenure and Surveys . The same is true of Buea, where the Federal Quarters, Clerks’ Quarters and GRA have become the private property of some influential individuals, both in and out of government.  

                The Fourth aspect of this Fako Land Problem is the now infamous and notorious “CDC Land Surrender”. While the previous instances of land abuse in Fako seem, on the face, to be sufficiently egregious and blatant, this CDC land “surrender” issue is the proverbial “nail on the coffin”.  It involves two thirds of the geographical surface area of Fako Division and comprises the most fertile, strategically positioned arable land.  While the first three abuses can be traced to corrupt individuals both in and out of government, the CDC Land Surrender, one of the largest and most shameful and disgusting abuses of a people’s ancestral land rights, emanates, or seems to surge, directly, from our own Government’s appointed agents in Fako and the South West Region.

                In 1943, a movement of young, brave Fako nationalists was set up to advocate the recovery of their lands that had been forcefully seized and occupied by the Germans. This movement became the Bakweri Land Committee (BLC) (now known as the Bakweri Land Claims Committee).  The founding members of this Committee were enlightened sons and daughters- elites- of Fako. I personally knew and was quite close to some of them with whom I was most privileged to hold long, educative discussions about this Bakweri land problem. These founding members included such notables as the late Pa Rudolph EsombiEffange of Small Soppo village (father of Dr. Dorothy LimungaNjeuma), the late Chief Philip MofemaEwusi of Mokunda village, the Late Prince David Mafany ma Lifafal’Endeley, to name a few. 

                In 1946, Prince David Mafany ma Lifafa l’ Endeley, the first Secretary General of BLC, wrote and sent a Petition to the newly created United Nations Organization, in which, on behalf of the Bakweri Lands Committee (BLC) and the Fako (Bakweri) people, he demanded the restitution of all Bakweri lands that had been forcefully taken, occupied and transformed into more than 23 (twenty-three) vast plantation holdings, by the Germans for over 50 years.

                In reaction and response to this Petition, the United Nations Trusteeship Council instructed the British Administration in Nigeria to perform the following acts in law:

                (1) This land, covering an area of approximately 560 square miles, was mapped out and declared Bakweri Private Native Lands in the Lands and Native Rights Ordinance of 1946.  See: The Lands and Native Rights Ordinance, (1958) Cap 96 # 3, Nigeria.

Patrimonicide:

CDC Plantations Crumbling To Rise No More?

-GM NgoniNjieFrankline laments abandonment, sorry state of CDC plantations, factories and estates

-Says over 25 Billion FCFA is needed to resuscitate activities in the plantations

By TichaMelanis in Limbe

CDC GM (standing with glasses) in family photo with media owners and reporters after press launch

“The Cameroon Development Corporation, CDC, has been absorbed in a general problem which is the Anglophone crisis, but what we are establishing is that whatever battle or political conquest it is, does not require to be fought in the plantations.”

                These were the words of the General Manager of CDC, FranklineNjieNgoni, during a press lunch organized by the management of CDC aimed at informing the press on the prevailing situation at the corporation and to call on the press to accompany the giant but now sinking agro-industry to get out of the crisis and to avoid losing its patrimony. The press lunch took place on Friday 18 January at the CDC Boardroom, in Bota-Limbe. 

                Exchanging with the curious journalists, the GM said CDC needs to be revived because it has a special connection with the people of the areas where it’s plantations are found.

                To support his claim, Njie gave a brief history of plantation agriculture in the then German Cameroons especially with the creation of CDC in 1947. He explained that security is a prerequisite in such venture as plantation agriculture. But the GM however,  regretted that plantation workers who constitute the backbone of productivity in the CDC have been scared away by armed fighters and today no one is ready to go and work in the plantations.

                Njie lamented that today the CDC is fast crumbling because of persistent attacks by armed separatist fighters. He noted that activities have grounded in most of the plantations and factories across the southwest region and production levels of the various crops have dropped drastically.

                He disclosed that out of seven palm oil estates owned by the CDC only three are functional. As for the 11 rubber estates, just four are productive. Then for banana, out of the 3714 hectares of plantations, only 2005 hectares can be rescued that is, if the rescue mission is carried out immediately.

                The GM regretted that because of the degrading security situation CDC plantations have been abandoned to ruin. He cried out that urgent rehabilitation is needed.

                Estimates of the cost for the rehabilitation of the various sectors of CDC include 7.7 billion Fcfa for the oil palm plantations; 7.8 billion for rubber plantations and 14.1 billion for banana plantations.

                Njie listed possible sources of the recue funds including grants from the government, support from partners and loans which will be contracted based on the business plan that the company has already prepared.