1st Ordinary Board Session:

SOWEDA To Step-Up Poverty Alleviation Activities
By Boris Esono in Buea
The South West Development Authority (SOWEDA),  has held its 1st ordinary session for the 2019 financial year. Aimed at examining and validating the performance report and close the books of the previous year, the session which held on Wednesday July 31 2019 brought together all the stakeholders of the organization.
    It is important to note that the June 30 deadline for holding the meeting could not be respected due to the appointment of the new managers on 18 June 2019.
    Addressing board members, the Board Chairman of the establishment, Ediage Apande Herbert began by thanking all for the confidence bestowed on him to hold the office of board chair.
    SOWEDA he said has as objective to uplift the living conditions of the people in the South West Region by improving on the socio-economic development of the people with particular emphasis on rural development.
    While making mention of the fact that the last three years have been particularly hard on the people of both the South West and North West regions of the country due to the crisis, SOWEDA he noted is coming back with a full and steady speed to seek ways and means of resettling displaced persons back in their homes; provide them with basics to pick up with their economic activities again so as to be self-sustainable. repairs and construct rural social infrastructure like schools and roads, capacity building of repentant youths who wish to start life all over again are all the urgent actions SOWEDA intends to undertake in the field so far as strategies/plans are concerned.

    Ediage stated that aspects such as aligning the establishment’s organigram to the dictates of the law governing public establishments among other issues will be put in place.
    He urged board members to think out of the box because ‘the world is fast changing and what obtained thirty years ago when SOWEDA was created does not necessarily fit in today’.
    To the Director General, Dr. Besong Ntui Orgork, the insecurity plaguing the region has affected the institution deeply.
    ‘We have to understand that particular situations require particular decisions and at the level of SOWEDA, while we are not able to reach out to the rest of the region, we will work tirelessly with our staff and equipment in the areas where we can so as to keep the establishment moving and alive. We are in the rainy season so there is not much we can do now so far as road construction is concerned But we have already earmarked Fako division as a starting point come the start of the dry season and it is hoped that with this, farmers will have access to markets relatively easier than it is now,’ he averred.
    Existing since December 1987, the South West Development Authority became operational in 1992 and successfully floated in three projects; The Integrated Rural Development Project (1994-2002), The Livestock and Fisheries Development Project (1999-2007), and the Rumpi Area Participatory Development Project(2004-2012).