-Hon. Albert NgomeKome, former Minister and DG
Minister of Transport under Ahidjo and DG
of FONADER under Biya, Albert NgomeKome was a household name in Cameroon from
the 1970s up to the mid 1980s. Today this illustrious son of Tombel in
KupeMuanenguba Division has gone underground; he is hardly seen any where
and has hardly made a public
declaration. Following the 2nd October 2015 cabinet shake-up that saw the
appointment of two Ministers from KupeMuanenguba Division, The Median’s Editor,
Ojong Steven Ayukogem caught-up with the elder statesman at his home in
MimbomanYaounde and sought to know from him how ministers were selected by
Ahidjo, how Ahidjo treated his ministers, his opinion about politics in
KupeMuanenguba division among other issues. The interview makes for compelling
reading. Just read on.
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Hon. Albert NgomeKome, former
Minister and DG
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Good day Honorable Albert NgomeKome and
Happy New Year
Good day to you Steve and Happy New Year
2016 to you as well.
Honorable you look so young and strong that
is for a man that was already a big personality in the 1970s and early 1980s.
What accounts for this strength and youthfulness?
If truly I look youthful and strong, it may
be because of a combination of certain factors. First of all my diet. I control
what I eat. My breakfast consists of bits of the following: lettuce, carrots,
cucumber, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, lemon, banana and celery. All these are
converted into a smoothie which I drink every blessed morning with a slice of
brown bread. I conclude my breakfast with a cup of coffee. I also eat a lot of
vegetables and fruits-pineapples, oranges, grapes, water melon etc. it is said
that you are what you eat.
Secondly, I am at peace with myself and my
God! I don’t envy anybody for anything. My God has provided me with almost all
my needs! My peace of mind may therefore be a contributory factor to my
“strength and youthfulness”.
Honorable, you have hardly made a public
appearance or pronouncement for decades now; you are neither seen nor head
anywhere. Where have you been for all this while? Why are you so cut-off from
the public view?
By nature I am not one who seeks publicity
and I don’t speak carelessly. But I speak when I think that what I say will
contribute to the advancement of the debate. Contrary to what you imply, I am
not cut-off from public view, but I may be cut-off from the political public
view because I am not a member of any political party and when political
meetings are held – CPDM, SDF, CDU and UNDP – you don’t see me there. But when
I feel strongly about a current political event, I express my opinion. Besides,
I have aired my opinion about certain issues in your publication – The Median.
I am an active member of many cultural and social groups, some of which I am
the key foundation member. The problem is that if you are not seen on TV, you
don’t exist politically.
Honorable can you tell us a bit about your
self, that is your birth, your education, career etc
Albert NgomeKome is a Cameroonian born on
the 18th of October 1939 at Mpako, Bakossi in KupeMuanenguba Division. I
attended the Native Administrative (N.A) School in Nyasoso and proceeded to
Basel mission College, Bali (Now Cameroon Protestant College – CPC) on
scholarship in 1955. I graduated with a West African School Certificate in
1959, and after working for two years as a Cooperative Inspector following a
one year training course in Ibadan, Nigeria in 1961, I entered as a pioneer
student into the newly created Cameroon College of Arts, Science and Technology
CCAST Bambili. On graduation in 1964, I proceeded to the United States of
America for studies on scholarship under the African Scholarship Program for
American Universities (ASPAU). On graduation, I did a six-month internship in
the Political and Security Council Affairs (PSCA) department of the United
Nations in New York. From there, I left for the University of Lancaster,
England to do a master’s Degree on a British Council scholarship. I returned to
Cameroon in December 1969 and resumed duty with the West Cameroon government as
an Administrative Officer. I came to Yaounde in September 1972 as head of a
service in the Ministry of Public Service. When in 1973 FONADER was created, I
was appointed Assistant Director of Credit, a post I held till 1977 when I was
appointed Director of Credit.
Can you still recall the events leading to
your appointment as minister in 1979? Were you consulted before the
appointment, if so by whom?
In early 1979, the year of my appointment
as Minister, a few months before my appointment, I was invited a couple of
times by the then Secretary General of the Presidency (H.E Samuel Eboua of
late) and by the Director of Cabinet of the Presidency (H.E. Beb a Don of
late). Having been told nothing specific after the interviews/conversations,
little did I know that all this was probably to judge my fitness for the
imminent appointment. A day before the appointment, a very senior police
officer informed me confidentially that they (the police) had been following my
movements for the past two months under the instructions of the presidency and
that my profile is interesting. I only understood what he meant the next day.
On the day of the appointment, I was
informed that the Head of State, H.E. AhmadouAhidjo would want to see me at
11:45am. Up till that moment, I didn’t understand what was going on. It was
during this meeting with the Head of State that I was informed of my imminent
appointment as Minister of Transport to be announced over the radio at 1pm on
that November 8th 1979. It was the habit of the Head of State to receive all
those he was to appoint before the radio announcements.
At the time you became minister were you an
active militant of the CNU party? Did you become minister because of your
militancy in the CNU party or because of your performance as a technocrat in
the public administration?
Like any other minister, I was a member of
the CNU party. (At that time, Cameroon had only one party to which everybody
was a member). I was not that active in the party and I don’t think I was
appointed because of my militancy in the party. Rather, the Head of State
informed me that he was aware of my academic and professional life and that on
that basis; he had decided to appoint me Minister of Transport.
It is often said that Ahidjo’s ministers
were not rich but today ministers are some of the richest Cameroonians you can
find around. Is it that Ahidjo did not
provide for his ministers some of the advantages that Biya’s ministers enjoy
today?
It is very true that Ahidjo’s ministers
were not rich, many even died poor, very poor. I will not however mention their names here. But Ahidjo was a strict
disciplinarian and punished any misbehavior on the part of his ministers. I am
not fully aware of the official advantages the ministers of today have, but
from their life-style and the luxury in which they live, I am inclined to think
that the Biya ministers have better advantages than those of Ahidjo’s
government. Today’s ministers get away with a lot of misconduct; they are
involved in lots of financial and social scandals which hardly attract any
instant punishment. There is some sort of laissez-faire. In those days, you had
to justify the sources of any personal project you undertook. For example if
you were building a house of a certain level, the security will find out the
origin of your sources and if these sources were unorthodox, the Head of State
would be informed. The consequences followed immediately. Today, civil servants
and ministers build houses worth hundreds of millions of CFA francs and nobody
cares to find out the origin of their resources. The very expensive cars which
civil servants with meager salaries ride are scandalous. But nobody cares!
When you became minister under Ahidjo did
you consider yourself as the political leader of the Bakossi people, as it is
now the case where ministers automatically see themselves as the political
torch-bearers for their people?
-No, I was not, nor did I consider myself
the political leader of my people just because I was a minister. There were
very strong party men in my area. We had Hon. C.N Njumbe (of late) who was the
CNU president for Meme which at the time included present day Ndian and
KupeMuanenguba Divisions; there was Hon. Thomas Ebongalame (of late) who was
Administrative Secretary of the CNU, I worked hand in hand with these party
officials and there was no conflict. When need arose, we made joint
interventions and jointly wrote and signed memoranda for projects in our area,
like that for the creation of KupeMuanenguba Division. The two I named above
were astute politicians. Everybody knew his place and there was no struggle for
leadership or supremacy.
You hail from Mpacko in Tombel
sub-division. The late Justice Ngalame also from Mpacko was Secretary General
in the administration at about the same time. Hon. Ebongalame from Nlog also in
Tombel was the MP. There were other Tombel sons like S.N EjedepangKoge and Mr.
Nzub’Epie who were also “big people” in the administration at the time. The
late Hon. AjebeSone of the pre-Independence era was also from Baseng in Tombel.
But despite this political dominance of Tombel, there was unity and harmony in
Bakossi land. What has caused this new phenomenon whereby holders of political
office are seen first as coming either from Tombel or Bangem and not simply as
Bakossi?
Yes, it is true that at a certain period in
the political history of Bakossi, the people of Southern Bakossi (now Tombel
sub-division) as opposed to Northern or Upper Bakossi (now Bangem sub-division)
dominated the political scene. But contrary to your assertion that there was
“unity and harmony” in Bakossi land, i will like to inform you that the unity
and harmony was just on the surface. In reality, our brothers of upper Bakossi
were very unhappy with the situation and did not keep quiet about it. They
wrote letters quoting all the names you have mentioned. But time being the
solver of problems, the situation was reversed when a Minister and a Secretary
General of a Ministry were appointed from Upper Bakossi (Bangem). The people of
Tombel did not complain and are not complaining. We are one people and it
doesn’t matter from where somebody is appointed, he is there to serve ALL the
people of the division and should receive the support of each and every Bakossi
man/woman!
If your opinion was sought as to how power
sharing in KupeMuanenguba should be done what would be your suggestion?
There should be no question of power
sharing in KupeMuanenguba. The people of this Division should remember that
they have a common destiny. It will be politically satisfying if each of the
three sub divisions could have its own parliamentarian. Appointments to
political posts of responsibility are beyond the control of the people. All
they should do is to stop soiling each other and especially those with posts of
responsibility with the stupid and idiotic hope that they will be appointed to
their posts when they are removed.
How do you relate with the present crop of
ministers from KupeMuanenguba notably Hon. EbongNgole, Prof. Elvis NgolleNgolle, Mr. Ngole Philip
Ngwese and the youngest and newest among them MrElung Paul Che?
My relationship with the former and present
Ministers of KupeMuanenguba is good. That is a place where I have been and
there is absolutely no reason why I should envy any of them. On the contrary, I
should behave like a father to them and give them advice when they need it.
Your last word to the people of
KupeMuanenguba and Cameroonians at large.
For the first time in history,
KupeMuanenguba has two Ministers. They should work together for the benefit of
our division. It is obvious that those who want their posts will not be happy
to see them there and will antagonize and soil them (maybe not openly) in order
to make them look bad in the eyes of the government and their people. Envy,
ambition and jealousy are the root of bad relationships among KupeMuanenguba
elite. They say if he can be appointed, then whey not me?
Thank you honorable for accepting to talk
to us and God should continue to guide and protect you!
Thank you and may God bless you as you
serve the nation through your newspaper.
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