Deserted Councils & Gov’t Offices in Meme:

Absentee Mayors & Divisional Delegates to Face Sanctions

By Doh Bertrand Nua in Kumba

Chamberlin Ntou'ou Ndong, Meme SDO

The Senior Divisional Officer for Meme, Chamberlin Ntou’ou Ndong, has promised very tough sanctions to Divisional Delegates and municipal authorities under his command who have taken upon themselves to stay off their offices even on Tuesdays, a non-ghost town dayas a result of the ongoing crisis in the Northwest and Southwest Region.

            In a surprise visit triggered by the temporal closure experience by majority of the Divisional Delegations and councils in Kumba on Tuesday August 7, 2018, it was discovered that as at 10am that morning, only 4 out of 17 delegations visited by the SDO’s marathon convoy were open to serve the public while all the Mayors of Kumba were not on seat, leaving the population to queue up for hours without anyone to attend to them.

            “It was necessary for me to do this surprise visit in all Divisional Delegations under my control because I received many complaints that Delegates are not working since the beginning of this strike action,” Ntou’ou Ndong stated, adding that of the 17 delegations he visited, only four were open to serve the public.

            The SDO said such behaviour only makes things difficult for the populations who are supposed to benefit these government services.

            The visibly angry SDO warned that those who were absent are going to be punished according to the law“the various ministers, hierarchies will be informed of what they are doing” Ntou’ou cautioned while advising that it is not normal to  keep many families waiting for hours every day.

            The SDO added that out of the 13 absentee delegates, only two were on permission from him while one was on leave. He said there is no reason while government services should be closed to the public even if the delegates are on leave. While condemning what he considers lack of responsibility on the part of delegates and Mayors which he said won’t be tolerated any longer, the SDO said that even if the delegates and Mayors are on leave, work in such services must go on smoothly to ensure continuity.

            However, some of the delegates we contacted revealed that, as a result of the ongoing crisis in the Northwest and Southwest Regions coupled with threats and kidnap of government workers by unknown persons, they are forced to take their personal security dispositions since government puts very little or no effort on intervening for kidnapped officials.