Fake Divisional Officer Arrested In South West

/By Macdonald Ayang Okumb/

     Security officials in Ekondo-Titi, Ndian Division, of the South West Region are currently detaining a man who has been parading himself as a Divisional Officer, the Regional station of the state media, CRTV Buea, reported Monday.

Details about the development remain sketchy but reports have it that Denis Sone Metuge, as his name was given, was arrested after a tip off and had been passing for the Divisional Officer for Akwaya sub-division in Manyu.

     Sone Metuge, CRTV reported, took advantage of his impersonated position and went around deceiving the unsuspecting public by extorting money and other items. He was said to have duped people in Fako, Meme and Ndian Divisions.

     We gathered that he would be ferried to the Regional headquarters, Buea, in the days ahead; meanwhile competent authorities have opened investigations in order to unravel more information.

     It’s worthy of note that the current Divisional Officer for Akwaya Sub-division is Austin Ayuni Sakah who has been there since 2013. CRTV said when they reached Ayuni by telephone to tell him of the development, he expressed shock and quickly called for the arrest of such an impersonator.

     This information emerged just on the heels of yet another case of impersonation at the National School of Administration and Magistracy, ENAM, the school that trains Civil Administrators (who are later appointed as Divisional Officers, senior Divisional Officers and Governors.)

     Over the weekend, a man whose name was said to be Talba Mala Ibrahim Sori, was caught with a fake acceptance slip and an identity card in an examination hall as he sat in for entrance exams into cycle ‘B’ of the Financial Division of the institution. He was immediately handed over to the police.

Mayor Ekema Softens Heart Towards Bike Riders: Says They Were Manipulated To Strike

/By Macdonald Ayang Okumb/

     The mayor of Buea is now demonstrating some unusual rapprochement with motorbike riders in his municipality as he has asserted that their last week’s violent protest was not of their making but rather the handiwork of his detractors. To him, the bike riders were simply manipulated.

Patrick Ekema

     Speaking to CRTV Mount Cameroon FM Monday 29 June, Patrick Ekema stated that even the council bus which was alleged to have been vandalised by the protesting bike riders was rather destroyed by clandestine transporters who took advantage of the chaos and disarray.

     Ekema swore that they had identified the said individuals and that the council was ready to file legal suits against them in their individual capacities in the days ahead. “We know all of them and we shall sue them” Ekema told Mount Cameroon FM’s Midday news.

     He also called on the bike riders not to be afraid to attend the crisis meeting he plans to hold with them. Such a friendly appeal by the mayor came on the heels of information making rounds that the said meeting, which was first slated for Thursday 25 June but was postponed, was more of a ploy to arrest the bike riders’ syndicate Heads.

     Mayor Ekema said he has “an open door policy” and urged the bike riders to meet him anywhere else if they were afraid of coming to the council premises. “… We don’t have any problem with the bike riders… about 70% of them are my junior brothers…” Ekema noted.

     It would be recalled that nine persons were arrested as a consequence of the strike action last Tuesday 23 June which hugely paralysed activities in Buea for much of the day. The strike followed weeks of acrimony between the council authorities and the Bike riders over impoundment of their commercial motorbikes.

Holy Sabbath Church Holds Int’l Youth Leadership Conference

/By Macdonald Ayang Okumb/

    An international conference for youths of the Holy Sabbath church took place over the weekend with a call on the young people to stick to the teachings of Christ so that they can become the veritable leaders of tomorrow which their respective countries so much count on.

    The conference that was attended by Holy Sabbath church youths from Cameroon, Nigeria, Gabon and other countries around Africa and the world, took place at the Mount Olive Holy Sabbath Synagogue in Tiko, South West Region.

    This was in the presence of the Holy Sabbath international Youth President, Isaac Nwankwo, the Cameroon Chapter President, Chima Aro, the Cameroon Church Rabbi (teacher), Apostle Samuel Chijioke, the Cameroon Youth patron, Elder Valentine Mululu as well as the Cameroon Church mother, known otherwise as the Mother Jemaima, Florence Bate-Eya, to name just a few.

    The conference that took place under the theme; “Youths and Youth Empowerment”, began with a solemn service Saturday and was graced by songs of praise, worship and adoration as well as intense prayer sessions. There were about 500 young persons in attendance. Men and women of the church also braved the rainy weather to answer present.

    The international youth president, Isaac Nwankwo, said one of the key messages they drove home was for the youths to pay more attention to God while still in their youth. “…the human being should always try to remember God in the days of their youth because that is the most critical stage in a person’s life…we are here to encourage the youth to dedicate their youthful age to the glory of God” he stated.

    To him, most of the problems plaguing mankind today were as a result of the fact that people have drifted away from the principles of God who is the author of life. Hear him: “Because we do not respect his word, there can be Boko Haram, fornication, abortions, disease, stealing lies-telling, greed, and corruption. Basically when we abandon the principles of God, we invite everything contrary to live amongst us… But if as youths, we imbibe these principles of the word of God and live by them, then complete success will always follow us…”

    The Cameroon chapter president on his part sustained that “we have decided to empower the youths with sound doctrine; that which comes from God…because we have seen that today, most of the sheep are being taken away by false preachers.”

    The Rabbi, Apostle Chijioke, averred that the youth conference was a Commission aimed at moulding the young ones for the future. He shared this anecdote: “an ex- Nigerian president was asked about the future of Nigeria, and he responded by saying that the future of Nigeria lies upon the youth. So the future of our youths today is what we are trying to mould.”

    The patron, Elder Mululu was not indifferent in his reading of the confab. His words: “We are here not only to imbibe the word of God in the youths but also to gather and mould them for the future, the holy Sabbath church depends on their future. We are encouraging them to have networking among themselves and learn to work on the principles of God in their daily lives”

    The holy Sabbath church is more than ten years old in Cameroon and their way of worship is based on Jewish tradition.

Anti-Terrorism Law Hangs Over Arrested Buea Protesting Bike Riders

/By Macdonald Ayang Okumb/

    The riotous and violent scenes sparked by rampaging motorbike riders in Buea on Tuesday 23 June are still very fresh in the minds of some denizens of the South West Regional capital.

    And fears are rife as a source has intimated to us that the nine arrested persons believed to be among those who fronted the strike action that hugely paralysed activities in the town that fateful day could possibly be first victims of the recently instituted law on the suppression of acts of terrorism. Some provisions of that law point to disturbance of public order and the disruption of public activities as acts of terrorism.

    Those arrested have since been in custody and are expected to be brought before the legal department in the days ahead.

It would be recalled that on Wednesday 24 June (one day after the protest), Buea chiefs, under the banner of the Buea chiefs’ conference, held an unusual emergency meeting which had the bike riders’ strike action as the main item on its agenda.

    During the meeting that was chaired by their president, His Royal Majesty Chief Johnson Njoke Njombe of Wokaka, the chiefs called on the administration to severely punish those who perpetrated the strike. They described the protest as ‘unacceptable’ and an aberration because according to them, it took a ‘destructive’ dimension.

    It’s worthy of note that activities at Buea’s commercial hub, Mile 17, had virtually come to a standstill that Tuesday 23 June, as a crowd of motorbike riders blocked the main roads (leading to Buea central town and Muea) in protest over what they said was the Buea mayor’s ‘refusal to release’ their impounded motorbikes against a proposed payment of impoundment fines.

    After failed attempts by the Divisional Officer for Buea, Paul Kouam Wokam, together with other administrative and security officials to calm flaring tempers, anti-riot police  finally resorted to releasing tear gas to neutralise and disperse the irate crowd but the protesters replied by throwing stones and other objects.

    The protesting bike riders went ahead to vandalise billboards, burnt tires on the main road and also reportedly destroyed a council bus. It’s then that the police successfully made nine arrests.

    One day after the strike action, the mayor, Patrick Ekema Esunge, against whom the bike riders were venting their spleen, understandably succumbed to the pressure. He quickly issued a communiqué saying he was ready to let go the hundreds of Motorbikes that he had impounded upon payment of the impoundment fee of FCFA 25, 000, which he had hitherto allegedly turned down.

    The press release prescribed last Friday 26 June as deadline for the motorbikes to be claimed, failure of which, he said, they would be sold by auction. Meanwhile, a meeting which he (Ekema) was expected to have with Executive members of bike riders’ syndicates within the municipality last Thursday fell through and was postponed.

    Mayor Ekema also stated in the release that in an effort to find a comprehensive solution to the crisis, he had decided to “…graciously waive all other penalties associated to the impounded motorbikes which are statutory based on municipal deliberation no. 10/2014 banning clandestine transportation and regulating the circulation of commercial motorbikes within the urban periphery of Buea.” He however pointed out that the circulatory limits prescribed for motorbikes within the municipality of Buea remain in force.

Buea: BONAVADA Holiday Football Tourney Starts 11 July

/By Macdonald Ayang Okumb/

   A holiday football championship organised for youths of the BONAVADA community in Buea Sub-division, South West Cameroon, has been launched but effective kick off is slated for Saturday 11 July 2015.

   The championship, we learnt, shall have both male and female versions and is sponsored by a BONAVADA youth called Charles Mafany Moveli. Organisers say they expect at least eight participating teams.

    According to the Chief Executive Officer, Mbua Emmanuel Mbua, apart from just the aspect of entertainment which soccer is very much known for, the tournament is also aimed at promoting friendship and unity amongst youths in the BONAVADA community, expose local and promising talents in the beautiful game as well as keep the youth gainfully busy during these long holidays so that they can refrain from certain social vices like alcoholism, sexual promiscuity and drug abuse, to name but a few.

    He added that the tournament was also particularly important because football is a game that is known to inspire young people to greater heights. In this light therefore, he made allusions to what Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, once said that “the sport of football can be a vehicle of education for the values of honesty, solidarity and fraternity, especially for the younger generation.”

    Mbua Mbua also made an appeal to benevolent BONAVADA Elite both in and out of the country to show concern either through sponsorship or other forms of support so that the tournament would go a long way in achieving its desired goals. while announcing that a Facebook Group had been created for the tourney (CHARLES MAFANY BONAVADA FOOTBALL TOURNEY 2015), he said he can also be reached via the Nos. 676 29 28 29 or 698 64 64 24.

    The BONAVADA area of Buea is the place of origin of erstwhile Prime Minister, Grand Chancellor of the National Orders and Senator Peter Mafany Musonge. Thirteen villages constitute BONAVADA and they include; Upper Bokova ( Senator Musonge’s village), Bokulu, Bokwai (Village of CDC GM) Bonganjo, Boteva, Bova I, Bova II, Bwiteva, Bwitingi, Ewonda, Mwangai and Upper Bolifamba.