Buea Varsity VC Says 2015 GCE English Language Results ‘Horrible’

/By Macdonald Ayang Okumb/

      The Vice-Chancellor, VC, of the University of Buea, UB, Prof. Nalova Lyonga, has described as ‘horrible’, the percentage pass of students in English Language both at the Ordinary and Advance Levels of this year’s GCE session.

      She made this remark recently in Buea at a ceremony to launch two literary books written by the Chairman of the GCE Board, Prof. Peter Alange Abety.

What's wrong with English Language at the GCE, Mr. Registrar?

     The percentage pass at the Ordinary Level was 25% while at the Advance Level where English was written for the very first time as an independent subject, the percentage pass of students stood at 9%.

    Prof. Nalova Lyonga, herself boasting a fine mastery of the queen’s language, wondered how the students are able to pass in other subjects when they cannot perform well in English Language which is the communication currency of the exams.

     The VC thus saw Prof. Abety’s books as timely as she believed they’d go along way in helping students improve on their English language performance in the GCE as from next year.

The book Launch proper

     The event took place at the Buea mountain hotel and was an avenue where the literary intelligentsia was rallied. The two books are titled; “The Final First Step” and “An Approach to Poetry Appreciation.”

     The first is a collection of 86 finely written poems constituted into six parts in which the poet lambastes certain societal ills including corruption, moral decay, hypocrisy, laziness, and the vanity of wealth, to name a few.

     The other is a comprehensive guide for Literature and English language students, which according to the author, would assist enormously in leveraging students’ poetry appreciation capabilities.

      UB’s Arts Faculty Dean, Prof. Nol Alembong, who reviewed the books, sustained that the author’s use of variety in his books make for interesting reading.

      The UB VC, who together with Prof. Abety, were mentored by Prof. Bernard Fonlon in their university days in Yaounde, said the literati was excited to get one of the best writers in Prof Abety. She noted that he does fine poetry because his poetry has rhythm.

      To her, the books would not only be useful to GCE candidates but also to university students. That’s why she promised to buy hundreds of copies of the books for the UB library as well as announced her intention to make them Course books in some departments of the institution.

      Earlier, the Deputy Registrar of the GCE Board in charge of Examinations, Denis Ndasi Mofor, had promised to buy several copies of the books for the Board’s library and added that they were also going to look for possibilities of including the books in their prospectus.

      The Secretary General at the South West Governor’s Office, Clement Fon Ndikum presided over the event. And the kernel of his advice was for parents to encourage their children to grow up to be those of a generation that loves to read.

Tons Of Rotten Fish Seized In Buea

/By Macdonald Ayang Okumb/

      Huge crowds gathered at the Great Soppo neighbourhood last Thursday 13 August in Buea when several tons of fish, not deemed fit for human consumption, were seized from two cold store owners in Buea.

      The fish was withdrawn from one of the CONGELCAM sales points as well as a cold store known as the “Mount Cameroon Cold Store.”

      The seizure was effected within the framework of routine visits to such business premises by officials of the Regional Delegation of Livestock, Fisheries and Animal Husbandry, MINEPIA.

     The Regional Delegate of MINEPIA, Cecilia Chiawa, the Divisional Officer for Buea, Paul Kouam Wokam, plus security officials constituted the team that cracked down on the unscrupulous frozen foods dealers.

      Officials said the stock of fish that was seize, most of which was already rotten, could pose a huge health risk to consumers if the dealers eventually sold it.

     The seized stock of fish was poisoned and set afire and the remains carefully buried so that no one could surreptitiously lay hands on them for consumption.

      The Delegate also told the press that they had collected photocopies of documents of the defaulters and that warning letters would be served them in the days ahead with he possibility of further sanctions if such an ill-intentioned act repeated itself.

     We gathered that it was the second time this year that such rotten frozen fish was scooped out of the mount Cameroon cold store by MINEPIA officials.

     One of the victims who spoke to media men tried to sink his shame by parrying the blame to the constant electricity power cuts in Buea.  He further justified that his cooler in which the fish was kept developed a fault and it could not be repaired in time because the technician was far way from Buea.

     The population was therefore reminded of the need to be vigilant when purchasing frozen foods.

Cameroon Sports Journalists Slam ‘Sanction Vote’ On Long Serving President

/By Macdonald Ayang Okumb/

      A new Executive body has been elected to pilot the affairs of the Cameroon Sports Journalists’ Association for the next three years.

      This was the main outcome of an enlarged General Assembly meeting of the association that took place over the weekend in Kumba, Meme Division of the South West.

Eric Martial Djomo: New CASJ President

      Eric Martial Djomo of Equinoxe Television beat incumbent Emmanuel Gustave Samnick of Africa 24 Magazine to become president. Djomo, who’s Littoral chapter president of the association triumphed overwhelmingly over Samnick, beating him by 45 votes to five at the polls. Samnick had manned the affairs of the prestigious association for the past 8 years, (since 2007).

      South West chapter president, Matute Menyoli, of CRTV Mount Cameroon FM, together with his colleague at the same station, Charline Flore Demgne, were voted Vice President and Treasurer, respectively.

      Interim sports desk editor at CRTV national radio, the widely-travelled Simon Lyonga on sports reporting assignments, retained the position of Secretary General while a photo journalist who works with “Le sportif Cameroon football magazine” , Raphael Happi, was elected Auditor.

      In all, five officials were elected while the rest, we learnt, will be co-opted to complete an eleven-man Bureau whose mandate would run until 2018.

Matute Menyoli: Second Strongest Man of CASJ

      Djomo, while accepting his victory, described it as “a sanction vote” on the outgoing president and his team who were widely faulted for not making all chapter members of the association feel a sense of belonging. They had all along been accused of doing things single-handedly and not letting certain advantages trickle down to “floor members”. The new man thus promised to do his best to work for everybody and to make sure that every duly registered member enjoys the gains of their membership.

      Conceding defeat, a disappointed Samnick admitted that the massive vote against him was surely an indication that “I am not sure I did a good job.” He congratulated Djomo and wished him well in his new office and promised to collaborate with and support him where and whenever necessary. “He has won to represent the occasion. All sports journalists have to come together and work for the good of the association. Let me also use this opportunity to congratulate the host chapter on what they have done. I am impressed...” Samnick added.

     Matute Menyoli viewed the elections as a new dawn for the association. While he said he was humbled to have been accorded such an exacting task, he pledged to do his best. For Simon Lyonga, he was simply happy for “the confidence renewed in me”. “All I shall do is to work and serve the interest of the association” he stated.

      The General Assembly meeting that spanned Friday 14 August to Sunday 16 August 2015 was an exciting rendez-vous that brought together about 100 sports reporters, commentators, analysts and chroniclers from all around the country.

      Other activities including a friendly football match that pitted a selection of the sports journalists against a Kumba-based Veteran Club added spice to the event. 

      The meeting was under the patronage of the Senior Divisional Officer for Meme, David Koulbout, who was represented by the Meme Divisional Delegate of Communication, Cynthia Molua.

GCE Results Hullaballoo: Time For Monono To Go?

/By Macdonald Ayang Okumb/

     Truth be told; I am one of those who admire the meteoric rise of the Registrar of the Cameroon General Certificate of Education examination, GCE Board, Humphrey Ekema Monono, in his pedagogic career; from just a classroom teacher to the strongman at the helm of one of Cameroon’s Examination Boards.

Humphrey Ekema Monono: GCE Board Registrar

     He has done many appreciable things for the board. He is generous, intelligent, a workaholic and is no less a man endowed with a rare sense of humour. The many national and international awards that he has earned all add to his long list of accomplishments.

     But let the bitter truth be told; what has been happening in the last three years with regards how the GCE results are published is a serious call for concern; and to some, it probably smacks of the beginning of the end of Monono’s 9 year stewardship at the Board if appropriate measures are not taken to redress the situation next year.

     Up until 2012, there existed little or no hullaballoo about how the GCE results were released. This is because apart from the fact that students’ result slips and broadsheets were sent to the various centres where the exams were written, the results were, to the appreciation of many, also published in newspapers which were readily available and could be circulated to even the remotest parts of the country with ample immediacy. In 2005 for example when I wrote my GCE O level, I was in possession of a newspaper that published my results in enclaved Akwaya less than three after they were released.

     2013 however saw a different experience and a complete paradigm shift by the Board in what it said was part of efforts to move along with the changing technological times. Results were no longer given to the print media to publish; they were not read on radio either meanwhile a new short message service, SMS, method of obtention of results was introduced, to the chagrin of many.

     The novelty which still continues to prove a big headache today was even introduced without prior sensitisation by the Board -  a move many saw as a faux pas and one synonymous with putting a cart before the horse.  Many faulted the board for failing to do a forewarning before introducing it.

     And those critics were right because I remember vividly that before the Board introduced the multiple choice questions format of testing, for instance, it had long announced it and later undertook a nationwide sensitisation tour during which officials of the Board met with students, parents and other stakeholders to concert on how to go about the adventure.

     Amidst such alarming controversy in 2013 concerning how the results were published, the Registrar in a hurriedly convened press conference, and acting as an expert firefighter, gave justifications that the Board had to move with the times and that it was also committed to guaranteeing the privacy of results of candidates which was before then undermined by the publication of results in newspapers.
      What Kind of privacy in public exams? Who has ever taken legal action against the Board that their privacy was violated by publishing their results in newspapers? By the way, it is results of successful candidates that are published and not those of candidates who failed; so one cannot say anybody is exposed to social shame or ridicule. The Board cannot also talk of privacy of results by refusing to publish them in newspapers and yet they are given to radio stations to read them.
     The Registrar’s other argument of their quest to move with the changes in technology is sharply defeated by the very fact that they cannot also make use of their official website in the results publication process. What is the use of the website (www.camgceb.org) if results cannot be published, or even announced on it? Monono shouldn’t forget that the GCE Board created an official website under his reign and the intention was to catch up with the exigencies of the ever-changing technological world by enabling people find information about its activities on the internet.
     Other examination bodies elsewhere on the continent such as the national examination council of Kenya and the West African examination council, for example, publish results of exams they run on their official websites once they are released. They are also published in national newspapers so they can circulate to areas not accessible to internet and radio or television signals.
     So, the Board cannot pretend that it is not aware of the huge digital divide that exists in Cameroon.  Not only are those in the city centres finding it difficult to get their results by SMS, many other towns and villages are not connected to mobile telephone network and internet services. By the way, the SMSs take several days to arrive and the cost for sending them is too high. Imagine the tension that candidates and their parents find themselves in when results are not forth coming and when they can’t use any other available option. The shortcomings of reading these results on radio can also not be over-emphasised. People cannot stick their ears to a radio set for the whole day to listen to GCE results.
     The GCE is such a sacrosanct exam that must not be treated with levity. It aches me when results of this much cherished exams have since 2013 been made to be ignominiously peddled like groundnuts on streets simply because the Board has abandoned convenient traditional mediums of publishing them and has embarked on novelties that are today proving to be problematic. Candidates and parents must not strain to get results.
     Nobody is against the changes though, but the general supplication is for the Board to rather use these new methods to complement and not to replace what Cameroonians have been used to.
The Board must also not be in a hurry and be excited to release the results without first ensuring that the slips and broadsheets have reached all the centres. I was shocked when I watched a school head in Douala lamenting on TV two days after the results were released this year that the slips and broadsheets had not reached them.

Two Urgent Assignments For New SW ELECAM Delegate

/By Macdonald Ayang Okumb/

     “Put in every effort to ensure that the number of registered voters in the South West Region increases before the end of the voter registration period on 31 August 2015....And I enjoin you to do every thing in your power to strengthen the confidence Cameroonians have begun to have in elections Cameroon and in its management of the electoral process.”

Okha: SW ELECAM Delegate

     Those were the two key tasks given to the South West Regional Delegate of Elections Cameroon, ELECAM, Barrister Okha Bau Okha, as he was officially installed into his functions last Wednesday in Buea.

     The installation excercise was conducted by the Director General of Elections at ELECAM, Abdoulaye Babale, and came more than one year after the Regional Delegate was appointed by a decision of ELECAM’s Board.

     Barrister Okha was appointed by decision no. 0159/ELECAM/CE of 9 July 2014 but could not be commissioned immediately due to the blown out conflict that existed between the ELECAM Board Chairman, Dr. Samuel   Fonkam Azu’u, and the former Director General, Mohaman Sani Tanimou.

     Babale, Tanimou’s successor, who set out for the installation excercise just two weeks after President Biya appointed him, however pointed that the two immediate tasks were not in any way the only ones that the new Delegate would be expected to excercise as ELECAM boss for the South West.

      He said his other functions would, among others, include; “...the organisation, the supervision and the follow-up of electoral operations and referendums, the supervision of the distribution of voters’ cards, the distribution of election materials within the region, the updating and safe-guarding of the regional register of voters, the preparation of the operating budget of the regional delegation as well as the management of regional personnel.”

     Babale further told Okha that in order for him to effectively execute his assignments, it will be inevitable for him to build and work with a strong and faithful team of collaborators.

His words: “I strongly advise that you assume a true leadership role that will enable you to earn and deserve the confidence and trust of the personnel under your responsibility. Strive to inspire and reassure them at all time by being the role model...ensure discipline but at the same time, offer them the protection, consideration and the assistance they need.”

     An elated Okha told the press he was ready to continue working with renewed panache. He swore to up the number of registered voters in the region before this month-end deadline. “So far, we have registered well over 12,398 voters and I promise to do my best to increase that number before the deadline runs out. I think we have improved this year because last year, by the time the excercise ended, the region had registered just a little over 7,000 voters...” Okha said.

     Okha’s installation ceremony was attended by administrative and security officials, political party leaders, members of the civil society, traditional rulers, ELECAM staff and other stakeholders relevant in the electioneering process.

     The newly installed delegate was born on 21 December 1961 in Kumba. He is a lawyer by training and practice, being a member of the Bar Associations of Cameroon and Nigeria. Before his appointment as regional delegate for south west, Okha served as chief of service in charge of electoral operations and referendums at the same delegation. He takes over from Emmanuel Njang Mbeng who has gone on retirement.