After Violent Protests: Buea Mayor Submits To Pressure, Decides To Release Impounded Motorbikes

/By Macdonald Ayang Okumb/

    The mayor of Buea, Patrick Ekema Esunge, has issued a communiqué saying he is now ready to let go the hundreds of Motorbikes impounded by his council upon payment of the impoundment fee of FCFA 25, 000.

The press release prescribed Friday 26 June as deadline for the motorbikes to be claimed, failure of which they shall be sold by auction.

Patrick Ekema: Buea Mayor

    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.

    It would be recalled that activities at Buea’s commercial hub, Mile 17, had virtually come to a standstill Tuesday 23 June, as crowds of motorbike riders blocked the main road in protest over what they said was the 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, to calm flaring tempers, anti-riot police  resorted to releasing tear gas, dynamites as well as other explosives to neutralise and disperse the irate and rampaging 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 reportedly also set a council bus alight. The police made about nine arrests in the process.

    Those arrested, we gathered, will be taken to court in the days ahead and there are fears that provisions of the recent anti-terrorism law which talk about disturbance of public order and the disruption of public activities, could be used against them.

The mayor has also announced an emergency meeting with executive members of bike riders’ syndicates within the municipality for Thursday 25 June at the Buea council premises to further find common ground on the crisis.

South West Development Authority: Board Members Envisage Brighter Days

/By Macdonald Ayang Okumb/

   Members of the Board of Directors of the South West Development Authority, SOWEDA, posit that there are more remarkable days ahead for the body that serves as a development catalyst for rural communities in the South West Region.

SOWEDA GM (Pic: google images)

   Such optimism from the Board members, as expressed during a recent Board meeting, is premised on two latest developments; first; a recent partnership agreement entered between SOWEDA and the Ministry of Public Works worth FCFA 100 million which will see the rehabilitation of the Bekora to Bafaka road in Ndian Division measuring 26 kilometres.

   And secondly; plans between SOWEDA and the National Technical Commission for the Rehabilitation of Public Establishments for the signing of a three-year partnership deal in order to rehabilitate the structure.

In this light therefore, the Board has implored the General Manager, Dr. Andrew Eneme Ngome, to “fully engage all resources and potentials in order to transform the socio-economic landscape of the South West Region and improve the standards of living of its inhabitants.”

   The Board meeting presided over by Board Chairman, Noah Mbongo Molonge, was mainly to examine and adopt the administrative and management accounts of SOWEDA for the 2014 financial year, was held in its traditional in-camera style and lasted circa three hours.

   It also was an occasion for members to review the institution’s 2014 annual report of activities, its progress report of activities as well as a list of materials that have been proposed for boarding and destruction.

   According to the General Manager, SOWEDA, last year, continued with its routine assignments of fixing rural roads as well as providing planting materials and other farm inputs to farmers across the Region, even though they are still faced with various challenges including that of ‘obsolete equipment.’

   Members also agreed that there was need for SOWEDA to distinguish itself as an exemplary development-oriented state institution. Hear the Board Chair: “ whatever our actions and responsibilities, we should never lose sight of the fight against corruption and embezzlement of public funds which is primordial in the policies of the Head of State as he pilots our dear nation towards emergence in 2035”

   “Good governance and the judicious use of public resources should remain out watch words at all times. Let us not relent in our efforts at ensuring that SOWEDA distinguishes itself in management and development” the Chair further urged.

For the first time since he was appointed and installed into his functions, the Finance Controller of SOWEDA, Claude Kouake, was welcomed by the Board members during the meeting.

“…while congratulating you on winning the the confidence of your Minister to appoint you to this renowned administrative public establishment, it is our honour to remind you of the basics of your attributes which are to control and endorse all legal and accounting commitment documents that are issued by the General Manager and having a financial incidence on the budget of the establishment…” he was told.

   The Board also used the opportunity to thank the Ministry of Finance for an FCFA 700 million allocation last year that enabled SOWEDA to begin shrugging off the heavy debt burden that it inherited from the Integrated Rural Development Project since it ended in 2002.

2015 Reforestation Campaign: Money For South West Drops By FCFA 7 Million

/By Macdonald Ayang Okumb/

   Money allocated by government for the 2015 reforestation campaign in the South West Region dropped by circa seven million as compared to the amount last year.

FCFA 71 million has been made available this year by government through the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, MINFOF, down from FCFA 77 million granted last year for the same purpose.

    No official reason has been given for the drop but sources hold that it probably could be as a result of the fact part of the amount distributed to some councils, for example the Buea council, as well as some non governmental organisations last year, was not put to use.

   During a ceremony to launch the 2015 reforestation campaign in the South West Region last week, the Regional Delegate of Forestry and Wildlife, Samuel Eben Ebai, disclosed that the FCFA 71 million will be distributed to the various councils and civil society organisations after the signing of financial conventions for the establishment of a total of 155 hectares of plantation and the maintenance of 147.5 hectares of old plantations.

   The Delegate further clarified that the finances shall be made available by bank transfer immediately the attestation of  bank accounts of the various councils are transmitted to MINFOF to enable them effectively carry out tree planting during this rainy season.

   Considering that the exercise of tree-planting would be a difficult one, Eben Ebai seized the opportunity to urge the beneficiary mayors and presidents of civil society organisations to work in close collaboration with the external services of MINFOF.

   This year, there are four categories of beneficiaries and they include; eight beneficiary councils that have been transferred forest reserves, two councils receiving financial assistance for the first time, NGOs and CIGs receiving financial assistance for the first time as well as nine councils and NGOs receiving financial assistance for plantation maintenance.

   Governor Bernard Okalia Bilai who presided over the occasion, urged the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the money given them. He said when the exercise shall start, they’ll be a special mission from MINFOF that will come to the field to inspect and that those who’ll fail to meet up with expectations shall be prosecuted in line with laws governing the management of state funds and property.

   The regional reforestation campaign launching follows the national version that took place in Bamenda last 7 May under the patronage of Forestry and Wildlife Minister, Philip Ngole Ngwese.

Youths Discuss Possibilities Of Emergence Before 2035

/By Macdonald Ayang Okumb/

   Cameroonian youths drawn from all walks of life converged on the South West Regional capital, Buea, over this weekend to discuss perspectives and possibilities as to how Cameroon can actually emerge even before 2035.

   This was during a two-day workshop organised Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 June by the Student Government Association, STUGA, of the Catholic University Institute of the Diocese of Buea, CUIB. The over 50 selected youths came together under the banner of a forum christened ‘CAMER YOUTHNITED.’

 Fr. Nkeze: Youth Entrepreneurship Is Our Philosophy

 (Pic: google images)

    The workshop that took place at the Molyko campus of the institution, featured panel discussions, networking and group work sessions during which participants brainstormed and proffered practical suggestions, in different domains of national life, on how Cameroon can become an emerging nation much earlier that the 2035 benchmark set by the Head of State; which is some 20 years from now.

    Participants, most of them young entrepreneurs, youth leaders, and students from institutions of higher learning, in their final declaration at the workshop, which they say they’ll forward to the Head of State, all agreed that encouraging youth entrepreneurship, curbing corruption and embezzlement and improving the quality of governance, are some cornerstones to achieving early emergence.

   Some other suggestions touched on aspects such as the importance of understanding national unity, patriotism and civic responsibilities, a retouching of our educational system,  exterminating vices like favoritism, tribalism, gender bias and nepotism, the importance of technology and energy, culture as well as the possibilities of emerging from the soil; that is, agriculture as the lifeblood of Cameroon’s emergence.

   Opening the workshop Saturday, the President and Pro-Chancellor of CUIB, Rev. Fr. George Nkeze lauded the initiative by the young people. He sustained that emergence for Cameroon even before 2035 was possible if the youth can imbibe the entrepreneurial spirit, a thing which he boasted, is the key philosophy driving CUIB.

   STUGA President, Bertrand Momo, on his part, also expressed optimism. He averred that it was time for the youth to take up the challenge of not only being the leaders of tomorrow but also those of today. The Divisional Officer for Buea, Paul Kouam Wokam, was present at the opening ceremony.