The Regime in Cameroon has outlived its lifespan!

Professor Paul Nchoji Nkwi

Member, Cameroon’s Constitutional Council

Paul Nchoji Nkwi has been a professor of African Anthropology at the University of Yaounde I, the Catholic University of Central Africa, and the St Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary in Bambui. Professor Nchoji Nkwi, has a whole lot of achievements to his name. He was the founding President of the Pan-African Anthropological Association (1989-1994). In 1973, he won the Frobenius Essay Award and he has equally been Vice President of the African Academy of Science.In politics, he has served as the Policy Adviser of the Social Democratic Front (SDF).

Edev Newspaper’s Ekongang Nzante Lenjo caught up with Professor Paul Nchoji Nkwi shortly before his appointment by President Paul Biya alongside 10 others from the ten Regions of Cameroon. In addition to the multiple activities that the professor is involved in, he also teaches at the Catholic University of Cameroon in Bamenda. The professor in this interview states that the regime in Cameroon has outlived its lifespan and that in social history most regimes nose dive after a generation. He begins this interview by taking a look at 2017.

“I think 2017 was a tumultuous year at least among us from the Northwest and Southwest Regions of Cameroon. The Pandora’s Box virtually exposed some of the deep seated problems that we have lived through during the last fifty something years. It was the hope of many that the first six months would lead to a Constructive Inclusive Dialogue permitting all of us to seat around the table and talk about those basic problems of the country called Cameroon. This would have given us an opportunity to talk about the things that divide us as well as those that unite us. The real dialogue that should have occurred has not occurred.”

The President of the Republic is of the opinion that dialogue has already started and that he has been having useful feedback from the Commission of Bilingualism and multiculturalism that he created.

To begin with the Commission on Bilingualism, it is a farce. It is a hoax and it cannot solve the problem. That commission is an attempt to divert attention from the Anglophone problem to something which we do not need at this present moment in time. You cannot believe under any circumstance that there is dialogue simply because you send Mr. X to talk to Mr. B or whatever. That is not dialogue. It is a process that involves the collection of additional information to prepare your dialogue. The Prime Minister came, the ministers came sat around the table with all the stakeholders especially the teachers. The ministers were that of Justice and that of Education and they simply sat with these people in some sort of a fact finding mission. They simply came and talked to groups of persons and it was a fact finding mission to create grounds for a constructive and inclusive dialogue. 

Many said 2018 was going to be a very difficult year. Are facts on the ground are proving them true?

Let’s say that 2017 was a difficult year. Firstly most of our children stayed out of school. For parents to deny education for their children is terrible. So for parents or a group of parents to deny education for their children simply mean that they don’t think the existing set up can give their children the kind of education they need. There is no need churning out children from school without that quality knowledge and with little chances of them finding their feet on the ground. Many of our graduates are without jobs. Many of the bike riders in this town have degrees in their pockets. It means that the system has slowly collapsed to an extent where you need to bribe to go to professional school, you bribe to get elected. That is the system we find ourselves in. Take for example during the negotiations in its early stages that people drove up from Yaounde to talk with teachers and they tried to bribe them. If those teachers leaders were not morally grounded then these crises might have taken a different turn. The second thing is what none of us understands. Prime Minister Philemon Yang came here and the Ministers of Education came here and they sat and talked and agreed first on 19 points. They eventually prepared a document of 25 points. They were supposed to sign that document on a Wednesday and all those people were arrested on a Tuesday. Even if you call a dialogue today I will not come because I will also be afraid of being arrested. I think that one of the dramatic things that occurred at the end of 2017 was the failure of the Head of State to come out and tell people that I am sorry let us come together and talk as a family. Everybody was expecting this message but what did we hear?

What exactly did we hear?

The President is more preoccupied with his re-election and probably preoccupied with the reelection of those who have brought this country to its knees. And that is why he says it’s an election year. Is he telling those Cameroonians who were on the streets to come out and vote? 

With the realities on the ground do you think the chances of dialogue have completely collapsed? What do you foresee for Cameroon in 2018?

To begin with, dialogue has never started in Cameroon so dialogue did not collapse. What I see is the clamour for dialogue and I can say 80% of Cameroonians in the Northwest and Southwest Regions are in favour of dialogue that is inclusive and that opens the floor for us to explore what our problems are all about. They have rather told us that if you want to come to the table expecting that you will bring change to the nature of the state, then nothing will take place. The 80% that are in favour of dialogue have been pushed to the next possible move; that of civil disobedience. You cannot tell us to go to school and we go. We are not going to do anything that you tell us to do.  Take what happened in Tardu in Kumbo a few days ago and it has happened in many other places. They go into villages, brutalise innocent people, burn their houses and burn down their agricultural reserves. A person who has been virtually humiliated in this manner will hardly come to the dialogue table. The arrogance of those people against the church is absolutely the arrogance against God. Any regime that goes against God is digging its own grave. In the Democratic Republic of Congo the only way for Christians to demonstrate their anger is with their Rosaries praying in the streets. Is that what we want? The people who govern have forgotten one basic thing; that most regimes dictatorial or not usually have a life span of a generation and after that, they begin to nose dive and it may ultimately end in chaos. The Regime in Cameroon has outlived its lifespan. Those are realities in Social History. Take for example the Soviet Union which collapsed. The so called Soviet Union that assembled many nations and Russia was just one of them collapsed. The same thing occurred in Yugoslavia. Tito did everything to maintain his grip but failed and it broke into six different nations. It takes about 30 years and if Paul Biya had good advisers they should have told him that. If he left ten years ago probably he would be a happier person. The chaos and need to rethink the nature of the State in Cameroon is unstoppable.  You can go to Nigeria, catch people and lock them up, but you are merely igniting the process. 

Recently, Christian Cardinal Tumi and Arch Bishop Samuel Khleda called on Biya not to participate in any future elective exercise in Cameroon. What would you say to the President if you had a similar chance? 

My message will be the same. I will toe the Tumi line or the Khleda line. Time is up for the President to run and let us not chase him out. Let him willingly walk out but if he doesn’t work out he will be chased out. Where is Mugabe? He is happily retired. A new way of thinking and forces of violence are an indication that it is time for him to bow out. Take for example if it is true that soldiers in the army are deserting; you pick up soldiers from Yaounde to Mamfe and when you reach Kumba some disappear. Some get to Mamfe and disappear. Why? Do you remember that Indira Ghandi was shot by his own body guards at the end of a long line of the Ghandi family? The person who was supposed to protect him removed the gun and simply shot him. Imagine the guy who stole the brief case with money. That was his own way of saying “Pa I have been seeing you siphoning this money so let me take this.” It can get to a state where there is a revolt. He has served this country as Prime Minister, Head of State and it is time for him to quit and give other deserving sons and daughters of our country an opportunity to create a new sense of leadership.

It was a pleasure talking to you.
Thank you.

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SEEPD rounds up Evaluation for third Phase of activities in Cameroon.

The Socio Economic Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Programme SEEPD has carried out an evaluation exercise following the end of the third phase of its activities in the Northwest Region of Cameroon. This presentation of its evaluation report took place on February 6, 2018 at the Cameroon Baptist Convention premises, Nkwen Bamenda.

CBM Australia, funding partner of the SEEPD programme of the CBC Health Services carried out this evaluation exercise from the 25^th of January to the 5th of February 2018. Its main objective was of course to measure the degree to which it had improved the wellbeing of persons with disabilities by promoting inclusion in the Northwest Region of Cameroon from 2015 to 2018. It also gave attention to understanding the underlying factors underpinning the successes recorded.

Julie Smith Clad in Cameroonian Traditional wears

This disability inclusive development programme has the mandate to mainstream disabilities in development for the improvement of quality of life of persons with disabilities and those at risk of acquiring disabilities. The programme equally seeks to contribute to development from a poverty alleviation perspective by breaking the vicious cycle of poverty and disability in the Northwest Region of Cameroon.

The SEEPD programme currently supports development actors including the government to adopt a disability approach in their development plans and actions. To achieve their objectives, interventions are aligned under six main components namely the Medical and Rehabilitation, Inclusive Education, Livelihood, Social, Gender and Child Protection. It should also be noted that Advocacy, Research and Communication are cross cutting elements in the programme. It is a cluster of recognised and reputable disability service providers based in the Northwest Region of Cameroon. It is designed and implemented by the CBC Health Services.

Julie in the heart of presentations

In the words of the Programme Director, Professor Tih Pius, “It is the Socio Economic Empowerment of people living with disabilities and we are working in partnership with CBM Australia and CBM Germany and today we are at the end of phase three and the evaluation has been done so we are looking forward to the next phase of the project. Today we have stakeholders that have come to listen to the presentations made by the evaluation team that actually has taken about 12 days in the field visiting all the sites and communities. They also listened to beneficiaries of the project to see what they have gained after these years of the project. My words of appreciation to the funders cannot be fathomed. I really appreciate the funders that have partnered with us…to provide essential services to people that live with disabilities in our midst.”

The representative of CBM Australia Julie Smith who headed the evaluation team expressed her take home impressions in the following manner: “I have seen so many changes with regards to disability inclusion. I am sure if I came here ten years ago I wouldn’t have seen them among people living with disabilities. Because of the work of CBC and the work that SEEPD Programme and other organisations have been doing we now have people living with disabilities in schools and in many other activities. People with disabilities now have access to many facilities like wheel chairs and other mobility aids. We have strong people with disabilities advocating in their communities. We’ve also got councils and parents associations who are doing a lot to think about how we make sure that we change our attitudes and make sure that our policies are disability inclusive.”

Meantime, Awa Jacques Chirac, Programme Manager for SEEPD said any evaluation exercise is “an opportunity for a programme to go out of their perspective as those who implement and zoom closely to see what they do and criticize their actions and also do very constructive appraisals so I think this evaluation has served such an opportunity for the programme team which is involved on daily bases in the implementation of the programme to look closely at the level of their engagement, what the implications of their actions are and what the effects have been on the wider population.”  

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Florence Nightingale Higher Institute of Health Bamenda:

“Certificates from Clandestine Institutions can be used neither in Cameroon nor abroad”

Nkwain Joseph-Board Chairperson

Against a backdrop of the slowly increasing number of students in the Classrooms of the Northwest and Southwest Regions, this reporter took out time to talk to a cross Section of Educational Stakeholders especially those of the Higher Institutions of Learning. In this exclusive interview with Nkwain Joseph, Board Chairperson of Florence Nightingale Higher Institute in Bamenda, he acknowledges that though school reopening is slow, it will surely pickup. He among other things insists on the importance of certificates from Health schools that are recognised by The Ministries of Public Health and of Higher Education in Cameroon. He begins by defining what looks like his ideal institution and clearly states that Florence Nightingale Higher Institute of Health and Biomedical Science is not too far from that ideal institution. He was interviewed by Francis Ekongang Nzante.  

What extra thing have you added to the educational landscape?

This is an institution that was approved as far back as 2009 by the Ministry of Public Health and later approved by the Ministry of Higher Education. It is a Health institution that trains a variety of health personnel. They carry out the training of Nurses, Nursing Assistants, Laboratory Technicians, Sanitary Officials and many others that will be coming up. This institution is renowned because it has very experienced personnel and its location is good for learning. The school is going on timidly but surely and all of us know why. We want many people who are interested to come to the school may be from next year because this year is already almost gone. If you however have the interest to have quality education in a health institution then I think you should be able to choose Florence Nightingale Higher Institute of Health and Biomedical Sciences Nkwen. It is located on the road to the Bamenda III Council.

Somebody may ask you why he should leave Kumbo, Ndu or Oku to study in your institution.

I think it is worthwhile because it is not just going to a school. You should go where you will have a certificate that you can use and the certificate itself will be recognised and you will have education that you will be proud of. That is exactly our goal not just to train Health personnel but to train those who have quality. That is why we don’t relent our efforts as far as having the best personnel experience and who are specialised in various domains to bring out the best.

What are the challenges that you as a health expert is facing in the field?

The only challenge is that we carry out training and very few are employed by the government. The point is that many people should create employment for themselves and there are those aspects that you can open a nursing home or a clinic. In the health sector we need practice after training. When you don’t practice you forget many things.

Do you have any patting message?     

Before going to any medical school you should always verify to be sure it’s a good school that is approved by government. Most of those trained in these clandestine institutions can neither function in Cameroon nor out of the country. You should go to schools that are approved by the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Higher Education.  

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MVECCUL set to construct a state of the art Head Office building in Kumbo

At 50, the Mbve Cooperative Credit Union has decided to construct a state of the art building for its Head Office in Kumbo. This decision was taken on Saturday February 10, 2018 during the 47^th Annual General Assembly of the union which took place at the CAMCCUL Building at Mve in Kumbo.

 The members during the strategic annual rendezvous decided to agree on the construction of this edifice which was presented during the event by architects who had been contracted for that purpose. Everyone present was exceptionally impressed by what was presented by the architects. Members were as such called upon to complete their contributions of 10.000 FCFA apiece into the construction fund of the union.

Speaking at the end of the AGM, Tamfu Emmanuel Chin, President of MBVECCUL said the positive result in 2017 despite the multiple challenges was as a result of total sacrifice. The President described 2017 as “a year during which we called for total sacrifice and people sacrificed even themselves. After all the sacrifice and total cooperation we were able to have these positive results for the year 2017”.

Enumerating the challenges faced, Tamfu Emmanuel Chin said “some weeks we do work only for two days and this makes things very difficult and delinquency too seems to have come to remain. I have been doing my best however to drag it lower and lower. I reduced it from 25% to 21%. I promise my members that I will reduce it to the required level; that is 5%. People sometimes present collateral security but when you come you realise these collaterals aren’t really theirs. Formerly we thought members were very faithful so we took a friendly approach but since many decided to misbehave, we have now taken very serious measures to ensure that before a loan is processed or before you are granted a loan, you must have undergone all the conditions necessary. If we are going for the collateral you don’t have to complain but should do everything and register at the Regional Department of Lands in Bamenda, go to Taxation and pay all the requirements before the granting of any loans so we are sure that subsequently we will not have any problems from that direction.”

Tata Franklyn Fondzenyuy, General Manager of MVECCUL expressed his take home impressions in the following manner; “the members have been very collaborative. They have been supportive of the elected officials they put in place and that support has been sent forth to the staff that the elected officials have employed and placed in my hands. We have been serving the members in the best way that we can and I think the members have been satisfied with our output and results. I think if there is any other thing that members of MBVECCUL would have loved that thing would have been that the interest that their savings generate in the union be increased. I equally think that if we are moving from a deficit of 55 Million FCFA to a surplus of 4.700000 FCFA and still sharing the same interests on their savings like when we had a deficit then I think their cry is not completely unjustified and it’s being worked upon because it is a business”.   

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