Bui is under attack and military is mostly
responsible!
-Senator Kinyang George
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| Senator Barrister Kinyang George |
Senator Barrister Kinyang George has declared that Bui
Division is presently under a major attack and that the military is mostly
responsible for the unprecedented destruction presently going on there. Barrister
Kinyang George is Senator for the Northwest Constituency and is from Bui
Division. He is therefore both a senator and a Lawyer practicing in Douala for
the past eighteen years. He is also a member of the Committee of Constitutional
Laws, Human Rights and Freedom, Justice Legislation, Standing Orders and
Administration. He is equally a member of the Committee of National Defense and
Security. He was interviewed at the weekend in his Douala office by Francis
Ekongang Nzante and Fen Lenjo.
As
a Senator and one who represents the Northwest Region and Councils in Bui, what
are your goals?
My goals as a senator are the goals of my party the
Social Democratic Front. SDF has been standing for federalism and we believe
that in a federal structure we can handle the problems that are plaguing this
nation. Within that federal structure people are divided on the form it has to
take. Some people talk about a two-state federation while some talk about a
ten-state federation but as an individual, I believe that if we go back to the
two-state federal system and re-structure it so that the two English Speaking
regions constitute one state with absolute powers, this will solve the problems
we are facing. SDF has a constitution and we have policies which we intend to put
in place if we are voted into power. The SDF policies were highlighted by our
Presidential Candidate Honourable Joshua Osih during the last Presidential
Elections.
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| Senator Kinyang George and the people |
What
have been the major obstacles since you took up your seat in the Upper House?
As senators we follow the constitution of this
country. Precisely, Section 20 says that senators represent the Regional and
the Local Councils and when you talk about Regional and Local Councils then you
are talking development. In Bui Division we have six councils namely Elak Oku
Council, Nkor Noni Council, Nkum Council, Jakiri Council, Kumbo Council and
Mbiame Council. These are the six councils that I am covering and we do not yet
have the region but I am sure that this year, everything will be put in place.
A senator’s duty is to work for the Region and the Local Councils for the
development of that particular area. We have been looking forward to that but
it has been very difficult. We have taken over powers as senators for the Northwest
Region at a time of crisis and this has made it difficult for us to be able to
work with the population and the councils to see how we can foster development
in the Northwest and Bui Division in particular. In the last year’s budget,
Northwest and Southwest Regions suffered a lot because the budget was not
executed due to insecurity. The contractors were afraid to go and execute their
contracts. It has been a very difficult issue and in the senate we’ve been
raising it. We were told that money designated for the Northwest and Southwest
was still available. With the corrupt system that we have in place we are
wondering if the money will ever get to us. This has been a major setback in
the execution of our duties as senators.
The
security situation in Bui has been very precarious for obvious reasons. Age old
traditional structures are being destroyed. What is the way forward?
Bui is like championing the Anglophone Problem. Bui
now is suffering a major attack. In Bui there is arson, killings, destruction,
you name it. It is intensive in all the six councils. Most of the destruction
is done by the military. As senators, when the military destroys we say it,
when they kill we say they have killed and if it comes from the “Amba” boys we
say it. Destruction in Bui is mostly from the military and we have evidence to
that respect. We have our alternates and people on the ground who feed us with
information. We have filed everything that is happening. We are going to the
Senate next week and we will use the opportunity to seek for an audience to meet
the President on this issue to convince him to change the approach because war
will never solve this problem.
Is
the situation completely hopeless?
Those who call the shots now in Bui unfortunately
include “the boys” on the one hand and the regular army and the administration
on the other hand. In the middle is the vulnerable population but the situation
is not hopeless. I have been talking with leaders of the “Amba” Boys and they
are from every indication ready for dialogue. They are not interested in living
in the forest for ever and the only obstacle is the system. The system is not
ready for dialogue and there is a lot of hypocrisy. President Paul Biya has
been receiving the wrong signals, wrong information and wrong advice. There is
lack of confidence. You cannot talk about dropping of arms when they feel that
if they drop arms and come out they will be killed. Everybody has to drop arms
so that we sit on the table and talk without any exclusion and limitation. We
need to discuss as Cameroonians and come out with a solution. We will be
fighting with the system to see that something is done.
Elective exercises have been programmed to
take place in Cameroon. Under the present dispensation do you think this can
take place?
In the last NEC Meeting, we resolved that there
would be no elections in Cameroon if the Anglophone problem was not taken care
of. What happened during the Presidential Elections was a farce. The Anglophone
community was excluded and knowing that our strong hold is the Northwest and
Southwest Regions, we cannot accept that elections take place in Cameroon
excluding these two regions.
Do
you have any last message?
The main problem is that of
insecurity. Bui people should note that the senator represents the Local
Councils and the Region. The senator is a Parliamentarian of the Upper House
and of course there is the Parliamentarian of the Lower House who is voted by
universal sufferage; the population. The senator is voted through an indirect
universal sufferage. So the councillors and the region vote the senator. We
concentrate only on these councils and the region. People are always confused
over the functions of the senator. They think that the senator has to go down
and start doing things that are supposed to be done by the parliamentarian. The
parliamentarian works with the population because they are voted by the
population while we work with the councils and the region. In the Senate, there
is an allocation for the development of these councils and the region.
Development allocations are given once a year; every March and we will be
having it for the first time during this March Session. When this is made
available, I will sit with my mayors and the regional councillors and come up
with strategies for my Division. The concerned parties will meet and what is
available will simply be distributed in a way deemed fair by each party. As
senators we use the Law, international
instruments, petitions and dialogue to fight in our own way. The population
should therefore know that we are aware of what they are passing through but as
senators we have our own way.
LIMONA
FOUNDATION DONATIONS OF 70 CARTONS OF MEDICAL SUPPLIES TO SENATOR BARRISTER
KINYANG GEORGE, WITH BENEFICIARIES BEING THE NKOR-NONI DISTRICT HOSPITAL, AND
THE NKUM DISTRICT HOSPITAL, ALL IN BUI DIVISION OF THE CRISIS PLAGUED NORTH
WEST REGION OF CAMEROON.
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