– Ngufor Peter
By Francis E Nzante
In the wake of the macabre killings that took place in Kumba recently, there has been an unprecedented clamouring for an immediate end of the war and an immediate return to peace in Cameroon. It was against this backdrop that Mr Ngufor Peter, the CEO of Farmer’s House declared that Cameroonians were wasting time busily killing each other instead of focusing on the much needed development. He was speaking during a press briefing organised within the confines of the Headquarters of Farmer’s House in Bamenda on Thursday October 29th.
“We are begging the Head of State to bring the war to an end” he said adding that this should be followed up with a thorough investigation and the results of the investigation publicly made known. Any culprits apprehended should be publicly punished he said insisting that if this had been done for the massacre in Ngarbu then the situation in Kumba would not have occurred. “What happened in Kumba cannot be sufficiently condemned and is a disgrace to all of us.”
The development stakeholder stated emphatically that events that had taken place in the past four years had given rise to situations that couldn’t be identified with the President Paul Biya that he knew. People talking on behalf of the President may not be truly reflecting what the President would have done but as the head, when things go wrong, he should receive the blame. He likened the situation to that of a Chief in the Grassfield Culture in Cameroon stating that a Chief is referred to as a child because he depends on many people for his decisions.
He however said the Cameroonian problem originated more from legacies of the Ahidjo regime. “The President was not appointed in good faith. When you give somebody a position that he wasn’t prepared for, the chances that he must stumble are always very high. Ahidjo did not give him the Presidency in good faith but President Paul Biya 1 took the Presidency in good faith.”
This not withstanding, Ngufor Peter said that frustration can never be cured by fighting as is presently the case in Cameroon.
He said instead of building the nation with the limited available funds, Cameroonians were buying arms and using them to kill each other. “There are bad roads all over the country but we are only focused on killing ourselves” he said adding that President Paul Biya still had to build his legacy.
The problems inherited from the Ahidjo regime had not yet been solved. These problems had to be addressed to give the country a sense of direction he explained further stating that as a nation Cameroon wasn’t moving towards the right direction.