Ekosso Lysonge Francis Poised to use Experience in Rebuilding Peace, Stability in Cameroon.

 

By Francis Ekongang Nzante

Lieutenant Colonel Ekosso Lysonge Francis, Deputy National Coordinator of the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration Committee, DDRC recently installed and tasked to get to work immediately, brings in about twenty years of experience working at the service of the nation, Cameroon. He was installed on Wednesday, November 18th, 2020 at the National Head Office of DDRC in Yaounde by the National Coordinator, Fai Yengo Francis.

Speaking during the installation ceremony, the National Coordinator described his deputy as a distinguished, hardworking and intelligent servant of the State, having spent over 20 years on the field in the service of the nation.

Fai Yengo Francis said the appointment of Lieutenant Colonel Ekosso Lysonge Francis comes as “an added impetus to the achievements of the DDRC which is about to celebrate its 2nd anniversary and a very sure way and means to continue achieving the global and specific objectives of this specific strategic and operational structure.”

In a very optimistic tone, the erstwhile Governor said Lieutenant Colonel Ekosso Lysonge Francis was equal to the task set before him and urged him to use his operational experience to execute the activities of DDRC on the field. Hear him, “You should invest your energy and join your efforts so that together with our collaborators we should, without fear or complex and very far away from politics and all sorts of flimsy distractions, materialise the dream of an orderly reintegration of the youths who yesterday were involved in a senseless struggle against their fatherland but today have responded favourably to the fatherly hand of fellowship from the President of the Republic, His Excellency Paul Biya.”

In a brush with the media , Lt. Colonel Ekosso Francis said he was ready to serve and to carry out the tasks set before him. “We have fighters in the bush whom we want to bring out for the peace of Cameroon but we are doing a very detailed scientific analysis of it and it is not only a matter of the ex-fighters, but those who have ideological inputs into this kind of crisis from the Far North to the North West and South West. They too have to lay down their ideological arms because they are the ones who instigate it all. It is not just the children who have been fooled to lose their lives, but many people” Lt. Colonel Ekosso Francis said.

The new National Deputy Coordinator of DDRC has in the past served in several capacities with the National Defence  Force. The last post he held before his latest appointment was that of Chief of Division in the National Fire Brigade at Mimboman in Yaounde.

The Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintergration Committee was created on the 30th of November 2018 by Presidential Decree to organise, disarm, demobilise and reintegrate ex-Boko Haram fighters and armed groups in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon. The DDRC has centers in Mora, Buea and Bamenda. The centers have already received hundreds of excombatants and continue to do so.

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Prof Enow Orock Enonchong George Recognized for Resilience in Medical Practice.

 

By FEN Lenjo

Professor Enow Orock Enonchong George, Director of the Bafoussam Regional Hospital and erstwhile Director of the Buea Regional Hospital Annex has bagged the prestigious Cameroon Performance Award. This took place on Sunday November 22nd within the confines of his office at the Bafoussam Regional Hospital.

Speaking during the Award Event, Francis Ekongang Nzante, the National Coordinator of Cameroon Performance Awards recounted some peak moments in the professional life of Prof Enow Orock Enonchong George. Hear him. “From your earlier years of practice at the Akwaya and the Zoetele Sub Divisional Hospitals to your present position as Director of the Bafoussam Regional Hospital, it has been a trajectory of continuous hard work. Step by step you crafted your trade as Chief of Service of Pathology at the Yaounde General Hospital. You eventually became visiting lecturer at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Buea and grew within the ranks to become Seniour Lecturer in the same establishment. 

Your appointment as Director of the Buea Regional Hospital Annex came as no surprise and gave you an opportunity to demonstrate your administrative qualities, one of which is working in collaboration with partners. With you as Director, the Hospital received four Haemodialysis Machines from Lady Grace Elone of the Elone Foundation in the UK. In Bafoussam with the challenges imposed by the COVID 19 Pandemic you have worked and continue to do so to fight the pandemic. In this race of continuous work, you have a rich record of research work.”

Harping on the unforgettable moments of his professional life Prof Enonchong recalled an operation that he carried out on the wife of a Pastor about 30 years ago in Akwaya under near impossible conditions. He described it as “Razor Blade Surgery” and went ahead to state that he was impressed that recognitions for what he has been doing were beginning to come in.

He said at the time certain paper work had to be done for the state to give him a medal in Recognition of his efforts. However he didn’t find it necessary to be applying for a medal of recognition. When good work is done, it should be Recognised and encouraged he said. “If thirty years afterwards, God has inspired you to give me this Award, then I want to express my total joy and thanks. This Award will further encourage me and I want to dedicate it to my patients. I am a Pathologist and most of my patients are cancer patients so I want to dedicate it to all cancer patients in the country.”

The self effacing Director of the Bafoussam Regional Hospital said the person who inspired him to pursue medical studies was an Uncle, Dr Benjamin Mengot who coincidentally was present at the Award Event. He took the spellbound audience that had turned out to witness the event through his tumultuous life as a student struggling to get through school despite all the odds. Next the hospital director journeyed through the early years of his practice fraught with challenges and the final thing that this reporter gleaned from it all was his Resilience. For example, Prof Enow Orock Enonchong George said it took him eight years to become the first English Speaking trained Pathologist. This is a course that normally takes 4 years he explained.

He is the first Professor of Pathology of English-speaking expression in the country and as he puts it, he was encouraged by very pathological minds like the late Professors Mbakop and Anomangu who made him to take interest in research. 

With regards to managing of health establishments, the hospital director said he has always preferred a consensual managerial policy.

“A lot of ground has been covered in the health sector though a bit haphazardly and at a pace that we the scientific minds would like to be improved upon. If you look at the training then the country has covered a lot of ground from a single medical school to eight medical schools. That is quite a lot but where we are having problems is in the training of specialists. We expect that there should be at least five centres in the country for the training of specialists” he said.

He hinted that specific universities could make arrangements for the importation of competences in the absence of specialists.

He also suggested that there should be long term planning in the domain of training of health Professionals.

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National Polytechnic University Institute Bamenda

 Recognized for Transforming Private Higher Education

By FEN

The National Polytechnic University Institute Bamenda has been recognized for efforts put in over the years to help in transforming the Private Higher Educational Sector in Cameroon. This recognition came in the form of an award issued by the Cameroon Performance Awards CPA recently within the confines of the School campus.

The National Coordinator of the CPA Francis Ekongang Nzante before handing over the Award described the strides so far made by National Polytechnic University Institute Bamenda in the following manner: “Through the hard work of talented and dedicated individuals inspired by the indefatigable Pah Yong Francis you build an institution that today stands as the pride of Private Higher Institutions of Learning in Cameroon. The National Polytechnic University Institute formerly simply referred to as National Polytechnic Bambui played a major role in the Professionalization of Higher Education in Cameroon. Presently a national and international destination, National Polytechnic University Institute Bamenda has contributed enormously in bringing respect to Higher Education in Cameroon.”

Mr Francis Nzante further said the institution had churned out professionals in wide and varied fields and in this manner had contributed enormously in the building of the Cameroonian nation. Considering that the rationale of the CPA was to encourage hard work, Performance and results Mr Francis Nzante said the story of the CPA would be incomplete if the efforts of National Polytechnic University Institute Bamenda remained unrecognised. 

Present to receive the Award were the Vice Chancellor Dr Christopher Akob, the proprietor Mr Yong Jaques, the Registrar Dr Aduh Francis Ngalla among other members of staff. 

Dr Christopher Akob on reception of the Award said “This is totally in line with the vision of the founder Pah Yong Francis which was to provide Cameroonians with the necessary skills to be able to procure jobs and create job opportunities. National Polytechnic University Institute Bamenda is proud to say that we are doing this to the best of our capacity. This Award has come to encourage us to continue working hard and to keep contributing towards the building of our country” Dr Akob said.

Dr Aduh Francis Ngalla on his part retrospectively said when the Cameroonian Government introduced University Reforms with an intention of decongesting the lone University of Yaounde at the time Pah Yong Francis seized the occasion and applied for the creation of the institution. 

Dr Aduh Francis Ngalla revealed that the institution was first authourised to offer Higher National Diplomas after two years of studies. Five years later, the institution was permitted to offer Bachelor Degrees under the mentorship of state Universities. National Polytechnic University Institute has through the years been working with the Universities of Buea and Dschang. Much more recently the institution signed partnership agreements with the University of Bamenda. The National Polytechnic University Institute Bamenda now offer Master Degree Programmes thanks to these MOUs signed with State Universities Dr Aduh Francis Ngalla explained.

He further intimated that in 2013 the Ministry of Higher Education classified National Polytechnic University Institute Bamenda as the best all round Private Higher Institution in Cameroon adding that just a year ago the institution was classified second best. “There is no doubt that Cameroon Performance Awards made the right choice” he said.

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Eulogy For Batonnier Tchakounte Patie Charles

 Yaounde, the 13th November 2020

(In The Form Of A Letter To Him),

FROM Senator/Barrister KEMENDE HENRY GAMSEY

Dear Learned Brother, Mr. President, Sir,

What really happened to you after you and I in your Bar office in Yaounde, drew some lessons from the passing-on of your Learned Brother and predecessor, Batonnier SAMA Francis ASANGA. This was after you had consoled me upon joining you at the club of orphans. I had not finished thanking you for the show of solidarity in that regard when you decided to exit the world of the living. One of the lessons we drew from SAMA’s death was that he was late in seeking medical attention and that by the time he seized the hospital, it was already too late. What then happened in your case such that you were rushed to France and died less than three days after? I would want to think that you were overtaken by work to an extent whereby you forgot about some of your supposedly delicate medical dispositions. No, No, Mr. President, you fell into the very trappings we analysed of Batonnier SAMA Francis and it would appear, from the look of things, that nobody is spared that temptation, for all of us most often forget we are made of flesh as opposed to iron, even though iron equally gets weak.

I had often told you personally that since joining us in the Bar Council (after you had stayed off for some time), I never for one minute regretted knowing you. Without waiting to praise you through an eulogy like this, I praised you in your face for your piercing and didactic contributions over every topic under discussion in the Bar Council. Proof of my appreciation of your intellectual wealth is when after specially inviting me for the Elective Bar General Assembly in Douala in 2018 that saw you elected Bar President, I put in all it took for that successful outing. I even supported some of your candidates I would never have supported but for my love for you in particular, and the Cameroon Bar at large, for I had withdrawn my candidature in a bid to concentrate on my debut of the Senate experience. Thereafter, even though I watched you from a distance (i. e. away from the Bar Council), your performance did not the least disappoint me. Until your untimely departure, your second mandate was a foregone conclusion. However, God the Almighty knows why he has called you home just when you were at your best.

Batonnier TCHAKOUTE, permit me hereby inform you of the aftermath of your departure in the life of the Cameroon Bar Association. To tell you how human being make meaning only when alive, shortly after news of your death covered the entire social media and other media landscapes and while the Cameroon Bar was still gripped in an atmosphere of disbelief, who to fill the vacancy created (both in the short and long terms) became the subject of discussion, some openly and others behind the scene. I hope you do not take offence hearing about this, even if it has to do with some of your hitherto closest associates. After all, you are quite conversant with our grassfield tradition that the throne is never left vacant and that meetings by Kingmakers for a new Chief multiply with each passing day. Never mind, for you shall hear more to your disbelief when the first witness shall personally meet you.

Batonnier, to conclude my short story of events after your demise, we are presently feeling what it takes to be professional orphans. You would not want to believe that the Courtroom at  Bonanjo – Douala; the official shrine of Justice; the pride and source of the Lawyers’ power; ‘caught fire’ in the night of the 10th December 2020 when your colleagues were teargased and others received bullet wounds. Our bereavement through your passing-on meant nothing to the Forces of Law and Order and the Authorities commanding their actions. The treatment that was earlier meted out to the Common Law Lawyers repeated itself before the Douala – Bonanjo Court of First Instance. From the streets and now into the Courtroom, there is no gainsaying the fact that our professional identification papers and windscreen stickers shall soon have no meaning. God forbid! 

Please, Batonnier TCHAKOUTE, intercede for us in order that the good Lord and Most High could save our world-cherished profession. You cannot imagine that everyday everybody in one way or the other, play the role of the Advocate but nobody wants to see the professional Advocate. This can only happen in Cameroon, a country of the ‘jamais vus’.  Let this incident not however, worry you a lot since you cannot return to do what you could have done in the circumstances. What I can tell you in order that your spirit can rest in peace is that unless some of us are taken off the scene, we shall not see the worst happen. Faced with the challenge of survival, the Lawyers are expected to sharpen their legal fighting skills, for that remains the only weapon they understand manipulating better. With you, Batonnier SAMA Francis and Batonnier Bernard MUNA on the other side, we are sure to succeed, God being our helper.

Without much ado and in order not to disturb your quiet and deserved rest, permit me end here by wishing you safe journey to the world of no return. We shall live to remember you as the Bar President who made a historic tour of the country in a bid to ensure continuity in the life of the Cameroon Bar Association. We now understand you bid us farewell as you moved from one Court of Appeal to the other, over-seeing the swearing-in of young colleagues.

ADIEU, ADIEU, Most Learned Batonnier, Our Bar President !!  You are FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS.

MAY YOUR SOUL REST IN PEACE !!

Yours truly

Senator/ Barrister Kemende Henry Gamsey

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38th Anniversary of President Paul Biya

 

Advantages of Special Status for the NW and SW Showcased

By Francis Ekongang Nzante

One of the highlights of the 38th Anniversary celebrations of  the ascension of President Paul Biya to power was the revisiting of the benefits of the Special Status accorded to the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon. Speaking during the anniversary celebrations in Bamenda, Minister Mbayu Felix said the Special  Status was going to take into consideration Language Specificity and Historical Heritage of the two English Speaking Regions. 

He also said following the Regional Elections on the 6th of December, the Regional Assembly will be made up of a House of Chiefs with 20 members and a House of Representatives made up of 70 members. This he said will enhance governance since decision making will be more collegial and more Democratic. Under these circumstances people will be more empowered to create development opportunities in the English Speaking Regions.

In the domain of education he said there will be the preservation of the specificities of Anglosaxon Education such as Curriculum Development, number of years in school amongst many other issues.

In the domain of Law he said the issue of language will be ironed out since hearings would strictly be carried out in the Language that locals could understand.

Importantly, Minister Felix Mbayu talked about the creation of a Public Independent Conciliator with the role of independently examining and solving conflicts that may exist between people and the system. Special Status minister Felix Mbayu said  “confirms our belonging to a nation.”

Talking about Decentralisation, an issue which ran through most of the speeches during the anniversary celebrations, Mbayu Felix said Cameroon was in the last Phase of the Decentralisation process which he said was it’s implementation.

Decentralisation was an effort to bring the Administration closer to the people he said adding that rules applicable to Councils had already been applied but not at the level of regions. This he said would take place after the Regional Elections in December.

Meantime, the message of the Chairman of the CPDM Central Committee Mr Jean Kwete akso focused on Decentralisation and it’s advantages. The message quintessentially presented Decentralisation as being synonymous to Local Development.

Though only a CPDM List will be present during the Regional elective exercise every militant was urged come to come out on voting day.

All voting it was explained would be done in Divisional Head Quarters. It was as such advised that preparations should begin immediately so  that there should be atleast a 90% participation rate.

Mayor Mbigha N Felix who is also YCDM President for Mezam I and Vice President of UCCC talking on behalf of the North West Mayors lauded the achievements of the party in the Northwest Region. He said out of the 35 councils in the region CPDM controlled 34. 

The NW he said had three key positions in the UCCC national body. His central message was that emphases should be laid on unity and that attention should be drawn to the fact that everything came only through elections.

The erstwhile Prime Minister Philemon Yang said the 38th Anniversary was a celebration of the past, present and future. “Our future can only be shaped by us. Despite the difficult circumstances successes were registered. Schools are going on and the Regional Elections are around the corner. We should never respect an institution that is not a product of our constitution” the PM further said.

Cameroon he said remained one and focused on the future. Stating that Cameroon like any other country in the world was not perfect, he said the nation building process was going on. 

The Special Status provision he said “will make us better governed. We will become more economically viable.”

Decentralisation he said meant that there was a government at the Municipal ,Regional and National levels. Everyone in this way participates in governing he said adding that this was a product of the 1996 constitution. He described it as “a rich constitution which gives us an opportunity to decentralise.”

He pleaded with militants to go out on the sixth of December to elect their fellow militants into the Regional Assembly. “Do not focus on the difficulties of the past. Focus on the future” he urged.

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CBC Education Secretary Receives Award for Good Performance, Hard work

The Education Secretary of the Cameroon Baptist Convention Education Department, Mr Nyanganji Job Indi has been recognized by the Cameroon Performance Award CPA as deserving of an award in recognition of his hardwork since he took office as Education Secretary. The Award Giving Authorities also took cognizance of the immeasurable contributions of the Cameroon Baptist Convention CBC towards the education of countless Cameroonians and the immense impact this has had on the development of Cameroon as a nation. 

  Presenting  Mr. Nyanganji Job Indi as a performer and a hard working individual, the National Coordinator of the Cameroon Performance Awards Mr Francis Nzante took the attentive audience through the years the deserving laureate served as principal in some Secondary Schools before eventually getting into the Adminstrative aspect of Baptist Education in Cameroon. 

Throughout his career, indelible signs of hardwork have been left in his wake as he moved on majestically the National Coordinator explained adding that Mr Nyanganji Job Indi took the office of CBC Education Secretary at the most challenging and turbulent moments in the History of the CBC Education Department.

In the heart of the Anglophone Crisis he sailed on putting in place the much acclaimed Sustainable Inclusive Education Programme SIEP. This unprecedented move saw the construction of a structure at the CBC School premises in Nkwen that took into consideration those people living with physical disabilities amongst other issues. 

Difficulties notwithstanding, the CBC Education Department under the stewardship of Nyanganji Job Indi built a state of the art primary school at Ndamukong Street in Bamenda.

While the Secondary Education Sector has seen the implantation of colleges in French Speaking Regions of the country, the indefatigable Nyanganji Job Indi is now eyeing the Higher Educational Sector, a domain hitherto untouched by the CBC Education Department.

Retrospectively, the National Coordinator of the Cameroon Performance Awards catalogued the top quality Secondary Schools that CBC Education Department had created in Cameroon from the earliest years of the existence of Cameroon as a nation. Some of the elite institutions mentioned included Saker Baptist College Victoria (now Limbe), Baptist Boys Secondary School BBSS Buea (now Baptist High School), Baptist High School Barombikang in Kumba, Joseph Merrick Baptist College Ndu, Baptist Teachers Training College Ndu amongst others.

On reception of the Award, the self effacing Nyanganji Job Indi dedicated it to his wife and colleagues who had supported him all through.

Conclusively, while Nyanganji Job Indi is a true symbol of Performance, hard work and results, the CBC Education Department which he heads has been the vehicle propulsing his ideas into concrete realizations.

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New President Insists AZICCUL Needs Changes to maintain its leading Position

 

By Francis E Nzante

Barrister Divine Nde Momulluh, the newly elected President of the Azire Cooperative Credit Union has declared that changes have to be made in the modus operandi of the institution if the structure has to maintain its leading position in the Credit Union Landscape in Cameroon. He was speaking during the Annual General Meeting AGM on Saturday the 31st of October at the Ntamulung Presbyterian Church Hall in Bamenda shortly after a landslide victory that saw him being elected as the youngest President ever of the huge Cooperative Credit Union. 

Speaking to the media after the elective exercise he said “I feel fulfilled. It’s been a long journey. It’s a dream come true and I want to say history has been made today the in Azire Cooperative Credit Union. I want to thank everyone that actually put their hands behind me to see that this dream actually comes true. I want to thank even those who did not vote for me. You know that’s democracy.”

Questioned on whether he was going to bring in revolutionary changes he answered in the negative stating that changes were going to come but that these changes could not be described as revolutionary. Hear him, “I don’t want to say revolution for it’s a very hard word to use but there are going to be changes. Laws are changing everyday and so we are supposed to adapt to the system. You should look 20 years down the road so that you should not become  trapped in a circle that will put you in difficulties. We will make changes but we can’t describe them as a revolutionary.”

Insisting that change was unavoidable he said from the beginning people may see it as revolutionary but eventually they would come to realize that for AZICCUL to maintain it’s leadership position changes will have to take place. “I want to promise them that at the end of the day, we are actually going to enjoy the Credit Union that was built by our fathers and grand fathers.”

Drawing attention to the fact that he was the son of one of the best managers in the history of AZICCUL, he said he was also going to work really hard to make sure that an indelible mark was left by his reign.

In this race for the Presidency, four candidates were involved. They included Rev. Njeh Mutanga Joseph, the erstwhile Vice President, Barrister Divine Nde Momulluh, Mr Nji Sivan Tanny and Dr Asanga CA. Out of the about 1800 votes that were cast, Barrister Divine Momulluh in a landslide victory bagged 1065 votes. 

Another elective exercise that took place was that of the post of Vice President and the election of members into the Women's Committee.  In the race for the post of Vice President, Mrs Sonatas emmerged victorious with 708 votes. She was tailed by Mr Mumbai with 468 votes while Rev Mutanga tailed the queue with 383 votes. Madame Comfort Banyong was elected as the new Chair Lady of the Women's Committee. Following her election she said she was going to continue working on what the previous Chairlady had done over the years. The duty of the Women’s Committee she said was to sensitise and bring in more members into the credit union. She promised to put in all her efforts alongside all the members of the committee to make sure that set goals were met with.

Despite the tense atmosphere that reigned during the AGM that was brought to bear on the occasion by the threat that some candidates were going to be eliminated because they had been found guilty of breaking the rules that restricted them from carrying out campaigns, everything eventually went on smoothly. 

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