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.

Edev Newspaper

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