“SDF is coming back strong to win lost ground and move further”

-Akere Divine Achu

Prince Akere Divine Achu is a Microsoft certified systems engineer with about 15 years of experience and a web designer both in the United States and in Cameroon. His educational background took him through the Cameroon Protestant College Bali, Lycee Bilingue Molyko Buea and eventually to the US for University studies where he enrolled at the University of California. This coupled with a family of politicians such as erstwhile Prime Minister and now Senator Achidi Achu and former Governor Achu of the East Region as well as his recent election as a ward chairman in Ntaghem II Ward II pushed this reporter to get his feel on recent trends in the SDF Party from a fresh perspective.  Among other things, he states that SDF is coming back strong to win lost ground and move further. It constitutes an exciting interview. Read on.

What role do you play in the SDF and how did your political route in the party begin?

I have been an active member of the SDF for more than 15 years now. I joined the party officially in 1997 when I was in California in the United States so I have been active since then. I just got elected. You know the party is going through a total reorganization of the basic organs going up through the ranks all the way to the National Executive Committee which will be renewed as well during the 2017 convention which is planned for Bamenda. Through this reorganization process I became Ward Chairman for Ntaghem II Ward II.

Many people are of the feeling that from the early 1990’s up to its peak in 1992 when the SDF reportedly won the Presidential Elections, the party has since then been on a decline in its popularity. How true do you think this is?  
  

I will beg to differ a little bit on that. I believe the SDF is still on its peak. It’s a process you know. We sometimes say that progress is progressive. The election results of late may not reflect that but we are still the most popular political party in this country. This is because the message of change of Social Democracy which is equal opportunity for all is still strong. We still need that change more than ever before.

What do you think is the best prescription for Cameroon at a time when Cameroonians are clamouring for Federalism and the government in place doesn’t seem to be doing enough?

That’s indeed a very critical question. The very structure of our country itself has to be revisited because if you look back at our history we got into a union under the principle of a federal system. Somewhere down the line, we found ourselves in a unitary constitution which they call a unitary decentralized state. It’s a little contradictory when you talk of a unitary decentralized state. That’s why we stand for a federal state because we believe that it is the best system for a multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic and a multi-historical nation like ours. Most of the former French Colonies in Africa are going with a certain mantra of De Gaulle who said that federalism is secession. We can have a good federal structure that maintains our unity still as one strong nation. We are not for breaking up as such. SDF intends to build a stronger country more united under a federal structure that takes into consideration regional characters.

Some people are of the feeling that when you are Chairman you can then let go the position of candidate for the Presidency of the Republic and that such a move will render more credibility to the democratic nature of the party. How do you look at this?

Permit me to use this opportunity to re affirm my absolute support for the National Chairman of the Party Ni John Fru Ndi and the current leadership of the party. The party has gone through trying times but we’ve always come back stronger. Of course when a party is going through a total reorganization of its organs, there are bound to be new people coming in. We are sort of being reborn with new blood coming in. We are coming back strong because we intend to take back grounds lost and even move further. You know we’ve decided that we are going to stay engaged in the political process peacefully through elections and otherwise but that does not mean that we believe that we have a level playing field.

What do you think about ELECAM?

Results that we obtain now do not necessarily reflect the will of the people. That’s why we have been pushing the Government to make certain amendments in ELECAM you know to make it more independent. What we really needed was an independent electoral commission. For the meantime if we can push for amendments in ELECAM to level up the playing field somehow that will still be progress.

Any last message?  
  

I want to tell my fellow compatriots that we are a great nation that’s why we are all working together irrespective of party differences. Political differences are just differences of opinion and belief sometimes. It is not enmity or anything like that. We are all brothers in a great country with lots of potentials. We really could do much better.   

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“Fru Ndi is formidable but I think I can beat him at the Primaries in SDF”

-By Felix Teche Nyamusa, SDF 2018 Presidential candidate, pending primaries.

What is the inspiration behind your newly published book?

I have come up with my book Effective Democratic Succession in Cameroon–The Ideology Neighbourhood/works of Felix Teche Nyamusa. I am talking about Good Governance and succession in Cameroon in 2018 particularly as I am candidate. In the context of Cameroon where it is a one-man-show and where there is no separation of powers, I am not only going in for a scrap of ELECAM which is a CPDM installed outfit with majority CPDM personnel especially at the high level. I am talking of separation of powers right now before we get anywhere close to the elections. I will not only wait for ELECAM to be revamped. There must be separation of powers because it is a one-man-show. Biya uses his executive and usurps the powers of the legislature by appointing senators and rigging elections to get parliamentarians elected. He always has majority and he goes into the country’s coffers and gets money from there and indebts the country to carry out the activities of his party. 35 years in power is too much especially for a President that is not performant. We should take a look at other African Democracies that are succeeding like in Nigeria, Burkina Fasso and South Africa. We get to the last resort which is the Cameroon Constitution which has to be ratified by international agreement since Cameroon has signed with other international charters that Cameroon is a signatory. Once a leader decides not to listen to a majority of his people, these people take to the last resort and the last resort will be sustained efforts to send away such leaders using whatever means possible. 

How does your book define “whatever means possible” as you just said?

A while ago, the regime came up with a law on terrorism that was trying to intimidate Cameroonians. I think we are too smart and above such things. If a people stand up and say the electoral laws are bad, that they don’t have good roads and that their educational system is nothing to write home about you can’t refer to that as terrorism. If the people condemn the fact that ELECAM which is the only electoral body has its members and most of its highly placed personnel appointed by one party which is itself participating in the elections it is not terrorism. I think that there comes a time when people will stand up against all of this. In 1992, the coalition of opposition parties won elections with the SDF candidate Ni John Fru Ndi as leader. I think that one of the ways forward is a coalition. That’s what I am working for and that’s what other countries have done. Once we stand up, it will be a sustained struggle by the coalition. Apart from there being a one man show in Cameroon, the history of the country shows that it is made up of two historical entities. In my manifesto I pledge if I become President that I will reinstall what the forebears of this country had proposed at reunification which is a Federal United Republic of Cameroon of two equal states. It harms nobody. That’s the manifesto I will put forward and I will tell my people to stand up for that manifesto.

If it means that we will stand like we did in the early nineties which culminated with our success in 1992 we should do that and sustain it. 

Can you touch on some of the key issues highlighted in your publication?

The key issue is that the law on terrorism does not baffle any other person so long as we are doing the correct thing. The key issue is that if a people like other countries have driven away dictators, then we can do it in Cameroon. We are talking of Good Governance and nothing else. The regime in place should put in the structures and if they are acceptable, we will go in for the elections. But if things are done the way they have been doing it, then they will be inviting war and I and other well meaning Cameroonians are ready to lead. I am ready to lead the Democratic Standoff using the last resort which is specified in our constitution. It is specified within international organisations like the International Human Rights Chatter. Cameroon is a signatory to this and it is embedded in our constitution.

I am calling on the youths get in and all Cameroonians to get on board by registering so that we start from the primaries. I know John Fru Ndi may be a candidate and a strong one at that and any other person may come within the party and within Cameroon but I think that I can beat Fru Ndi at the primaries in SDF and I am inviting Cameroonians to register in the SDF and on the National Electoral Register if they want change. If they consider my manifesto and give me that vote things will move forward. I think I have what it takes when you look at the SDF revolutions of the early 1990’s and earlier on. Cameroonians have the potentials. The youths should get involved so that we begin the struggle at the primaries. If the youth want change, let them get registered. The party militants should be active and participate at the level of the primaries and eventually also register on the National Electoral list.

How is your book structured and when exactly are you launching it?

The book is structured in chapters. I look at the various addresses of the Head of State, I look at the addresses of my party chairman, I point out the failings of our party, I propose an amendment of the SDF Constitution to separate the Chairman from the Presidential candidate. We are not blocking anybody. Nobody is saying that this candidate or that one should not run. 

In a Democracy, you cannot be the Chairman of a Party and the Presidential candidate. Being both chairman and presidential candidate is intimidating to some candidates who will feel that if they don’t vote for you and they lose there will be victimization. I have equally proposed that all the grievances of the various Secretary Generals of the party that have resigned should be looked into at the Convention. That’s how we start because we have to go to equity with clean hands. The book equally looks at Cameroon and where it has been failing. I look at how Cameroonians are streaming out of the country for “greener pastures”. I have also looked at the Anglophone question. I have sent congratulatory messages to other struggling democracies who are making head ways like Burkina Fasso, Nigeria. The book touches everything. In about three weeks the date for the book launch will be specified. We plan to go round the country and the Diaspora where ever there are Cameroonians. This book will equally be useful to CPDM progressives and other Cameroonians of all works of life.

          

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“Issues tilting towards ethics and morals downplay the technical quality of doctors’ work in Cameroon”

Dr. Kinge Thompson Njie

-Director of the Bamenda Regional Hospital

The President of the Republic recognised you through the award of the medal of the Knight of Cameroon Order of Valour recently but we want to know the first steps of the person who has grown to become such a huge medical personality.

I have been a Medical Doctor since 1987. I am a medical Doctor specialized in Infectious diseases and I have been doing just what I think I have to do. Administratively I have headed the Regional Hospital in Limbe and now Bamenda for the past two and half years. Through the years I have been doing just what I think is normal for me to do. I have led a team of wonderful doctors and nurses who accepted to share the vision that I have for this hospital. Of course this vision is not my creation. It has been born from the instructions of the Honourable Minister of Public Health His Excellency Andre Mama Fouda who insists on quality Health Care. Within that context I have been able to come up with a Situational Analyses for this hospital and we have been working hand in hand not expecting that we will have this kind of recognition. It is a pleasant surprise and we were not expecting it. It has come and it is to tell everyone that when we concentrate just on what we have to do it is seen from afar and the recognition we have had is motivational to all of us and it should be with that kind of mind set that people must work. 

Somebody like you who has touched the two key hospitals in English speaking Cameroon; that is the Limbe and the Bamenda Regional Hospitals is certainly in a position provide an expert opinion on the general quality of health services in Cameroon generally speaking and in English speaking Cameroon specifically.

There has been one issue coming on and on. Technically, doctors and nurses are doing their work in all hospitals in Cameroon. There are issues which are non-medical tilting towards ethics and morals which now down play the technical quality of work that the doctors and nurses are doing. Some of these issues are the lack of communication. Medical personnel do not communicate enough with patients and their relatives and do not even communicate enough within themselves. There are issues of non-respect of human rights, downplaying the dignity of patients and their relatives when they come to the hospitals and these are non-medical issues. These are responsible for almost 90% of the complains we get from hospitals. After the recent scandals we had from hospitals and the stand the Minister of Public Health have taken and all the instructions given down to all hospitals to be highly organised and to pay a lot of attention to issues like the quality of reception given to our patients I think a lot of things are going to change. When we encourage parent welfare, side by side with the good technical work that we are doing a lot is going to change for the better of all Cameroonians.

How optimistic are you with the direction Cameroon is taking in the domain of health?

Cameroon is doing great. We are even spoilt. When you look at what the Cameroon Government is doing so that her citizens remain healthy, especially through Government hospitals and at the same time we are blaming the government for being organised to put in place a social security system which of course would have only come to give support and assistance to the Government. Consultation fees in all Government Hospitals have remained at FCFA 600. Tell me where else in the world do you have to see a doctor for a fee of just FCFA 600? I am not saying that we are not also having corrupt practices in these hospitals but a corrupt practice is a corrupt practice and the government has condemned all these practices. If any doctor or nurse is taking more than FCFA 600 for consultation especially when you have to see a General Practioner, then such should take that responsibility for it is not government’s responsibility. We are in the right direction but perhaps we are a little bit slow. I blame the government for spoiling us. In other places people are paying and when they pay, the social system is put in place. You always have two sides of the coin in every situation and decision. So perhaps this is the time that the government should be thinking of dropping off all the subsidies to Government Hospitals and looking in the direction of putting up a social security system where everybody pays and it will take care of bills in the different hospitals. I think we are doing well but it is always good to have a good look before you leap. I think this is the situation with Government.  

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N.W. Movers and shakers join Director of Bamenda Regional Hospital to celebrate knighthood

On Saturday June 18 2016, every road in Bamenda led to Azam Hotel as the movers and shakers of the North West Region converged in the Banquet Hall of this hotel on Bali Road to join Dr, Kingue Thompson, the director of the Bamenda Regional Hospital in celebrating his recent reception of the Knight of National Order of Valour during the May 20^th celebrations commemorating the National Day of Cameroon.

Rev. Dr. Festus Asana, the Moderator Emeritus of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon in his capacity as the Chairman of the occasion said the recognition of Dr. Kingue by the President of the Republic of Cameroon to give him that honour of the Knight of the Order of Valour was a result of long years of hard work on the part of the Medical Doctor. Referring to the time when Dr. Kingue Thompson was the Director of the Limbe Regional Hospital, the Right Reverend Dr. Asana Festus said while visiting the Limbe Regional Hospital at the time he noted the stamp of a disciplined director. He mentioned among other things the neatness of the hospital, the precise labeling system and the general organisation of the hospital. This spirit of hard work and discipline he said had certainly been moved to the Bamenda Regional Hospital with the transfer of Dr. Kingue Thompson to the North West Region.

Dr. Kingue Thompson, Director of the Bamenda Regional Hospital

The Secretary General at the North West Governor’s Office called on Dr. Kingue to double his efforts and accompany the Head of State President Paul Biya towards achieving his goal of emergence in 2035. He said the President of the Republic doesn’t necessarily chose only from among the bosses for the award of the medal of Knight for the Cameroon Order of Valour. The Director of the Bamenda Regional Hospital he said now belonged to a special class of Cameroonians valued for what they have put in.

Dr. Kingue Thompson on his part said he wished this medal was a cake that he could cut into bits and share to each and everyone present. He equally seized the opportunity to thank all the hospital workers who had collaborated with him to produce the results that had made it possible for him to receive such an award. He equally thanked all the religious whose prayers he said had contributed to the successful work at the Bamenda Regional Hospital. Thanking the contingent that had come up from Limbe, he went ahead to congratulate the media for the wonderful work they have been doing.

HRH Molive Mulungu Otto, Chief of Batoke and President of Limbe Chiefs’ Conference cum Public Relations Officer of Pan African Council of Traditional Authorities said “what I witnessed here today makes me feel proud for the Director of the Regional Hospital Bamenda Dr. Kingue Thompson. It shows that there are people we still have to rely on. What he has been doing was certainly being watched and I think the medal awarded to him by the Head of State is not a mistake. Dr. Kingue is somebody who has been working for quite a long time and in Limbe we saw how he changed the face of the Regional Hospital in Limbe. Now in Bamenda he is doing it so I think this is somebody who deserves an award. I seize this opportunity to tell my people that hard work pays and that those who are in services should do it whole heartedly so that they too may be awarded. I thank the Head of State through the Governor of the North West Region for choosing Dr. Kingue Thompson for such a prestigious award. That makes us the Fako people to feel proud.” 

HRH Chief Molive Mulungu Otto of Batoke

Equally present at the occasion were Makoge Ivo, the Inspector General at the NW Governor’s Office, the Attorney General of the Bamenda High Court, The Regional Delegate of Health for the North West Region, Colonel Agha Robinson, Commander of the 22^nd Infantry Battalion and the erstwhile Government Delegate to the Bamenda City Council Albert Nde amongst many other guests. 

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