Battle to save academic year in Cameroon

Government secures Pyrrhic victory!

Tens of thousands overcame fear to sit GCE, Common Entrance and FSLC exams but debate rages on credibility of certificates to be issued by the GCE Board now having a battered image

The Cameroon government has scored an important victory in organizing end-of-course exams in the North West and South West regions, mired in crisis since November 2016. Tens of thousands of candidates were able to overcome fear and sit the GCE and First School Leaving Certificate exams last week, under the watchful eyes of the ministries of basic and secondary education who went visiting to take the pulse of the exercise.

But this victory remains tainted by the credibility test to be faced by successful candidates in the coming months. Perhaps the biggest casualty in the battle is the GCE Board. The structure which was obtained after a sustained fight by Anglophone parents and teachers in 1993 has emerged badly bruised as it has now lost its independence to the ministry of secondary education. It remains open to dispute if the results to be released by the structure will stand muster.

What is more, proponents of a boycott of the exams had argued that the certificates would not be validated by UNESCO, but the resident representative of the body in Cameroon had ruled out any interference by the UN ancillary organ in exams organized by member countries.

The bigger question is what happens to pupils and students of classes in North West and South West schools not concerned with end-of-course exams. Do they gain automatic promotion to the next class? If that is decreed for public schools, will mission and private schools noted for their rigour and discipline sacrifice performance on the altar of mediocrity? There-in lies the dilemma of education stakeholders.

 Culled from The Horizon Newspaper

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Cameroon Episcopal Conference Declares that Bishop Benoit Bala was brutally assasinated

While the fact-finding team put in place by the judiciary to investigate the mysterious departure of the Bishop of Bafia, His Lordship Jean Marie Benoit BALA, is yet to come out with its report,The Episcopal Conference of Cameroon has rushed to declare that the late Prelate of Bafia Diocese did not commit suicide but was brutally assassinated.

   The declaration was made at a Press Conference organised by the Episcopal conference of Cameron at their headquarters in Mvolye, Yaounde on the 14^th June 2017 at the end of an emergency plenary session.

   In a declaration signed by Mgr Samuel Kleda, president of the NECC, the happenings observed from 31^st May 2017 when the Bishop’s car was found poorly parked on the bridge over river Sanaga at Ebebda, till the recovery of his corpse two days after are recounted.

 Memories of the unexplained deaths of His Grace, Yves Plumey Archbishop of Ngoundere in 1991; Rev Father Joseph MBASSI, in Yaounde in 1988; Rev Father Anthony FONTEGH, in Kumbo Diocese in 1990; the Rev. Sisters in Djoum in 1992; Father Engelbert MVENG, in Yaounde in 1995 and many others were enough for the Episcopal conference to think that the clergy in Cameroon are under attack by  obscure and devilish forces.

Kleda wished better results would be obtained from the ongoing investigations. He however said that if at any point in time they are not convinced with the results obtained on what or who killed His Lord Ship Jean Benoit, they would take alternative measures to get pure results.

  The Episcopal Conference, however, prayed for the conversion of murderers. It urged press men and women to be responsible in circulating information, and thanked those who contributed in the search of the lifeless body of the prelate.

Kleda called on the Christian faithful to go by the Gospel of John in Chapter 16:13 which reads: “Be Courageous; Christ has conquered the world”.

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Barrister Sama Francis's Controversial stance on Anglophone Lawyers strike criticised

The former president of the Cameroon Bar Council, Barrister Sama Francis has come under strong criticism over statements he made on court resumption.

In statements made to The Post Newspaper and relayed by other newspapers, Barrister Sama said he had decided to resume work because the government had made a lot of concessions to the Common Law Lawyers and appointed many Anglophone magistrates to important positions in the judiciary.

Barrister Sama Francis

The statements appeared to have touched a raw nerve, causing members of the outlawed consortium to demand an apology from him or tender a disclaimer to the Anglophones for allegedly saying that he was ready to resume work.

In a statement,they said “We are maintaining that Barrister Sama is a traitor until we receive a disclaimer from him. Some of his family members have contacted us to indicate he is not. Until we have a signed disclaimer we shall continue to maintain that stand. We wrote that he is a traitor and we have the facts.

“Once we receive the video we will also publish it!!! He has the right to change his position as an individual or a member of the Southern Cameroons Bar Council. Let those of them that have benefited from the system be very careful. Why has he not been arrested? Of course La Republique cannot arrest everybody.”

Meanwhile speaking to Cameroon News Agency, Barrister Sama Francis said people misinterpreted his interview with The Post Newspaper and asked that the news organ could do a rejoinder.

Threats on his life have been made and the banned consortium insists that he made the statements. “Should Barrister Sama disagree with The Post, he is a learned Barrister, we expected him to issue a signed response or disclaimer so that we can be sure. The Post Newspaper will thereafter publish his disclaimer and apologize officially for the misleading caption.

As of now, we take it to mean that Barrister Sama has decided to stand against the people of Southern Cameroons. A position which comes with consequences now or in the future.”

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Ngoketunja gives a special touch to International Music Day

While the International Music Day was cellebrated across the National territory on Wednesday, June 21, the Divisional Delegation of Arts and Culture in Ngoketunja under the masterful guidance of the new and maiden Divisional Delegate Nkwenty Ngwei Sylvia gave the event a special touch by organising the biggest assemblage of artists from Ngoketunja in a grand cultural event that attracted the movers and shakers of the Northwest Region on Saturday June 24 at the Ndop Community Hall.

Nkwenty Ngwei Sylvia (Center), Olinga Parfait, and Deputy Mayor for Ndop

Harping on the North West Regional theme of this year’s International Music Day « Music, factor for the consolidation of peace », the Divisional Delegate of Arts and Culture for Ngoketunja said Music was an assembling factor that brings together people from different ethnic and  cultural backgrounds and that the unifying force of music and its potential to enhance peace could not be over emphasised.

The grand music concert she said was intended to promote artists from Ngoketunja Division. She said it was the beginning of a new era which would see a closer collaboration between the Ministry of Arts and Culture and artists from the Division. Ngokentunja she further said is culturally very rich and colourful and coupled with the warm and welcoming nature of the people she believed her aspirations for the Division within the domain of arts and culture would be achieved.

The artistic and musical presentations ranged from short dramatic sketches mostly focusing on peace and social realities, to urban, regea, traditional and gospel music. The music presentations were colourful, lively, rich, diverse and cutting across the country notwithstanding the Ngoketunja origin of the artists.

According to Nkwenty Ngwei Sylvia, the occasion was successfully organised thanks to support from some elites among whom she named H. E. Professor Ghogomu Paul, Honourable Njingum Musa, Honourable Emmanuel Yoyo, Professor Uphie Melo and Moh Sylvester as well as other structures and institutions like Nexttel, Upper Noun Valley Development Authority UNVDA, Heritage Hotel, Maf Construction and Next Day Embroidery.

The unprecedented event brought Ngoketunja artists from all over the country and successfully attracted curious crowds that thronged the Ndop Community Hall to full capacity. The occasion was equally graced by  the presence of Olinga Parfait, the Northwest Regional Delegate for Arts and Culture as well as the Regional Delegate for Communication. Traditional rulers, local administrators and elites from in and out of Ndop also made their presence felt.  

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“Political” GCE written in Cameroon?

Main Opposition Party says exam is a farce but CPDM MP says the exam is credible because only those who prepared will pass.

The written part of the GCE Ordinary and Advanced Level is being written nationwide, amidst calls for boycott by Anglophone activists.

While government says it has taken security measures to ensure hitch-free exams, a debate is brewing on its credibility.

The opening of the June Session of Parliament last week provided an opportunity for some parliamentarians to speak out on the exams. Taking the cue from House Speaker, Cavaye Yeguie Djibril who hailed the technical ministries for the successful organisation of the end-of-course, thus averting a blank academic year wished by saboteurs, two MPs sparred on the credibility of the exams.

Hon. Chief Paul Nji Tumasang, SDF MP for the Santa Special Constituency, told journalists that the exams would be a farce, given that students studied just for two out of the eight months earmarked for the 2017 academic year. He said the exams were only being organized for political ends, regretting that credibility had been sacrificed on the altar of political expediency.

But countering that opinion, Hon Ikome Gladys Etombi, CPDM Deputy for Fako East and Muyuka Constituency, said the exams would be credible and would reward those who made an effort to prepare for them. She said the results of the Common Entrance in which only hardworking pupils passed spoke volumes about the rigidity of the grading.

“Any child who would pass that exam warrants to pass. The grading of the exam is not going to be sacrificed for anything sake. It is people who are ready for the exams who were expected to sit them. And so the children who sacrificed despite the odds, are going to gain from writing the exams. You can see from the Common Entrance exams that those who were not prepared didn’t write. Those who thought they were prepared wrote but didn’t pass. The grading was done to keep the standard of the exams. It was not traded for anythings sake.”

Hon. Ikome who is an educationist urged parents to send their children to school because education is worth more than silver and gold.

“I just want to encourage those not writing their exams and their parents to know that education is the best thing you can give to your child. It is not the wealth you amass and leave for them. When September comes they should send them to school so that they could be part of this train which is moving forward”.

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