Cameroon Population based HIV impact assessment launched in NW

The Cameroon population based HIV Impact Assessment; CAMPHIA has been launched in Bamenda. This took place on Thursday August 17,2017 at the Bamenda Regional Hospital under the auspices of the Governor of the North West Region represented at the event  by Harry Lanyuy, Secretary General at the NW Governor’s Office.

Harry Lanyuy in keynote address

Speaking on behalf of Governor Adolfe Lele L’Afrique the Secretary General said the fight against HIV AIDS was of top priority in Government Policy. Latest data which dates way back in 2011 was becoming out dated and needed updating he said adding that this was indispensable for the regulation of policy at the Ministry of Public Health. Harry Lanyuy further said that the initiative was being carried out by the National Institute of Statistics and the Ministry of Public Health. Results of the survey he said would help to ascertain progress made and reference indicators. The Secretary General said by 2020, 90% of people living with HIV should have known their status.

The North West Regional Delegate of Public Health Dr. Manjo Matilda stated that the Regional launch of CAMPHIA was geared towards filling information gaps that were needed to help policy on HIV. She said it would help direct resources to effectively fight the spread of HIV. She said the Community Mobilisation network put in place will help boost participation. Sample collectors she said will link up with activated treatment centers to ensure that effective care is taken of infected cases. She said for this to succeed the support of all competent authorities and collaboration of the population was needed.  

Fotue Sebastien, the Regional Coordinator of the National Institute of Statistics for the North West Region said with the regional launch of this assessment programme teams would be immediately sent into the field.. He said before teams actively go to work, advance groups will carry out sensitization programmes in the field to prepare the population for the exercise ahead. The teams he said were made up of well trained lab technicians and other personnel equipped with all the tools necessary for the task ahead. Blood samples collected will be tested of HIV and then subsequently tested for other secondary infections in chosen laboratories he explained.

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“North West Region occupies second position in Beef Cattle in Cameroon”

 - Regional Delegate for Livestock and Fishery, NW

Dr. Atanga Heinendez, the Regional Delegate for Livestock and Fishery in the North West has said the Region now occupies the second position in Cameroon in the domain of Beef Cattle. This fact was disclosed recently in a press briefing in his Bamenda office in the wake of the launch of the annual mass vaccination programme in the Region. 

Dr. Atanga Heinendez

The Region he said had over 500.000 cattle and that thanks to the Heifer project the Region had the highest daily production. He further said that in Poultry the NW Region was in second position after the West Region which occupies first position in the country. Every Division in the Region he said had its own specifics. “When you talk of cattle then its Donga Mantung, Bui and Boyo Divisions. When you talk of poultry and pigs then its Mezam and Ngoketunjia. In Aqua culture we are a little behind but we are doing well and this activity is concentrated around Mezam, Boyo and Ngoketunjia. When we talk of fish harvest it is of course Ngoketunjia with the Bambalang fish.”

The Ministry he said, first of all had the moral obligation of making sure that good quality meat was available to the people. The Delegate put it forth in the following manner: “To realise its objectives the Ministry has put in place extension services. For continuous training, projects are regularly put in place like ACEFA to follow up the farmers designed production process. We also have PNVIA which permits farmers to be taught modern techniques of production. The most recent that we have is LIFIDEP; Livestock and Fishery Development Project which is funded by the Islamic Development Bank. This project provides infrastructure and other accessories to make sure that Livestock and Fishery activities in the North West are at their utmost.

Furthermore he said annual mass vaccination was another initiative subsidized by the Government to make vaccines available at highly subsidized rates. Traditional practices he said do not permit for maximum production so the government has production farms at Kounden in the West Region which are specialised Livestock Stations for pigs from where highly improved grades of pigs are churned out for farmers. At 6 months, these improved species can weigh a hundred Kilograms.

On a positive note the Regional Delegate said he could not say that he was satisfied with success so far achieved because success is a journey. “We are on the right track getting there though we are not yet there. "The Ministry has put in place so many things for the population of the North West Region to benefit from. We have the veterinary School in Jakiri that trains technicians. We have the AFOP Programme and Training Centre at Ku-Bome in Mbengwi; an Aqua Culture Station used for the training of youths. There is the Nazareth Centre in Bamenda and the PRTC Nfonta, Bambui in the Tubah Municipality. Those graduating write projects and these projects are funded to help them settle.” 

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Time for Cameroonians to move to the last resort to get things done.

- Felix Teche Nyamusa,    SDF Presidential hopeful

On the heels of the just ended National Executive Committee Meeting of the Social Democratic Front SDF in Bamenda, Felix Teche Nyamusa an aspirant for the post of National Chairman and Presidential hopeful for the SDF party has declared that it is time for Cameroonians to move to the last resort in order to get things done. He said continuously calling on President Paul Biya to assume his duties or to resign has not been yielding results. The party he said needed new impetus and a completely fresh approach for things to happen. He was interviewed by Francis Ekongang Nzante. He begins by talking about what he thinks the party should be doing in the build up to the National Elective Convention.  

Teche Nyamusa Felix

The party has already done something though what has been done is still very superficial. The National Executive Committee has talked on a number of things concerning the Anglophone crises and taken a very good stance on the crises giving conditions for dialogue which I think is meaningful. The problem in Cameroon is beyond the crises in the Anglophone set up. The Anglophone Crises no doubt constitute a great part which can result in the split of contemporary Cameroon. As a party we could put in place measures that can conveniently address the Anglophone problem and also solve problems that Cameroonians as a whole are going through. The Party put a date for the Convention from the 25^th to the 28^th of October and asked militants to pay party dues in preparation for the convention which is good. I however think that the party should do much more than just call on the Biya Regime. The Anglophone leaders have been doing more than just calling on President Paul Biya to make sure that the lives of English Speaking Cameroonians is improved upon. They are seeking the right to self determination and I think the problem can   be solved through Good Governance. As a party, the Social Democratic Front has not done anything to make sure that ELECAM which is a CPDM creation is scrapped. It is ELECAM which is a CPDM thing that is going to conduct the elections and proclaim the results. The teachers and Lawyers went on strike and these are political weapons that can be used. We cannot spend our time calling on Biya to do this or that. We should borrow a leaf from what the teachers and Lawyers have done. It is constitutionally provided that when a people talk to their leaders for a longtime to change and they don’t then they should move to the last resort to get things done. The last resort is the resistance that will get things done like the Lawyers and Teachers have done. It is time for Cameroonians to move to the last resort to get things done.

Don’t you think some of the changes Anglophones are clamouring for have been met with?   

The changes made are superficial and not far reaching; that’s why Anglophones have persisted in their resistance. There are more things to be done which the Anglophones believe is constitutional. The best way to convince English Speaking Cameroonians is to show them that when Nyamusa comes to power Good governance will be guaranteed. The absence of Good Governance is at the core of the matter.

What is Teche Nyamusa proposing?

My manifesto is based on a Two State Federation unlike the Four State Federation that Fru Ndi is brandishing which is unfair to the Anglophones considering the conditions under which they came into this union. They came into a Two State Federation which is Bilingual, Bijural and Bicultural. Many years after, you cannot be talking about the Anglophones having a smaller population. A two state federation simply means everybody will be considered as an equal. Today the Anglophone thinks that he is considered a third class citizen and not even a second class. As we cruise towards the Presidential Elections, I think the party at the level of NEC has not yet addressed the issue.

There are supposed to be primaries at the base in the Wards and Districts before a National Elective Conference. Using your District as an example, how are things going?

There you come again. The party has not done anything in that direction. The National Elective Convention was postponed but the party constitution talks of primaries even at the level of the Wards to the Districts and the Regions before the Convention. This has not been done and where it has been done it has not been publicly proclaimed. The SDF is not a private outfit but the people’s last hope. It was not clearly stated during the last NEC that since the elective convention had been slated for October, this is how primaries were going to be handled. For example; stating clearly that for the position of Chairman these were the number of candidates vying for the post on the national territory. If we don’t involve the people, we will not also get them to vote. The people know that under the present circumstances CPDM will always win so they need to see new impetus and new strategies being put in place.

There is this educational blockage and September is just around the corner. What do you think has to be done? Students in the English Speaking Regions of the country have peculiar problems but it seems they will just be pushed to school like the rest who went to school last academic year.

The government has put September 4 as the date for school resumption. Some months ago I made a suggestion. In a two state federation states are different and have different Laws that are shaped by specific realities. This means that the English speaking kids must not necessarily go to school on the same date with French speaking pupils. The English speaking Cameroonians and French Cameroonians should come up with specific proposals that tie with their cultures that will facilitate employment for graduates after they leave school. Government has refused to dialogue with the teachers so if they say they are starting in January well so be it. You don’t ask somebody who is idling in Yaounde for autonomy, you go for it. Take the case of Bantu Education that was introduced to black communities in South Africa while white kids received circular education. Blacks rejected this and after a year of strike created an educational system rooted in their culture. This directly resulted in change in the country and the fight against apartheid that culminated into present day South Africa. The Anglophones should come out with a blue print of their educational proposal and on time. They should implement it and people will go for it. It will be outrageous for any soldier to come to a school and see children learning and spray bullets on them. The Anglophones have the man power to draw curriculums and run the schools and there are private schools to implement it. There are teachers who for a start can volunteer to teach for free if need be. In a Federal State, the Federal government will eventually have the means of paying them.''

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Music and Dance Heritage Festival overshadows authors’ rights crisis

The Music and Dance Heritage Festival organized by the Ministry of Arts and Culture (MINAC) under the initiative of Professor Narcisse MOUELLE KOMBI, by virtue of its resounding success made itself the greatest cultural event in Cameroon recently.

The success of the occasion that brought in over 200 groups drawn from the four geographical cultural zones in the country virtually drowned the authors’ rights crisis that has led to the prolongation of the misery of musicians.

Mankon Palace Dance

 It was on Wednesday the 2^ndAugust 2017 that the Prime Minister, Head of government, Philemon Yang pronounced “I declare open the Traditional Music and Dance Festival” in the presence of some of his cabinet Ministers hosted by Professor Narcisse MOUELLE KOMBI, the organizer of the event that took place at the esplanade of his ministry at the national museum.

    The colourful traditional music and dances did not only present the attachment and the value people still attribute to their cultures and traditions, but they also stood as firm proof of the richness and diversity of Cameroon’s cultures.

 The opening ceremony gave room for the Prime Minister and his Ministers to have a feel of some of the traditional music and dances packed at the cultural backyards of the country.

“We are here with the Muwatsu Royal Dance of Mankon Palace and based on what has transpired today, I think it has been a wonderful event organized by the ministry of arts and culture, showcasing the rich cultural potentials of the country as a whole. The importance of the event lies in the fact that it has given the opportunity for the country to showcase its rich cultural potentials across the board”, said Prince Ntomnifor Richard of Mankon Palace

   The Traditional Music and Dances did not only entertain the Ministers and the Population at the opening ceremony but they could also be seen as analogous to an identity card which defined a unique people and their backgrounds.

The three-day event therefore had a mission of bringing together all the major cultures from the different regions of the country to help appreciate their efforts in painting white the varieties in cultures often attributed to Cameroon. Whether in good or bad faith, the truth still remains that the festival gave room for dying cultures to perform in the presence of a large audience.

 The festival bearing the flag, Music and Heritage Dance; a vector of multiculturalism and national integration had animations and workshops from the opening day to the closing day which all benefited the participants from different regions.

  As the Minister closed the event on Saturday, 05^th August 2017, the participants through their regional delegates were appreciated with certificates of participation issued by the Minister of Arts and Culture. The hope of seeing more of such events double in the future in a way to restore the lost glory of the traditional music and dances remained the hope of participants as they made their way back to their regions.

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