Let's Stop Bushfires

 

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No To Bushfires

 

EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT NEWS

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Stop To Bushfires

 

EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT NEWS

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Tel: +237696896001/ +237678401408/+237671262198/+237691520771

Let's Stop Bushfires

 

EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT NEWS

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Tel: +237696896001/+237678401408/+237671262198

Ending The Anglophone Crisis

" Both Separatists & Yaounde Regime are Reaping Economic Gains from Crisis”

- Bah Akwen Nadien National President UPC Youth Wing

 

Bah Akwen Nadien is the National President of the Youth wing of the UPC Party in Cameroon, notably known in French as Jeunesse Démocratique du Cameroun literally translated in English as “Cameroon’s Democratic Youth.” She is equally a Humanitarian Aid Personnel, a Human Rights Activist and an Advocate for change in Cameroon. In this interview she declares that the Anglophone Crisis has deliberately been ignored by both sides because of the financial gains both sides are reaping from it. There is a tendency on both sides to nurture the crisis and make it last longer with an aim of feeding fat from it. Diaspora Leaders she says have refused to look for a middle ground  and have adamantly been uncompromising and driven by personal ambitions. They by refusing to present a common front have prolonged the war not disturbed by the alarming degree of bloodshed that keeps increasing daily.

The Yaounde Regime on the other hand has branded the crisis as a Socio-political crisis and is prescribing Social Solutions to a problem that is political and needing political solutions. On both sides of the coin, delaying tactics are being used while humans are slaughtered.

She was interviewed By Francis Ekongang Nzante.

..........

The Anglophone Crises remains a thorny issue. It is getting bloodier with each passing day. If you were to blame the Separatist Leaders in the Diaspora what would that blame be?

.................

The Anglophone problem is both Historical and Political. It needs to be tackled politically. A lot of people have given the problem an inadequate name. Some have tagged it a Socio-political problem. Social is related to living together, merging or mingling together. Cameroonians do not have a problem of living together. English Speaking Cameroonians are scattered in the ten regions of the country.  When you give an inadequate name to a problem then inadequate solutions will be prescribed to the problem. That is why the problem has persisted for so many years. Once an adequate name is given to a problem, an appropriate solution will be gotten for that problem. We have seen a lot of Social Solutions being brought into the table. This has not solved the problem because it is not a Social Problem. It is high time we handle the Anglophone Crisis politically. It is a historical problem. It is a long term problem that has lasted for so many years. Many people think the Anglophone Crisis started in 2016. No! The Anglophone Problem started in 1972 when the Federal Constitution was sabotaged! It’s the Marriage Certificate that bonded us together with French Speaking Cameroonians. The Anglophone Crisis is a result of the accumulated grievances since 1972. This problem has degenerated into a situation of Economic gains. Lots of people are making economic gains from the crisis at the detriment of the suffering masses. It is a political problem but rather than apply a political solution, politicians are busily pursing their personal ambitions. They as such have given the problem another name so that they will maintain the problem for as long as possible so as to continue feeding fat from it. They have as such created DDR Centers, the Peter Mafani Musonge's Bilingualism Committee. We don’t need all these because our problem is not a Social Problem. We don’t have a problem of living together. The Yaounde Regime knows this problem very well and knows the correct political solutions to use but is not doing anything about it. They have deliberately prescribed social solutions to a problem that is purely political so as to feed fat from the crisis.

..................

What is your take on the way the Diaspora has been handling the problem?

............

The Diaspora has constituted a major problem in the crisis. Most of the Commanders of the Separatist Fighters are in the Diaspora. I blame them because of their inability to come together and look for a common ground. To have mercy on the innocent people who are dying on Ground Zero. If they had done this, the regime in place will not keep on coming up with questions like who am I going to talk to? Who are we going to dialogue with? Who are we going to meet?  The division among Separatists Leaders in the Diaspora. The Egoistic Diaspora. The Self Centred Commanders constitutes one of the problems that is hindering the bringing to an of the raging crisis. They are so divided and personal driven and egoistic. They have killed that human feeling in them because when they see the way people are dying it doesn’t seem to touch them. Kids, mothers and young men are continuously dying but they don’t care for if they did then they wouldn’t have maintained their firm positions. They don’t want to compromise and look for a common ground. When something is being done for the common good then there are some compromises that must be made so that peace and normalcy returns. It is true that there’s a saying which states that change cannot come without the spilling of blood but the blood that has been spilled this time around is too much. If you go back to statistics, over 40000 people have been killed. This excludes cases like the unconfirmed ones, the kidnappings, the displaced amongst others. It is very pathetic that we have a Diaspora that refuses to feel the pain that people are going through back home. You can’t kill the same people you claim to be fighting for. You can’t fight for people and at the same time prevent children from going to school. Education is the only thing that parents can give their children. At the same time you see these same Diaspora Leaders living a well planned life abroad with their children going to very good schools. They live their comfortable lives abroad while they leave suffering Cameroonians back home to fight their battles for them. They keep nurturing this war because it has become a war of economic gains for both parties. Both Separatists and Yaounde Regime are reaping Economic gains from the crisis.

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What about the Anglophone Elites back home?

....................

They’ve been so disgraceful. Look at the Members of Parliament. We call them MPs because they are supposed to represent the people and speak on their behalf. They are supposed to table the plights of the poor and vulnerable. They escaped from the problem. Our institutions have failed. The Cameroon Government is the height of disgrace. They cause a problem, nurtured the problem and then gave it a wrong name. They then proceeded to prescribe wrong solutions and make the problem to last for as long as possible to permit them fill their pockets. They don’t care. They don’t want to compromise. They are playing their cards very well. But they forget that nothing on earth lasts for ever. While people are suffering in the South West and North West Regions, the elites are living a flamboyant life in Yaounde globe trotting. They have sacrificed humanity for money, for fame, for power and they think they are the sole guarantors of life.

.........................

You are the National President of the Youth Wing of the UPC. How can the decisions that you take influence the stance of the UPC on burning National Issues?

.................

The Youth Wing of the UPC is embodied in a body called Cameroon Democratic Youth and this body has a reasonable degree of autonomy. This means that we are free to take decisions and stands. We do not depend on the mother party. We have the sole responsibility to state our plight the way we feel and the way we deem it necessary for the good of all Cameroonians. Cameroons population is dominated by the Youths. More than 70% of Cameroon's population is made up of Youths so we've got weight. We are talking about the power of the masses. That’s what’s important in Politics. I as the President of the most populated entity in Cameroon certainly has that influence. When I take a stand, the mother party will certainly not remain indifferent to the stand that I take.

 

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CAMGEW Engages in Environmental Education With Community Children

  -Creates Child Friendly and Safe Space

 

CAMGEW has  engaged itself in Environmental Education with Kilum Ijim Forest Community children on Bushfires, causes of Bushfires, consequences and tools used in Preventing and Managing Bushfires. This took place in Oku on the 17^th of December 2021. This activity took place with 26 community children made up of 10 boys and 16 girls.

It was an interactive program in which children identified the causes of Bushfires like smoking in and around the forest, burning of farms  like the slash-and-burn method of farming, the burning of bushes to hunt animals, burning by grazers to get new vegetation for animals and poor methods of harvesting honey by untrained bee Farmers.

The children were made to understand that Bushfires can result in the burning of trees, hives, fruits, vegetables, animals which are all found in the forest.

Some of the consequences of Bushfires were identified together with the children. The children were shown some tools used in fighting Bushfires when they occurred. They were equally shown how to use these tools should the need arise.

The children also learnt that many people had died because of Bushfires and that farms had also been destroyed because of Bushfires. They also learnt that Bushfires had made many people to become poor and that these people have not been able to pay their children’s school fees, buy their children’s books and feed their families.

CAMGEW staff continued to tell them never to engage in bushfires and also to ask their parents or guardians never to involve in Bushfires. The Children learnt Christmas songs in preparation for Christmas. At the end of the session the children departed in a very happy mood for their homes.

By Francis Ekongang Nzante

 

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"Anglophones Constitute the Key to Political Transition in Cameroon"

 

-    --Bah Akwen Nadien National President UPC Youth Wing

 

Bah Akwen Nadien is the National President of the Youth wing of the UPC Party in Cameroon, notably known in French as Jeunesse Démocratique du Cameroun literally translated in English as “Cameroon’s Democratic Youth.” She is equally a Humanitarian Aid Personnel, a Human Rights Activist and an Advocate for change in Cameroon. In an unprecedented declaration she has stated unequivocally that Genuine Political Transition can only come if English Speaking Cameroonians are given the Political Powers that were legally theirs from the beginning of the Union of the two Cameroons. The 1972 Constitution she said made nonsense of the Federal Constitution and left Anglophones embittered. She said the bitterness and resentment among Anglophones could only be dampened or quenched if power was given to them after 60 years of  Francophone dominance. She called on Anglophone elite to rise above manipulated divisiveness and claim the power that legally belonged to them.

She was interviewed By Francis Ekongang Nzante.

...............

Many political minds and a cross section of Patriotic Cameroonians have repeatedly hammered on the need for Political Transition in Cameroon. They constantly disagree on the form that such a transition should take. What do you propose?

.....................

Yes lots of things have been said about the need for Political Transition in Cameroon but almost no proposals have actually structured a proposed transition process for the country that is accepted across the various political shades. Transition simply means change and this comes in two forms. Are we transiting for the better or for the worse? We need to table these questions before deciding on the kind of transition that will suit Cameroon. For this to be done we need to go back to our historical museum. We need to take a look at our history to be able to shape a meaningful transition.

What kind of questions are Cameroonians Supposed to be asking themselves?

..............

Cameroonians need to ask themselves real questions. How did we come together? What problems have we been facing since we came together and why have we been facing these problems?  We need to go back to our lives before and after independence. French Cameroon had their Independence in 1960. They established their Constitution and were fine with it. English Speaking Cameroonians who were administered from Nigeria decided to join French Speaking Cameroonians in 1961. The terms of this staying together were defined and adopted at the Foumban Conference.  We lived in harmony and love until 1972 when an unfortunate event took place. The Federal Constitution was sabotaged. That’s when Cameroon became a disaster. We are facing the consequences of that violation of the Federal Constitution today. To go in for the best transition in Cameroon, we must visit the 1961 Constitution which stated that if a French Speaking Cameroonian was the President then the second in command must be an English Speaking Cameroonian and that second in command position was called the Prime Minister. But when we look at the 1972 Constitution and how it was amended, when we look at the 1996 Constitution we see that everything has been changed. Now there’s no second position for the English Speaking Cameroonian.

There has never been any political transition in Cameroon. First there was Ahmadu Ahidjo's UC Union Camerounaise or CU which existed from 1958 to 1966. Afterwards the name of the party was changed to CNU Cameroon National Union. The name CNU was used until 1989. The CPDM was created in 1985 but was just a fraction of the CNU. It was simply rebranding because the content remained the same. From the CU to the CNU and the CPDM nothing has ever changed in Cameroon. It has always been the same party with the same content and different names. Transition should involve a change of content and approach.

.............

Concretely Speaking how can Political Transition possibly come about in Cameroon?

..................

Power has over stayed in the hands of French Speaking Cameroonians and needs to come into the hands of English Speaking Cameroonians. That’s the real transition that Cameroon needs!

This Transition needs to be effective. We need to call on all English Speaking Cameroonians from the Northwest to the Southwest Region to return to normalcy. Recently we've been  observing stigmatisation of Anglophones by their fellow Anglophones. These are distractions from the ruling government because they know that Transition is being born. Power needs to go back to English Speaking Cameroonians. This will be the only way to quench the anger caused by the Sabotage on the 1961 Constitution in 1972.

Some have said Power needs to go back to the North....

It is wrong to put English Speaking Cameroonians on the same footing with the Grand Nord. The Northern Regions are part of French Cameroon and it should be recalled that it was the French Cameroon on the one hand and English Cameroons (Southern Cameroons) on the other hand who came together on the bases of two equal entities.

The 1972 Constitution took away the second position of the Prime Minister and gave it to the President of the Senate. Furthermore the President can consult the President of the Constitutional Council in case of problems surpassing his understanding. He doesn’t consult the Prime Minister because the Prime Minister has no powers. This same Constitution tells us that Prime Minister is the Head of Government and has the powers to propose but not to install. He can propose to the President who may accept or reject.

Anglophones in Cameroon should go above the divisive manipulations of the Yaounde Regime and reclaim the power that is their legal right in Cameroon.

 

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