Installation of New Officials at UBa

Professor Mark Bolak Funteh ushers in an Era of Meritocracy,Hard work at HTTC Bambili

By Francis Ekongang Nzante

Professor Mark Bolak Funteh, the newly installed director of the Higher Teacher Training College HTTC Bambili has harped on the importance of meritocracy and hardwork, insisting that these two qualities will greatly influence the way things are run in the Institution which he now heads.

Professor Mark Bolak Funteh and the media

 This he said will bring in a reasonable degree of equitability; giving equal opportunities to both the children of the rich and the poor. He was speaking on Saturday July 2^nd at the University of Bamenda during an installation ceremony of three newly Appointed Officials.  The installation ceremony took place under the distinguished patronage of the Vice Chancellor, Professor Theresia Nkuo Akenji. One of the officials installed was Professor Mark Bolak  Funteh who comes in as Director of the Higher Teacher Training College HTTC. The young professor was formerly serving as Dean of studies at the Higher Institute of Transport and Logistics of the University of Bamenda. He was installed in replacement of Mrs. Tita Margaret Awah who has gone on retirement.

Vice Chancellor and three newly installed officials

Another newly appointed official was Professor Tsi Evaristus Angwafor. He was installed as Director of the Higher Technical Teacher Training College HTTTC in replacement of Mr. Young Ngwain Joseph who has gone on retirement. He was formerly the Director of Studies in the College of Technology.

Thirdly, Mr Agborbechem Peter Tambi, Associate Professor was installed as Dean of the Faculty of Education in replacement of Mr. Peter Titanji Fon who has been called to other duties. The new Dean formerly served at the Faculty of Education at the University of Buea.

Speaking on the occasion, the Vice Chancellor cautioned against political activism, petition writing and slandering amongst other things and called upon the newly appointed Officials to focus on the work they’d been assigned to do. She enjoined them to make sure they understood the way the system of the University of Bamenda functioned in order to effectively carry out their tasks.

Professor Mark Bolak Funteh in a brush with the media thanked the Head of State for the confidence placed in him by appointing him to head such a prestigious institution. He said they had both the standards of the institution and standards of the Republic to protect. Hear him; “When the President of the Republic placed confidence in us through the Minister of State, Minister of Higher Education Jaques Famme Ndongo, he knew that we could do the job. The first task will be to clean the image that people generally have of the establishment. I think by God’s Grace and by the faith that we have, we will do the job. Our objective will be meritocracy. To give an opportunity to everyone, both the rich and the poor. To give them the opportunity to have a chance in life and that chance should come through hard work and merit.”

Professor Mark Bolak Funteh is a product of the University Of Yaounde and is one of the youngest full professors in the country with lots of experience both in Cameroon and on the international scene. His rise in the educational family has been aptly described by his peers as meteoric. With his youthfulness, energy and pedigree he is expected to leave his foot prints on the sands of time as far as the narrative of HTTC Bambili is concerned.

Professor Tsi Evaristus Angwafor, the new director of HTTTC Bambili on his part said the Higher Technical Teacher Training College HTTTC had recently received a lot of help from the state and other partners in the form of infrastructure and machinery. He said once all of these were put to use the quality of their work will be of top standard adding that this would go a long way to ameliorate the quality of Technical Education in the country.

One of the highlights of the day was  the presentation of gifts to the outgoing officials in appreciation for a job well done. The occasion was graced by colourful Traditional Dances that  gave it the pump and pageantry it truly deserved.

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Human Trafficking:

Organisation Emphasises on Need for Related Laws To be More Victim Oriented

By Francis Ekongang Nzante

Mr. Nchongsi Joseph Ayeah, Director of the Center for Human Rights and Peace Advocacy CHRAPA has harped on the need for laws on Human Trafficking in Cameroon to be more victim oriented. He made this appeal on Friday the 17^th of June during a press café that brought together journalists and human rights actors at the organization's Head Office at Ghana Street in Bamenda. It was part of the launch of a programme by the Organisation dubbed “Rights based approach to combat trafficking in women and children in Littoral and North West Regions of Cameroon.”

Mr Nchongsi Joseph Ayeah during the Press cafe

  

Nchongsi Joseph Ayeah said Human Trafficking among other things involved the recruitment, transfer and harboring of  human beings with an intention of exploiting them. The victims he said were dominantly always women  and children.

Sponsored by the US Embassy in Cameroon, CHRAPA is intensifying efforts to combat Human Trafficking through the raising of awareness on trafficking and responding to the needs of victims in Mezam Division in the North West Region and in Douala IV in the Littoral Region of Cameroon. In this vein CHRAPA has  provided protection to 50 women, trained 20 civil society activists and provided assistance to some victims in the form of sustainable vocational training amongst others. Mr. Nchongsi Joseph Ayeah emphasized that it was more about providing support to victims of Human Trafficking adding that a certain number of criteria guided them in their identification of victims and that  the underlying factor was their degree of vulnerability.

In the heart of exchanges with Journalists and civil society actors

He noted that with the present crisis in the country, the situation of human trafficking was becoming increasingly alarming.

Assistance he further said was in the form of food and non food items, civil identification, sustainable vocational training to permit victims to get out of their predicaments, legal assistance amongst other things.

Perpetrators or Middlemen he said were made to understand that they could be punished with at least five years of imprisonment but added that other litigating procedures also involved out of court settlements. The CHRAPA director however acknowledged  that overcoming the obstacles put in place by some perpetrators was usually very challenging but further chipped in that the experience and strong network that the rights organization had gathered over the years had greatly contributed to their constant successes in such challenging moments.

He however lamented that weaknesses in the execution of the existing law lay in the fact that it was not victim centered.

CHRAPA is presently a member of the commission that has been set up to fight human trafficking in Cameroon. The Prime Minister is the Chairman of this commission and though the rights organization has been handed the role of identification of victims, they anxiously look forward to be assigned to do more which will be commensurate to the experience and the mastery that CHRAPA has in the domain in Cameroon.

The organization  is equally part of the task force that has been created to combat Human Trafficking in the North West Region of Cameroon.

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"The People Should Join Me Let's Transform Tubah""

-D.O, Tubah

The Divisional Officer for the Tuba Subdivision in Mezam  Mr. Massango Metuge Narcisse has appealed to the people within the Subdivision to join him in his efforts to bring peace and development to Tuba. The Young and dynamic Administrator took over by Presidential Decree since the 15^th of October 2021 and was installed on  the 9^th of November.

Mr. Massango Metuge Narcisse, D. O, Tuba

Tuba is a Cosmopolitan Subdivision which harbours close to 20.000 inhabitants mostly made up of the University class. The Municipality is made up of four big Fondoms and one Lamidad.  These are the Fondoms of Bambili, Bambui, Babanki Tungo and Big Babanki as well as the Lamidad of Sabga. He begins this interview by evaluating the Security situation in the Tuba Subdivision against a backdrop of the Anglophone Crisis. He was interviewed by Francis Ekongang Nzante and a host of other journalists in his Bambui Office.

The situation I met following my installation as the Divisional Officer for Tuba was actually evolving. We met with some stiff challenges but we've been doing our best to regain the people’s confidence and make them believe once more in the values of the Republic. We met a population which was very skeptical in accepting Government action.

How Successful have you been in convincing the people to Once more believe in Republican Values?

………..

We have been carrying out lots of field work which involves moving out, meeting and talking to the people. This is very complicated because you can’t know where the danger may come from. But somebody must always lead the way. From my understanding, that person should be the Divisional Officer. I have been meeting the people and making them to know that Government is aware of their problems and is actually putting in place measures to have these problems solved.  A lot is already being done to sort out these challenges. No society can move ahead without challenges. Unfortunately these challenges are taken differently by some people in our society.

In our missions in the field we try to gather the bike riders and the traders. It’s very complicated but we talk to them. We try to give them tips and advise them not to give up. You know that the activities of bikers have been restricted. For security reasons we had to block some streets around the University to prevent them from reaching there. We are aware that the obscure men use that means of transportation. We cannot run the risk of having the University stopped. For their own safety the students will have to move around on foot.  We've been trying to bring back some normal urban normalcy. In a state of law, there are areas where a certain category of activities are supposed to be carried out and other areas where certain activities can’t be carried out. Simply because we are in a state of crisis doesn’t mean there should be lawlessness.

How do you collaborate with the Security Force?

We constantly talk to them. You know that in a household not every child behaves in the same manner. There are challenges coming from that direction. But like a father we keep taking to them and reminding them that we all have the same duty which is to protect the people and their property.

These people have gone through five or six years of torture by their own brothers so the military should remain professional in order not to add to their predicament. I think it’s paying off following feedback that I get from the field. They are doing their best and we count on their professional behaviour for the successful holding of  this year’s 20^th May activities.

How do you envisage the 20^th May activities?

The population has missed this celebration now for three years here and I hope that this year we should celebrate it once more. We should be able to galvanise the population and I am in the field for that. I was at “Three Corners” in Bambili recently and I will continuously go into the field till the 20^th of May to make them to believe again in the Republican Day and trust in the mechanism that the Head of State has put in place! The present stalemate has been caused by youngsters who have decided to be abnormal. My mission here is to bring back these youngsters into the fold. But I can’t do this if I can’t see them.

I can only channel the problems of someone I see and not a ghost. I call upon these youngsters to come to us, drop their guns. They are still children of the Republic. It is true that there’s a lot of skepticism  in the way returnees are being treated but it should also be known that each Administrator has a unique style. Two administrators can handle the same problem differently. So for the benefit of doubt the youngsters should leave the bush and stop kidnapping. It’s such a pity that one of my elites Senator Regina Mundi is still being held captive. She brought in 500 kits which we distributed to pregnant women and four days later she was kidnapped by her own children! An abomination in African Tradition.

Any appeal to people in the Tuba Municipality?

I call upon the people in Tuba to believe in me and to join me let’s move Tuba forward. I am a young man who knows exactly what to do and when to do it. I love community work and this means my approach involves working with the people. We are using this tete a tete approach with the population to create a different picture of Government action.

The Government in Yaounde which we represent has been held back in the realization of projects in the area as a result of the security situation. There are schools pending renovation but can’t be renovated because anytime contractors put their legs there, they are kidnapped. I am having sleepless nights just like the forces of law and order because of the problems in Tuba. I call on the people in Tuba to join ranks with me let’s take the Municipality to where it is supposed to be. Apart from being a transit town and gate way to two divisions, Tuba is host to the University of Bamenda and together we can make use of this to take the town to its rightful place. IRAD has stopped and our children can no longer be trained here as Agronomists or Agro Engineers. The Regional College of Agriculture which is struggling to function is receiving threats every day. I am very open to anyone with a problem. Rather than take the Law into your hands, come and present the problem so that together we can sort it out following well defined channels.

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International Nurse's Day

CNA Celebrates across Cameroon!

 

By Francis Ekongang Nzante.

 

This year’s celebration of the International Nurse’s Day has been celebrated across Cameroon by the Cameroon Nurse’s Association and other Associations of Nurses with an unprecedented degree of engagement. The seriousness of the occasion enveloped nurses in Douala, Bamenda, Buea and a couple of hospitals across the national triangle. This annual celebration which takes place on the 12^th of May was spiced with Workshops, Talks and Symposiums.

In Bamenda in the North West Region of the country, celebrations were organised by the Regional Bureau of the Cameroon Nurse’s Association.  This reporter caught up with the National President of this Association Mr Nkwain Joseph  who summed up the event in the following words; “The International Nurse’s Day is celebrated every year on the 12^th of May and it commemorates the birth of Florence Nightingale who is the founder of Nursing. Every year there’s a theme which is chosen by the International Council of Nurses. This year’s theme is Nurses: A voice to lead.- Invest in Nursing and Respect Rights to Secure Global Health. As far as the Cameroon Nurse’s Association is concerned, the activities are carried out at the level of the branches and at the level of the hospitals. At the Nkwen District Hospital in Bamenda activities were carried out and this included the handing of gifts by the Nurses to all the patients. The Regional Hospital in Bamenda also did so just like the CBC Health Services amongst others.”  

Nurses distributing gifts 

 

He called upon Nurses to work well irrespective of where they found themselves reminding them that Nursing was a vocation. He hammered on the necessity for Nurses to continue building themselves professionally through continuous education. “This year's theme touches on the need for governments to pay more attention to Nursing and to invest much more in the sector. There’s a general shortage of nurses in the world. Actually it is estimated that there’s a shortage of 5.900.000 nurses in the world and that 85% of this gap is in low and medium income countries. So we need more investment in Nursing so that when these nurses graduate they should be gainfully employed” he said.

He appreciated the efforts being put in by the government pointing to the fact that many training Institutions had been established and that the government has been permanently following up training in these Institutions to make sure that nurses are adequately trained.

Meantime the National President of the Cameroon Nursing Association accompanied by the Vice National President Dr Nguini Rose visited some training Institutions like the Florence Nightingale Higher Institute of Health and Biomedical Sciences where talks were dished out to students of Nursing.

This reporter also caught up with the General Supervisor of the Nkwen District Hospital in Bamenda Mrs Abang Theresia Adu who presented the nurse as the main force behind the smooth functioning of the hospital.

GS, Director , Staff rep. at
Nkwen District Hospital

“Today the nurses came in appropriately dressed for the occasion and we bought some gifts which we distributed to the patients of the hospital. We sang and danced through the hospital sharing the gifts. In every unit in the hospital where we stopped, we talked to the patients on what they should expect from the nurses and how they should collaborate with the nurses to make sure that work went on well” Mrs Abang said.

She further called on the patients to forgive them for any wrong thing that any nurse might have committed through the year and reminded them that they were the eyes of nurses in the hospital and that corrections from them could only help the nurse to get better. She thanked the Director of the hospital for providing a very enabling environment for good work.

“No one can fully pay for the services of a nurse but when you tender good services, you receive your pay from God” she said.

The Staff representative of the hospital Mrs  Tela Elizabeth said she spent some time sensitising nurses about the International Nurse’s Day since she realized that many of them didn’t actually Know what the day was all about. She equally explained the deep meaning of the theme of this year’s International Nurse’s Day. “It is a day during which nurses come out to tell the world that they are there to take care of them

and to remind them like the General Supervisor said, that it is the nurse who opens the eyes of the baby in the labour room and closes the person's eyes when he is exiting.”

In the Douala CNA branch, activities which took place at the Alpha Higher Institute of Biomedical and Technical Sciences at Deido included Symposiums, Scientific Presentations, Debates, Awards and Recognitions. These activities were coordinated by the Littoral Branch President Mr Otongno Humphrey.

 

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Central University Institute Bamenda

46 Students Present HND Internship Reports

By Francis Ekongang Nzante

About Forty Six HND students have presented their Internship Reports at the Central University Institute Bamenda CUIB. This took place on Thursday March 31^st at the K-Town Campus of the Institution in Bamenda.  

In the heart of Presentations at CUIB

...........

According to Mr Wung Nelson, one of the Administrators of the Central University Institute Bamenda also known by the acronym CUIB, Twenty-three of these students came from the Department of Biomedical Sciences. The other Departments shared the students in the following manner: Five students from the Department of Education, three from Accounting, three from Civil Engineering, four from Transport and Logistics, four from Agriculture, two from Marketing and one from Human Resource Management.

Speaking during the session at Campus B of the Central University Institute Bamenda, Mrs Fuoh Fedorah Bi, Head of Department HOD for Management and Human Resource said the students had come to the end of the Academic Year and were well prepared. Each of them she said was presenting their Internship Reports on research carried out for their HND Examinations. This aspect of their End of  Course Examinations she said was very important as it made up for six credits for each of them.

Fuoh Fedorah Bi

Before the presentations, they all went on Internship in organisations and some went to Hospitals depending on their various specialties. The presentation she said was an occasion for them to present what they'd been doing both in theory and practice.  She further said any student without a score for their HND Internship Reports could certainly not validate their HND results.

From the perspective of a teacher, she said the Academic Year had been fraught with challenges considering the fact that they'd had to go through difficulties and dangers to make sure that they finished their programmes. Sometimes teachers were obliged to go to the campus under lockdowns to make sure that they caught up with their schedules. Teachers sometimes found it impossible to go to school and were forced to send lessons to students via Social Media. She explained that under such circumstances follow up was not possible. To solve this problem, many lessons took place online on Social Media groups like WhatsApp which made it possible for interactivity between students and teachers and for follow up to take place.  Regular Timetables she intimated were always different from timetables for online classes which were resorted to when normal classes couldn’t take place. Despite these challenges they sailed through she said adding that HND students at the Central University Institute Bamenda were prepared for their end of course Examinations.

 

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Cameroon Nurses Association

 

Ground Breaking 9^th Scientific Conference Rounds up in Douala!

By Francis Ekongang Nzante

The Cameroon Nurses Association CNA has rounded up a ground breaking 9^th Scientific Conference which took place at the Institute Universite de la Cote IUG Douala from the 25^th to the 26^th of March 2022. This year’s Scientific Conference took place under the theme "Nurses breaking down barriers; leaving no one behind". The two day conference was spiced by an unprecedented multiplicity of activities. That’s why this year’s rendezvous has been described as ground breaking. The activities ranged from an Honourable Presentation from Professor Mary Bi Atanga and a couple of presentations on “Clinical Nursing Practice”, “Administrative Nursing Practice”, and Educational Nursing Practice.” There were also Panel Discussions and Workshops.

Another important ingredient of this year’s Scientific Conference was the issuing of Awards and Recognitions. This saw Professor Atanga Mary  being recognised for her intellectual contributions and Support  to the CNA. Mr Takwe Boniface was also recognised for his impact during this year’s conference. Mr. Fongang Landis was recognised as the Most constructive moderator while the best student Presenter came from AHIBTS Douala. Ideal Nurses Association (INA) had the best stand while the Best Stand Presentation went to MAFLEKUM Higher Institute of Health and Biomedical Sciences Tiko. Meantime the Best Institutional Presentation was done by the University of Bamenda UBa while the best Organisational Presentation was done by the Alpha Global Research Group (AGRG) Douala.

In a keynote address presented by Mr Nkwain Joseph, the National President of CNA, attention was drawn to the fact that the Cameroon Nurses Association gained legal recognition on the 16h of February 2001.  This association was accorded membership into the Commonwealth Nurses Federation in 2001. The National President intimated that the association was created to organize and unite nurses in Cameroon to work in Love and harmony, improve standards of professional practice through continuing education and research and thirdly to assist the Ministry of Public health and the government in developing and implementing National Health Policies.

It was also intended to serve as a forum where nurses and midwives could clarify their roles assertively within the health care team and to empower nurses develop leadership role in health matters.

Since its creation, the CNA has promoted the image of the nurse through assistance of its members to improve their professional and socio-economic status.

The National President also said that the association had succeeded in fostering cooperation between national and international Non-Governmental Organisations especially the Common Wealth Nurses and Midwives Federation and the International Council of Nurses.

An indicator that CNA has grown in leaps and bounds is its membership which has moved from 35 members in 2001 to 3500 in 2022 coupled with the fact that it is spread all over the national territory and abroad.

CNA has as members all grades of nurses ranging from Nursing Assistants who are associate members, State

Diploma Nurses, , HND Nurses, holders of Bachelors in Nursing science, Masters and PhD, who are full members.

Out of the country,members of the association have benefited from conferences organized by the Commonwealth Nurses and Midwives Federation in Abuja, Accra and Kampala.

Three Cameroonians, the President of CNA, President of the Midwives Association, and Prof. Mary Bi Atanga attended the African Health Professions Regional Collaboration for West and Central Africa.

Back home, as far as continuing professional development is concerned, the CNA in collaboration with the Alpha Higher Institute of Health, Douala, has been organising continuos professional development workshops.

After this ground breaking conference in Douala, all roads will be leading to the University of Bamenda UBa where the next CNA Scientific Conference will be taking place.

 

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Forest Conservation:

 CAMGEW Mobilizes Stakeholders in promotion of women's socio economic and Environment rights advocacy

By Francis Ekongang Nzante

 

An advocacy workshop on women's socio-economic and environmental rights organised by  Cameroon Gender and Environment Watch (CAMGEW), took place at the Blue Pearl Hotel in Bamenda on Saturday March 26^th 2022 within the framework of increasing the participation of women in forest conservation.

Workshop Participants

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

This workshop  provided an opportunity for participants to reflect on practices that act as barriers to the economic empowerment of women. These practices hinge on culture, economic, social and environmental activities. As a result, during the workshop, there were  presentations on economic, social, environmental and Cultural practices. These presentations threw more light on how these practices act as barriers to the economic empowerment of the woman.

About fifty participants, mostly leaders from the Bamenda Highland Region, legal minds, journalists and civil society actors,  took part in the workshop. Participants also included forest users, people living in forest communities and Forest Leaders.

 Some traditional rulers present at the Workshop sited some  social practices observed in their communities to include early and forced marriages, refusal to educate the girl child and restriction of inheritance rights to male children. These they said were some of the practices that reduce opportunities for women to grow economically. Shufai Waa-bin, a traditional ruler from Nso in Bui Division said he has committed himself to working with his fellow traditional rulers and the youth in his community to promote efforts to delete these barriers.

Sevidzem Ernestine Leikeki, CAMGEW Women Empowerment officer further explained that sexual harassment, education disparity, widowhood challenges amongst others constituted some of these barriers and appealed that time had come for women  to be accompanied by everyone in the society in fighting for their socio economic and Environment rights.

"We cannot talk about environmental sustainability without livelihood and without integration of women and youth in the process and without capacity building of the women, youth and men. Working around the Kilum-Ijim forest we realised that women are suffering when it comes to domestic violence, when it comes to issues related to gender based violence and when it comes to issues about their sexual rights. Consequently, we cannot have a healthy environment if women are not first satisfied with themselves before protecting the environment. These rights are pertinent if we need to build a harmonious environment” she said.

In an effort to empower them with strategies to fight against these challenges, CAMGEW has been working with women for years.  Sevidzem Ernestine  feels that "with their integration in environmental and forest conservation actions" there is a need for policies that protect women and their rights. That’s why she has called on policy makers to put women at the center of their actions.

"When formulating policies, it is important for policy makers to take into consideration the grudges, aspirations, efforts, dedication and passion  of these women” She said.

CAMGEW Director Wirsiy Emmanuel Binyuy expressed his appreciation to the various civil society organisations including traditional leaders, legal experts, the media amongst others who have formed a coalition with his organisation to support women in a bid to improve upon  society.

This workshop comes in the wake of a CAMGEW-initiated petition which was carried by a cross section of media outlets in Cameroon and had a strong presence on Social Media. This petition was aimed at calling on governments around the world to renew and increase their commitment to empowering women and girls to realise their environmental rights, especially the indigenous women who are most climate-vulnerable.

Created in 2007, CAMGEW has been working in and around the Kilum-Ijim forest area where it promotes Inclusive Forest Regeneration with the planting of 104446 trees as of 2021 and the training of over 2000 to benefit from non-timber forest products especially in the honey and medicinal value chains. According to the not-for-profit organisation, women have a strong motivation to conserve biodiversity and the environment.

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