THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER AT THE SERVICE OF THE PEOPLE

70 Percent Of

The Post
Prisoners Are
Suffering Illegal

Bakassi Boils Again!

No. 0959 Friday, June 13, 2008 PRICE: FCFA 300
Detention p. 3

DO, 5 Soldiers Shot

BY ERNEST SUMELONG & FRANCIS TIM MBOM
Intelligence sources have con-
firmed the gunning down on
Monday, June 9, of the Divisional
Officer, DO, for Kombo Abedimo in
the disputed Bakassi Peninsula.
ELIX FONYA MORFAW, a

F Gendarmerie Brigade
Commander and four soldiers
were reportedly shot dead by
yet to be identified gunmen. Their bod-
ies, arms and boats are said to have
been carted off to an unknown place by
their assailants.
According to our sources, this infor-
mation was gotten from three other
soldiers who managed to escape during
the assault. At least one of them is
presently being treated for gunshot
wounds in Akwa, Kombo Abedimo.
The Attack
According to Cameroon's Army
Chief of Staff, General Rene Claude Ze
Meka, the DO of Kombo Abedimo was
heading nine-man delegation on his
maiden official visit to a fishing port in
Kombo when tragedy struck.
But our own sources hinted that
the Fonya delegation had as mission,
to restore and enforce state authority
in the area whose rather recalcitrant
inhabitants are mostly of Nigerian
extraction. But that by some weakness
in Cameroon's security network, news
of the impending visit had leaked to
the perpetrators of the grisly act.
Almost the entire Nigerian communi-
ty, who constitute 80 percent of the
area are said to have taken off, just

Experts Warn About Uncertainty Surrounds

Turn to p. 2

House Speaker
Confronts Police Armed Conflict Mt. Cameroon's
Page 2
The Post
Bakassi Boils Again!
W eekender
Continued from p.1
about when the DO's delegation was about to
arrive.
When Fonya and his entourage arrived, the gun-
men allegedly opened fire even before they had
time to alight from their boats. Our source said she
was convinced that whoever perpetrated the act
could be privy to Cameroon's military intelligence.
She told The Post that this was possible, owing to
the fact that majority of the inhabitants of the
Bakassi area are Nigerians and that it would only be
natural for them to give their allegiance "where it
truly belongs and matters". To her, Cameroon's
intelligence network in the disputed territory is
almost next to zero, whereas the Nigerians, to bor-
row her words, have mined the entire area with
undercover agents.
According to her, the same interest group has, in
the recent past, ensured that Cameroon's national
flag was brought down each time it was hoisted
here, hence the ill-fated decision of the
Cameroonian authorities to restore and enforce state
authority in the place.
Our source says the attack could have been per-
petrated with what she called the disguised backing
of certain foreign authorities, on account of the
August date by which the Bakassi dispute is sup-
posed to be "completely dealt with in Cameroon's
Il egal Logging, A Rising Concern In East Province
favour".
Illegal forest exploitation has become
an issue of great concern to environment
and forestry officials in the East
Province.
TATISTICS from the East Provincial
S Delegation of Forestry and Wildlife indicate
that 1665 cubic meters of white wood were
seized from loggers in the Dengdeng and Goyoum
forest reserves between November 2007 and April
2008.
According to the Provincial Chief of Forest
Control Brigade, Pone, the seizures came within the
framework of an operation dubbed "Operation coup
de poing" launched on November 12, 2007 by the
East Provincial Delegate for Forestry and Wildlife,
Bruno Mfou'ou Mfou'ou.
The operation was intended to weed out loggers
from these forests whose conservation is one of the
preconditions for the construction of the Lom-
Pangar Dam.
The wood, according to Pone, was auctioned
for FCFA 22,000,000 and the proceeds deposited in
the public treasury.
Elsewhere in the Province, 2100 cubic metres
of sawn timber were seized from loggers within the
same period. Pone further revealed that 18 offence
cases related to illegal logging were taken up by the
Provincial Delegation the last six months.
He said some of the cases have already been
forwarded to the Ministry for further action. Guilty
parties could be required by the 1994 forestry laws
to suffer prison terms ranging from one year to
three years or fines ranging from FCFA 3,000,000
to FCFA 10,000,000.
It remains to be seen whether those civil pro-
ceedings will lead anywhere, given that those in
Gabriel Mbock, Hogbe Nlend Bury 'UPC' Hatchet
power generally tend to connive with the loggers.
BY CHRISTOPHER JATOR NJECHU
Rival members of the Hogbe Nlend
faction of the Union des Populations du
Cameroun, UPC, Hon. Charly Gabriel
Mbock and Henri Hogbe Nlend, have rec-
onciled in Yaounde.
BOCK who had resigned from the
BOCK,
M
party in July 2007 and formed the
National Movement Party, vowed
recently to carry on the struggle for which the
UPC has stood for.
In the reconciliation meeting with the
Hogbe Nlend faction, he also dissolved the
No. 0959
News
Except for the press release
by the Army Chief of Staff,
explaining the circumstances of
the assault, there has been no
statement from the Presidency.
A special team of top military officers has
reportedly been assigned to Bakassi with a brief to
fish out culprits of Monday's attack.
Colonel Hypolite Ekaba of "Operation Delta,"
the military unit in charge of Bakassi operations, is
leading the officers in the investigation.
As at midday Wednesday, June 11, The Post
gathered that the officers were still being awaited at
the assault site.
It should be recalled that Colonel Ekaba took
over from Oyono Mveng as the new Commander of
the Delta Command following the killing of 21 sol-
diers on November 21, 2007.
August 14 Handover
Even though the reason for the attack remains
unclear, sources claim that the August 14 date for
the handover of the remaining portions of the
Bakassi Peninsula has evoked anger in the local
inhabitants who are mostly Nigerians.
That is why some claim that a rebellious group
in the area that has expressly opposed the handover
is not unconnected with the killings.
Even though Cameroon was given control of
the area, prior to August 14, 2008, when the remain-
ing parts of the Peninsula are expected to be ceded
to Cameroon, local administrative officials have
had a Herculean task trying to stamp their authority.
The relationship between local Cameroon
Setbacks
A recent study carried
out in the East Province
shows that 21 percent of
civil proceedings taken by
forestry officials in the East
Province against illegal log-
gers were "stopped by some
one on high up."
Tracking down illegal
loggers is hampered by a
number of factors. Eco-
guards are so poorly
equipped that they find it
difficult to monitor large
areas of forestland.
Secondly, they are few
in number as one forest con-
Indiscrminate logging destroys the eco-system
troller has to monitor over
20,000 hectares of conces-
sions and loggers have developed the instinct to
skirt the controllers. More over, even legitimate
loggers, pushed by the profit impulse, usually go
beyond their legitimate bounds.
A 2001 study by Brown and Ekoto entitled:
"Forest Encounters: Synergy Among Agents of
Forest and Natural Resources Management in
Southern Cameroon", states that "a company may
falsify its tax declarations to conceal illegal logging would disappear by 50 percent in the next 50
especially when logging an area for the first time.
For instance, the company, ETD, operating in UFA
10 to 047 logged an area of 12,300 hectares instead
of the 2,500 hectares it was legally allowed to log.
The total loss of tax revenue, based on area cut and
estimated timber harvested exceeds two billions
FCFA."
In all this, the indigenous people, particularly
the Baka, benefit very little from the forest of which
they are the natural custodians. Their location is
Crisis within the main UPC began in 2002
when Hogbe Nlend fell out with the party's
Secretary General, Augustin Frederic Kodock.
In spite of the separation, tensions had
remained with the Kodock and Hogbe Nlend
factions claiming legitimacy of the party.
But since Mbock created the National
Movement Party, it has remained in the abyss,
without any political base. Even Kodock in a
press conference said the party was a fake,
claiming that it never had the required 500 sig-
natures as required by the 1990 Law to consti-
tute an entity for legalisation as a political
party.
In order for his party to gain popularity,
Mbock waged a reconciliation campaign to gain
Friday, June 13, 2008
administrators in most areas in Bakassi and the
inhabitants is sour. Both parties treat each other
with mutual suspicion. The attacks further frustrate
the work of the joint commission charged with
implementing the Green Tree Accord and the final
ceding of Bakassi to Cameroon.
Since the International Court of Justice, ICJ,
ruled in favour of Cameroon, the death toll for
Cameroonian soldiers has continued to pile for var-
ious reasons.
In his recent visit to Bakassi, the head of the
European Union, EU, Delegation to Cameroon,
Javier Puyol, cautioned security forces, deployed in
the area, to tread with care.
Puyol, speaking in a press conference in
Yaounde, said the counsel came against a back-
ground of suspicion, scepticism and distancing
observed from the rather cold reception adopted by
the people of Bakassi when he visited the area.
The fresh assault has come not only to compro-
mise efforts by officials of both countries to ensure
a peaceful transfer of the rest of the disputed area,
but it might create a stalemate and suspicion
between the two nations. Besides, it is the second
attack on Cameroonian soldiers after 21 soldiers
were killed in November, still by unknown gunmen.
The DO who was involved in the ill-fated inci-
dent, it should be recalled, also served as DO of
Muyuka from where he was punitively transferred
to Kombo Abedimo after the 2004 Presidential elec-
tions at the instance of his boss who, The Post
learnt, got the Yaounde authorities to believe that he
had SCNC sympathies..
quite ambiguous: too accessible to loggers, too
remote for the benefits of modern life to make
themselves felt.
The problem of illegal logging and, indeed,
wanton forest exploitation has become so serious
that in 2005, WWF warned during a Forestry
Summit in Brazzaville, Congo, that "if illegal log-
ging is not stopped, the Congo Basin's forest
reserves, which include those of the East Province,
years".
While officials of the East Provincial
Delegation of Forestry and Wildlife have succeed-
ed in weeding out loggers from the Goyoum and
Dengdeng Forest Reserves, officials of the
Delegation of the Environment and Nature
Protection are sensitising the population to plant
more trees.
BY ROBERT TUMASANG
reconciliation in order to have a political base
since the National Movement "was a child born
in a coffin".
A committee at the reconciliation meeting
resolved to jointly organise what Hogbe Nlend
called non-partisan 50th anniversary of the
assassination of the founder of the UPC,
Reuben Um Nyobe, on September 13.
A document titled "Orientation Note on
Strategy for the Struggle for Unity and the
Regeneration of the UPC" was also adopted.
The document is a recommendation for the
UPC factions to convene a "unitary" congress of
the party. Among other things, the document
proposes the creation of a common framework
to educate and train militants and sympathis-
Experts Warn About Armed
Conflict In Cameroon
BY KINI NSOM
XPERTS have warned that
E Cameroon will remain a potential-
ly fertile area for armed conflicts
if no measures are taken to check the
illicit circulation of arms.
They sounded the warning in
Yaounde on June 3 at a round table con-
ference to mark the Global Week for
Action Against Gun Violence.
An NGO, Women in Alternative
Action, WAA-Cameroon, organised the
occasion at the Nsimeyong neighbour-
hood.
Speakers at the occasion were unani-
mous that Cameroon remains in danger
because it shares porous borders with
conflict-stricken countries. These coun-
tries are Chad, Central African Republic
and Congo.
According to them, there are many
lurking conflicts that could one day
degenerate into armed conflicts if the
illicit circulation of arms is not fully
checked.
WAA-Cameroon Coordinator, Justine
Kwachu, said it was incumbent on stake-
holders to raise awareness and seek dif-
ferent ways of stopping gun violence.
"We must arrest the problem of ille-
gal circulation of small arms and light
weapons;'' she admonished.
She said gun violence kills more than
500,000 people a year and injures more
than a million the world over. To her,
gun violence is a public health crisis of
global proportions with negative socio-
economic consequences.
"Gun violence is the illegal use of
guns on citizens,' one of the panellists
stated.
Michael Kamgha, a lecturer at the
Yaounde Higher Police College, said
there are 1134 gun-manufacturing com-
panies in 94 countries. In the same vein,
he said 55 percent of arms in the world
are legally or illegally owned by civilians.
Uniform officers, he disclosed, have only
45 percent. He said gun violence is even
more ramified by the fact that there are
over 300,000 child soldiers in the world
who use guns anyhow.
One official from the Presidency said
the case of Cameroon is not healthy
because the law governing the control of
guns has loopholes. He said many indi-
viduals in the nation possess arms
because the law empowers the Minister
of Territorial Administration and
Decentralisation to let them acquire
them.
Buttressing this point, Police
Superintendent, Rita Nji, also a lecturer
at the Police College said the law permits
every citizen of good morals to possess a
gun.
In such a situation, she said, the guns
can only be used for individual protection
and nothing else. She said the law does
not permit every police officer to have a
gun.
Going by her, police who have guns
are not authorised to use live bullets to
quell down a strike.
"While maintaining law and order,
the police have no right to shot until,
they are authorised by the Head of
State," she explained.
The Police Superintendent qualified
arms as a necessary evil given that they
are used to maintain the security of
countries and are also the source agony if
misused.
Because of her strategic geographic
situation in the Central African sub-
region, she recommended that Cameroon
should play a leading role in stopping the
illicit movement of arms.
For his part, Felix Ebonge Eboa, an
official at the Ministry of External
Relations, regretted that there is a black
market for arms.
He said Cameroon should take strong
 The Post No. 0959
House Speaker Confronts Police Over MP's Passport
W eekender
BY KINI NSOM
Police returned Hon. Michel
Nintcheu's passport, June 10, after a
shouting match with the National
Assembly Speaker, Hon. Cavaye Yeguie
Djibril.
HE passport, which the police seized
T
from the Wouri East MP on March 2,
was handed back to its owner shortly
before the ongoing parliamentary session
began on Tuesday.
Cavaye: House Speaker
The authorities of the Glass House fought
hard to ensure the return of the MP's pass-
port. This move averted the SDF
Parliamentary Group's threat to boycott the
session as a mark of protest.
Following the SDF's MP's threat to boy-
cott the session, the Speaker of the National
70 Percent Of Prisoners Are Suffering Illegal Detention
BY KINI NSOM & NFORMI SONDE KINSAI
The Chairman of the National
Commission on Human Rights and
Freedoms, NCHRF, Dr. Divine Chemuta
Banda, has stated that 70 percent of
inmates in prisons are being detained
illegally.
E made the statement in a chat
H
with The Post in Yaounde on June
10. According to the NCHRF
Chairman, the percentage of peo-
ple under abusive detention since 2003 has
not changed despite the institution of the
new Criminal Procedure Code that provides
for the presumption of innocence.
The Post gathered that apart from the
abusive custody of people for years without
trial, the detention conditions are appalling.
It was hinted that some detainees, especial-
ly in the Douala New Bell Prison, do not
even have a place to sleep.
NCHRF officials assessed that the deten-
tion conditions have improved from what
used to obtain during the pre-2003 period.
A penitentiary officer, who spoke to The
Post anonymously, acknowledged the horri-
ble detention conditions. He said the Justice
Ministry is aware of the appalling conditions
and measures have been taken to remedy
the situation. He noted that the Ministry is
working in partnership with the European
Union Delegation in Cameroon to decongest
Friday, June 13, 2008
News
Assembly and the Minister at the Presidency
in charge of Relations with the National
Assembly, Gregoire Sebastien Owona, inten-
sified the onslaught to recover the MP's pass-
port.
According to sources at the Ngoa-Ekelle
Glass House, both authorities had negotiated
for the MP's passport to be given back on
Monday June 9. It was reported that the
Director General of Security Information
known in French as La Recherché
Exterieure, Bienvenu Oubelabout, assured
them he would return the passport to Hon.
Nintcheu.
The Speaker insisted that
Nintcheu should go there at 8 am
on Monday. Nintcheu said when he
arrived in the company of the SDF
Parliamentary Group leader, Hon.
Joseph Banadzem, Oubelabout
started scolding them. He said
after treating them to a two-hour
argument, Oubelabout said he
would only give the passport to
Gregoire Owona.
The Post learnt that Owona
struggled to retrieve the passport
in vain. The Speaker had to scold
and threaten the man before he
sent the MP's passport to the
National Assembly.
Hon. Cavaye and Owona hand-
ed over the passport to Nintcheu in
a short ceremony at the National
Assembly.
Nintcheu said the Speaker
regretted what happened and
wished that no such thing repeats
itself. He remarked that the police
information service plays an
important role in ensuring the
security of the state but that they were "vir-
tually a state within a state".
The MP condemned the fact that the
police violated his parliamentary immunity
with impunity. After having gotten back his
passport, Nintcheu is contemplating court
action against the police.
new site.
Also, Dr. Chemuta said the
Commission still registers com-
plaints of people being tortured in
detention cells. He condemned sit-
uations where security forces
abandon citizens in distress on
grounds that there is no fuel.
"We want law enforcement
officers to understand that the
promotion of human rights is also
good for their interest," Dr.
Chemuta said.
Meanwhile, it was gathered
that the major violations regis-
tered by the Commission have to
do with abusive dismissals from
work, refusal to register workers
with an insurance scheme, squab-
bles over landed property, break
in family ties etc. According to the
Commission's 2007 report, over
2000 complainants of human
rights abuse were recorded.
Some of the human rights vio-
lations recorded at the NCHRF
NCHRF Chairman: Dr. Chemuta Banda
headquarters and its branch
offices of Bamenda and Buea
included: 77 cases on right to accommoda-
tion, 85 on right to fair trial, 81 on right to
physical and moral integrity, 76 for basic
detainee rights, 66 cases of arbitrary arrest
and detention, and 132 cases on right to
property. Other categories included 48 cases
on right to work, 18 on right to nourishment,
Commenting on the issue, the Vice
Speaker of the National Assembly, Hon.
Joseph Mbah Ndam, said the police even dis-
respected the Speaker by refusing to hand
over the passport earlier.
According to him, it was scandalous that
an appointee like Oubelabout would refuse to
take instructions from the Speaker of the
National Assembly who is the second state
personality.
By keeping the MP's passport and refus-
ing to give it back even after the Speaker
gave instructions to that effect, Mbah Ndam,
said the police violated the constitution.
Quoting section 2(1), of the constitution,
Mbah Ndam said "National sovereignty shall
be vested in the people of Cameroon who
shall exercise same either through the
President of the Republic and MPs or by way
of referendum."
He said in the spirit of the constitution,
no section of the people or any individual
shall arrogate to itself or himself the exercise
thereof. He said the authorities responsible
for the management of the state shall derive
their powers from the people.
By dint of such constitutional provisions,
he said, it is unacceptable that appointees
like the police should lord it over elected
state authorities.
Opening Ceremony
With Nintcheu's passport handed back,
the opening plenary of the second ordinary
session of the National Assembly went hitch-
free, paving the way for the Speaker to con-
demn the skyrocketing prices of basic com-
modities.
Such a phenomenon, masterminded by
some unscrupulous business people, he
observed, is an affront to two ordinances the
President of the Republic signed recently.
He said Parliament would contribute its
quota in making life cheaper for
Cameroonians by ratifying the ordinances of
the Head of State of the suppression and
reduction of tariffs on the importation of
basic commodities.
ment, two on right to safety and security and
18 cases on right to life were also recorded.
Corruption and influence peddling had a
record of 17 cases.
A NCHRF official commented that many
Cameroonians whose rights are being tram-
pled upon are suffering silently because of
Page 3
SCNC Vice Chair Elected Into
UNPO Presidency
BY CHRIS MBUNWE
HE Vice Chairman of the Southern
T Cameroons National Council, SCNC, Nfor
Ngala Nfor, has been elected into the
Presidency of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples
Organisation, UNPO.
Nfor Nfor was elected during the ninth UNPO
General Assembly that held recently in Brussels,
Belgium.
The General Assembly was organised at the
European Parliament with full attendance of UNPO
members and delegates from all over the world.
According to some home-based SCNC leaders
like Prince Hitler Mbinglo Nfor Nfor's election will go
a long way to advance the liberation struggle and
eventual independence.
During the General Assembly, Marino Busdachin
was re-elected as UNPO Secretary General. Ledum
Mitee Esq., leader of the Movement for the Survival
of Ogoni People in Nigeria was elected UNPO
President and Ms. Maysing Yang, Vice Minister of
Oversees Compatriot Affairs Commission of Taiwan
was elected Vice President.
Senator Marco Perduce, member of the Italian
Senate for the Democratic Party was elected
Treasurer.
Other candidates at the General Assembly includ-
ed Maxim Gunjia from Abkhazia, Adduraman Egiz,
from Crimean Tartars, Dolkun Isa from East
Turkistan, Mohamoud Daar from Somaliland and six
others.
A dispatch from the UNPO office, of which The
Post procured a copy, stated that the General
Assembly held "substantial discussion on the broad
sense of the concept of self-determination and its
resolve to address and fully consider the right of self-
determination, ranging from autonomy, devotion, and
federalism."
The UNPO also debated on topics of climate
change, potable water and food shortages which if not
checked would have devastating effects world stabili-
ty.
General resolutions also reached out beyond the
UNPO membership to express members' support for
the ongoing global struggle for human rights, democ-
racy and freedom of expression.
Receiving particular attention were calls for
action against the proliferation of landmines and the
need for the international community to take concrete
action in investigation of situations in Burma and
China in the wake of events in 2007 and 2008.
The Post
A Newstime Publication
Authorization No
582/G.37/L9/1/vol.T/T/2AP
Editorial Office
P.O. Box 91, Buea
Tel: 33 32 32 87
FAX: 33 32 36 36/33 32 32 87
E-mail: thepostnp@yahoo.com
E XECUTIVE E DITO R
Francis Wache
E DITO R-IN-CHIEF
Charly Ndi Chia
Tel: 99 97 13 77/77 23 55 30
HEAD A DMINISTRATION
OF
& FINANCE
P hilip Fomenky
Tel: 77:73:89:04
D E S K E DITO R S
Azore Opio
Tel: 75876192
Ernest Sumelong
Tel: 77 23 96 57
D O U A L A B U R E A U C HIEF
Joe Dinga Pefok
Tel: 77:17:54:51
B A M E N D A B U R E A U C HIEF
Chris Mbunwe
Tel: 77 66 96 99
YA O U N D E B U R E A U C HIEF
Kini Nsom
77 79 99 69
LIMBE B U R E A U
Francis Tim Mbom
77 91 17 79
Page 4 The Post No. 0959 Friday, June 13, 2008

W eekender
US PRESIDENTIAL 2008 WATCH that her stupendous campaign
skills, combined with Obama's
electrifying eloquence should
be irresistible for most voters.
In her concession speech, Clinton
was unequivocal about her determina-
tion to contribute towards an Obama
victory. Said she: "I will work my heart
out to make sure that Senator Obama
will be our next President and I hope
and pray that all of you will join me” in
ensuring that victory.
Besides, Clinton has pledged fealty
to Obama: "I endorse him and throw my
full support behind him" she said. On
his part, Obama stated - ambiguously-
that Mrs Clinton will "continue to be in
the forefront of the battle" by the
Democrats to capture the White House.
Did he insinuate the forefront role of
Obama McCain Vice President? The answer, however,
will only be clear in the coming days.
Senator Clinton, on her part, needs
still make a dash for the Oval Office in
eight years.
She, too, is in a quandary. If she
refuses to run, she will be termed a
spoilsport who refused to lend her
weight to Obama because she was bitter
about her defeat. If she accepts and the
ticket loses, she might end up taking
the rap for the drubbing. Either way,
the choice is no easy task.
Meantime, the team set up by
Obama to sieve Vice Presidential hope-
fuls is said to have narrowed the search
to 20 names, comprising "top officials
now, former lawmakers and former top
military leaders." That could just be
anybody.
In any case, Clinton sounds like the
front runner. And, lest we forget, she
demonstrated during the primaries that
she can be a ...marathoneer.
One way or the other, Obama will
need all the “grace and grit” he can

Why Clinton Should Be Obama's Running Mate the Vice President nomination if she
has not yet said farewell to her presi-
dential ambitions. She is 60 and could
muster when he settles down to make
the “best choice.”

BY FRANCIS WACHE Clinton proved during the primaries

There is one lingering headache
Senator Barack Obama needs to solve
before launching his campaign full
steam for the November presidential
polls: choose a running mate.
PECULATION has been rife
that she commands a considerable fol-
lowing. By her tally, 18 million
Americans voted for her. If she were to
run alongside Obama, it would be easy
for her to woo a chunk of that electorate
to the Democratic side. Other wise, as
some have threatened, they will feel

S about who will emerge victorious

for the number 2 slot on the
Democratic ticket. The number has
reportedly zeroed down to 20. Yet, the
battle is far from over.
Hillary Clinton, the former First
Lady, who Obama beat to clinch the
Democratic nomination, seems the
favourite name. She appears to possess
what it takes to ensure an easy victory
for Obama.
alienated and defect to the Republicans.
In her concession speech, Clinton
referred to Obama as imbued with
grace and grit. Obama was equally
suave. He referred to her as "a leader
who inspires millions of Americans with
her strength, her courage, and her com-
mitment."
Thus, there is mutual respect and
esteem. Obama, himself, admitted that
Clinton had waged a "valiant cam-

Cocoa/Coffee Farmers Get FCFA 450m To Boost Production

paign". It is, therefore, easy to conclude Obama - Clinton: The Democrats’ dream team

Redefining Your Grandes Soirees

BY CHRISTOPHER JATOR NJECHU
Cocoa and coffee farmers will soon improve
on their production through FCFA 450 million
disbursed by the Steering Committee for
Support to the Protection of Cocoa and Coffee.
HIS was one of the decisions arrived at during the
T second session of the steering committee in
Yaounde, recently.
The Committee Coordinator, Luc Njock Nken, said the
project is considering the possibilities of assisting the farm-
ers through direct disbursement of funds.
The goal is to enhance productivity of the sector, which
is considered crucial to the economy.
The cocoa/coffee sector has for some years now suf-
fered from fluctuating prices on the international market,
causing farmers to abandon production. The most disturb-
ing factor was the recent disposition by manufacturers of
chocolate, who wanted to use other substances in the pro-
duction of chocolate. This move caused much fear amongst
Cocoa and coffee are now in high demand, and farmers In Bamenda
would need to produce more to meet the demand.
According to the committee, the money would reach
beneficiaries in the form of farm inputs via organised Call the name and immediately it recalls a
farmer groups as well as NGOs. moment, a place, an event and much more…
Jurassic Park @ Gateway SNACK-Bar-Restaurant And Motel Up
Against a background of complaints that such gestures
made to them never reach them in their right amounts or
reached them late, Nken said this approach will be applied
Station, Skyline Junction
to limit administrative hurdles and enable farmers set their
own priorities in respect of their agricultural calendar.
While measures are being taken to reach out to all the
provinces, so far seven provinces in which the project oper-
Reservation: Cell: 749 85 46
ates will have some 75,000 treated plants by 2009 at the Email:
juraspark@yahoo.com
cost of some FCFA 666 million.
The Secretary General at the Ministry of Agriculture
and Rural Development, Jean-Claude Eko'o Akouafane, Jurassic Park @
said the objective of the meeting was to examine the level Gateway
of implementation of the resolution of the first steering
committee meeting, the report of activities for last year and Is a promise of moments
to adopt this year's projects and budget. that speak to your heart.
The project, since its creation, has provided support to This place gives voice to a
cocoa and coffee producers including the provision of farm new generation as it takes

Preserving Wildlife Resource For Future Generations

producers who found no reason producing for a dwindling
market and low prices.
BY KINI NSOM
The Director of the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature, IUCN, Prof Aime Joseph
Niango, says Cameroonians should exploit forest and
wildlife resources in a sustainable manner for future
generations.
He made the remark in a chat with press during his visit
to Cameroon recently.
He said illegal exploitation of forest and wildlife
resources remains a threat to future generations.
The Burkinabe-born conservationist said biodiversity
conservation, climate change sustainable exploitation of
inputs such as spraying machines, pesticides and protection
you to the frontier of pleas-
kits for farmers. ure.
Nowhere else will you
find such numerous options,
with our Jurassic plaza that
brings Bamenda town clos-
him to weigh the challenges following the merging of the
Central Africa and West Africa bureaus of IUCN. er to you in one moment, the Jurassic village-a jungle
that leaves no one indifferent, our business class sit-
The IUCN now has only one bureau in West and
Central African regions situated in Ourgadougou, Burkina ting rooms with celestial comfort, the unbeatable
Faso. Jurassic Restaurant with a track record of quality,
During his visit, he said he discussed environmental neatness and deliciousness and, of course, our classy
issues with the Minister of Forestry and Wildlife, Elvis guest rooms equipped with satellite TV, Saliva-car-
Ngolle Ngolle and the Minister of the Environment and
peted and water heaters.
Nature Protection, Pierre Hele.
IUCN is an International NGO that works with organi-
sations engaged in the fight for the sustainable exploitation At Jurassic Park @ Gateway,
of natural resources. It works with states, government agen- You can't beat the feeling and the temptation is that you get all
cies and civil society organisations. the comfort for half the cost.
 The Post No. 0959 Friday, June 13, 2008 Page 5

INTERVIEW/NEWS
Bar Association Creating Jobs For Cameroonians - Bar President
W eekender

For seven years the examination into the Cameroon Bar similar situation will never
Association was taboo on the lips of prospective lawyers. The happen again in the Bar
Association.
entrance examination had been shelved, gathering dust and it Could you tell us more about
wasn't thought that it could happen. Today, it seems too good the partnership the Cameroon Bar
to be true. Last year, the Bar Exams were conducted. And Association and European Union
today, hundreds of pupil advocates are at work picking the clinched?
ropes of their profession in their various chambers and the law It is a convention to give
assistance to detainees in
courts. To them, this means thinking the unthinkable; earning prison cells in the country. The
long-awaited employment. Barrister Charles Tchoungang, assistance is multi-faceted; the
Cameroon Bar Association President, during whose mandate health of the prisoners, the gen-
the Bar Exams were organised, spoke to The Post recently at eral conditions of the prisons,
the swearing-in ceremony of pupil candidates, on how they the infirmaries, the organisa-
tion of the penitentiary sector,
came about the success story. Excerpts: regular vaccination campaigns
and those imprisoned without
The Post: How did you come about making only swear in people, it will endeavour to lawyers to defend them. In this
the Bar Exam a success? give them the right and rigorous training light, the EU has put at the dis-
Barrister Tchoungang: For seven they deserve. posal of the Bar Association
years, there had been no Cameroon Bar Are you hoping to swear in more lawyers FCFA 600 million, to recruit
Association examination and there had next year as the law stipulates? 200 lawyers who will defend
been no barristers-in-training in the vari- I am not there to judge others and the 3000 detainees identified in the
ous law firms and chambers across the past. I am in control now and as I continue ten provinces for free. The con-
country. We worked in collaboration with to be there, I will respect the laws in place. tract will be renewable, follow-
the Vice-Prime Ministry in charge of Therefore, as this batch of trainees will ing the performance of the
Justice and Keeper of the Seals. graduate in two years, we will organise lawyers. We are also discussing Barrister Tchoungang
What are your preoccupations? another Bar Exam. We are concerting with with the EU the need to re-
Our intention is to show proof to the supervisory ministry to adapt the laws energise the capacity of our barristers. We What next while you are still Bar
Cameroonians that we too, can contribute according to the calendar of activities we are also looking at how to decentralise the President?
to the economic development of our coun- have; according to the training format and lawyers. Most of them are concentrated in I am working! The Bar Association has
try. We are creating more than 542 jobs the periodicity of the exams. The training is the big towns, while there are courts in the been existing for 36 years without a head-
without any subvention from the powers for two years, so as others check out of countryside without lawyers. My intention quarter. Recently, I obtained a deed of con-
that be. Our provincial tour to swear in the training, simultaneously, other trainees is to ensure that all the courts in the coun- veyance for a piece of land in Yaounde,
pupil advocates is also an opportunity for should be coming in. It wouldn't make try have lawyers. We are also working on which will house the Bar Association. A
the Bar Association to tell the sense, while others are in training and we the modalities to enable a lawyer to stay in distinguished organisation like ours should
Cameroonian public that the legal profes- are recruiting more people. Management, an area where there is a court without a have a well constructed office equipped
sion is alive in the country. There is no follow-up and training will certainly not be lawyer. I say a big thanks to the EU and to with up-to-date working materials and
stopping for us. We are showcasing our effective. Shelving the examination for let them know that we are a credible organ- manned by a respectable staff. My next
best products to the public, to the adminis- seven years created artificial unemploy- isation to work with. We are not asking project is to begin construction on that
trative and traditional authorities of the ment. Hence, the Bar Association was them to give us cash in hand, but to fund land. It wouldn't take long for it to start.
country. The feedbacks have been positive, forced to do a spectacular intake of 542 our projects, which are all geared towards My fervent wish is to see that all what we

Uncertainty Surrounds Mt. Cameroon's Possible Eruption

especially from the families of the pupil trainees. It has never happened in to the development of the Bar Association do for the Bar Association goes on hitch-
candidates. The Bar Association will not Cameroon. We are working hard so that a and the Cameroonian people. free.
INTERVIEWED BY WALTER WILSON NANA

BY AZORE OPIO & ELVIS TAH
Against a backdrop of speculations,
wild rumours and some panic that Mt.
Cameroon is threatening to erupt, The
Post set out recently on an expedition
of inquiry.
HE POST accompanied a vol-
ture but they discovered that the temperature has
rather dropped and that there is no cause for
alarm," recalled Ndumbe.
"According to my findings, no eruption is
about to take place," Ayonghe reportedly said.
Ndumbe also pointed out that most of the vil-
lages behind the mountain are enclaved and
devoid of electricity, national radio and TV sig-
nals or telephone network.
"There is a particular area on the mountain
where no language apart from the Bakweri
Bomboko vernacular must be spoken. If English
or any other strange language is spoken there, it
would cause an eruption," Difongo said.
He stated that when a Bakweri chief is about
to die, there is usually a sign on the mountain
which is understood only by custodians of the tra-
dition.
One Isaac Chungong, who lost most of his
building, recalled that President Paul Biya visited
them and promised to send them aid, which he did
but they never saw it.
Chungong remembered that they received
only rice.
On their preparedness in case there is another
eruption, the denizens said they are not ready and
that should the mountain erupt, the only thing

T canic research student, Ernest
Ndumbe, from the Vrije University
in Brussels, Belgium and a moun-
taineer, Emmanuel Vefonge.
The investigation was based on the quest to
know the possible risk areas and the people's per-
ceptions of geo-hazards around the Mt. Cameroon
region. The team visited villages like Debunscha,
Bibundi, Idenau, Bomana, Kotto I and II, Ifolofo,
Katakata, Kukekumbu, Mueli, Munyenge
Trouble, Bokosso, Ibie right down to Ikata in
Muyuka.
It also stopped at the Remote Sensing, RS,
Unit (a geological station to detect volcanic activ-
ities on the mountain) at Bokosso.
Ndumbe established from his findings that the
community's perception of Mt. Cameroon erup-
tions is completely different from a geologist's
standpoint.
"Some people believe that the mountain
erupts due to the high level of petroleum in the
mountain or minerals. Unfortunately, it is a geo-
logical accident to find petroleum in a volcanic
area," said Ndumbe.
He held that Mt. Fako is found along the
Cameroon volcanic line and it is active volcano,
which means it must erupt after some years.
On whether the time is ripe for the mountain
to erupt, Ndumbe said when he arrived in the
country, he met a geologist, Dr. Samuel Ayonghe,
who argued that the mountain was not about to
erupt.
"Some of the villagers said they heard the
reports on the last volcanic eruption but on BBC
and Radio Calabar from Nigeria," Ndumbe
recalled.
Bakweri Chiefs Speak
Some of the Bakweri chiefs the team met
Can destruction such as this be prevented in case of another erutpion?
seemed to bask in the myth that Mt. Cameroon
erupts whenever a chief dies.
According to Chief Jacob Difongo of
Bomana, they (chiefs) are supposed to offer sacri-
fices to appease Efasamoto (the god of the moun-
Another elder in Kotto I, Emmanuel Mwambo
Ikome, corroborated Chief Difongo. He said the
Paramount Chief of Buea, Chief SM Endeley,
usually rallies other chiefs and they offer sacri-
fices to the god of the mountain. Quizzed on
whether the sacrificial lamb is an albino according
to rumours, Ikome said it is not human sacrifice.
"My late father told
me that when there was an
eruption, they usually
went up the mountain and
offered a sacrifice. The
articles for the sacrifice
usually consist of a white
goat, white hen and a
white cloth, and it can
only be performed by
members of a particular
cult," said Ikome.
Poto Poto
Quarters
At Poto Poto quarter
in Bokwaongo, where the
1999 eruption affected
many people, the denizens
said they have not sensed
any sign of a possible eruption.
They, however, said they witnessed the ash
fall some two months ago. That notwithstanding,
Hanna Mbua, who lived the experience of the
1999 eruption, said early in the mornings and late
in the evenings, she used to perceive a smell that
would be survival of the fittest.
Meanwhile, Michael Ndang, owner of a
storey building in Great Soppo, said he is not
afraid of a tremor because his house was built
according to specifications from the Delegation of
Lands and Survey.
According to him, he used rods (12 mm and
14mm) which are used for the construction of
bridges, to build his house. He said he made sure
that enough cement was used with broad pillars to
support the upper floors.
When our inquiry finally took us to the gates
of Ekona Geological Sensing Centre, we drew a
blank. It was the second time. A staff, a researcher
on gas explosions, eruptions and so on, Dr. Festus
Aka, told The Post that he was not in a position to
talk about the mountain erupting.
Dr. Aka said he had no authority to talk to the
press as his boss, Ateba Bekon, had not delegated
such powers to him although they have relevant
information. Ateba himself was on a trip abroad.
Poring over a laptop, Aka, however, referred
us to the notice board where a note de service (a
memorandum of sorts) MINRESI/IRGM/500, all
written in French and signed by Ateba on
21/4/2008, authorised one Mbassa Benoit Joseph
to act on his behalf. Unfortunately, Mr. Mbassa
was not available for comment.
It is not known whether the centre could issue
an early warning in case of an eruption or a quake
to enable the communities in the region to evacu-
ate to safety.
What The Post has learnt is that some of the
Page 6
The Post
What Do You Think Of A Biya/Fru Ndi Meeting?
W eekender
It Would Be Fruitless
A meeting between President Paul Biya and John Fru
Ndi would not yield any fruits. This is because Fru Ndi
has been talking to Biya through other mediums and
Biya has always ignored his proposals. If Fru Ndi meets
Biya, he would propose the sharing of key ministries
between Anglophones and Francophones, and the magi-
nalisation of Anglophones. Biya has heard all these and
he would not change.
Tabe Ngongho, PYC, Kumba
It Will Lead To Nation Building
I think the meeting is quite alright
because it leads to nation building.
It is very important to join the
various politicians and their
political ideas on a platform gear-
ing towards the advancement of
the country. Through their meet-
ing, many things will be discussed
in a bid to improve the statusquo
Victor Wani, Health Personnel, Buea
Could Lead To Bribery
I am afraid that a meeting between Paul Biya and Fru
Ndi could lead to bribery of the latter. Biya has struggled for
several years to quell the SDF in vain. This time, Biya might
suggest an envelop that the opposition leader may be tempt-
ed to take. I pray Fru Ndi should not disgrace us by selling
his conscience. He should put his points clear in a strong
debate, and strive to better the situation of the dwindling
economy.
Robenson Ngoh, WESCO, Kumba
The Two Have Different Ideologies
I think Fru Ndi and Biya should
actually meet because the two
seems to have different ideolo-
gies. When they get together,
they shall combine their ideolo-
gies and chat the way forward
for a better Cameroon. In that
way, it will help in nation build-
ing.
Enanga Ndumbe, UB Student
Time For Talks Is Long Gone
I will answer this question by a Shakespearian Quote
from Julius Caesar. Shakespeare said "there is a tide in the
affairs of men which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune."
The 'flood' for the SDF was in 1992 and the SDF missed the
boat, the 'flood.' They boycotted the parliamentary elections
of that year. At that time, many of us were in the SDF and
we advocated strongly that the SDF goes for the elections but
our voices were suppressed by the so-called intellectuals in
the party at that time. When the SDF was strong they should
have negotiated with President Paul Biya. Biya is an intelli-
gent politician and he doesn't need the SDF anymore. The
strength of the SDF has already been tested on several occa-
sions, and so if Biya accepts to meet with the SDF he will only
be giving them credibility at this point in time. Biya is the
man we all know; he will not meet the SDF. He doesn't need
them. But, if for reasons of national reconciliation or whatev-
er, Fru Ndi and Paul Biya decide to talk, it may be good. I do
not see anything good coming out of the talks. I do not see the
talks helping the SDF.
Barrister Henry Ngale Monono, Limbe
Necessary For Them To Meet
When national issues are
astake, all of us have to take a
decision. I think it is very nec-
essary for Fru Ndi and Biya to
meet, because they lead us
and if the country is not mov-
ing, I feel that their coming
together and arriving at a
decision will lead to a homoge-
neous thinking. That is, we shall
all follow them in unity and not in
dispersed ranks.
No. 0959 Friday, June 13, 2008
The People Speak
Need A Packet Deal For Cameroonians
I happened to have been the person
who paved the way for CPDM - SDF
talks in Yaounde in 2002. So, we
met with Fru Ndi's envoy Justice
Nyo Wakai, Charles Ndoumba
and former Prime Minister Peter
Mafany Musonge. We met in his
chambers thrice, and they gave
modalities of the talks. In the final
analysis, the talks started; that was in
1997. Then the SDF walked out of the
talks prematurely because they requested government to put
in place an independent electoral commission. Government
said it was working on it and asked whether it would not be
possible for the SDF to join government so that they could
put up a proper independent electoral commission and han-
dle other issues plaguing the country. Unfortunately, the
SDF walked out of the talks.
From my findings and proposals, the government would
want to know from Fru Ndi, what is his packet deal, what
will he tell his militants and Cameroonians after this talks.
Since he is the one requesting to meet
President Biya on behalf of himself and party, he should
open up and put forth practical modalities on what and why
he wants to meet the President. It is not a safari trip. Before
two key political figures like Fru Ndi and Paul Biya meet,
they have to agree on certain principles of discussions. It is
good for them to meet, but the most important thing is what
do they have as a packet deal for Cameroonians. If the pack-
et deal is in the interest of Cameroonians, it will be a good
thing.
El-Hadji Lawan Bako - UDP Chairman, Bamenda
W ould Be Of No Help To SDF
What Has Fru Ndi Been Waiting For The Past 18 Years?
I don't think a meeting between Biya and Fru Ndi now will
be of any help to the SDF. If I may ask, why had Fru Ndi to
wait for 18 long years before seeking to meet Biya? Fru Ndi
would have long asked for an audience with the President
and not wait for 18 years. And if you look at the SDF for these
past 18 years, instead of the party progressing, they have
rather been regressing; moving backward and losing some of
the founding fathers. Fru Ndi does not really have a grip of
the SDF any longer. Asking for an audience with the Head of
State after 18 years, I think Fru Ndi probably wants to look
for a situation where he can regain his grip of the party. I
think that if they are honest to themselves, they will get into
the Government.
Isaac Dale, YCPDM Fako I President, Limbe
I Had Advised Fru Ndi On It
I will say yes without hesitation,
given that these are two leading
political figures in Cameroon. I
wish to recall that in April 2003,
I sent a memo to Fru Ndi, where
I questioned why two political
leaders like them have never
met for over fifteen years. I even
went further to threaten resign-
ing from my post, if they did not
meet to talk before the 2004
Presidentials. Fru Ndi rebuffed me, and I
had no option than to step down. First, I was aware of Biya's
advances for a meeting with Fru Ndi, and I knew that if they
did meet the beneficiaries will be the Cameroonian people. I
still hold that it was a monumental error by those who
advised Fru Ndi otherwise. Secondly,
However, if the meeting is to negotiate posts for the SDF
and himself, as Fru Ndi insinuates, then I have my reserva-
tions.
Martin -Luther Fon Yembe- Former
NW SDF Chairman
A Big Joke
To me, Biya/ Fru Ndi meeting is a big joke, neither of
them is trust worthy. They do not represent a clear vision of
the solution required to solve the problems Cameroonians are
facing today. President Paul Biya represents and protects
Beti interest, while Fru Ndi is blind to the reality of Southern
Cameroons where he resides. In short, Biya and Fru Ndi
operate for self interests, they are egoistic, and are no worthy
News
Biya Is Not Desperate To Meet Him
I am surprised that the SDF National Chairman is still
interested to meet with Biya instead of working out ways of
handling numerous problems plaguing his party. Biya is not
so desperate to meet him because the
Constitution has been amended, his ministers and top
army officials are not experiencing any hardship. Farmers
are crying because of hike in prices of fertilizers and other
farm inputs, but Fru Ndi can afford fertilizers. So, why worry
yourself now Fru Ndi, accept the fact that you want to go get
some crumbs from your master's table at Etoundi.
James Achu-Farmer, Nkwen, Bamenda
Great Idea
It would be a great idea for the two politicians to meet and
discuss the problems plaguing Cameroon, given the fact that
they are of two extremes, Fru Ndi as opposition leader and
President Paul Biya as National Chairman of the CPDM and
Head of State. Any outcome of the meeting will give an equi-
librium for the interest of the State.
Cletus Anye Matoya -
Vice President CPDM Mezam I, Bamenda
What Will They Dialogue About?
If it is that Fru Ndi and Biya are supposed to meet and
dialogue, then I begin to question the
type of dialogue. Are they to dia-
logue on the problem of Southern
Cameroon or on La Republique?
If it is about La Republique,
Biya is the one wearing the
shoes. Now what can Fru Ndi
discuss with him? How are we
sure that Biya will not turn
around tomorrow and say Fru Ndi
came to beg him?
Isaac Sona, SCNC Chairman,
Kumba
COMPILED BY CHRIS MBUNWE, FRANCIS TIM MBOM, OLIVE
EJANG TEBUG NGOH & ELVIS TAH
OKU/MBESSA CONFLICT:
Vice Principal Escapes
Assassination Attempt
BY PETERKINS MANYONG
BED Aseka, Vice Principal of GHS Mbessa, almost paid
O the supreme price when Oku warriors opened fire on
him.
In a complaint addressed to the Divisional Delegate of
Education in Boyo, Aseka narrated that he was returning from
Bamenda on a commercial motorcycle (bendskin).
Eleven kilometres from Mbessa, bullets suddenly started
raining at them from a nearby bush.
In an attempt to escape the onslaught, the bendskin rider
lost control and they crashed onto a rock, both of them falling
in different directions and getting injured in the process.
"Within the twinkle of an eye, we were surrounded by more
than a hundred Oku warriors, armed to the teeth and ready to
kill. I immediately raised my hands in the face of menacing
guns of all sorts and cried out that I was neither of Oku nor
Mbessa extraction," said Aseka.
In reaction, the warriors asked for his identity card and
after that ransacked his travelling bag in which they found
only official documents.
The bendskin rider was almost lynched with the excuse that
he was a spy when he couldn't produce his identity card, were
it not for Aseka's intervention.
After that, Aseka continues, they were frogmarched at gun-
point to Njinikijem, their headquarters, despite his explanation
that he was the Vice Principal of GHS Mbessa en route to pre-
pare for GCE supervision.
The warriors were still unmoved even after he mentioned
the names of local Mbessa authorities, including Benjamin
Ebesom, Assistant Oku DO and Ezekiel Baijong, Principal of
GBSS Tonlon, Oku.
When one of the warriors using his phone informed a cer-
tain Gilbert that they should get ready as two captives were on
their way, Aseka who understood a little of the Oku language,
became more alarmed.
"On the spot, I told him that if it was not to the DO's office,
we would rather die than move a step further," narrated Aseka.
This resolution produced the desired effect. The spokesper-
son of the warriors communicated to their headquarters giving
details about Aseka and the bendskin rider.
Apparently, Oku authorities were not ready for a showdown
 The Post
W eekender
Cameroonian Named BEAC
Communication Officer
BY CHRISTOPHER JATOR NJECHU
AMEROONIAN-BORN Lucie
C Mboto Fouda has been named the
Communication Officer of the
Bank of Central African States, BEAC.
He was appointed by a recent decision of
the bank's Governor, Philibert Andzembe.
Fouda, who will be commissioned into his
function on July 1, worked at the external
relations services of the International
Monetary Fund, IMF. Before his erstwhile
duty at the IMF, he was a journalist at the
economic desk of Cameroon Tribune.
Bank officials said the appointment is in
line with the institutional reforms of the
bank launched in April 2007, in
N'Djamena. At a video conference in
Yaounde, recently, to present the 2007
report on economic growth in the Central
African Monetary and Economic
Community, CEMAC, Andzembe said the
bank has undergone a number of reforms.
One of which was the formation of a
Monetary Policy Committee, whose
members were equally presented to
reporters.
Security Receives 52 New
Vehicles To Curb Crime
HE Minister Delegate at the
T Presidency in charge of Defence,
Remy Ze Meka, recently handed
over 52 new vehicles to certain units of
the gendarmerie and military. The gesture,
according to the Minister Delegate, is
within the framework of the ongoing fight
against crime which was initiated some
years ago by the Delegate General for
National Security, Edgar Alain Mebe
Ngo'o. The vehicles will facilitate surveil-
lance along the borders in the East and
North provinces. Ze Meka warned against
illegal use of the vehicles and promised
severe sanctions to defaulters.
Nkambe Mayor Presses For
University Of Technology
BY WAMEY PANKY
KAMBE Mayor, Jones
N Mangoh Tanko, has insisted
on the Catholic Education
Authority to open a university of
technology in Nkambe.
The Mayor was speaking recently
during the graduation ceremony of
St. Rita's Catholic Technical High
School Nkambe.
According to the Mayor, his
municipality provides a conducive
environment for the creation of the
university.
He highlighted the role of techni-
cal schools in providing the country
with technocrats.
On his part, Bishop George Nkuo,
who presided over the graduation cer-
emony, described the mayor's request
for the creation of the Catholic
University of Technology as "a good
dream."
He, however, said the Catholic
Education Authority had approved of
a university of technology in the
Northwest Province, but the site was
yet to be chosen.
Speaking earlier, Nkambe
Secondary Education Delegate,
Augustine Nfor Mangeh, lauded the
efforts of the staff and administration
in always producing excellent results.
While praising the Catholic
Education Authorities, the Delegate
said he would do his best to encour-
age the government to give confes-
sional institution the most deserving
assistance.
On his part, the Principal of the
institution, Rev. Fr. Anthony Lawir
Ndzekfula, lamented the poor enrol-
ment despite his efforts to educate
the people on the importance of tech-
nical education.
St. Rita's Technical High School
No. 0959 Friday, June 13, 2008
News
High Commissioner PraysFor Independence Of ELECAM
BY LEOCADIA BONGBEN & EDITH WIRDZE
The British High Commissioner to
Cameroon, Syd Madicott, has expressed the
hope that Cameroon's elections body, ELE-
CAM, would be transparent.
ADICOTT was speaking during
M
celebrations of the Queen's birth-
day at his Bastos residence,
recently.
He expressed anxiety to see ELECAM
members nominated, and hoped that they
would be truly independent and capable of
playing the leadership role required of
them.
He reiterated Britain's readiness to
support ELECAM. The High
Commissioner used the theme of the day,
which focused on leadership, to commend
President Paul Biya's fight against corrup-
tion.
He said the UK and donor countries are
Environmentalists Decry Deforestation, Pollution
in support of the government's anti-corrup-
BY NFORMI SONDE AND JATOR NJECHU
The irrational use of waste and the indis-
criminate felling of trees for fuel became the
concern of environmentalists during this
year's World Environment Day celebrations
in Yaounde.
Market Information System Launched In Southwest
US Ambassador: Garvey
BY OLIVE EJANG TEBUG NGOH
The Southwest Delegation of Agriculture
and Rural Development, PDARD, has
launched a Market Information System, MIS,
in the Southwest.
HIS was within the framework of
T
PDARD and Rumpi Area Participatory
Development Project activities.
The event, which took place recently in
Kumba, brought together council and agricul-
ture workers, administrators and members of
the civil society in the Province.
Describing the project, the Provincial
Delegate, Lawrence Forwang, said MIS entails
the collection, processing and dissemination of
market information in a given place, at specific
periods for public consumption.
He stated that the divisional data would be
sent to the central unit in Buea and periodic
reports produced.
"This process would help producers and buy-
ers know where to sell and buy to make profit,"
he explained.
Page 7
News
tion programme.
Madicott also used the
occasion to highlight
Britain's role in the issue of
climate change, the world
food crisis and fostering
peace and prosperity in the
world.
He said the High
Commission is equally con-
tributing its own quota to
develop leadership talent by
helping the Cameroonian
police and prison services
through the Chevening schol-
arship and fellowships to the
brightest and best
Cameroonians.
The celebration was
attended by government offi-
cials, diplomatic missions
and a crop of Cameroonians
of all works of life. Syd Madicott: advocating transparency in ELECAM
Officials in the Ministry of the She said one of the most important
Environment and the Protection of Nature, aspects of reducing waste is awareness.
MINEP, and the Coordinator of the United The diplomats pointed out that poor
Nations System in Cameroon, called for the farming habits such as the felling and burn-
rational use of energy at the end of activities ing of trees deplete the soil and releases a lot
marking the Environment Day on June 5. of carbonic gases, which also deplete the
The United Nations System Coordinator ozone layer, causing climate change.
expressed concern on how pollution and the This year's Environment Day, which was
poor management of waste affect the health celebrated under the theme; "Kick the
of local inhabitants.
The coordinator also said the world is
Habit" saw the planting of 30,000 trees in
Yaounde under the supervision of MINEP.
gripped by a carbon habit, which, according Also, the Secretary General at MINEP,
to her, should be discouraged in order to pro- Patrick Akwa Kum Bong, advised citizens to
tect the environment. stop using carbon-emitting substances and
Against this backdrop, the US
Ambassador to Cameroon, Janet Garvey,
said the US Embassy supports a communi-
resort to the use of low fuel consuming
equipment.
To him, changing habits is just one of
ty-based waste management project put in many things that we should do in order to
place by Centre International pour la effectively fight global warming.
Recuperation, CIPRE. In a series of sketches, members of the
The aim, according to the Garvey, is to Global Learning and Observation to Benefit
bring together many stakeholders in the the Environment, GLOBE, demonstrated
sorting, collection and management of the need to protect the environment.
urban household waste.
Forwang hoped they would extend their
services when the means increases.
Rumpi Project Coordinator, Ogork Ntui,
stated that MIS would stimulate agricultur-
al production and foster development in the
Province.
He said enumerators have been trained
in all Divisions of the Province to collect
data on market information and use the
local media to disseminate them for the ben-
efit of farmers and buyers.
Ogork explained that Rumpi has bought
equipment worth FCFA 15 million to facili-
tate the operation of the system.
He said computers and other facilities
would be placed at the Divisional level,
while enumerators would be provided with
mobile phones and regular credit cards to
facilitate their job.
The Rumpi Coordinator urged all stake-
holders to contribute to the sustainability of
the information system, even after 2010
when Rumpi Project is expected to end.
Expatiating on the multiplier effect of
the information system, Meme Senior
 The Post
Page 8
W ee
kend
er
Dear Ngwa,
saw the emotions with which
I
the people of the pen and mic
took up the Zidane/Matterazi
issue, and I liked the show of
solidarity. Your anger evoked
in me sympathy not only for
the star's demeaning act, but
for the fact that he did not have the same
ammunition to fight back. Probably the
pen men forgot to consider that the inci-
dent was a landmark event in the life of
that talkative. I should not be the one to
tell you that he even celebrated the
event silently. Come to think of it, before
now, has he ever been known beyond the
nation's capital where he makes noise in
the airwaves?
Ngwa, have you ever bothered to find
out the reason for the stalemate between
our heroes and the pen men? It is noth-
ing other than ngombo. It is no longer
secret that some of the pen men have
reduced themselves to street paupers,
well dressed street urchins or buzzing in
the ear like mosquitoes when one strug-
gles to catch a sleep. You need to see
those Hilton rascals parading them-
selves like some evil spirits; cornering
and squeezing anything they can from
those guys. Of course, those who have
complied with their nagging demands
have had their images painted with the
best of colours while those who have
ignored them were simply painted in
Obamism And The Dream Syndrome
black. Why else do you think our heroes
Barack Hussien Obama has just
obtained the Democratic nomination
to run for the post of President of the
United States of America. He has the
probability of one half to make histo-
ry as the first man of African descent
to become President of the USA.
HE news of his nomination hit
T the world's airwaves like a
firestorm. The euphoria was
record breaking; the excitement was
unstoppable all around the world.
Some people even forgot that this was
just a nomination and he has to face
the old war veteran, John McCain, of
the Republican Party.
No. 0959
Letter From Buea to Yaounde
would prefer some white brats to their
own brothers?
My brother, dark smoke rose again
from our promised land and the guaran-
tors of our peace were promoted prema-
turely beyond. I do not think there is any
peace keeping mission in heaven for
which the Almighty might have need of
them. Do you know that the sons of
Lucifer who are perpetuating the mali-
cious acts are making nonsense of the
struggle to plant the green tree? I doubt
if the green tree the big guys are trying
to plant might ever grow to fruition. It
seems the Promised Land might never
become ours since some enemies of
progress feel that we do not deserve to
inherit it. but, does the Etoudi monar-
chship deserve any better treatment
from the people they have neglected for
so long? What, on God's earth, can
explain the abandonment of a land and
people.
Your Etoudi people are really heart-
less. They have the habit of parachuting
into an area when there is a disaster and
try to fire fight it. They should have
known that fire fighting does not always
work. I hear that the people hate our
khaki boys with a dripping passion. A
military uncle hinted that some deviants
from across the river masterminded the
assault. In any case, what is ours must
come to us in spite of all.
Ngwa, did you ever read Botha's
satanic verses about how the sara people
are superior beings and how they were
ordained by God to rule the black skin
Africa joined in the euphoria and
excitement on the anticipation of see-
ing one of theirs in the White House.
From Nairobi - Kenya to Yaounde-
Cameroon, from Harare-Zimbabwe to
Khartoum-Sudan, the news was palat-
able. The news must have first broken
out to the upper classes in these coun-
tries; those who could afford cable TV.
Among these classes are Africa's
dreaded dictators. They too joined in
the celebration and anticipation. How
can we not be excited to see a son of
direct African paternal parentage vie
for the topmost post in the world? Why
should African rulers not be excited
about it?
With all due consideration on free-
dom's tenets, our
autocrats have
no moral author-
ity or reason to
celebrate or
anticipate the
election of a
black man in the
USA. They stand
contrary to what
today's celebrity
of democracy,
Barack Hussien
Obama, stands
for. They detest
the ideals of the
country that
placed the foun-
dation for people
like Obama to
think of aspiring
to such a posi-
tion.
Democracy is
an amoebic con-
cept, which lures
autocrats to
define it to suit
their caprices.
No matter how
Poem
Friday, June 13, 2008
def
Lessons From America
slaves. Thank God he lived to see the BY Sammy Oke Akombi
Robben Island tenant become president
against all his predictions. You cannot
imagine the joy I had when our Kenyan
brother clinched the nomination. I even Two of their best minds are slugging it out
shared a beer with a friend to celebrate As they yearn for the most exalted seat
the victory since I suspect he should also The two parties got out of the primaries
be of Cameroonian descent. The name Without a broken tooth, nor a battered face
Obama is from the Eton tribe from the Money for their deeds, they didn't fetch from the
Centre Province. If his pedigree is well state pond
investigated, it could be discovered that Nor did a state minister stop work for the cam-
he is also a Cameroonian. But for now, if paign trail
he is discovered to have any Nor did anyone find a stray state car on the trail
Cameroonian link, it might have an A black boy with white tint
Who once smoked ganja in a back street
effect on his final election into the White
Has been accorded acclaim and inspiration
House because of the corruption stain. By blacks and whites alike
Have you ever imagined that Obama Men and women alike
was a Cameroonian and is talking about With no-one, shouting out: how dare you! How dare
change, you can be sure that he would be you!
talking about it for 18 more years just
like our S party because there is no way He's disbanded and banished the clannish bar, nay
he would win the election. the colour bar.
hear people are drinking palm
I
Let's watch out for what November shall fetch.
wine to celebrate the naming Already, it stands out clear: the wretched can be
ceremony of the new elections
The New Edition Of
much fetched.
rigging body, little do they
know that spin doctors are
Profiles International is Out
working hard to make it worse
than its elder brother that managed
some masquerades in the name of elec-
tions. Hopes for credible elections in this - The
country are as far fetched as thinking
that Cameroon would one day tail the Northwest
world corruption chart. w o m e n
I have to go now; you know the empowering
European matches are taking part of my
time now. themselves in
Yours Sincerely, Mbella launching
NOWEWEF
- The
Mvog-Ada
Afffair: The
Anglophone
root of democracy: The ability of a
nation or group of persons to change its Catholic
leader at a time agreed upon, by the Church fighting with itself for control of
use of the majority concept using a set Parish resources.
of rules agreed by the majority.
- Prosperity Theology: The Christians of
Anything that does not have this root
is not democracy. the Presbyterian Church, Bonamoussadi
Obama has come a long way! Douala, know how to give.
Obama is an outcome of a 'dream' - A
Martin Luther King's dream. That - Joyce Mbongo Endeley has excelled in
dream that we experience not when we
sleep, but when we are awake. That
dream; defined by our vision and prac-
tically invisible to the ordinary. That
academics but has life been easy?
- Bringing up boys: A look at some fami-
lies with grown up "boys"
dream that we anticipate not necessar-
ily in our lifetime, but know for sure
that someday, somehow it will come to
pass. That dream that was worthy LEGAL NOTICE
In the Court of First Instance
enough to submit the likes of Mandela
to the confinement of his captors for 27
years! That dream that perpetually
Holden at Menji
grease the courage of the oppressed
even when all think they are paranoid.
The oppressed in Africa cannot
afford not to have a 'dream'- not a
sleeping dream but a vision; and any-
body who fears to dream fears to pros-
Suit No TM/6/08
per. We owe the obligation to learn Between
from these trends of events and take Asaah Sophie Atu - Plaintiff
stock of where we come from and And
where we need to go. Let us cage a Ngulefac Atem Callistus - Defendant
vision in our minds and that destina-
tion will be attained. To the Defendant
Africa's trauma has been exacer-
bated by our wish not to dream. A con- TAKE NOTICE that pursuant to the order
tinent blessed with resources aplenty. of Magistrate Otto Eseme of the Court of First
A people crushing in poverty unde- Instance, Menji, delivered on the 30/4/08, sub-
served! A people's hope anaesthetised
by extreme greed and wanton show of stituted service was ordered against you by
power exuberance, submerging dreams publication.
to mere survival. AND FURTHER TAKE NOTICE that the
Anybody who identifies with the
American story and has nothing to said suit was fixed for hearing on the 25/6/08
learn from the outcomes of the perpet- and no further service shall be effected on you.
ual struggle of the oppressed or the Done at Human Rights Law Firm,
minority dreams has to think again.
Scepticism has never surpassed stead- Mutengene,
fastness in a venture to achieve equal- This 9/6/08
The Post
Requiem For The G11
W eekender
BY PETERKINS MANYONG
It is an established fact that a dicta-
tor who wants to cling to power not Olanguena and Abah Abah two and a half same
only finds diversion as the best strate- the recent freezing of Olanguena's dence. Political observers have not ruled
gy but attributes his problems to his accounts in 13 financial institutions in the out
enemies.
N most cases, such enemies are imagi-
I
nary like Emmanuel Goldstein, the
nonexistent opponent of Big Brother in
George Orwell's Nineteen-Eighty-Four.
In Cameroon, it is the G11. But what,
really, is this G11? G11 is Generation 11, Biya regime continues to keep him in the
which refers to a group of persons with the cooler, it should be for another reason.
ambition to take power from Biya in the
year 2011.
The idea was brought forcefully to the account.
attention of Cameroonians by Charles
Ateba Eyene, a member of the
CPDM Central Committee, when he
told the press that there were
Cameroonians who had pilfered
To detain
enough funds to sustain a 30-year metres tall in a cell of less fate.
civil war in Cameroon.
To give the shadow substance, than that height is to that what Cameroonians perceive as a
the rumour machinery churned out
names, which were then leaked to
deprive him of the right actually
the press. Prominent among these even to stand erect
names are Polycarpe Abah Abah,
Urbain Oulanguena Awono and
Jean Marie Atangana Mebara.
The issue became cloudy and confusing
when Celestin Djamen, a France-based
SDF militant, who once aspired to Fru
Ndi's job but crashed, told a local English Forjindam was not only arrested in the
newspaper that he was a member of the
G11. Of course, few persons believed him
and that is why focus continued to be on
the original leaders who were all members
of government.
As press reports drummed on the
determination of the G11 to take power,
Biya and his spin doctors finalised their
plot to change the Constitution and make
Smuggling Hikes Commodity Prices
him life President. Having achieved this
goal, Biya and loyalists, in characteristic incriminating documents o r(which is more
Gestapo style, began an onslaught on both
BY WAMEY PANKY
The smuggling of basic commodi-
ties from Donga-Mantung Division to
Nigeria has caused a tremendous hike
in prices.
T a meeting with businessmen, the
A Divisional Delegate of Trade and
Commerce, Yougouda Bouba
Adamu, said smuggling out basic goods
like palm oil, cement, soap, rice and farm
produce by some traders has raised the
prices of these goods.
This, according to the Delegate, has
made life more difficult for the common
man. He further regretted that this act is
making it practically difficult for them to
control prices as per presidential instruc-
tions.
It was said, for example, that 20 litres
of palm oil which this time last year was
Priest Says Catholic Church Is Hierarchical
sold at FCFA 7,500, is being sold at FCFA
14,000 and threatening to rise higher.
BY WILLIBROAD NFORMI
Rev. Fr. Cyprian Tata, a Priest of Kumbo
Diocese has said that the Roman Catholic
Church is hierarchical.
N a sermon at the Tobin Catholic
I Church marking the feast of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus, Fr. Tata said
the Church is stratified with lots of hier-
archical segregation that must be strictly
respected. He added that there are cer-
No. 0959 Friday, June 13, 2008
NEWS A N A LYSIS
the known and suspected members of the
G11.
The arrest and incarceration of
months ago is no longer news. Neither is
country. What is absurd about the former
Public Health Minister's case is that
Michel Kazatchkine, Director of the Global
Fund, which provided the money
Olanguena is alleged to have embezzled,
has declared that the funds were properly
used. The clear message was that if the
But the regime claims that an estimat-
ed FCFA 14 billion have been found in his
Olanguena's case is not half as pathet-
a man who is 1.9
ic as that of Forjindam whom Biya regime
insiders, in the style of all dictatorships,
have inextricably linked to the G11.
most clandestine and degrading manner,
but is detained in an equally obnoxious
one. To detain a man who is 1.9 metres tall
in a cell of less than that height is to
deprive him of the right even to stand
erect. That he has since developed health
complications is no surprise.
What many , however, find difficult to
swallow is the ransacking of not only his
office, but also his home in search of
probable) with the intention of planting
This was attributed to Nigerian business-
men invading the oil production areas of
Mbembe. It was equally hinted that the
oil was not for domestic use but for indus-
trial purposes.
Equally, the Delegate said that with a
bag of rice sold in Nigeria at FCFA
35,000, they find it cheaper in Cameroon
at FCFA 25,000, thus causing the local
population to suffer the effects.
The Delegate also remarked that the
issue of cement was getting worse
because it was not even available,
although some businessmen were taking
advantage to hoard cement in order to
cause artificial scarcity.
He disclosed that the Minister of
Trade and Commerce had agreed on a
certain amount of cement for the
Northwest Province at a reduced price to
remedy the situation. This, he regretted,
was being delayed by some bottlenecks at
CEMENCAM.
Beside these goods, the Delegate
lamented that the illegal exportation of
he explained, there is no authority above
that of the Catechist. He explained fur-
ther that at the parish level, the Priest
reigns supreme and his authority can
only be surpassed by that of the Bishop.
"A Bishop is appointed by the Pope on
the dictates of the Holy Spirit," Fr. Tata
said.
He said the Bishop represents Jesus
Christ, but when the congregation mur-
mured in apparent disapproval, he quick-
ly added that as human beings, Bishops
them. If not the latter, what is the ration-
ale behind the sealing of rooms in a man's
private residence, which his family still
occupies? It is surely to find all what they
had planted there intact when they come
for them.
There are press speculations that the
taking
Gestapo-type operation would be
place soon at his Bamenda resi-
the possibility of extending it even to
his Santa residence.
In the midst of all this humiliation,
Northwest CPDM militants, who have
been the main beneficiaries from his
largesse, are silent.
A rumour circulated on the eve of May
20 that irate militants there were planning
to set CPDM T-shirts on fire as they
marched past the grandstand in Santa, but
Forjindam sent word to them pleading
against such a move, which could be inter-
preted as instigated by him. But since then
all has been tranquillity in Santa.
Ironically, it is the SDF, the Party that
accused Forjindam of masterminding
election rigging in Santa in 2007,
which has expressed concern over his
From the foregoing, it can be seen
war on embezzlers of State funds is
a crackdown on the regime's
suspected enemies.
Another important lesson to be
leant is that overzealousness is often
the forerunner of a political tragedy.
Forjindam's ordeal would have been the
subject of a wider, particularly Anglophone
public concern, if he didn't champion the
move for the very unpopular constitutional
review of last April.
This explains why even reports that he
is being victimised so that the Limbe deep
seaport project can be conveniently moved
to Kribi, are insufficient to raise the for-
mer Chantier Naval boss to the status of
an Anglophone tragic hero. At best, he is
seen as an unsuspecting pawn on a com-
plex Machiavellian chess board whose
rules are understood only by the master
players - Biya and his spin doctors on one
side and the embattled G11 on the other.
cattle was equally causing hikes in the
price of beef thus making its consumption
a luxury. He said measures were being
put in place to check the situation.
On their part, the businessmen said
one of their problems was the bad road
network especially from Bamenda to
Nkambe, Misaje, Ako and Nwa.
They said the exorbitant fares
demanded by transporters affect the
prices of goods.
They argued also that the Minister
instructed that a tablet of soap be sold at
FCFA 300 but in Nkambe it would be
unwise to sell it at the same price.
The bad roads notwithstanding, the
businessmen blamed the high prices on
the trauma they receive from taxation
officials. They said besides the high
taxes, some of the taxation officers extort
money from them.
At the end of the meeting, SDO
resolved to issue an order prohibiting the
illegal exportation of goods to Nigeria.
must necessarily belong to a family. He
said for a better understanding of the
workings of the Church and God,
Christians must belong to small
Christian communities, SCC.
Fr. Tata said henceforth, no Christian
would be admitted in Church if he/she
does not belong to an SCC.
The Priest accused the Christians of
abandoning the substance and chasing
the shadow. He said a Priest is not simply
anyone in a cassock but a Pastor of the
COLLECTOR’S DIARY
Page 9
Back To Base!
ELLO GUYS! It is me again.
H
Everyone knows that it is fun to
be away in the countryside for a
while. With the rustics! You
know, to get away from the
hum-drum of urban life and
bask in the serenity of pristine civilisation; chew-
ing kola nut and sipping palm wine.
If two people had not made up their minds to
join their ancestors, my vacation would have
attained Honolulu proportions.
One Christian died. We went for the requiem
mass. The priest, or the pastor, looked to me like
a bank teller. He passed the baskets round just
before communion. The incense, bowing in front
of the cross, the wafer and the chalice were rem-
iniscent of a flesh-eating, blood-gurgling ritual.
All of that made me feel like I had moved from
one idolatry to another one.
After the mass, we went to bury the
Christian at 4 pm. After that, I went to visit my
younger sister. Then a native passed away. We
went to his shrine. We chewed kola nut and guz-
zled tons of palm wine and shaa! Then we danced
njang! It was an overnight affair.
At last, on Sunday, I retuned to my base. To
the rumble of cars, the gurgling of lager, the
fumes of cigarette smoke and the babes. In short,
back to the rumbustical!
There is no news that travels as fast as a gold
discovery. When I entered the new gold mine, I
wasn't looking for Jackie but there she was, sit-
ting with a man.
"Hi, he is an old friend of mine," she said to
me.
"Have I complained?"
"N-no."
The cabaret was in full swing. All the tables,
chairs and spaces taken. And the girls. They
wore bright low cut shorts and tops revealing
acres of smooth flesh. They kept crossing the
hall. A teenage girl wearing shorts cut from an
old pair of jeans crossed the hall. The shorts
were cut so high the curves of her buttocks were
visible. As she wiggled across, I tired to decide
whether or not she was wearing any underpants.
It began with a feisty little dance. Jackie had
moved tables. Now she was with me. We stepped
onto the dance floor. Jackie's lips were begging to
be kissed, her breasts melons to be fondled. I
flicked my fingers between her thighs. She melt-
ed in my embrace. After a few swings on the
floor, we left.
I had been to this room before, but I was still
amazed at the opulence. The bed was covered
with a silken quilt. A thick carpet covered all but
the outer edges of the floor.
ACKIE unclasped the bra and her
J
breasts leaped into view. Then she
was on her hands and knees. In the
middle of the bed. Her rump firmly up
against my abdomen. Then I exploded
with a loud bellow. The strength left my legs. I
fell forward on top of her, pinning her to the bed.
My head of state was still twitching inside. She
remained on her belly. I ran a palm over the
smooth globes of her rump. She turned on her
back, took hold of my Kumbo striker, began to
stroke it. We didn't waste time at all.
We moved to a corner of the bed. Her energy
amazed me. She started to buck, writhe and
gush all over. She paused.
"You will have to let me breathe!"
"OK, but just for a short while."
Jackie is one of the finest female maniacs in
Buea. Maybe even the Southwest. She lay on her
belly.
"No man has ever made me feel this way."
"It has been a lot of fun," I said.
The birds were tweeting when I rolled over in
bed, checked the time on the cell phone. I tossed
back the sheet. Before I could get up, Jackie
reached her hand into my crotch and took hold of
my head of state.
"I…" I started saying, but she tightened her
grip.
"You are looking for trouble if you think you
are going to leave me now."
I turned toward her and ran my fingers over
her.
"That's better," she said.
I slid my hand down between her thighs. I
leaned over and slid into a wonderfully wet, hot
crater. We were soon bathed in perspiration in
 Page 10
The Post
W eekender
BCA - USA Picks New Exco
BY PHILIP FOMENKY
The Bali Cultural Association in the
United States of America, BCA - USA,
recently elected a new executive to man
the activities of the Association.
HE elections, which took place at
T the Brick Town Convention Centre
in Oklahoma City, brought together
Bali sons and daughters worldwide. The
occasion was also used to celebrate the
20th anniversary of BCA - USA.
At the end of the day, the following
were elected to pilot the activities of BCA
- USA; President-Julius Ndangam, Vice
President-Kaspa Jella, Secretary General-
Charles Tamon, Treasurer-Banyuga
Pefok, Financial Controller-Bridget Voma
Nguket, Publicity Secretary-Lora
Kahkunted Fogam, Chief Whip-Bisona
Ntungwen.
Speaking at the occasion, the outgoing
President, Moses Ba Titamohkumi, said
the massive attendance was a sign of the
importance they attach to their culture.
He congratulated the outgoing executive
for the job they have done for the success
of the Association and the Cameroonian
community in the US. He reminded the
new executive that the progress of the
Association is imperative, and urged them
to carry out more developmental projects
in Bali.
On his part, the new President, Julius
Ndangam, promised to carry out develop-
mental projects and to concentrate on sen-
sitisation campaigns, eradication of pover-
ty and ignorance among Bali indigenes.
Meanwhile, in a paper presented dur-
Studies Recommend More Forest Access For Baka Pygmies
ing the convention, Pius Tachang, who
traveled to the US for the occasion,
BY PEGUE MANGA
An ongoing World Wide Fund for
Nature, WWF studies have recommend-
ed that Baka pygmies be given more
access to forest resources and space
within national parks.
AKA pygmies make up some 40
B
percent of the population living
around the three national parks;
Boumba Bek, Nki and Lobeke, in
Southeast Cameroon. They are essential-
ly hunters, gatherers and semi-nomadic
in their lifestyle.
The studies entitled "Space and
Resource Use of Indigenous Baka pyg-
mies" residing around Boumba Bek and
No. 0959
SOCIETY
dwelled on the econom-
ic empowerment of the
Bali people both at
home and in the
Diaspora. The
Bamenda based busi-
nessman urged his fel-
low Bali sons and
daughters to bring
more developments to
their village, which,
according to him, is the
only legacy that they
can show for posterity.
He said development
goes with modernity
and the Bali people
cannot afford to stay
behind.
BCA-USA
Achievements
The BCA-USA,
according to statistics
from its secretariat,
has propagated and
maintained the identi-
ty and cultural values
of the Bali Chamba
heritage, improved
their quality of life and
cultivated friendship
among fellow Cameroonians both in
America and in Cameroon.
Through other developmental struc-
tures like Nkumu Fed Fed and BANDE-
CA, it has accomplished many develop-
mental, educational and health projects;
the construction of modern toilets in Bali
Central, municipal water supply system,
provision of scholarships to deserving stu- cities and states across the US.
Nki National Parks are led by WWF
Jengi Southeast Forest Programme.
Their results will provide a basis for the
negotiation of access rights for Bakas
within protected areas, which is a priori-
ty biodiversity conservation approach by
WWF Jengi.
Baka Pygmies reliance on the forest
for their livelihoods prompted this recom-
mendation. They harvest honey, man-
goes, wild yams, medicinal plants and
many other non-timber forest products
from there. They hunt, live and have
their sacred sites inside the forest. This
dependence on the forest has made them
so important to conservation efforts.
After participatory mapping of the
resource use areas, conducting group and
Photo courtesy David Rouge, WWF Jen
Friday, June 13, 2008
Ndangam: BCA - USA; President
dents and the ongoing construction of a
multi-purpose centre in Bali etc.
It should be recalled that the BCA-
USA was launched in 1988 in Atlanta,
Georgia. It is apolitical, charitable and a
non-profit oriented Association. It has a
well structured National Executive
Committee supported by more than 10
standing committees and chapters in
individual interviews and direct observa-
tions, a WWF research team concluded
that Baka pygmies do not recognize any
limit in their quest for forest resources
and performance of their traditional ritu-
als. They carry out activities both in and
around the parks. They see both as conti-
nuity and disregard the boundaries erect-
ed by the minds of men. "It is important
to give them unfettered access to harvest
non-timber forest products, especially
medicinal plants and visit to sacred
sites," recommends the study.
The study gives inkling into Baka pyg-
mies' strongly held beliefs, traditional
approach to conservation, symbolic
attachment to some non-timber forest
products and their semi-nomadic way of
life. Honey, an important non-timber for-
est product, is used during two important
traditional dances called Mboma and
Mbomo. "The Mboma dance is performed
during funerals, while Mbomo is per-
formed to chase evil spirit."
Bakas in the north and east of
Boumba Bek have permanent external
and internal camps alongside huts that
serve as resting places during penetra-
tion into the forest. According to the
study, "the internal huts sometimes pro-
vide refuge for people accused of witch-
craft or adultery." This brings out the
degree of penetration of the forest.
According to Dr. Louis Defo, WWF
Jengi Collaborative Management
Advisor, the studies will provide neces-
sary information for the integration of
these indigenous forest people in natural
resource management. "Given WWF's
philosophy in participatory management,
Alarming Hernia Cases
O
Operated In Yaounde
BY LEOCADIA BONGBEN
UT of the a hundred surgical
cases identified in Mengong,
Yaounde, 58 operations were car-
ried out with the most alarming being
those of hernia.
This followed the Operation
Outreach Patients activities that took
place at the Mengong District Hospital
last week.
According to Dr. Emmanuel
Tatapong, the coordinator of the opera-
tion financed with money meant for 60th
anniversary Israeli National Day, there
were rampant cases of hernia some of
which were chronic.
In addition, there was a case of lym-
phoma which is an accumulation of fats
in a particular area, Tatapong said.
Besides, the surgical cases, 108
gynaecological cases that had to do with
pelvic inflammations, manifested by
abdominal pains and discharge were
equally diagnosed.
Two hundred dental extractions were
also conducted and of the 300 patients
who presented themselves for voluntary
screening, 54 were HIV positive. The
only setback was the fact that cataract
operation cases identified for people with
eye problems could not be carried out.
Tatapong explained that the ophthal-
mologic team was helpless because
cataract operations were not pro-
grammed, but indicated that there are
plans to go back to Mengong.
The next Outreach Patients activities
are billed for November/December dur-
ing the dry season for Baksssi. The pro-
gramme was initially billed for last
February but it was disturbed by the
unrest that swept across the country.
Other operations are scheduled for
Dikinimiki, Mvenge and some parts of
Edea.
Lymphoma patient undergoing operation
Given that Cameroon has severe
health problems, Tatapong said the only
way the NGO Hope Solidarity con-
tributes its quota is through partnership
with the government, individual sister
NGOs and diplomatic missions such as
the Israeli Embassy.
He said 80 percent of the funds for
the Outreach activities come from contri-
butions from members and from the two
Hope Solidarity health centres in
Yaoundé and Bagolan.
The gain of Hope Solidarity in reach-
ing out to patients is the joy it derives in
postponing deaths, Tatapong said,
adding that the Outreach programme is
equally meant to demystify surgery
which is rather to expensive in hospitals.
He said with local anaesthesia, the
operations are carried out and the
patients can walk back home afterwards.
Tatapong, who benefited from an
Israeli Embassy-sponsored training on
care for HIV/AIDS children, expressed
the need for care to be holistic in such a
way that even without drugs the patient
is comforted.
The key themes of the training, he
said, centred on perceiving HIV/AIDS
patients not as victims of circumstances,
 The Post No. 0959 Friday, June 13, 2008 Page 11

W eekender
Sports/Advertising CEMAC Cup Kicks
Off Saturday
Olympic Muyuka Has Finances To BY LEOCADIA BONGBEN

Qualify For MTN Elite II - President T

HE fifth edition of the
Economic and Monetary
Community of Central
Africa, CEMAC, amateur
football, is billed for
Saturday, June 14.
The event, initially scheduled for
March 2007, was postponed due to the fact
Olympic Muyuka President, Hon. Robert Scott Awanga, who that the leaders of member countries had
doubles as President of Metro Security Oshie, Mbengwi, has to be unanimous on the date for the
claimed that his team is financially viable to qualify for MTN CEMAC Summit of Heads of State, with
Elite II. In a chat with The Post at the Molyko Omnisport the football tournament being a side
Stadium during an encounter between Southwest based pro- attraction to the summit.
The CEMAC Cup falls with the frame-
fessional footballers versus a local selection, Awanga said he work of encouraging football in the sub-
wants Olympic Muyuka to pick an MTN Elite II ticket come region, as well as opening up space for
next football season. He also revealed his intention to help his local players to criss-cross the Central
players to empower themselves economically. Excerpts: African region. It also aims at identifying
young talents.
The Post: What are your impressions after Team presidents have come and gone;
Cameroon, drawn in pool B with Chad
watching a match between SW based profes- for how long are you going to sustain the
and Equatorial Guinea, will kick start the
sionals and a local selection? club financially? competition on Saturday, June 14, against
Hon. Robert Scott Awanga: I think it As long as they are interested to be
Chad, while Congo, Gabon and Central
was very impressive. And rating our local footballers. In fact, I have been looking for
players, they need some training in order to a way to help young people use their tal- Africa Republic have been grouped in pool
perfect their talents. ents to empower themselves economically. A.
How do you assess the professionals, did So, I think this is one good avenue to help The semi-finals would be played on
they meet with the required standard? them. June 20, and the finals would be played on
Yes, but if I want to compare the per- Where do you get the finances? a date to be determined by the Heads of
formance of the professionals with that of I am the Director of Metro Security States before June 26. The Winner would
local players, it was almost equal. I don't and also Metro Fields and Construction bag FCFA 25 million, while the second and
really know the standards, since I have Company. These companies are mine, so, third placed teams would get FCFA 15
Scott Awanga: Olympic Muyuka President
never been a footballer, but they played I make my money from my businesses. FCFA 10 million.
almost in the same way as the local players. Are you saying that the team is part of efit economically. We are selling footballers. Since the institution of CEMAC Cup in
Olympic Muyuka is doing very well at the your company? As a football official, what would you say 2003, Cameroon has won the cup twice in
Southwest Division II championship, what is No, it is not part of the company. This is about the present performance of the Lions in 2003, 2005, Equatorial Guinea in 2006,
the force behind it? some kind of a philanthropic move to help the 2010 joined World/African Nations Cup and Congo in 2007.
To keep up this team, one needs to young Cameroonians gain from their tal- qualifiers? Augustin Edjoa, Minister of Sports and
finance them. That is why I came in to make ents. I want to thank these players for promot- Physical Education, who presided over the
sure that they have all the necessary equip- Do you have any plan of selling players ing Cameroon football. They have made us meeting, emphasised on the need for mem-
ments needed for the team to qualify for the abroad? proud and are still doing so. By their per- bers of commissions to ensure a hitch free
MTN Elite II championship. We have made Normally, since that is where the eco- formances, they are helping to sell the tal- organisation. Though the budget is not yet
sure that they have all the necessary logis- nomic advantage is, we would make it possi- ents of younger players. known, the finances for the various com-
tics; doctors, feeding and accommodation. ble for the young players to go out sand ben- INTERVIEWED BY INNOCENT MBUNWE mittees have been disbursed.
No. 0959 Friday, June 13, 2008