Hope for Stroke Patients:

SAJOCAH launches 82m FCFA Project

Expected to cost about 82million FCFA, the project when completed will provide accommodation to those suffering from paralysis or what is commonly known as stroke and others having complications which have made them to depend on others for their day to day existence.

Launching a fund raising ceremony which took place at the St Joseph’s Children and Adult Home- SAJOCAH premises in Bafut on Sunday May 10, 2015, the Matron of SAJOCAH, Sis Makalang thanked well wishers for their support to the centre this far. According to her, “the generosity and the financial, social and moral assistance of [their] benefactors from within and abroad” is what has kept the centre going so far despite the many challenges. The changes that have taken place within the forty years of the existence of the centre have also come with its challenges. “In the beginning” she said, “Fathers and Sisters used to go into the villages to search for vulnerable children, but now they are brought from far and wide by the families themselves and are no longer considered worthless or a disgrace to their families.” This trend of things calls for more infrastructure which can only be gotten through the good will of benefactors who have the Hearts of doves.

Some of the benefactors that showed up during the fund raiser included traditional rulers around Bafut, church groups and individuals who munificently contributed to see to it that work at the site commences. Theirs was a gesture not only to serve those who are in need but to serve humanity since tomorrow is another day, and it could be you or me as a beneficiary.

One of those individuals who from the bosom heart and for his love for humanity did it big was the CEO of ESSOKA Security Company based in Bamenda. While doling out a mouth watery sum of 400000FCFA, he said his doors were open and ready to assist when need arises and as the means provides. According to him, man should always be his brother’s keeper and in project like this destined to serve mankind, giving becomes a part of life.

Other speakers during the fund raiser articulated on the need to support projects like the construction of private wards for stroke patients. The causes of stroke or paralysis were discussed and the conclusion that all of us still living are not free from it. Apart from natural causes of paralysis, it was made clear that through an accident, one could easily become paralyzed  

While thanking God for those who turn out to donate, the Matron on further called on those who  have been touched deep down their hearts and wish to make a contribution to contact 652497548, 672256190.  They could also call at the premises of SAJOCAH at any time to make their contributions she said.

Like the St Martin Catholic General Hospital Njinikom, SAJOCAH is owned and run by the tertiary sisters of St Francis. It is a nonprofit making rehabilitation centre for the physically, mentally and visually disabled persons as well as other with special abilities.

War Looms In Hon. Awudu Mbaya’s Njap Village

The peace that thus far reigned in Njap, the village of Hon Awudu Mbaya, SDF Mp for Nkambe Central Sub Division in Donga Mantung Division now hangs on the scale. This is so following the murder in cold blood of the sub chief of Ngong, Fai Ndingansi III who was shot to dead by unidentified assassins some months back and their motive masked in mystery until recent developments. The chief of  Kamine, a village in Misaje Sub Division has now come out clear to claim the land of Ngong simply because  he knows the Sub Chief of Ngong, a quarter under Njap village has been assassinated  and silenced.

          Tension in brewing in Njap village as the people including the Fon this reporter contacted have vowed not to cede an inch of their territory for whatever reason. According to a petition written in response to a letter address to him by the DO for Donga Mantung declaring Ngong a disputed area, the Fon Of Njap says, “ …if we do not put an end to this, then we are building a time bomb.” The Fon in this petition provide historical, cultural and political reasons which reasonably and unequivocally justifies that Ngong is Njap and that the several gruesome killings in Ngong might have been well thought up and executed with little or no severe action taken by the administration against the perpetrators.

          The administration of Nkambe has and is not helping out matters. They have rather been   fiddling and pulling the string from hidden ends. The SDO for Nkambe instead of stepping in to put order since he is the administrator and definitely knows where the Ngong Sub chief had been paying allegiance has rather issued a query letter to the Fon of Njap. The query gives the Fon an ultimatum of 48 hours to respond and give reasons for disrespecting authority and disregarding his person. The query letter which carries ref. no 156 provocatively reads, “Can you explain in 48h why very serious disciplinary action should not be taken against you.” This letter has been viewed by many as an indication of complicity and an attempt to foment trouble by the administration.

          Uncertainty now reigns in the area.  The brewing tension is causing a lot of suspicion amongst the population. The people of both camps are girding their loins for a show down if the authorities Donga Mantung do not set the records straight in due cause.

          Most local administrative officials especially of the North West region have been accused of protracting land dispute in order to milk out the few francs left in the pockets of the poor villagers.

           The Fon of Njap and his people have decided to petition the SDO for Donga Mantung Division to uplift the ban on the traditional mourning of the assassinated sub chief and  to forbid the pouring of libation in that area by the chief of Kamine. According to them, they are law abiding and want justice to be done and with rapidity because all evidence demonstrating the disputed area as part of Njap are so glaring. “It is not because there is no accessibility to the area from Njap village but through kamine that makes the area Kamine. If that were to be the case, then Akwaya, Fura awa and Bakassi would have remained Nigeria,” the Fon said. As of Now, Hon. Awudu Mbaya, bona fide elite of Njap has not yet made any observation on the tussle.

That Famous Ni John Fru Ndi’s Speech that changed Cameroon

Fellow Cameroonians

Today is the most significant day in the struggle for democracy in Cameroon. You are here in your numbers because you do not only have the faith but more so because you are determined to ensure it works in Cameroon. Thank you for that faith and determination.  Make no mistakes and do not allow yourself to be misled or misguided by anyone no matter his station in life. Democracy has never been handed out to a people on a platter of gold! For long you have heard several meanings attributed to democracy. Some of these have tended to justify tyrannies, whether it is tyranny of the majority or tyranny of the minority. Whether we go back to Aristotle’s Athens or we remain in the present with Abraham Lincoln’s America, we find ourselves with a viable definition. That democracy is about people and the laws that they enact to govern themselves. And that you should know that the struggle for democracy is no easier today than it was in Greece 2500years ago.

In the context, we share the views of Archbishop Abel Muzorewa when he wonders aloud “why is it that we Africans can go to Britain (and here I add Europe) and the United States of America and be free to criticize their government and heads of state without fear of disappearing the following night or being deported.  Why are we afraid of doing it in Africa?   It is a heinous crime in Black Africa to open your mouth and talk the doings of the government or head of State. You would get thrown into prison and accused of treason or simply disappear.  In such states, political leaders do not trust their own people. They are tyrannical in a sense that they would not allow criticisms.

And yet these same people whom they oppress elect them. We say that democracy is about people because we believe that without the observance of the fundamental freedoms, namely the freedom of conscience and religion, freedom of thoughts, belief, opinion and expression including the freedom of the press and other media of communication, freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association, the people cannot be expected to enjoy their basic rights which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as human beings.

The fact that we have had to put up a hard struggle to hold this rally is abundant evidence that we had a long way to go in the democratic process. Today, we call on you to yell for democracy. For as someone has rightly said, “…unless people yell a lot, they get ignored.”  You cannot afford to be ignored. Your children would not get ignored tomorrow.

Whether those who govern us accept it or not, we believe, as others before us have believed and asserted that the essence of democracy is about local people controlling their day to day affairs.

Let us make this clear to all those who are hearing us today that in the view of the social democratic front, the struggle will continue not only here but anywhere in the world in as long as there is someone who is governing and someone who is governed.  This struggle can only stop when all people participate in their own government.

But what we see today in African leaders has cultivated the tendency to use the vocabulary of democracy to conceal modern forms of dictatorship. It is against this dictatorship and oppression that we join battle with anyone and we assure you today that we shall remain victorious.

The SDF has included democracy in its motto because of it fervent belief and conviction that the absence of the democratic process in any society means the denial of justice and the retardation of development. Because, where people are not free to go about their normal daily chores without undue molestation, they can’t exhibit their skills and talents.

As we have just pointed out, we have to eschew any form of dictatorship because in contrast to true democracy whereby people decide what is good for them. Dictatorship produced the following results in the world of Argentina’s great blind writer, Jorge Luis Borges: oppression, servility, cruelty and more abominable is the fact that they breed stupidity.

We have set as one of our goals, to rid the Cameroonian society of a system that deprives it of being free where men are punished for daring to think freely, associate, and assembly peacefully and freely.

Let us assure anyone present that our own view of democracy is one where the people will retain power to speak, to decide and act in the overall interest of their own society. We are searching ways and means to secure the future for the generation that will follow us and therefore, to be democratic is to disagree with what democracy is.

Finally we call upon you to stand up and be counted amongst those who share our democratic ideas.  You have nothing to lose but the straight jacket in which you , as freeborn citizens have been cast.

Long live SDF!

Long live Cameroon!

Common Law Lawyers Spoiled Own Case with Ultimatum- Tawa Crecy

Benjamin Ngah

                 May 20^th historically is the day the separate entities of East and West Cameroon opted to unite to form what today has metamorphosed “back” to The Republic of Cameroon or better still “la Republique Du Cameroon.” Unlike in many other countries where the date of Independence is celebrated as the national day, 20^th May in Cameroon is an adjusted national dayThis day, today is viewed by many in diverse opinions. Segments of the populace, especially of the English cultural heritage have questioned the course and solidity of the foundation upon which the unity of this country is being constructed.

                From All Anglophones Conference I, II, that held in Buea and Bamenda respectively some years back, to the Southern Cameroon National Council and of recent the All Anglophone Lawyers Conference that brought together close a thousand learned men and women of the law from the Anglophone region of the country, there have been dissenting voices and a consistent worry as to whether what is in place today is what the architects of reunification intended to bequeath to the Anglophones. These groups of people have met in the past and present and have openly decried what they term as the near systematic annihilation of their education and legal systems. According to them, the magic wand in solving these problems to avert the country’s heralded integration from disintegrating is a return to federalism.

                   One man who sees things optimistically differently and believes that unification as it is today has been an accomplishment but more could be done to fortify and perfect it is H.E Tawa Crecy. He is a career diplomat who has served Cameroon in that capacity in many diplomatic missions out there. He is now on a deserved retirement and is entrepreneur in the fabrication of low cost building material. He is a strong believer in the ideals of   President Paul Biya and a militant of the ruling CPDM party. In an interview granted to Times Journal’s Benjamin Ngah, Tawa Crecy says unification in Cameroon has been a success but like any other country, there challenges to be surmount. Hear him,

                Unification has been a success even though it has had its challenges. Every country has challenges and we as a people have faced those challenges with a lot of gracefulness. Those challenges include Anglophones complaining about minority rights. What is true in any case is that in every situation where you have a minority and a majority there must be complains. The question is how to handle those complains in such a way that both the minority and the majority would be comfortable enough and live harmoniously. We must admit that both Anglophones and francophone in Cameroon have been living harmoniously. I am not saying that there are no Anglophone problems in Cameroon, of course there are.  Those problems can only be addressed in a positive spirit. There have been a great evolution in Cameroon and Cameroonians are imbibing bilingualism a lot faster. If you look at our schools today, especially those found in the south west and North West, we find francophone studying in English. There are everywhere and I think that is something positive. That is national integration. If Anglophones could do same, it would be a giant step toward national integration and unity.

                Your Excellency, let take the Anglophone to be someone from the North West and South West, which are some of the problems you think need to be adjusted to make them feel comfortable? 

                 We cannot take Anglophones as a geographical entity unless you want to talk of those who were colonized by the British. Of recent there has been this burning issue about the language in courts. Of course it is inconceivable that in court language should be used that id different from that spoken and understood by an ordinary man in the area where people are being tried. That is an issue that should not arise and whoever is handling it should do it in good spirit.

                Also in the area that was colonized by the British, there is little emphasis on technical education. It is a mistake and we ought to go back to the drawing board and do that. The English speaking system of education also create some of its own problems. For example, it is stated in some universities that if you do not have a pass at the ordinary level English, then you cannot be admitted in the university. But somebody who does the baccalaureate and passes is admitted without English. The question is somebody who studied in English and failed in the English language but passed well in the other subjects; is that person better up in English or less than somebody who studied in French and has passes his baccalaureate? The bottom line is if we want to grow in this country and to emerge like others, we have to emphasize on the sciences. If you go to our universities and go to the science or technical departments, how of us are there? The problem is not at the level of policy, it is at the level of orientation. We have to orientate our children to do science. Most of our renowned secondary schools emphasize the art and whom should we blame for that, we have to blame ourselves. I will blame myself as a parent.

                Common law Lawyers or call it All Anglophone Lawyers (AAL)  met in Bamenda some few weeks back and were advocating federalism amongst other demands which has to do with proceedings and submissions in court in the Anglophone part of the country. What is your take on their demands?

                My take is that when a group of people met particularly lawyers and take a position, they should be taken seriously. But there is one thing, when we meet and make serious point we should not begin by giving ultimatums to the powers that be. Giving ultimatum to the state is not the right thing.  Hundreds of lawyers cannot come together to debate and deliberate over issues that have no meaning but making the points and tabling them to the powers that be and allowing it take its course is a better way than ultimatums. When we do it by way of ultimatums, its waters down everything because the next question is, when your deadline is not met what next? It becomes a problem.  One of the points is, should we come here (here meaning the North West and South West) and lawyers speak in French in court? The answer is absolutely no. this is because the lawyers are not speaking for themselves, they are speaking for their litigants.

              When you then go back to the issue of federalism, the issue is not the labeling. It is the content. Federation is one of the many forms of decentralization and there are different types of federation. I think the issue should be that our decentralization should be that different set ups and sectors can be happy and fulfilled because we are already on the path towards decentralization which should lead us to emergence by 2035.