SHUMAS Sprays Joy in Bamenda I

Benjamin Ngah

        The Strategic Humanitarian Services - SHUMAS Cameroon on Friday September 18, 2015 in Bamendankwe once more demonstrated its commitment to accompany Cameroonian communities through participatory development toward vision by 2035 as propagated by H.E President Paul Biya. This was in the Bamenda I council area when it launched its projects in Bamenda I council area. The occasion which was presided over by the Senior Divisional Officer for Mezam, Felix Nguele Nguele witnessed the presence of the DO for Bamenda I, Mayor Bongwa Caroline, the Fon of Bamendankwe, Elite, students and a cross section of the population.

        The SDO’s convoy which crisscrossed Bamenda I council areas went through four project sites to lay the foundation stone of several projects in the domain of education, health and water.  In GSS Bangshie, the school which basically existed in terms of infrastructure benefitted from 3 classrooms, a toilet block and equipment for a school garden. GTHS Bamendankwe, a technical school just by appellation benefited 2 workshops, 6 tables and assistance for a school garden program. In the domain of water, a 15m3 water tank, 2 stand taps, 900m pipeline and 2 valve chambers was offered to the mobang community in Bamenda I. The Bamendankwe integrated Health Centre benefitted hospital equipment and the extension of potable water which hitherto was nonexistent. 

        At the Bamendankwe Fon’s palace where the population came out to say “thank You” to SHUMAS, the General Coordinator Ta Nformi Stephen Ndzerem and the entire staff of SHUMAS, the Mayor speaking on behalf of the people did not hide her delight. Labeling SHUMAS as a veritable partner in development, she called on her population to cooperate with SHUMAS and make sure that they fulfill their own part of the bargain. The timely intervention of SHUMAS, she said was a dream come true as many lives would be touch by this gesture. She rejoiced that her municipality would never be the same again because of the projects SHUMAS is bringing in. 

        Other speakers including the principals of the two schools reiterated their indebtedness to SHUMAS and thanked her for the list of projects announced in the municipality. While Mm Banga Rose of GTHS rejoiced that SHUMAS has “removed [their] students and teachers from under the sun and rain…and has served them from travelling to GTHS Nkwen for practical part of their final year examinations for lack of workshops,” Mr. Abongwa Eric A of GSS thanked SHUMAS for “the indelible works of philanthropy to be carried out in Bamenda I.”

        The General Coordinator of SHUMAS Ta Nformi Ndzerem Stephen in his allocution stressed on the fact that SHUMAS’ approach to development is participatory and believes in the impacts of integrated development activities for communities instead of isolated actions. To achieve this he said, “SHUMAS has eight interconnected axes of intervention namely; health, water and sanitation, social welfare, education, women empowerment, agriculture volunteering and environmental protection.” This is done with the aim to “improve lives, reduce poverty and empower people to meet their needs without compromising the needs of posterity.”

        The Director of SHUMAS also clarified that any beneficiary community of SHUMAS Projects must show proves of their commitment to participate in the realization of any projects in their area from conception to implementation. This is through the provision of local material like sand, stones and gravel by the local community while SHUMAS provides industrial material for the project. By so doing, it would enable the community to feel and be real owners of the projects and as such take better care of the projects when realized.

        The success story of SHUMAS despite numerous challenges ranging from the dependence of volunteer who leave after receiving training, lack of operational cost since project are funding-orientate and  insufficient means of mobility, has been in her determination, perseverance and commitment towards her objectives. It is through this determination and commitment that SHUMAS can boast of 800 classrooms constructed by her in the country, equipping of 30 health centers, more than 50 rural communities benefiting from potable water and many more in different fields.

        He expressed gratitude to her partners Market Makers and Building Schools for Africa, the Bamenda I council and above the Cameroon government for providing an enabling environment for NGOs to strive. 

        Felix Nguele Nguele, the SDO for Mezam reaffirmed government’s commitment to work hand in glove with SHUMAS for the benefit of communities in his area of command. According to him, only a liar would say he was not happy seeing what SHUMAS is doing. While challenging the population to work hard and in partnership with SHUMAS to see all the projects to fruition, he expressed gratitude to SHUMAS for bringing in project that would help improve the living condition of the people.

SHUMAS A Great Friend of Mbiame

        After the Bamenda I municipality on Friday September 18, 2015 where SHUMAS launched its projects for the 2016, the entire dedicated SHUMAS team headed for Mbaime let by it General Coordinator, Ta Nformi Ndzerem Stephen on Monday the 21^st of September, 2015. Here unlike in Bamenda I where the projects were launched, it was a-dream-come true as several projects were being handed over to different communities within the Mbiame community.

        After moving across the Mbiame community to officially hand over the realized projects, the convoy settled at GTC Mbiame for the official ceremony to take place. Here the jubilant population as well as students and pupils had gathered.   

The occasion presided over by the Senior Divisional Officer for Bui was massively attended not only by local authorities and council authorities but by a cream of traditional rulers headed by the Fon of Mbiame.

        Articulating on the good works of SHUMAS in the Mbiame municipality during the past years, Mayor Fonyuy Fidelis expressed gratitude referring to SHUMAS as 'a great friend...who has been with them in times of need.' While assuring SHUMAS that he would personally make sure the projects being handed over would be jealously preserved, the mayor called on the population to make maximum use of the projects to better their living conditions.

        The General Coordinator of SHUMAS thanked all stakeholders who made sure the projects were realized in due course. while expressing the wish that the projects be well taken care of for the benefit of future generations, he expressed immense thanks to SHUMAS parteners such Building school for Africa-BSFA UK, market makers, the Mbiame Council and other stakeholders for their contributions in the realization of the projects.

        Some of the projects realized in Mbiame include; 2classrooms, an office and a toilet bloc for GNS Ntoh. GTC Mbiame also benefited 2 workshops

, toilets and assistance for a garden program. In PS Rifem, the school was a happy recipient of 2classrooms, provision of modern wash hand facility and some garden tools.  In the domain of potable water, Lam Road Community was a beneficiary of 15m3 tank, 1.5 pipeline and two stand taps. Njanawa community also has 1.8km pipeline and 4 stand taps. Integrated Health Center Ngorin was provided with beds, chairs, drip stands, test strips, health equipment and the construction of a toilet block.

            SHUMAS is an NGO that has been granted special consultative status in the United Nations Economic and Social Council. SHUMAS works toward the achievement of the Cameroon government's Growth and Employment Strategy as well as towards goals such as the Millennium Development Goals and the recently heralded Sustainable Development Goals.

Thwarted Bamenda 20th May Terrorist Attack Was Blackmail-SCNC

SCNC National Chairman, Nfor n Nfor

The Southern Cameroon National Council-SCNC has described claims by some security agents to have foiled a planned bomb attack by SCNC activists on the 20^th of May in Bamenda as a scam to make gains and gain favors typical of the system. According to Nfor N Nfor, Chairman of SCNC (an outlawed secessionist movement seeking the independence of Southern Cameroon), this allegation by government and the incarceration of these people is a form of Blackmail the regime in place has been using over the years to chicken out and silent Southern Cameroonians. “For many years, they have used such blackmail to give the SCNC a bad name and hang it,” he said.

          The SCNC has not sidetracked from its original stands to gain independence through peaceful means, he stated. Most of the people who purportedly were caught with bomb making material, if that is true are not SCNC activists though they are Southern Cameroonians, he said. “In 2012 before the advent of Boko Haram when Philemon Yang was in London, a kind of fraudulent document was produced to incriminate the SCNC as having links with Boko Haram. We replied and gave the UN and Yaoundé a copy. We have no links with Boko Haram and have nothing to do with terrorism or any terrorist group in the world. Southern Cameroonians are peace loving and would not indulged in any violent act. What is happening now is mere blackmail” Nfor N Nfor declared. Asked to know whether he has visited those who have been incarcerated and charged with terrorism, Nfor N Nfor said, “No Southern Cameroonian who has been detained for seeking self determination has been abandoned. We have visited them and have done a lot to prove their innocence. We have taken lawyers on their behalf. The SCNC is the father of the liberation movement in Cameroon,” he underscored.

         Going by the declarations of the National Chairman of the SCNC and the circumstances surrounding the arrests in Bamenda, it is obvious that a lot needs to verify to establish the validity the arrests.

          Although Mbarga Nguele, The General Delegate for national security was in Bamenda to reward the officers who claim to have thwarted such a planned attack by SCNC, many people are of the judgment that some people want to use the volatile situation in the country caused by Boko Haram to make gains and benefit underserved promotions.

Prof. Abety Threatens Court Action against Mbarga Nguele

          Mbarga Nguele's mission to Bamenda, the capital of the North West Region was to congratulate and reward some police officers for their heroic act in averting a well-planned terrorist invasion into the region on the 20th of May 2015. Though the officers, Tawe Alfred, Eteme Joseph Noah, and Elondou Vincent were the happy recipients of epaulets for their prowess in foiling the planned macabre, many Cameroonian children who wrote the competitive examination into the police core are in pains and yet to understand why the result is still pending.

          This explains why the Interim Secretary General at the Bamenda City Council, Jude Waindim in his welcome address mustered the courage to ask the visiting police boss what has become of the examination. Mbarga Nguele as if to play Pontius Pilate, unconvincingly declared that it was because of lack of logistics for training. According to him, the Police Training Centre under rehabilitation in Babanki-Tubah was poorly done by a contracting firm owned by a 'Son of the soil' referring to Prof. Peter Abety.  The poor job done and the non-completion of the center according to him is part of the problem that has delayed the publication of the result of an examination written almost close to a year ago.

          When this reporter got to Prof. Peter Abety, a former minister and the current Chairman person of the Cameroon GCE Board to react to his indictment by the Delegate General for National Security, he was quick to point out a number of issues to rubbish the pronouncement by the DG for National Security, Mbarga Nguele.

          According to him, he did the job perfectly well and it was well received sometimes last year. He questioned why they received it if the job was not well done just to turn around a year after and condemn it. Prof Abety thinks there is a mixed up somewhere and that he is ready to challenge Mbarga Nguele in Court for tarnishing his image and that of his firm. Hear him;

         ‘I think there is a mixed up somewhere because he received the job a year ago and i was fully paid for it. The company, TRAP intended it for a work camp and they built it in 1991 when they were constructing the Bambui-Fondong road. These were not structures that were intended to last for twenty years because every company would want to maximize profit in everything that they do…

          It is well over a year that the work had been received and left again to run down.  When you live in a house, you take care of it , keep it warm and the environment clean so that may not run down. The structure was a dormitory with no classrooms or open space where people could learn except for a small dining hall intended only for a few workers…

          For that structure to have been rehabilitated twenty years after it was abandoned and ransacked by thieves needed a careful job which we did successfully. We did the best that could be done...

          Even if they wanted to start the school, they needed to build classrooms, dormitories and other facilities because these were apartments for senior TRAP workers...

          In this year's budget, the delegate had put out a budget to build classrooms, construct a field which he has not done. He cannot turn around to blame us. In fact if you look at that budget head you would see classroom and other infrastructure which has not been done. It is better for him to say that the classrooms and other structure in the budget have not been done than to say that the rehabilitation work has not been done and giving me negative names over what i think was the best of bests…

          I will take time to go and meet him personally. I may have to sue him for giving my company and my person such a negative publicity.'

          This is not the first time the police competitive examination has ended up in drawers after candidates had spent huge sums of money either to register, do fitness tests or displaced themselves to the examination centers.

         The delay in the release of the result has been a cause for concern in many quarters. Some people think and truly so that the delay only provides fertile grounds for 'lips to be oiled' or for brown envelopes to exchange hands. When the result will finally be published, many must have died, gone for greener pastures, fallen sick, gotten other jobs or would be above age. The cacophony would therefore give the opportunity for the powers that be to fit in their kin or god sons and daughters who might not have written the examination into the police force.

          In launching the competitive examination into the police force, the government was quite aware of the kind of infrastructure at its disposal. They placed the cart before the horse. Abety contracting firm should therefore not be held responsible for a job duly done and received. Mbarga Nguele should look for pretexts elsewhere and should be able to tell Cameroonians what has become of the budget to build classrooms and other infrastructures as stated by Prof. Peter Abety.

Anyi Judith Grabs the Princess Award

Benjamin Ngah

          The former President of AziCCUL and current president of RECCUCAM, Mme Anye Judith Bih was on Saturday August 27, 2015 one of the top fifteen Cameroonians that were distinguished and awarded by  False Labels Inc. ( a US based Non profit making organization that seeks to fight injustices, promote gender equality and healthy practices in society.)

          The award, captioned The Princess Award which was in its maiden edition witnessed the presence of dignitaries like Melissa Beningam from the USA, The NW Delegate of Women Empowerment and the Family, the Fons of Bafut and Nkar, and a cross section of the population.

          Anye Judith Bih who won in the category of Leadership and Democratic Practices was credited for her clairvoyant, astute and relentless service during her occupancy as president of Azire Cooperative Credit Union Ltd- AziCCUL and her current service as President of Renaissance Cooperative Credit Unions- Cameroon- RECCUCAM. During the voting process carried out through several media outlets, the internet and through SMS, voters congratulated her for handing over power at AziCCUL in perfect tranquility when her tenure was over, her work to put in place RECCUCAM to check fraud, mafia and embezzlement that has eaten deep in most credit unions and her level headedness in doing all these. Voters also singled her out for her resilience in the face of blackmail, witch hunting and intimidation. Her struggle to put sanity, honesty and the practice of democratic principles to protect the poor’s meager savings from white collar pecuniary warmongers in the credit union movement in Cameroon has been a daunting task yet she has not relented. 

          Speaking after receiving the Award, Mme Anye Judith who said she was overwhelmed by such a distinction dedicated the award to God and those who work hard to see that truth and honesty prevails especially in the management of people and their resources. He secret of success is the respect of basic rule and regulation and playing by the law. According to her, the credit union which her had served and is still serving is not a forum for people to enrich themselves but for people to service and to make sure that the poor farmer, “Buyam sellam,” small income earners savings are secured and maximum benefits accorded them through cheap loans and other assistance.

          Other winners of the Princess Award include the Fon of Bafut for his vision toward education in his community, the Fon of Nkar for fighting for the rights of widows and orphans, Dr Nick Ngwanyam for his service in the health domain, Gwain Colbert Fulai for his fight for gender equality and human rights, and others from other parts of the country for their service for humanity.

          Speaking during the event, the CEO of False Labels Inc. Kuja Marie-Claire said the aim of this award was to encourage those he considers as the silent heroes. According to her, these heroes need to be encouraged and brought to limelight so that their story could be a catalyst to others. She underlined the need for a change in the way things are done here in Cameroon and for Cameroonians to understand that development will only come through them and by doing small things in big ways.

        The chairperson of the award ceremony, Mr. Tangie Suh Nfor called on all the fifteen laureates to continue being the torch bearers of their various communities. He challenged them to push ahead in doing what is good despite numerous wedges they might witness in the course. According to him, this award was a plain acknowledgement and encouragement of service to humanity by the laureates and should be taken as such for more to be done.    

CPDM Fights CPDM in Mbengwi

The atmosphere in Mbengwi within the political class is electrifying as to who takes credit when eventually a faculty of the University of Bamenda is allocated to Mbengwi. Since the creation of UBa some years back, there have been a lot of bickering as to where some of the faculties of the university should go. Since Mbengwi judging from its proximity, infrastructure and the availability of land stands a better chance of hosting some of the faculties, backbiting and jostling as to who takes the credit is already rife in Mbengwi.

          While those from the other Divisions have merely been advocating for the transfer of faculties to their various division, the people of Momo-Mbengwi went a step forward and demarcated expands of land ready to host the faculties. Not only did they provide land, Minister Ama Tutu Muna has been on the file to see that Mbwngwi hosts one of the faculties. The tenability of her lobbying is based on the fact that Mbengwi is not only closer and well linked to Bamenda, but as of now has the infrastructure and the space which can host students conveniently. 

          Since the choice of Mbengwi to host some of the faculties or a school of the university seem to be gaining grounds and there is hope in the offing, some smart but cheap politicians across the board have stepped in . To this effect, nocturnal meetings have been held here and there and behind close doors to send a delegation to the PM and the Minister of Higher Education. One of such meeting was held in Mbengwi last week and was purportedly convinced by the DO for Mbengwi. Although the DO convinced the meeting, he is said to have done under the machinations of some elite who want to position themselves and take credit when the university comes. 

          Although it is claimed that several other issues were discussed at the said meeting attended by the Senator Fon Teche, PC Fonso, the MP and some Fons of the Sub Division, the main point on the agenda was to send a delegation to Yaoundé to lobby for transfer of some faculties of UBa to Mbengwi. Information that filtered from the meeting had it that everyone closer to Ama Tutu was avoided and the attendees cautioned to maintain sealed lips until the plans come to fruition. They claimed that Ama Tutu was not in good terms with the PM and would be a stumbling block if she spearheads the cause. This explains why the Mayor of Mbengwi and others who upholds Ama Tutu were avoided. The convenors of the meeting chose to corner but her 1^st deputy, Chungong Patrick to represent the Mayor.

          Speaking to the Mayor on phone, this reporter was made to understand that she was not away of such a meeting and did not delegate anybody to represent the Council. According to her, only a document was forwarded to her for signature. She refused to sign because she was not given room to read through the document nor to make a photo copy of the said document. She therefore suspected foul play. She got worried when she was accused by the very convenors of the meeting for refusing to sign a document that would bring a faculty of the university to Mbengwi. She further stated that she would be the first to stake her head in order that one of the faculties of UBa to be in Mbengwi.

         The 1^st deputy Mayor, Chungong Patrick washed his hands like Pontius Pilate and said he attended the meeting not as a representative of the Mayor. According to him, he did not understand why the Mayor was circumvented and the Minister who is a bona fide daughter of Mbengwi was not informed to take the lead. His questioned to why Ama Tutu and the Mayor were avoided did not get any reasonable response.

        Speaking to the DO on phone, he expressed surprise that the information about the meeting was already out. According to him, the meeting was not for everybody and that a deputy Mayor is a Mayor he did not accordingly see any reason inviting the Mayor herself to the meeting.

      As of now, the delegation that left for Yaoundé last Monday 7, 2015 is already back in Mbengwi. Sources say that the Minister of Higher Education referred them back to the University of Bamenda.