Pressure is mounting on the Biya administration to endorse Buea as the official host of 50th anniversary of Reunification of Cameroon as a nation.
The clarion call was first made by Buea Council at a recent session.
“As we join the rest of our compatriots in celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Independence and Reunification of Cameroon as a nation, we want to assure the Head of State with perfect guarantee and without the slightest hesitation that Buea is prepared to host the entire nation in the year 2011 in concretizing the full celebration of this epoch making event,” they had Voiced out
Following the Buea council's call, Chief A.S Ngwana,National Chairman of the Cardinal Democratic Party(CDP) headquartered in Douala,has reiterated that need for Buea to host the reunification anniversary celebrations, which he wants too be celebrated in pomp as was the case with the anniversary of Cameroon's Independence.
Chief Ngwana has written to President Biya to that effect.
Buea was the capital and seat of the Government of West Cameroon, former British Southern Cameroons
"What is important is that these celebrations shall involve all Southern Cameroonians. All English Speaking Southern Cameroonians shall celebrate 50 years of liberation from British colonial power." Chief Ngwana noted in his correspondence to President Biya.
"Therefore the celebrations shall be a national affair and not a party political affair”, he noted.
“Therefore all political parties, all religious bodies, all Cameroonians shall take part. We shall make it a great day to be remembered forever”
He suggested in his letter that a national planning committee, if possible comprising of Government and opposition leaders, important personalities and some intellectuals be set up.
“The immediate task of the committee is to cost the celebrations and ask the President for funds. “
“The expenditures shall include the complete transformation of the face of Buea as we knew it in past days. The re-habitation of the presidential rest house, the repairs and refurnishing of the Prime Minister’s s lodge (the former German Governor’s lodge) “
Chief Ngwana advised that since foreign heads of states and other dignitaries shall be invited, it is important that the Tiko Airport be repaired and made ready for aircrafts to land there as before.
“There is a lot of work to be done before 1st October 2011, therefore the Planning Committee should be constituted as soon as possible and for work to start immediately”, he wrote.
Courtesy:The Recorder newspaper,Cameroon,June 11,2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
At MOHWA 10th Anniversary:Agbor Tabi Urges MOHWA to Back Manyu Politicians to Get Investments
Peter Agbor Tabi, Assistant Secretary-General at the Presidency of the Republic has admitted that the Manyu Women’s Association (MOHWA) is a major force to reckon with.
Consequently, he has urged MOHWA to mobilize women behind Manyu politicians who support the ruling CPDM so that the government would invest more in the Division.
Agbor Tabi was speaking recently in Buea during celebrations marking the 10th anniversary of MOHWA.
“Ten years after creation MOHWA women have made noticeable and impressive strides in the economic, social, educational and political domains
Consequently, he has urged MOHWA to mobilize women behind Manyu politicians who support the ruling CPDM so that the government would invest more in the Division.
Agbor Tabi was speaking recently in Buea during celebrations marking the 10th anniversary of MOHWA.
MOHWA was created in 1999 with the objectives to promote and project Manyu culture, to develop the socio-economic and physical well being of the Manyu woman, to eradicate negative cultural practices and to encourage more Manyu women into leadership positions.
“It does not matter whatever you do, if you don’t do politics, nothing works. I was not minister for 13 years .Today, I am minister. We need a lot of things in Manyu”, he noted.
“I stand here to ask MOHWA to support Manyu politicians-those politicians who support the party in power; this support will give you what you need in Manyu.”
The Assistant Secretary-General promised to help children of Manyu to succeed; but he did not say how he would go about it.
He asked, “MOHWA, do you know why I love you?” And then answered: “Because my policy is to help the children of Manyu women succeed”
The anniversary celebration was chaired by Charles Mbella Moki, Mayor of Buea, who assured MOHWA of his support.Moki had earlier called on the women to rally behind Members of Government from Manyu in order to reap benefits.
In her address, Agbor Meg Tarkang(pictured), MOHWA Initiator and President-General, talked about the objectives, and achievements of the association.
“Ten years after creation MOHWA women have made noticeable and impressive strides in the economic, social, educational and political domains“Today, a network that started off with five branches has grown to fourteen with two at the international level. Among several achievements, MOHWA has been able to acquire land, provide scholarships to some needy Manyu children, and distribute farming equipment and seedlings”, Agbor Meg said
The highlight of the anniversary was the launching of the association’s magazine, called MOHWA, at the end of which over Fcfa 12 million was raised. The money raised will be used for a Mohwa multi-purpose Hall project in Mamfe.
Nfor Tabe Tando, king of Bachuo-Ntai in Manyu Division, who was chief launcher of the magazine, donated four million francs to MOHWA.
Co-launcher Mrs. Akali Martina donated one million francs; Minister Agbor Tabi, Fcfa 300,000; Mayor Mbella Moki, Fcfa200, 000.There many other donor-launchers
The ceremony, which took place at NASPW-Buea Annex, was graced by Manyu cultural dances and music
Cameroon-Hon. Mary Meboka Speaks Out:My Constituency Has Many Problems Begging for Solutions
“I want in my constituency achievements that I can be proud of”
Honorable, let us beginning by asking: why is your name so long?
(Laughs) Muyali is name I cherish so much. It means the family should grow.Boya is my father’s name. He did so much in my life and I would not like the name to disappear at any time. Mary is the mother of Jesus and Meboka is my husband’s name.
Hon Mary Meboka, Could you present your constituency to our readers?
My constituency is made up of six subdivisions viz: Mundemba, Toko, Isangelle, Kombo Itindi, Idabato, and Kombo Abedimo.
Don’t you think your constituency is too large for MP to be in charge?
Well, it may be too large. But the Constituencies are carved out based on certain criteria. It is just the challenge I have. Those who carved knew why they carved as such.
What is it that really pushed you to enter Parliament?
Being a rural constituency, it is not easy to pin down on something. But I told myself that economic empowerment is what is necessary in that whole area. I mean the economic empowerment of youth, and women and farmers. Most men who are in my constituency are farmers. That is how I envisioned it-that if there is economic empowerment it will go a long way to alleviate poverty in the entire community.
It not easy to really pin down on what you do for economic empowerment in such a constituency which has limited accessibility in terms of roads, limited educational capacities and other challenges.
But I said economic empowerment is the way to go and I know it can not really be achieved in five years. My approach is to lay down the foundation for greater development projects to be carried.
As a first -term MP, what are some of the challenges you have actually been facing?
The first challenge is the accessibility problem .With a division like that which I have you always need to have contacts with people, meet people and talk with them, try to share you vision with them so that you can develop common actions and execute them together. But that coverage is not easy because the whole area is almost inaccessible-you have to trek in some areas, and in others you go by water. Even in the hinterland, sometimes with a good vehicle you still find it difficult to circulate. Although a lot is being done to develop the area, but accessibility remains one of my great challenges.
Another one is that being a woman you have to prove that women can do it. As a first female MP in the region-I remember when I was going for elections and I was presented to one elderly man as the candidate for the election and the man said, “Ah, would this woman be able to bring a caterpillar in this area”. And it was very interesting because caterpillars are not carried on head. But he was just expressing his natural doubts whether I would be able to do make things happen.
So you see that I have the challenge to do two or three times more than a man could do.
Do you feel shy when you are in the midst of men?
Not at all. What I am is the representation of the people. And a good representative of the people should be a person of the heart; and if you are the person of the heart then you can be able to feel what the people feel and know how to follow up what they are doing. Instead it makes me stronger to be able to work in this type of challenging atmosphere.
Honorable, before you were elected into office as MP, you certainly promised your constituents a lot. So far, what have you achieved in your constituency as MP?
With the vision that I had-I told you earlier that I was looking at economic empowerment. It was not easy for me to pinpoint that I would do this or that. But as soon as I assumed office, I undertook a parliamentary tour of my constituency so to have frank discussions with my electorate. Although I know some of the problems of the area and people, I still did the tour so that I should build that collaborative relationship with the constituents and get their endorsement of the projects I was thinking to carry out for them.
The first project I carried out was what I called “The One Hectare Program.” I was looking at the empowerment of youth. And we have worked on that. The objective is that each youth who registered with that project should have one hectare of oil palms palnted.And I have a hundred plus. And many more are still interested in the program. With the support of PAMOL, we got nuts which are already in the nursery and are looked after by the youth. So far we have planted thirteen thousand nuts with PAMOL and hopefully in a couple of months we will have them planted in the field.
The next thing I considered was road maintenance. Road is a big issue. A lot I have done on roads is to lobby with the Government. I thank the minister of Public Works for he is taking that road Mundemba-Ndian –Kumba-Ekondo-Titi at heart and he gives me a feedback of the progress of it. Presently, they are doing maintenance work on the roads. It just that we have the rain challenge which sometimes does not allow for proper coverage.
I have also presented projects to Government intended for my constituency such as schools and health centres.Several schools and health centers have constructed in my area
Honorable before you continue enumerating your achievements we hear you have a soft spot for school activities. Can we know why?
For me education is empowerment. It is the core of development. If I had my way I would like to really strengthen the educational aspect of that constituency.
You know in rural area some people don’t even see the value of education and sometimes there are some people who are willing to send their children but they lack the means. For me as MP it is a key area of concern. What people will be tomorrow depends on their education.
Just recently I gave 30 scholarships to deserving students of my constituency-Each received Fcfa 25000.
Tell us more about the one hectare program
The one hectare project is an enterprise development. We are also doing soap-making with women. Could you imagine that, in the Isangelle area, simple was being bought from Nigeria? And I thought I should work with the women on this. We are carrying action-oriented training for profit. We train some women that they in turn carry on with the training. They need a lot of back-up to continue with the traing, and we provide the basic materials for them.
I constructed the shelves in the Toko Health District Centers and paid for, before drugs were supplied there. We had to pay for stones to be cracked on put on portions of Toko road last year to ease the movement of small vehicles.
I have the chemical program, which is very important. The problem of the farmers is access to chemicals. They have licensed buyers who give them chemicals at very high prices and at the end of the season they don’t make much profit from their produce. I decided to take the problem-solving approach. I buy the first grade of the chemicals, take to the farmers and they pay at the same price that the chemicals were bought in Kumba or Douala.When they pay, I don’t collect the money. I leave the money with them, they take it and plough it back, send for more chemicals. I have spent about two million francs on that project…
My people are hard working but they don’t make much profit from their efforts. We need to find out why and support them. That is what I am trying to do
I am also interested in the valorization of culture. Recently I took about 30 members of the Oroko dance Group, and they performed very well within the framework of the Commonwealth Conference in Yaoundé .These dancers were commended by the watchers
Fishing is done in Bakassi area. Have you been of assistance in this sector?
I have not yet done much in this area. But What I have been doing now is discussing with people to know how they view the problem and how we can strengthen Cameroonians to get more involved in the fishing sector. There are just few of them involved in the fishing sector.
With all what you have done, would you say your people appreciate your efforts?
Often I get some positive feedback, which really don’t flatter me because I need coverage in my constituency. I want to make sure that in my Constituency I have had key results –achievemnets that I can be proud of. I get both positive and negative feedback. For now I don’t want to concentrate on the positive feedback because there is still a lot to be done.
Your mandate is half- gone, what is the way forward?
I have a plan of action I work with. But let me give you some highlights. There is the aspect of water which is very important and I have been discussing with the delegate for water and Energy for us to see if we can get a water catch ment.There is no electricity in most of the villages and the people need it. Some people have generators while others don’t. So this is an issue that I am thinking about how to handle. The education program will definitely continue. Some schools need computers which they asked me to buy. I will see about that. The scholarship program will continue; it is an on-going program. The empowerment of farmers will continue. The enterprise development is an on-going program which I see more capacity –building than just an end; it is a process so that the people can be able to handle their problems themselves. I am still following the road issue; it is a priority in my constituency. It is something that we will continue to talk about, to appeal to the quarters that be, to discuss more with others and give our ideas where necessary.
Would you say you are satisfied with what government is doing in terms of development in the Bakassi area?
What I would say is that the government is doing a lot especially with the development projects going on in the Bakassi area. The Government is investing quite a lot of money there now. Even last year, the Minster of Public Works put about one billion francs on road maintenance. I think what is to be looked at is the implementation strategy, so that the impact is commensurate to the efforts that they put. My constituency which is rural has many problems to be solved.
What the government is doing there is on-going. There is still more to be done.
Courtesy:The Recorder newspaper,Cameroon,June 11,2010
-Hon. Muyali Boya Mary epse Meboka.
Hon. Muyali Boya Mary epse Meboka, MP for Bakassi-Mundemba Ndian is also the Vice -President of CPDM Parliamentary Group. She is one of four female MP’s from the Southwest region. Trained as an agricultural engineer in University of Dchang-Cameroon, employed as a civil servant, Hon Mary Meboka later bagged a Masters of Science (MSc) degree in Development Training and Education from the University of Wolverhampton, UK.She had worked with IRAD Ekona ,Korup Project and served as Ndian Divisional Delegate for Environment & Protection of Nature before her election as an MP
She sat down for an interview with Recorder Editor Christopher Ambe Shu and Princewill Mukwelle Aduma in Ekona.Honorable, let us beginning by asking: why is your name so long?
(Laughs) Muyali is name I cherish so much. It means the family should grow.Boya is my father’s name. He did so much in my life and I would not like the name to disappear at any time. Mary is the mother of Jesus and Meboka is my husband’s name.
Hon Mary Meboka, Could you present your constituency to our readers?
My constituency is made up of six subdivisions viz: Mundemba, Toko, Isangelle, Kombo Itindi, Idabato, and Kombo Abedimo.
Don’t you think your constituency is too large for MP to be in charge?
Well, it may be too large. But the Constituencies are carved out based on certain criteria. It is just the challenge I have. Those who carved knew why they carved as such.
What is it that really pushed you to enter Parliament?
Being a rural constituency, it is not easy to pin down on something. But I told myself that economic empowerment is what is necessary in that whole area. I mean the economic empowerment of youth, and women and farmers. Most men who are in my constituency are farmers. That is how I envisioned it-that if there is economic empowerment it will go a long way to alleviate poverty in the entire community.
It not easy to really pin down on what you do for economic empowerment in such a constituency which has limited accessibility in terms of roads, limited educational capacities and other challenges.
But I said economic empowerment is the way to go and I know it can not really be achieved in five years. My approach is to lay down the foundation for greater development projects to be carried.
As a first -term MP, what are some of the challenges you have actually been facing?
The first challenge is the accessibility problem .With a division like that which I have you always need to have contacts with people, meet people and talk with them, try to share you vision with them so that you can develop common actions and execute them together. But that coverage is not easy because the whole area is almost inaccessible-you have to trek in some areas, and in others you go by water. Even in the hinterland, sometimes with a good vehicle you still find it difficult to circulate. Although a lot is being done to develop the area, but accessibility remains one of my great challenges.
Another one is that being a woman you have to prove that women can do it. As a first female MP in the region-I remember when I was going for elections and I was presented to one elderly man as the candidate for the election and the man said, “Ah, would this woman be able to bring a caterpillar in this area”. And it was very interesting because caterpillars are not carried on head. But he was just expressing his natural doubts whether I would be able to do make things happen.
So you see that I have the challenge to do two or three times more than a man could do.
Do you feel shy when you are in the midst of men?
Not at all. What I am is the representation of the people. And a good representative of the people should be a person of the heart; and if you are the person of the heart then you can be able to feel what the people feel and know how to follow up what they are doing. Instead it makes me stronger to be able to work in this type of challenging atmosphere.
Honorable, before you were elected into office as MP, you certainly promised your constituents a lot. So far, what have you achieved in your constituency as MP?
With the vision that I had-I told you earlier that I was looking at economic empowerment. It was not easy for me to pinpoint that I would do this or that. But as soon as I assumed office, I undertook a parliamentary tour of my constituency so to have frank discussions with my electorate. Although I know some of the problems of the area and people, I still did the tour so that I should build that collaborative relationship with the constituents and get their endorsement of the projects I was thinking to carry out for them.
The first project I carried out was what I called “The One Hectare Program.” I was looking at the empowerment of youth. And we have worked on that. The objective is that each youth who registered with that project should have one hectare of oil palms palnted.And I have a hundred plus. And many more are still interested in the program. With the support of PAMOL, we got nuts which are already in the nursery and are looked after by the youth. So far we have planted thirteen thousand nuts with PAMOL and hopefully in a couple of months we will have them planted in the field.
The next thing I considered was road maintenance. Road is a big issue. A lot I have done on roads is to lobby with the Government. I thank the minister of Public Works for he is taking that road Mundemba-Ndian –Kumba-Ekondo-Titi at heart and he gives me a feedback of the progress of it. Presently, they are doing maintenance work on the roads. It just that we have the rain challenge which sometimes does not allow for proper coverage.
I have also presented projects to Government intended for my constituency such as schools and health centres.Several schools and health centers have constructed in my area
Honorable before you continue enumerating your achievements we hear you have a soft spot for school activities. Can we know why?
For me education is empowerment. It is the core of development. If I had my way I would like to really strengthen the educational aspect of that constituency.
You know in rural area some people don’t even see the value of education and sometimes there are some people who are willing to send their children but they lack the means. For me as MP it is a key area of concern. What people will be tomorrow depends on their education.
Just recently I gave 30 scholarships to deserving students of my constituency-Each received Fcfa 25000.
Tell us more about the one hectare program
The one hectare project is an enterprise development. We are also doing soap-making with women. Could you imagine that, in the Isangelle area, simple was being bought from Nigeria? And I thought I should work with the women on this. We are carrying action-oriented training for profit. We train some women that they in turn carry on with the training. They need a lot of back-up to continue with the traing, and we provide the basic materials for them.
I constructed the shelves in the Toko Health District Centers and paid for, before drugs were supplied there. We had to pay for stones to be cracked on put on portions of Toko road last year to ease the movement of small vehicles.
I have the chemical program, which is very important. The problem of the farmers is access to chemicals. They have licensed buyers who give them chemicals at very high prices and at the end of the season they don’t make much profit from their produce. I decided to take the problem-solving approach. I buy the first grade of the chemicals, take to the farmers and they pay at the same price that the chemicals were bought in Kumba or Douala.When they pay, I don’t collect the money. I leave the money with them, they take it and plough it back, send for more chemicals. I have spent about two million francs on that project…
My people are hard working but they don’t make much profit from their efforts. We need to find out why and support them. That is what I am trying to do
I am also interested in the valorization of culture. Recently I took about 30 members of the Oroko dance Group, and they performed very well within the framework of the Commonwealth Conference in Yaoundé .These dancers were commended by the watchers
Fishing is done in Bakassi area. Have you been of assistance in this sector?
I have not yet done much in this area. But What I have been doing now is discussing with people to know how they view the problem and how we can strengthen Cameroonians to get more involved in the fishing sector. There are just few of them involved in the fishing sector.
With all what you have done, would you say your people appreciate your efforts?
Often I get some positive feedback, which really don’t flatter me because I need coverage in my constituency. I want to make sure that in my Constituency I have had key results –achievemnets that I can be proud of. I get both positive and negative feedback. For now I don’t want to concentrate on the positive feedback because there is still a lot to be done.
Your mandate is half- gone, what is the way forward?
I have a plan of action I work with. But let me give you some highlights. There is the aspect of water which is very important and I have been discussing with the delegate for water and Energy for us to see if we can get a water catch ment.There is no electricity in most of the villages and the people need it. Some people have generators while others don’t. So this is an issue that I am thinking about how to handle. The education program will definitely continue. Some schools need computers which they asked me to buy. I will see about that. The scholarship program will continue; it is an on-going program. The empowerment of farmers will continue. The enterprise development is an on-going program which I see more capacity –building than just an end; it is a process so that the people can be able to handle their problems themselves. I am still following the road issue; it is a priority in my constituency. It is something that we will continue to talk about, to appeal to the quarters that be, to discuss more with others and give our ideas where necessary.
Would you say you are satisfied with what government is doing in terms of development in the Bakassi area?
What I would say is that the government is doing a lot especially with the development projects going on in the Bakassi area. The Government is investing quite a lot of money there now. Even last year, the Minster of Public Works put about one billion francs on road maintenance. I think what is to be looked at is the implementation strategy, so that the impact is commensurate to the efforts that they put. My constituency which is rural has many problems to be solved.
What the government is doing there is on-going. There is still more to be done.
Courtesy:The Recorder newspaper,Cameroon,June 11,2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
EFFECTIVE CONTROL OF HIV/AIDS EPIDEMIC IN AFRICA
By Chief A S NgwanaThe HIV/AIDS infection is mainly transmitted through sexual intercourse. In fact more than 95% of the disease is transmitted through sexual intercourse. Africa South of the Sahara has about 76% of all the persons infected in the world.
Africans traditionally have an excessive love for many children. Normally if a man marries a woman and she cannot produce children or the number of children he wants, he usually marries another woman or women. That is why Africans are traditionally polygamous. This encouraged fornication and promiscuity. Fornication is not considered an offence or a sin by many African cultures. Instead it is admired as veritable manhood.
The HIV/AIDS virus thrives and spreads mainly in promiscuous societies and has found Africa a fertile ground.
The Catholic Church has been criticized for being too conservative and too strict against sexual matters, but the Church does not bulge and insists on teaching God’s Commandments on all matters concerning faith and morals.
Abortion is a criminal offence in Cameroon and in many African Countries. The law only permits abortion in cases of rape, incest or where the life of the woman is threatened. The Catholic Church however forbids abortion in all cases under penalty of excommunication, as happened of recent in the case of the American nun Margaret McBride. Divorce, Adultery, Prostitution, Fornication, Homosexuality, all types of artificial birth control methods, including Condoms and the Pill, are forbidden by the Catholic Church as sinful.
In particular Catholics are forbidden to use the Pill, or artificial birth control methods or condoms as means of spacing out their children. Instead they are advised to observe abstinence, fidelity, self control and mortification.
These moral teachings of the Catholic Church have helped in the prevention of the spread of the HIV epidemic in those African Countries with a higher Catholic population.
For example:
In Uganda where Catholics are 43% of the population, the HIV rate has fallen from 15% in 1991 to 4% in 2004 using the formula ABSTINENCE and FIDELITY (but only using condoms where fidelity and abstinence are unacceptable or impossible). (ABC formula)
In Swaziland where Catholics are 5% of the population, the HIV rate is 42%
In Botswana where Catholics are 4% of the population, the HIV rate is 37%
In South Africa where Catholics are 6% of the population, the HIV rate is 22%
The most effective way to fight against HIV/AIDS epidemic is prevention since no cure has been found yet. Africa has been flooded with condoms and the more condoms imported the higher the HIV infections rates. Condoms have failed and instead aggravated the situation.
Therefore the only effective way of prevention as proven, is ABSTINENCE before marriage and FIDELITY in marriage.
Sex education in schools, should be restricted to teaching children the values of sex and not the biology and techniques of sex. Youngsters will want to experiment if given the wrong information about sex. There is time for everything.
People should know that sex is a wonderful thing created by God for the continuation of His work of creation. Couples continue this work by procreating other human beings. As such, the main object of sex is procreation, joined to it, the happiness, enjoyment and satisfaction in mind and body of the couples. Therefore the sexual act is a monopoly of married people-a man and a woman.
Until a cure is found for the HIV/AIDS infection, we Africans have to modify our sexual behaviors, and control our excessive love for many children.
ABSTINENCE AND FIDELITY ARE THE SURE ANSWER.
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