The Post Online (Cameroon)

The Post Front Page-Friday, July 4, 2008.

2008-07-04T06:46:16-04:00

Effa Takaw

I Supported Democracy, Not Fru Ndi - Frances Cook

2008-07-04T04:25:31-04:00

By Kini Nsom

Former US Ambassador to Cameroon, Frances Cook, has refuted allegations that she openly supported the leading opposition candidate, John Fru Ndi, during the 1992 presidential elections.

"I was absolutely misunderstood. Some people fabricated stories that I supported one candidate," the diplomat remarked in a chat with the press in Yaounde last week.

The setting was the US Embassy where journalists thronged to cover the launching ceremony of the James Baldwin Information Resource Centre on June 26.Mrs. Cook qualified the allegation levelled against her as the figment of the imagination of certain people.

"The goal of the US Embassy is to promote the concept of democracy and not to choose candidates whether they are from the government or the opposition," she said.She said she did not understand how her support for free, transparent, fair and democratic elections could be interpreted to mean that she declared support for a particular candidate.

Asked what her assessment of the democratic process in Cameroon was fifteen years after her departure from the country, Cook said much progress has been made.She lauded the proliferation of civil society organisations and NGOs noting that democracy is flourishing in Cameroon.

Hear her, "I think a lot of institutions that are being built bit by bit are going to contribute to the growth of democracy in Cameroon."She held that "democracy is not a destination, but a journey."

She said even the American democracy that is 250 years old, is still being perfected."We are still making progress, we are still making mistakes, but we work to try to perfect it and I think Cameroon is still working to perfect its democracy. It is a journey, a long journey," she said.

According to Cook, democracy in Cameroon remains a vital topic to her. She recalled: "I was in the hall the day President Paul Biya announced multiparty politics. So, I was right there at the birth of the democratic journey in Cameroon."

Going by her, Cameroon has gone a long way in building the pillars of democracy like the civil society, NGOs and a dynamic press.She said when she was in Cameroon; there were only a few newspapers. "Now many newspapers are allowed to publish," she remarked.

During her visit to the country last week, she said, she read at least five newspapers every morning. Having been in the country for only 48 hours at the time journalists were quizzing her, she said she could not fully appreciate the changes that have taken place in Cameroon in fifteen years.

Mrs. Cook wished to see government create an outfit that will truly give Cameroonians free, fair and transparent elections.She lauded the creation of ELECAM and said people are looking to see whether it will deliver the goods in the up-coming elections.

The former ambassador also appreciated the developmental changes that have taken place in Yaounde.Hear her: "I appreciate the pretty modern parks, gardens. It's a new page of Yaounde. The gardens glitter with flowers and trees. They make the whole place magnificent. The construction of the roundabouts and the US Embassy, it's a great change."

Banking Institutions Challenged To Alleviate Rural Poverty

2008-07-04T04:23:41-04:00

Chegg.com Plants a Tree for Every Book you Rent

By Victorine Biy Yongka*

Finance Minister, Essimi Menye, has called on banking institutions to alleviate poverty in the rural areas.

He made the call during a seminar on the theme 'Technology Forum-Access to Finance' which held in Yaounde on June 2.

Speaking at the seminar, the Minister told micro-finance institutions to take the challenge of ensuring that the underprivileged have access to finance. He urged them to ensure that the rural people get mobile phone access so that they can have access to finances.

The Minister, however, expressed the hope that micro finance institutions would take into consideration issues of transparency in business transactions, factors that scare people away from demanding loans.

For her part, the Director of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, CGAP, African representative, Jennifer Isern, told participants that though mobile phone banking is experiencing spectacular growth in some African countries.

According to her,there is the need for a greater number of financial providers to begin using technology to adapt their operations, products and services in Sub-Saharan Africa.

A representative from a banking institution, Lee Tenney, highlighted some constraints micro finance institutions face in reaching the poor. These constraints, according to him, include cost of distribution, credit uncertainty, physical security and transparency. He stated that the poor, most often than not, do not have accounts in banks and therefore cannot use the services of banks.

Delegates at the forum stressed on the importance of strong information systems - the foundation of any financial institution to ease access of the poor to loans. The micro finance delegates said their greatest achievement would be to alleviate poverty in the rural areas through banking technology.

The last forum of technology based on access to finance was held in 2004 and 2006 in Burkina Faso and Senegal respectively. The Yaounde workshop brought together 20 African countries with experts from renowned banking institutions of the world.

(Student Journalist On Internship)

Student Body Sues ASMAC Director

2008-07-04T04:21:37-04:00

By Kini Nsom

The Cameroon Students' Rights Association, popularly known by its French acronym as ADDEC, has dragged the Director of the Advanced School of Mass Communications, ASMAC, Prof Laurent Charles Boyomo, to court for what they termed extortion.

The students accused the Director of illegally increasing school fees for students who are doing Masters programmes in that institution.ADDEC filed the case with the Nfoundi High Court in Yaounde on June 26.

According to ADDEC Secretary General, Alain Ngono, increasing school fees for Master's students from FCFA 50,000 to FCFA 500,000 is an illegality that runs counter to presidential decree No. 93/033 of January 19, 1993, putting schools fees for higher education in the country at FCFA 50,000.

Ngono said ADDEC received a letter from ASMAC students last year complaining about the fact that the school authorities increased the tuition fees by 900 percent.Even with the complaints, the ADDEC Scribe remarked, ASMAC authorities went ahead and recently increased the fees from FCFA 500,000 to 600,000.

Following this development, ADDEC wrote to the Director of ASMAC, copying the Rector of the Yaounde University II and the Minister of Higher Education.According to Ngono, no reaction came from that end. ADDEC now claims that Prof. Boyomo simply snubbed them, as students kept on complaining about the heavy financial burden inflicted on them.

He said it was in the wake of such a nonchalant attitude that they decided to sue the Director.Reacting to the case in an interview with CRTV on Monday, Boyomo said it was the Yaounde University II Council that authorised him to increase school fees for the Masters students.

He said it was a measure taken to ensure the success of the professionalisation of the Masters programme.He also said the increase was to enable the school pay visiting lecturers to teach at the school. He claimed that they also needed more money to buy equipment to train students and ensure that they specialise.

Speaking to journalists in Yaounde on July1, ADDEC President, Batogna Gnitechogno, said the explanation given on radio could not convince even a baby. He insisted that a presidential decree is higher than a university council decision.

ADDEC claims that there are neither foreign lecturers nor sophisticated equipment in ASMAC as the Director claims. The ADDEC Secretary General disclosed that the Yaounde Higher School of Engineering, Polytechnic and the Faculty of Medicines and Biomedical Sciences have foreign lecturers and very good equipment but have not increased school fees.

Their students still pay FCFA 50,000 as provided for by the 1993 presidential decree.Two prominent lawyers, Barristers Maurice Ndjodo and Joseph Kenmoe helped the students to file the case in court.

They say they are ready to fight to stop school authorities from extorting money from students.ADDEC officials are asking the court to compel the ASMAC Director to pay back the extra money students paid with damages to the tune of FCFA 13 million.

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US, Dschang Varsity Students Visit CDC

2008-07-04T04:20:04-04:00

By Francis Tim Mbom

Some students from the Catholic University of Dayton, Ohio, USA, and others from the University of Dschang recently visited the Cameroon Development Corporation, CDC, in Limbe.

On hand to welcome the students was CDC Communication Manager, Charles Endeley, and other staffers who showed the visitors around the CDC Bota head office and told them the history of the corporation, its economy and management, etc.

Robert Elisa, a staff, then took the visitors on a tour of one of the corporation's estates in Idenau, which harbours one of two CDC oil mills.He also briefed them on the on-going multi-billion oil palm and rubber projects aimed at expanding the productive capacity of the corporation in the Boa Plains and Matouke Rubber Estate.

Among other things, the students sought to know how the corporation operates, its products, government's subvention and the privatisation of one of its products.
After the head office, the students also visited the Mondoni Oil Mill and other CDC farms in the Tiko area.

On the purpose of their visit, one of the students from Dayton University, Danny Demko, said they were trying to see what makes Cameroon go as a whole."We are just trying to learn about the people, their culture and just about a different way of life from the western world," Demko said.

Demko equally said before their stopover at CDC, they had already spent four days in the country.He said they intend to stay in Cameroon for a month and hope to visit other towns especially Kumba.

The University of Dayton is one of the ten largest private institutions in the US and was founded as far back as 1850.Meanwhile, CDC is 61 years old.

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High Crime Rate Blamed On Unemployment

2008-07-04T04:19:08-04:00

By Jeff Ngawe Yufenyu

The US State Department "Crime and Safety Report on Cameroon for 2008," indicates that high unemployment is a major cause of criminality in Yaounde, Douala and other towns in the country.

The report released by the American Embassy in Yaounde also rated Cameroon as a critical crime threat country.According to the report, wealthy Cameroonians, expatriates and members of the diplomatic community continue to be targeted; and people have been robbed inside and outside their residences, on the streets, in shops and other places, the report states.

It also states that most residential break-ins are perpetrated by small groups of armed bandits who prefer stealthy entry like using a rainstorm to mask their movements.
According to the report, in most cases, bandits overpower guards to enter residences. Persons resisting such break-ins are likely to be injured or killed.

To combat residential crime, which occurs frequently, most diplomats, expatriates and wealthy Cameroonians rely on 24-hour private security guards to protect residences and property.

The US government provides 24-hour security for all its official residence in Cameroon as unguarded property invites burglars, the report states.The report also mentions car-jacking as a major cause of concern. Victims of car-jacking who resist are likely to be injured or killed by the bandits who prefer luxury four-wheel drive vehicles.

The report also enumerates highway robbery (coupeurs de route) that target vehicles on the main commercial routes in the rural areas.These gangs, according to the report, are known to operate in areas close to the borders of Chad, Central African Republic and Nigeria. The bandits are known to be more active on local market days.

Meanwhile the British Foreign and Commonwealth Officer and other countries of the European Union have in separate reports also expressed concern about the overall crime situation in Cameroon.

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DO Attacks Yam Farmer With Gun Butt

2008-07-04T04:17:18-04:00

By Azore Opio

"I was explaining that they could buy diesel from somewhere else as the old woman was not willing to reduce her price when the DO pounced on me. He grabbed my shirt collar and started raining blows on my head."

Changkong with a gashed backhead

These are the words of Christopher Changkong who talked to The Post, Tuesday 1.The story had previously been reported in our June 7 edition No.0958, in which the Divisional Officer, DO, for Nwa, Michael Chumbong Lani, accompanied by Nwa CPDM MP, Hon. Genesis Mbukseck and Commissioner for Frontier Police, Enongene Mbeseh, reportedly brutalised Changkong in Fam village, Nwa Subdivision in Donga-Mantung Division.

It was reported that the "DO pounced on Changkong with punches that inflicted injuries on Changkong's head with blood oozing."The DO on his part reportedly said, "We were surprised that Changkong, who hails from the Southwest, started insulting us for bargaining that the woman should sell 20 litres of petrol to us at FCFA 15,000, instead of FCFA 16,000.

That is why we bundled him into the vehicle. He first starting kicking the Commissioner, claiming he knew him so well since all of them are from the Southwest. In short, this young man is not a petrol seller, but will poke his nose into what doesn't concern him. He actually insulted state authority."

But Changkong said he never started by kicking the Commissioner nor did he insult him.
"My brothers were at the junction. We were going to visit our sick father when the DO and his entourage landed. They were on their way to Ntong. They wanted to buy petrol (funge) which comes from Nigeria. And this old woman, Dina Awah, was the one selling 20 litres at FCFA 16,000.

"The DO tried to haggle with her but she was not willing to cut down the price. So I thought I could advise the DO to buy the fuel elsewhere. But he became brutal and even wanted to seize the old woman's fuel because, "they don't even pay taxes. As I tried to explain, the DO leaped at me, started pounding me. When I tried to free myself, the Commissioner and a gendarme fell on me.

"They were delivering crunching blows into me and on my head. Then a gun butt crashed on the back of my head. In no time, I was splashed with my own blood. It is inconceivable that the DO removed a gun from the Police Commissioner and hit my head with it."

Changkong recounted that the DO and his men bundled him into their car and drove him to Ntong Health Centre, where the doctor there said he could not stitch the gash in his head without down payment.

According to Changkong, the DO abandoned him to his bleeding self. He said the Police Commissioner added insult to injury by ordering the council policeman who had been assigned to guard him to avail him with a cutlass to slash the grass on the hospital yard while the DO attended a rally.

Changkong said he worked for a few minutes with blood still oozing from his head wound and dizziness overwhelming him before the Commissioner ordered for his release.It was only after his brothers had rallied some money that the doctor went to work on his head.

"Without my brothers, I don't know what I would have done. They paid something like FCFA 10,000," said the 29-year-old yam farmer.All attempts we made to talk to the DO for Nwa on phone were futile as he did not pick our calls.

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Education Ministry To Recruit 5,528 Teachers

2008-07-04T04:15:53-04:00

By Elvis Tah

The Ministry of Basic Education will soon begin to recruit Grade I teachers for the 2008/2009 academic year.

The recruitment is the third phase of the operation to employ 40,000 teachers within a period of five years.Sponsored by the World Bank and the French Development Agency, the operation was launched in 2007 and with end in 2011.

Unlike in the past when only teachers who must have taught for at least two years were eligible, anybody with a teachers' Grade I certificate is eligible for the recruitment.As part of the operation, a delegation from Yaounde held a meeting at GTTC Buea on Tuesday July 1, to sensitise Southwest education stakeholders, Divisional Delegates, inspectors and Grade I certificates holders, on the new procedures and requirements for the recruitment.

The head of the delegation, Eric Akemnda Achankeng, said "the teachers will provide certified copies of their professional diplomas: their Grade I certificates and other academic qualifications that make them eligible to get into the teachers' training college."

He said the North, Far North, Adamawa and the Eastern Provinces will be given the pride of place, for being education priority zones.He explained that the government wants to lay emphasis on the priority zones because the level of education is low due to lack of teachers in those areas.

Akemnda, erstwhile Director of Prospecting and Documentation at the Ministry of Basic Education, MINEDUB, said at the end of the operation in 2011, Cameroon would take the relay baton from its external partners to continue with the recruitment.

Expounding on a statement made by the Southwest Delegate of Basic Education, Joseph Njika, on a census to fish out absentee and ghost teachers, Akemnda said Cameroon is putting a lot of emphasis on the management of its personnel.

"It is important to know at every time whether the teachers sent to the field are actually there and at any one time a teacher is not found at his job post, his salary will be suspended."

In response to allegations that the news of the recruitment exercise was received with a pinch of salt in some quarters, Njika said he sees no reason why some people should not be happy about it, given that the condition of two years is suppressed and anybody with a Grade I certificates is eligible.

Meantime, some Grade I private teachers, who applied for the recruitment, expressed derision at their employer whom they say, usually thwarts the ambitions of her teachers.
They said she is a big shot at the Delegation of Basic Education and that she always gets rid of the files of her teachers whenever she is treating the applications before sending them to Yaounde.

The private teachers blamed the woman for paying her staff meagre salaries, but wouldn't allow them get to where the pastures are greener.It should be noted that the deadline for depositing complete files is July 4 at the various Divisional Delegation of Basic Education.

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Tubah Councillors Schooled On Their Role

2008-07-04T04:11:29-04:00

By Chris Mbunwe

Councillors of Tubah Subdivision in Mezam Division have been educated on what role they have to play in the council as elected officials.

The training came recently against a backdrop of ignorance by the councillors on their responsibilities and limits.According to Tubah Mayor, Stanislus Meji Sofa, after the July 22 twin elections, most councillors displayed a lot of ignorance as to their responsibilities and limits.

"We noticed that for the first six months in council sessions, a lot of them were blank and their questions were very embarrassing," said the Mayor.It is against this background that the management of Tubah Council, in collaboration with experts from Bamenda-based Anembom consulting organisation, organised a week's workshop where councillors were drilled on their roles and responsibilities, conflict management, local governance, councillor competency, communication, leadership; the role of mayor, secretary general and municipal treasurer.

Sofa said he was convinced that the councillors now have mastery of the statutory and legal framework of council management. "Our mission, as elected council authorities, requires continuous training for us to meet the aspirations and essential needs of the citizens," Sofa remarked.

One of the trainers, Miss Kharsum Mohammed, a volunteer from the Philippines, said she was highly impressed with Tubah Council authorities that demonstrated interest in learning better ways of managing the council.

She said her sole mission was to share the knowledge on council management from the Philippines.One of the participants, Raphael Muffouh, promised they would apply the knowledge acquired for the betterment of the population.

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Chief Dr. Enonchong's Legacy Lives On!

2008-07-04T04:09:55-04:00

We condemn with utmost vehemence the tasteless and fallacious article captioned "Death snatches Enonchong from the jaws of Prosecution" that was published in the pages of The Post on 01 July 2008.

At a time when our family should be mourning and preparing to pay our final respects to our father, uncle, brother, grandfather His Majesty Chief Dr. HNA Enonchong, Paramount Ruler of Besongabang, we have to respond to defamatory and mean-spirited accusations that have no foundation in fact.

We will not dignify the so-called "article" with a point-by-point response. The facts and preponderance of documentary evidence are all before the competent courts and we are confident that the truth shall prevail and triumph.

In any event, in view of the obligation to respect human dignity, the rule of law and all constitutional rights, the writer of the libelous article and publisher of the newspaper are informed that the Enonchong family reserves the right to file legal proceedings before the competent courts for defamation, malicious intent, and/or fraudulent misrepresentation as per applicable tortuous or criminal liabilities under the rule of law.

While His Majesty Chief Dr. Enonchong's voice might be silenced, his principles, projects and good works are carried on through his children and family who will pursue with the same passion and vigor the legacy which he started.

On behalf of the Enonchong family,Rebecca Enonchong and Richard Enonchong

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Mugabe May Not, After All, Be Insane!

2008-07-04T04:03:55-04:00

By Abraham Tangwe

The recent avalanche of insults and negative publicity directed towards Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe cannot leave any keen African observer indifferent.

The idea is not to exonerate him from any wrongdoing per se. This is so because he is guilty of some, but hardly enough for us to be so hard on him. It is even more pathetic and frightful when an authoritative and respected iconic figure like Mandela decides to join in this dance of the Vampires.

Our gullible natures have pushed us blindly into the waiting trap of western propaganda through the snares of their media entanglements, which is always tele-guided by their government policies.

We are so happy, and sadly so, to sit back and take for gospel truth what somebody sits in a cozy office in Europe or America and tells us about something happening in our backyard. Otherwise, all these talk of insensitivity to the aspirations of the people, election rigger, dictator, insane old man, power drunk, failed leadership etc would not arise.

Why is the case of Zimbabwe so peculiar? Is Mugabe the worst leader on the continent? What has happened that somebody whose country was one of the best managed, socially, is witnessing such a dramatic down turn? Why would a Knight suddenly turn round to be mad, as claimed?

You may recall that independence, as granted to African States, was simply cosmetic. It was arranged so that the white faces in all public places were simply replaced with black faces. In all fairness, the white men went through the door and came back through the window.

This has given rise to the new phenomenon called Neo-colonialism, where the Europeans have taken the back seats but with a stranglehold on African economies.If you wanted to guarantee your stay in power, as a leader, it was prudent not to challenge the established order or you were simply booted out.

When you accepted it then your mouth was always oiled while your people languished in poverty. If you doubt what I say, then meet the former President of the Congo Republic, Pascal Lissuba, to explain to you why he was booted out by a pro-French leader like Denis Sassou Nguesso.

We have leaders in Africa who are more vicious and have stayed in power than Mugabe. Why are they not being mentioned? Check round their States and see whether the people are any better.

Mugabe's only woe is that, so far, he is the only one who is taking the liberation struggle of the African people from a political realm to an economic realm! This is a no go area and it is tickling the bile of the British. The land issue is very thorny but the former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, knows the truth.

Mugabe had negotiated with John Major, another former British PM. Major was warm towards compensating the British landowners for the land to be given back to the blacks but Blair called off the deal. This irked Mugabe, and what followed is now history.

Have you bothered to find out what gave Mugabe his knighthood which has been hurriedly withdrawn by the Queen? It is true the Zimbabweans might not have had the necessary technical know-how to manage the farms but that cannot be responsible for the collapse of the economy.

The answer is that there is a conspiracy by the west to foster regime change using economic sanctions.That is the more reason why it is difficult for east and southern African leaders to condemn him outright for it would be foolhardy. Staying in power this long is out of place for him, like all others, and so for Mugabe to be kicked out, all others should be pursued equally with vim and alacrity.

He is not the worst human being. All the others are left at bay because they are allowing the whites to have their way economically, but Mugabe who dared to challenge such an order is the devil incarnate and must be discarded!

Mugabe is not mad but doing things that we do not have the courage to do. The west is insisting that African leaders in the ongoing AU summit must condemn Mugabe but this is not working as they have chosen to embrace and do business with him. Instead of condemning him, they have rather called for a national union government, which means the leaders accept his leadership. Is that not an indicator that there is something wrong with the Western campaign?

Let us try to wear our thinking caps and stop being led by the nose and told what to do in the 21st century courtesy the BBC and CNN. These cable connections in our homes may be more destructive to us and is acting as a preventive mechanism for the decolonisation of our current neo-colonialist ethos.

It is high time we created our own BBC and CNN to counter such negative portrayal of happenings of the continent.

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Dante's Corner

2008-07-04T04:00:00-04:00

Effa Takaw

African Rulers -The Dregs Of African Leadership

2008-07-04T03:58:47-04:00

By Neba-Fuh

Egypt's resort town of Sharm El Sheikh is host to the world's most dreaded dictators meeting under the banner of the African Union Summit.

Amongst them is Zimbabwe's junta leader Robert Mugabe, who recently hijacked people's power by performing a one-man -show, after intimidating his challenger-Morgan Tshangarai and his supporters resulting to deaths, in a run-off 'election' that was a clear slaughter of democracy.

A once respected African liberation hero, Mugabe is now defecating on the platform that projected him to the apex of the list of African liberation fighters. An octogenarian like Robert Mugabe should be enjoying a well-deserved rest just like his contemporary-living legend and ace freedom fighter- Madiba Nelson Mandela is doing.

Mugabe is exhibiting a severe case of senility that is not only disgracing his family, the Zimbabwean people, but Africa as a whole.His argument of indispensability, by purporting that the British and Americans will re-colonise Zimbabwe if he leaves power, is a tragic symptom of wisdom's cramp.

We know the unmistakable treachery that these two western powers have plunged the world into, but for an 84-year- old dictator to present the above as an excuse to rig elections in order to rule a nation already suffering a more than 355 percent inflation rate is the first major joke of the 21st century.

Africa's sufferings have been exacerbated by the continual clinging to power by people like Mugabe. He is just one of the many oligarchs that have plundered Africa's riches, leaving the masses miserably helpless. That's why he had the guts to threaten fellow African dictators after his flawed run-off 'election' just before the summit, by saying that he was waiting to see that finger that will point at him-that dirty finger from an African leader that thinks it is clean. Mugabe could never have been wrong! Which finger could really point at Mugabe?

Is it the host Hosni Mubarak's 27 years in-power- finger or Gabon's Bongo's 41years-in-power-finger? Is it Libya's Qadhafi's 38years-in-power finger? Just to name these few.
On the eve of this summit, celebrations marking Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday kick-started in London's Hyde Park with a star- studded concert. Political and entertainment gurus rallied to pay homage to what real African leadership is suppose to mean.

A man whose choices and decisions are guided by service and sacrifice. A man whose vision of Africa is not enshrined in the vice of greed. A man who would rather perish in prison than live in a society where freedom was a privilege, not a right. A man whose captors would assemble to applaud his bravery. A man who demystified the notion that all African leaders cling to power until power kicks them off.

This is Mandela - the anti apartheid prisoner who became President! He represents a whole lot of African visionaries who did not have the opportunity to clock 90 like him: Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba, Um Nyobe, etc.

They craved for a united Africa out of love, not out of greed like the 'dregs' we have today.
Egypt's summit is another rendez-vous for dim-witted cronies, some of whom are constantly worried about changing their diapers because of old age than concentrating on the issues they have plunged Africa into.

Instead of them worried on how to push the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), they might be caught up with the Zimbabwe saga-election rigging and manipulation-something most of them are guilty of. Who could point that finger? Young African rulers, who could have been the innovative think tank of those old recalcitrant guards, are nothing more than monarchical derivatives -The Kabilas and the Eyademas, still troubled by Dads' poisoned genes.

The dregs of African leadership deserve their place in the dustbin! Even though some of these rulers have embezzled the peoples' money equivalent to multiple budgets of their nations, we still plead that they recognize that they cannot form any valuable solution to the numerous problems they have plunged this great continent into.

Africa - the richest continent in the universe - has become an economic eyesore. A peoples' destiny held hostage by a greedy few. Their rule is nothing more than a movie shot without a director. They will be strangled by their own web!

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Minister Instructs Gendarmes To Impound Misused State Cars

2008-07-04T03:56:06-04:00

By Kini Nsom

The Minister of State Property and Land Tenure, Pascal Anong Adibime, has called on the forces of law and order to impound State vehicles that government officials are abusing.

"Police and gendarmes should seize State vehicles, which are being misused, and send reports to my ministry,' he stated.He made the statement during a question and answer plenary at the National Assembly recently.

Anong Adibime was addressing the issue of the misuse of State property raised by CPDM MP, Hon. Roger Nkodo Ndang.The MP had pointed out that such an attitude has continued to impoverish the State while individuals enrich themselves. He complained that State vehicles are used in carrying wood and food from people's farms.

"Sometimes, we see them being driven around recklessly in the wee hours of the night,' said Nkodo Ndang.The MP said despite a recent Prime Ministerial circular, some government officials have continued to misuse State cars.

He asked the Minister what government was doing to stop people from abusing their offices by misusing State property.On his part, the Minister said they were fighting to crack down on such irresponsible behaviour.

He said any State vehicle going on mission should have a mission warrant indicating the number of people on board and for how long the mission will last. He regretted that most often when the forces of law and order see any vehicle matriculated CA, they give it a military salute without caring to know who its occupants are.

The Minister said gendarmes should be more vigilant because there is a new phenomenon where people buy cars from the State but leave the CA matriculation in order to deceive the public.

He said his ministry is making an inventory of all State cars so as to control the situation and stem such abuses. To him, administrative vehicles, except in special cases, have authorisation to circulate only from 6 am to 6 pm.

The Minister also expressed disappointment that even government buildings, in states of dilapidation, have been abandoned to themselves. He cited the Ministerial Building Number Two that hosts the Ministry of State Property and Land Tenure, as an abandoned building that is usually void of electricity with obsolete lifts.

He revealed that many people who live in government houses don't have a right to live in them.Talking about the repair of public buildings, the Minister said the lack of funds was their bane. He said only FCFA 30 million was allocated for the repair of public buildings in the 2008 budget.

Going by him, his ministry has dislodged over 100 illegal occupants of government houses in the country. He said the anarchy, characterised by the building of individual houses on government land, will soon be laid to rest.

He refuted allegations that some administrative officials have been selling land with the complicity of some officials in his ministry."Since I came to the helm of the Ministry, I have not received any such complaint,' the Minister said.

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Refugees Recount Ugly Tales Of Torture

2008-07-04T03:54:52-04:00

By Kini Nsom

"Five military men beat me severely on my buttocks and soles. They then took turns in raping me.

Paul McCartney on eMusic

I went unconscious for four hours during which I gave birth to a premature baby."
This testimony by a Rwandan refugee sparked consternation among onlookers at the Nobert Kenne Peace Memorial House in Yaounde on June 26.

Stakeholders including many refugees had gathered to commemorate the International Day of Support to Victims of Torture.A Yaounde-based NGO, Trauma Centre Cameroon, organised the event. It was at this occasion that the young female refugee narrated her ordeal.

The lady, who opted for anonymity for security reasons, said her gory ordeal in the Rwandan Genocide in 1992 has continued to haunt her.Another victim from the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, stunned the audience with another gory tale of torture.

He said he was arrested and terribly tortured by soldiers loyal to the then DRC President, Joseph-Desire Kabila.HE said the soldiers accused him of being loyal to former President Mobutu's regime.

"While in jail, one soldier took an iron rod, pushed it into my anus and yanked it off in a violent manner," the refugee who introduced himself simply as A.B.E, narrated in sobs.
He said he still suffers from haemorrhage due to that torture.

While presenting the UN statement at the occasion, the President of the Trauma Centre, Peter Essoka, regretted that women fall victim to torture in different ways."Women deprived of their liberty are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence, which often carries with it a strong stigma exacerbating the suffering stemming from the violence," he said.

He said, "on this International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, we again pay tribute to all governments, civil society organisations, national human rights and individuals engaged in activities aimed at preventing torture."

Speaking earlier, the Deputy Director of the Trauma Centre, Ngabmen, condemned torture. He described it as a cruel, inhuman and degrading act that inflicts physical and psychological suffering on its victims.

He said the Trauma Centre Cameroon not only fights against torture, but also rehabilitates its victims by taking care of their socio-medical and judicial needs.This year's theme of the International Day of the Support to Victims of Torture was "Together, Let's Eliminate Torture."

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Nkambe, Ndu Mayors Given Votes of No Confidence

2008-07-04T03:51:41-04:00

By Wamey Panky

Nkambe and Ndu councillors recently slammed votes of no confidence on their mayors; Jones Mango Tank and David Nfor Ngarngong respectively.

The decisions came after the councillors refused to endorse the administrative accounts presented by the mayors for what they termed "several irregularities."The decisions were arrived at in a meeting of the councils supervised by the SDO for Donga-Mantung, Godlive Mboke Ntua, and the Northwest Chief of Councils, Henry Shey.

According to a memo drawn by the councillors, the decision came due to irregularities, mismanagement, fraud and retarded development in the council area due to inefficiency, laxity and extravagance on the part of the mayors.

The councillors urged the Northwest Governor, Territorial Administration and Decentralisation Ministry and the Audit Bench to carry out an in-depth audit of the mayors' mismanagement, in order to rescue the council from collapsing.

The Nkambe councillors especially, accused their mayor of colluding with council workers to use forged receipts instead of official revenue collectors' receipts to enrich themselves.
They also lamented the mayor's extravagance quoting that he spent over FCFA 12 million for fuel and lubricant when the council has only one vehicle.

SDO Nullifies No Confidence Vote

In the wake of votes of no confidence, Bui SDO, Daniel Panjounou, found himself at cross-roads with the second rejection to adopt the administrative and stores accounts of the Nkambe and Ndu Councils.

He said he had exhausted all avenues to persuade the councillors to understand and appreciate State laws on council administration.Meanwhile, the SDO said the votes of no confidence slammed on the mayors were done in a wrong session and that no place was provided for it in the agenda.

As such, he said the no confidence votes were null and void. On his part, Mangoh blamed the saga on the illiteracy of the councillors. He stated that they neither read nor understood the council laws.

He also faulted them for mixing up political party policies and ideologies with government's, which stand supreme.One of the councillors, also the Nkambe SDF District Chair, Wilfred Shey Mbeh, blamed the council's imbroglio on what he termed Mangoh's exaggerated greed.

He said the mayor has refused to cooperate with everybody save the SDO, who he described as "a friend in crime."

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Research Confirms Trawling Caused Havoc

2008-07-04T03:50:12-04:00

By Francis Tim Mbom

A team of experts from the Ministry of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, MINEPAT, have released a report confirming that twin trawling along Cameroon's coastline has caused regrettable damage to the fish population.

Fosso Kemajou (team leader) and Israel Ngalla, Monday, June 30, presented in Limbe, the results of data collected in line with government's new programme dubbed the Atlantic Community Integrated Development Programme, ACIDP.

"In fact, fishing is being done without respecting the norms. The dimensions of the nets which are being used are too small so they catch almost everything including fingerlings, which means that the base of fishing is being destroyed," Ngalla said.

He added that products prohibited for fishing such as toxic chemicals, which also kill the fishes are often used.To make matters worse, the twin trawlers rake almost everything and fishing zones are not respected. They also tamper with breeding grounds.

"It is a very serious problem which if not looked into, eventually, we will be by the sea and we won't have fish to eat," remarked Ngalla.He, however, said the above scenario does not only apply to those involved in twin trawling, but also to some local fishermen who indulge in bad fishing habits.

Besides the damage caused by twin trawling, the report also indicated that for ACIDP to work effectively, access roads must be provided to ease the evacuation of farm produce, social amenities like health centres and qualified staff must be provided in some areas.

The report also named problems encountered like heightened pollution of the coastal waters, irrational exploitation and poor management of coastal resources and management of biodiversity and, among others, poor control and distribution of human settlement and industrial establishments.

Fosso and Ngalla said their research was one of the major steps in the on-going programme, which began in April across the three coastal provinces: South, Littoral and the Southwest.
Ngalla said their report would be forwarded to the various sectors in the ministries concerned for consideration and final approval.

On her part, the Division Delegate of MINEPAT, Mrs. Martha Nkwanyuo, said if things work out well, the women would specially benefit since they make the bulk of those involved in the fish smoking business.

To her, if government could step in with revenue-generating programmes that would help boost the fishing sector, their livelihoods would certainly be made better.But the denizens expressed doubts. They sought to know if the programme had taken into consideration the dire need to guard the waters and ensure that destructive fishing habits such as twin trawling are fully checked.

"This has been taken care of," the MINEPAT Delegate reassured them.Nevertheless, the denizens were still doubtful of government's commitment in establishing and maintaining a surveillance force in the waters.

They cited the example of some surveillance boats the Southwest Development Authority, SOWEDA, provided for Limbe some years back, but fuelling them, most of the times, is always a problem.

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Combating Poverty Through Mutual Health Programme

2008-07-04T03:48:21-04:00

By Chris Mbunwe

The Ministry of Public Health has begun promoting mutual health districts in its five-year strategic plan to improve the population's access to quality health care.

In line with this programme, the Northwest Provincial Special Fund for Health with the support from the German Technical Cooperation, GTZ, is promoting Mutual Health Organisations, MHOs, in the various health districts of the province.

MHO is a community-based micro health insurance scheme owned and managed by the local people.It is based on the principle of solidarity where funds are pooled into a common basket to solve health problems of members. Accountability, efficiency, effectiveness, access to health care and safety are the focus.

During a recent meeting at the Northwest Delegation of Public Health, Dr. Gerd Eppel, GTZ Director, said the third review of Special Fund for Mutual Health Organisation promotion reveals an impressive increase from 17,853 beneficiaries to 51,000 as of April this year.

The challenge this year, Dr. Eppel said, is to strengthen the newly created MHOs to make them viable and sustainable before increasing the number.Over billing and low recovery rate were identified as some of the existing problems.

The GTZ Director said tools and procedures have been improved to bring more accountability, effectiveness, efficiency and transparency in the management of MHOs.
He said the MHOs are on the right track and are meeting the expectations of the population.

Another step forward, Dr. Eppel went on, has been taken toward poverty alleviation with the introduction of HIV care in the package of MHOs through a reinsurance fund that is managed by the Special Fund.

This fund will be reinforced by subsidies from other donor organisations to enlarge the benefit package of MHOs and may decrease the amount of contributions.Dr. Eppel pledged that the German-Cameroon health and aids programme will continue its support to MHOs at both the national and provincial levels by strengthening the special funds which would trickle down to the grassroots.

Northwest Public Health Delegate, Dr. Victor Ndiforchu, expressed gratitude to the managers of the MHOs for the achievements recorded within a few years.One of the managers of MHOs, Mrs. Mildred Njamshi, of the Northwest Special Fund for Health, said in order to benefit from health care services, one must complete an annual contribution of FCFA 3,500 for at least four members of his household who are registered members.

When sick, she said, the person would present his/her membership card to the medical staff of his area and would receive health care delivery at various levels - consultation, laboratory, drugs, hospitalisation, surgeries and deliveries.

At the end, the individual pays 25 percent of the total bill of treatment and no payment at all for HIV/AIDS patients for opportunistic infections.Njamshi said that in Bui Division, 104 MHOs members living with HIV/AIDS have received free treatment so far.

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UBA-Cameroon Announces Training For Youths

2008-07-04T03:46:52-04:00

By Jator Njechu & Victorine Biy Yongka*

The Managing Director of United Bank for Africa, UBA-Cameroon, Emeke Iweriebor, has announced that his institution would be offering training to some youths soon.

He made this declaration at a forum attended by businessmen, employers, jobseekers as well as the academic community in Yaounde recently."Government cannot employ all it trains. Employment is the responsibility of not only the government but that of the private sector, and individuals also have to provide jobs for themselves.

UBA will train youths and build them for future professions in Cameroon. We will work to ensure their integration into the different sectors of the economy," Iweriebor said.
The bank executive said UBA will provide education, empowerment, environmental programmes and special projects to communities in the country.

"We are working to ensure that what is all Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, is monitored and implemented in compliance in Cameroon. Due to the fact that public health is necessary in community growth, we will not work to improve bank accounts but help to improve on community development, train youths and build them to be future professionals," he said.

Asked if CSR is not a conspiracy for profiteering especially the case of the Niger Delta region in Nigeria, Iweriebor dismissed it as unfounded.To him, being a region with the largest number of communists/companies in the world, the Niger Delta region is particularly volatile for crude oil.

"Oil was discovered in this region in 1956 and since then there has been a lot of environmental degradation there. Both government and companies there are doing just little in CSR," he went on.

According to him, the companies should be striving to supply high level information and support to safeguard the environment given the current cry about global warming. Noteworthy that UBA has 600 million active customers in all its 700 branches in Sub-Saharan Africa. It has invested 100 million dollars in UBA equity. So far the bank has donated FCFA 360 million to Lagos State Security Fund in Nigeria as of last year.

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Etoug-Ebe Baptist Church Dedicates 9 Women

2008-07-04T03:44:27-04:00

By Victorine Biy Yongka*

Nine women of the Etoug-Ebe Baptist Church were recently dedicated during celebrations marking the 51st anniversary of Women's Founders Day.

The women, who were dressed in the green and white traditional Baptist Women's Union uniform, swore to keep their flames burning for the work of the Gospel.

According to the officiating lady, Mrs Ngalla Elizabeth, dedication of women is a mark of humility. According to her, for any woman to wear the Baptist Women's Union uniform, she must undergo the dedication ritual.

She further explained that for a woman to take the pledge, she must have been in the union for at least six months and must be of high spiritual standing. The decision, she said, was instituted by the National President of the Women's Union.

After lighting their candles, Mrs Ngalla called on them to keep their flames burning and maintain the burning desire in spreading the word of God.In line with the celebrations, Mrs Esther Anye, the nun of the day, reminded Christians of the history of Women's Founders Day and the motive of the day.

According to her, the day came into being thanks to the early missionaries who came spreading the word of God. It was then that a certain woman named Dora grouped some close to 600 women in the 1960s and ministered to them on the need to create unions to guide them.

Mrs Esther further explained that the union is to be used as a tool use to bring others to the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
(Journalism Student On Internship)

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Eight Gorilla Skulls Discovered In Batibo

2008-07-04T03:38:16-04:00

By Chris Mbunwe

A team of Environment and Rural Development Foundation, ERUDEF, conservationists recently discovered eight gorilla skulls in Batibo, Momo Division, Northwest Province.

The team, led by its President and Chief Executive, Louis Nkembi, discovered the skulls while on a gorilla education trip to the Bechati-Mone Forest Corridor in Besom village.Seven gorilla skulls were found in the home of one of the former lead hunters in the village, Simon Njeck, and another skull in the home of late one Peter Ayong, a hunter too.

Speaking to The Post, the conservationists said with the coming of the forestry and wildlife laws, gorilla hunting had since stopped.They, however, cited an isolated case reported in the neighbouring Njeneba village of Upper Banyang Subdivision, Manyu Division in 2005.

The locals argued that they kill the gorillas because (they) gorillas destroy their plantations.
According to Nkembi, with the recent evidences gathered from the field, his organisation would soon launch an intensive gorilla survey in the identified forest areas to determine the number of groups and their sizes.

Nkembi recalled that in 2004, ERUDEF discovered a new sub-population of gorillas in the Bechati-Fossimondi-Besali forest of Lebialem Division.Since then, ERUDEF has been leading the programme on the research and conservation of gorillas in Lebialem and other parts of western Cameroon.

During the international experts meeting on Cross-River gorillas held in Calabar, Nigeria in 2006, ERUDEF was mandated to conduct distribution surveys between Bechati and Mone forest corridor to locate new sub-populations of gorillas within the landscape, given that the Bechati sub-population was geographically isolated in collaboration with the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Nkembi disclosed that some 300 gorillas located between the Cameroon/Nigerian borders belong to the Cross River sub-species of the Western Lowland gorillas.

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Minister Concerned Over Delays In Construction Of Ayos-Bonis Road

2008-07-04T03:36:22-04:00

By Robert Tumasang in Bertoua

The Minister of Public Works, Bernard Messengue Avom, has expressed concern over delays recorded so far in the construction of the Ayos -Bonis highway.

Avom was speaking in Bertoua Monday, June 30, after a meeting with stakeholders in the construction of the road. "I think the project is not moving on satisfactorily. I would have loved it to move faster, but because of certain constraints, the company cannot do better," the Minister said.

The constraints, according to the Greek contractors, include difficulties in transporting material and equipment to the job site, the scarcity of cement, unfavourable swings in weather, the tardy nature of the population in liberating the roadsides, the presence of electric pools, telephone lines, water taps and graves along the road.

They said the road can only move fast if owners of all these property collaborate by destroying them.Minister Avom admitted that the original studies carried out on the road were poorly done, a situation that has led to "additional work to what was originally programmed."

"The consequence is that not only has the additional work led to additional costs, but the originally agreed deadlines can no more be met," he remarked.Phase one, for instance, that runs from Ayos to Abong-Mbang that was originally programmed for 25 months has witnessed a time frame of an additional 10.5months, and an increment of about FCFA 5 billions, thus taking the cost up from FCFA 23 billion to FCFA 28 billion.

It is, however, expected that this first phase will be completed by December 2008, given that 88 per cent of it has been executed.The second phase that runs from Abong- Mbang to Bonis, and covers 103 km, has been constructed by 28 per cent according to the authorities of the Greek company, PANTECKNIKI, that are constructing the road. They say the phase will be completed by April 2009.

The 201km Ayos-Bonis road holds the key to Cameroon's economic growth, according to the Minister of Public Works. Not only will farmers market their produce with ease, but the road will also foster sub-regional integration by linking Cameroon to neighbouring countries notably the Central African Republic and Chad.

It will also open remote East Cameroon to investors and promote tourism in a region rich in wildlife and enormous forest resources.

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Change Activists Advocate Freezing Of Biya's Swiss Account

2008-07-04T03:16:46-04:00

By Peterkins Manyong with Online Reports

A Swiss-based activist group has said it is imploring Swiss authorities to freeze President Paul Biya's account in that country and repatriate the stolen money.

The Chairman of the Cameroon Action Group for Change, CAGC, Daniel Tabeng, said they sent a memo to the President of Switzerland copying the UN.

"Investigations will take time but the result will be fruitful. 700 US million dollars stolen by late Nigerian dictator, Sani Abacha, were frozen. Mobutu's too. Sensitisation is already on. We are launching CAGC this month and installing branches in all parts of Europe. The UK branch will be launched on July 26," Tabeng told The Post online.

He noted that many Swiss NGOs that could have given the Biya regime financial aid are afraid to do so because the money would end up in Swiss banks.Promising hell for Biya, Tabeng recalled that in the memo he sent to the UN and Swiss government he also called for the release of those who were convicted for the February riots.

According to the activist, the fact that Biya's children attend school in Switzerland is another reason why any upheaval there gives the Cameroonian president nightmares.
"You know Switzerland is a very sensitive country to African leaders who have embezzled huge sums of their people's money and stashed in banks there. So, it's like when Switzerland quakes they wake because of their private interests there."

He promised to make Switzerland uncomfortable for Biya if he continues to oppress Cameroonians.Tabeng condemned the President's decision to postpone the appointment of ELECAM members, describing Biya as an even greater trickster than Robert Mugabe.
"He is jittery about anything that can loosen his stranglehold on power," he said.

He stated that CAGC's aim is to sensitise the international community on acts of human rights violations like arrests and torture of political opponents and subjugating Cameroon's Anglophones.

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Kumba Station Denizens Begin Digging Own Road

2008-07-04T03:15:23-04:00

By Olive Ejang Tebug Ngoh

Some 500 inhabitants of GBHS New Layout have begun digging a 1-km stretch of road.

Human "bulldozers" work on road after appealing for government caterpillars in vain

The people embarked on the project because, as they say, the Principal of GBHS Kumba, Charles Mukete, constructed a fence round the school blocking the road they used to use.
According to Samuel Nyambuh Neba, quarter head of the area, they started digging after several attempts to seek help from the administration failed.

Nyambuh recalled that five years ago, they dispatched a delegation to present the road problem to then Meme Senior Divisional Officer, SDO, Wilson Otto, who told them to wait a while.

The quarter head recounted that after years of receiving no response, they wrote a letter to former Government Delegate to the defunct Kumba Urban Council, Caven Nnoko Mbele, to send a caterpillar to open the road.

He said Nnoko told them to wait for a feasibility study. However, Nyambuh said after the studies, they never heard from the administration, meanwhile they continued to suffer.
Nyambuh continued that when Prince Ekale Mukete was elected mayor of Kumba I Council, each family head resident in GBHS New Layout contributed FCFA 10,000 for the project.

The money, he said, was taken to Ekale. The mayor too, only told them to wait. "Disappointed and frustrated, we decided to start the construction manually. We work for about 15 hours a week," Nyambuh said.

Describing the road project, Divine Ashu, a landlord in the area, said the road will stretch from Kumba Station, passing beside GBHS Kumba to New Layout. Ashu said they have already dug 300 meters in six weeks. He added that they hope to complete the digging after three months.

He told the press that they intend to construct four culverts across the road. One Mrs. Tabe told The Post that they suffer in the area like ancient people. She said it was pathetic that they had to dig a road with their hands whereas they pay tax like any other citizen in Cameroon.

The mother of five stated that they find it difficult to go to take their farm produce to the market.Tabe also lamented that whenever someone is very sick in the area, they have to convey them in a cart to the roadside, before transporting them to the hospital, in a taxi.

Besides lack of a road, the woman said they lack pipe-borne water and electricity which makes life difficult for them.She added her voice to plea for government support for the grading of the road which they are digging.

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Dear Mbella,

2008-07-04T03:13:10-04:00

I savoured sadistically as the pen people took Theodore to the cross and crucified him in the pages.

His attitude at the confab of the six gods of the Central Africa sub-region portrays him as a J.J.C.His arrogance, his all knowing and always right behaviour, betray him as a parvenu of the sorts among his peers.

The discovery of the most expensive liquid in that Lilliputian country has driven madness into the skulls of its people. That is why they look at strangers in the place as people who are coming to eat their food. Xenophobia agogo.

Despite the posthumous encomiums you heap on Ahidjo, each time I think about that man, I weep. I don't know why Ahidjo did not annex Santa Isabelle as one of the provinces of Rio Dos Cameroes. That would have spared us this trouble from an upstart and a political nano that is so callous about other nationals living in that small village.

Mbella, do you know that the best way to demonstrate patriotism in that country is to brutalise Cameroonians, seize their property and send them packing in shame? One Ketu there was recently decorated for snatching life off an innocent Cameroonian.

I am inspired this morning by Shakespeare, (remember our Sasse days) to quote two aphorisms. "If you live by the sword, you die by the sword; that life is like a walking shadow that disappears with the setting of the sun."

I hope this will be some food for thought to the political 'legacy hunters' as they wait for the demise of Volpone, he of our own political lexicon.Mbella, I am happy that your pen ran, rolled and laughed as you opened your artillery fire of criticisms on us. But it all amounts to playing to the gallery.

Your ideological convictions and the very diction you use to damn our efforts sound very sardonic to those you claim to serve you here old boy. Sometimes I wonder whether you really have the moral authority to gainsay any of our actions. All the representatives you sent here have joined the Essingan dinning table.

They gather around the fireside of 'gombo' chatting lousily and recklessly chewing 'soya' with no regard to table manners. They are doing 'dark eye' to the populace and quietly lining their pockets. When you hear them call it the Glass House, you will be tempted to think that is transparent.

Sorry Sir! That house is not even translucent. It is as opaque as the shady deals there. Even though I belong to C, I will speak out on anything I saw.Tell your man, the Secretary General, to stop the doing it with his colleague's better half. He has already executed the dark room agenda in his office thrice.

Why would a senior official like that down that gullible woman on the carpet of his office to suck nectar that belongs to someone else? Now gossip is making rounds all over the place that had the woman not betrayed herself with shouts of "c`est sucre, c`est bon, cherie, tu es formidable," nobody would have known about it.

Before I discovered recently that the sparrow hawk is the totem of the grand Etoudi, I did not know that it is a very powerful bird. The sparrow hawk has made things difficult even to its owner. The man would have long done the cabinet "Mbanga Mpongo" if many of those he consulted for crowning did not turn down his offer.

Cabinet posts, now they complain, are slippery and risky. They represent the surest way to Kondengui. This fear reeks of a very bad omen; that there is virtually nobody in the cabal who is willing to be sacrosanct to corruption. The whole onslaught has been an enigmatic circumlocution. The hunter now is becoming the hunted.

If you gainsay this, Mbella, then tell me why those state control iguanas are plugging their officious noses into where justice is bought and sold to the highest bidder. Mbella, I have spoken and I think the voice of reason has spoken, quote me anywhere.

Yours sincerely,Ngwa

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Snapshot:The Soft Underbelly Of The African Union

2008-07-04T03:11:18-04:00

By Sam Nuvala Fonkem

Since all lizards crawl on their stomach, it is difficult to feel which one of them has a belly-ache.

The summit conference of the African Union, which took place in Egypt early this week, did not only expose the naked underbellies of African heads of State, but equally demonstrated that they have no stomach for upholding their own laid down principles.

With the few exceptions of Botswana and Liberia, who made it clear they would no longer stomach the presence of Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe in their midst, the majority of African leaders at the summit welcomed Mr. Mugabe who arrived the summit barely a few hours after declaring himself winner of a highly controversial election he alone contested.

He even received accolades from his compeer, Omar Bongo of Gabon who described Mugabe as a hero, declaring that the man had just won the presidential election and had been sworn-in and was therefore qualified to be one of them.

The rather perfunctory manner in which African leaders regard their accession to and maintenance of power, irrespective of legality and legitimacy, without respect for fair play and consideration for the feelings of their fellow citizens and the opinion of the international community, all add up to constitute the mentality on which politics of the stomach (bellytics) in predicated.

As long as one can get himself declared the winner and is sworn-in by a handpicked acolyte; that does the trick! The sheer self-centredness of African leaders whose one and only preoccupation is to remain in power till death do us part has now become an entrenched political tradition which makes a mockery of democratic values.

Mr. Mugabe is so very conscious of this mentality that despite the overwhelming evidence that he deployed his arsenal of violence and brutality to scare all his opponents from contesting last weekend's presidential election, he felt no qualms about going to the AU summit where he was sure to be embraced by birds of the same feather.

The man arrived the Egyptian city of Sham-El-Sheikh just in time to clink champagne glasses with the likes of his host Hosni Mubarack (in power since 1981) who is reputed for keeping 15,000 political detainees in a dungeon without hope of a fair trial; Museveni of Uganda (in power for 24 years) who is bent on going in for a 4th term of office; Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea, who would be clocking 30 years in power next year; the Zenawis, Dos Santos, the Campaores as well as freshmen like Musa Yar'Adua of Nigeria who emerged last year after fraught elections.

Mugabe must have felt very much at home and certainly did not miss the company of our own right royal president Paul Biya who from all indications is bent on beating all the others at their game as he braces himself for yet another term of office in 2011 after he would have clocked 29 years on the throne with his special brand of advanced democracy.

When I occasionally catch a glimpse of Mugabe on TV, gesticulating vigorously with his fist like a student protester of the late 1960's, I wonder why someone cannot politely remind him to carry his 84 years of age with grace and dignity and leave revolutionary rhetoric where it belongs.

Those who are wont to ascribing Africa's developmental failures to Western interference take so much delight in Mugabe's rabble rousing to the extent that they fail to see where the man himself went wrong. He is very articulate when it comes to denouncing the "dictates" of Western nations, British imperialism, the "colonial stoogery" of his rival Morgan Tsvangirai, but ever since he came to power in 1980, Mr. Mugabe has been unable to conceive and implement a clear and viable programme for the appropriation and redistribution of 80 percent of Zimbabwe's arable lands that were confiscated by white settler farmers since the late 19th century.

He has vacillated between a policy of appropriation with financial compensation and outright nationalisation of white-owned commercial farms without compensation. You can't tell where the man stands, but every now and then, especially when elections are around the corner, he raises the spectre of nationalisation, authorises war veterans (ex-nationalist guerrilla fighters) to invade white-owned farms, sack the proprietors, and assume occupation without the slightest managerial know-how and no financial backing to run commercial farms.

There is no doubt that the restitution of the land was the legitimate raison d'être for the war of independence and no one can deny Zimbabweans their God-given inheritance. But then, what has Mugabe made of the land issue? He has merely used it as a subterfuge to perpetrate his grip on power regardless of the collective plight of his countrymen.

Every time the realities of Zimbabwe are discussed in the international media, it is not uncommon to hear a sycophant dismissing them as the work of western media propaganda aimed at painting Mugabe, the nationalist hero, in Satanic colours. No one is dismissing the existence of western propaganda, neither can we be blind to the massive exodus of Zimbabweans to neighbouring countries especially South Africa and the resultant spate of xenophobia that recently raised its ugly head in that former bastion of apartheid.

No one can remain indifferent to TV footages of acts of physical violence against opposition sympathisers in Zimbabwe, the 1600 percent fabulous rate of inflation; the general insecurity of life and property, the battered face of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai which was self-evident of brutalisation and the mass hunger and famine that have struck the peasantry.

By undermining and making a mockery of the democratic process, African leaders are deliberately sawing the seeds of mass rebellion in the belief that they shall be protected from its attendant hardship when it breaks out. They comfort themselves by the fact that they have the army and police at their beck and call and to hell with everyone who is envious of their divine right to reign.

Their roguish manipulation of power and their rascally abuse of the commonwealth of their nations to gratify their selfish pursuit of aggrandisement, luxury and debauchery is not enviable. It is pitiful.

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Poem:Mugabe is a tyrant

2008-07-04T03:08:50-04:00

By Mwalimu George Ngwane

He has rigged elections
And decimated his people

He has overstayed his heroic welcome
And become too senile to govern
CNN, the song is already stale

Morgan is the messiah
He is the people's saviour
And the drum major for change
He is persecuted by the regime
For being a puppet of the West
BBC, we have heard it before

Zimbabweans are dying of AIDS
The people are dying of famine
Inflation is skyrocketing every hour
The citizens are migrating in droves
Even the farms they cannot manage
Skye News, this is no more news

A government of National Unity may never unite
A society of ideological diversity may do the trick
Wherein Britain revisits the Lancaster of 1979
Wherein the "International Community" lifts the sanctions in 2009
And Mugabe bows out in 2013
This may be the new song

For it is time for a national Indaba
Time for the Fourth Chimurenga
Where the songs of uhuru
Shall strike the chords of ubuntu
Others have, Zimbabwe can
Only if we all sing the new song with a bang

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