SDF moves NEC to Buea

SDF National Chairman, Ni John Fru Ndi

For the first time in the history of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) party, the National Executive Committee of the party will be meeting in Buea, instead of their traditional Ntarinkon venue.

According to unimpeachable SDF sources friendly to The Sun, the NEC meeting will hold in Buea on March 29.

The meeting, The SUN learnt will be preceded by a Mayor’s meeting of the SDF at the Buea Mountain Hotel to be chaired by the National Chairman of the SDF, Ni John Fru Ndi.

Speaking to The Sun newspaper in a telephone conversation, the South West Regional Chairman of the SDF, George Ngeke Likiye said there was still time to prepare for the event, stating that they are yet to confirm the venue of the meeting of march 29.

We are however told that during his stay in Buea, the charismatic SDF leader will grant a press conference during which he will address burning issues concerning the party.

The strategic SDF NEC meeting will have on its agenda the reorganisation of the basic structures of the party in the Littoral Region that has come under lots of pressure, especially as there is a seeming divide in the party in the region.

Though attempts to get across to the SDF National Organising Secretary, Ferdinand Asapngu were abortive, SDF sources hold that he, together with the other SDF heavy weights will be dispatched to Littoral after the NEC meeting to set records straight.

Another very dicey issue that will for sure be discussed at the Buea SDF conclave will be the recognition of the mayors of Kumba II and Tubah councils who are under the sledgehammer of the SDF article 8(2).

The mayors were said not to have been the choice of the hierarchy of the party.

Martin Ndobegang, Mayor of Kumba II Council had told The Sun that by the time NEC meets in March, he would have resolved his problems with the party. He insisted that he was unmoved by the SDF article 8(2) that fell on him, insisting that he remains a bona fide member of the SDF party.

The holding of the NEC meeting in the South West Region comes at a time when the party in the region needs to be put on the rails, given that some District Chairmen are said to have resigned shortly after the September 30 twin elections on allegations of selling the party’s victory in their areas.

Ahead of the meeting, George Ngeke Likiye of the South West Region has dispatched confidential letters to senior party officials in the region, spelling out what the roles they are required to play to guarantee the success of the first ever NEC meeting to be held in Buea.

SOCAM Saga: Supreme Court Vindicates Ama Tutu Muna

Cameroon's Arts and Culture Minister: Ama Tutu Muna

The tussle as to who is the Board Chair of Cameroon Music Corporation SOCAM has partially been laid to rest. This is so because the lawsuit filed by ace Musician Ndedi Eyango requesting on the Supreme Court to overrule a decision by Arts and Culture Minister rejecting his election as Board Chairman of SOCAM was thrown out of court. The decision which many thought would quench the brouhaha between Arts and Culture Minister Ama Tutu Muna, and ace Cameroonian born musician Ndedi Eyango is seemingly a partial antidote to the crisis. Purportedly, Ndedi Eyango’s lawyers have vowed that they will not take the decision down low. Classified sources hinted at weekend that Ndedi Eyango has also vowed that the matter is yet from over. Allegedly Ndedi Eyango says he will seize the competent jurisdiction that has the competence to hear the matter pertaining to nationality. It should be recalled that Ndedi Eyango was voted Board chair of SOCAM in November but on December 23, 2013, Ama Muna signed a decision in which she declared Ndedi Eyango was not a Cameroonian. Yet, Ndedi Eyango hammered that Ama Tutu Muna did not have the loco standi on his nationality. Minister Ama Muna went ahead to set up a normalization Committee headed by San Fan Thomas. Since then, dark clouds have been hanging over who is the Board chair of SOCAM.

Breaking News: Malaysian Plane Crashed in the Golf of Bengal?

Could the mystery surrounding flight MH 370 of the Malaysia Airlines finally be solved? This is the question many have been asking ever since information started circulating on the net that some satellite images pinpoint an explosion on the Island of Sentinel in the Bay of Bengal.  According to the latest information, the Indian authorities have stopped research while according to satellite images; there would have been a big explosion in the Sentinel Island in the Golf of Bengal, India. Allegedly, a huge fire ensued which indicates it could have been the plane. The question is whether it was a plane crash or something else. What was it?

Sentinel Island, located in the Golf of Bengal, has everything a paradise: turquoise waters, white sandy beaches, lush vegetation ... However, this land is one of the most dangerous in the world, and anyone who has tried to set foot there almost died. For the people who live there, nothing is welcoming and will do anything to keep her unspoiled island. It is alleged those who live there are blacks who still move naked and they are not welcoming to strangers. It (the population) could have been consumed survivors as they are considered a cannibal.

The mysterious disappearance of flight MH370 Malaysia Airlines causes chronic molt. Indeed, four days after the disappearance of flight MH370 patent is approved by the Patent Office. 4 of 5 individuals of the patent holders are employees of Freescale Semiconductor in Austin, Texas. The patent has been divided into 5 parts of 20% for each holder, the broken-down is as follows:

Peidong Wang, Suzhou, China (20%)

Chen Zhijun , Suzhou , China ( 20%)

Zhihong Chen, Suzhou, China (20%)

Li Ying, Suzhou, China (20%)

Freescale Semiconductor, United States (20%)

Between the argument that the aircraft has been hijacked or taken away by a giant UFO seems not to be tenable at all. The world is now left with one option, which is the island of Sentinel. But who has the courage to go there, unless it is an army that will fight fiercely or destroy all its inhabitants, to approach the wreckage of the plane?

Mayors need to be paid - Mayor Njong Donatus

Cameroon's one-time youngest mayor, who has been mayor of the Kumbo Council for the past 18 years, has revealed to Cameroon Headlines that, it is dangerous for mayors not to receive salaries, as they can be induced to committing errors due to the huge responsibilities devolved on them. He also decried the unfair distribution of  additional taxes.

 Mayor Njong Donatus, in this very rich interview, talks on the recent seminar organized by the party to train its new mayors, says the decentralization process is slow and council additional taxes are not fairly distributed by FEICOM. He says much development has been done in Kumbo under his reign, but the community still expects more from the state. Being a resource person to new mayors, Mayor Njong says he will head the council for as long as the population wants him. He spoke to Cameroon Headlines' T.B. AZOHNWI.

Mayor Njong Donatus, you have been one of the resource persons during this two-day seminar on the theme participatory development and good governance in local government. What do you make of it?

Yes. The party decided to train the mayors on participatory management of the council since we are just starting a mandate and many of the mayors and their deputies are not aware of their duties and responsibilities. So the party assembled all its mayors and got some experts to empower them on their roles and responsibilities. We looked into the issue of the economic manifesto of the party because this is important for the municipal administrators to make sure that their application of the laws should take cognizance of the socialist dimension, NESPROG, the concept of decentralization, the mission of the council, the duties of the various organs, the budget, communication etc. It was important for the mayors to be briefed on all these at the beginning of their mandate.

NJONG DONATUS, MAYOR OF KUMBO COUNCIL

Can you talk a little more on the issue of decentralization, is it being well applied?

Decentralization is ongoing in Cameroon. It is a process which we can say that the profound stage took place in 2010 when the ministries started giving certain responsibilities to the councils. I want to say that the process is very slow, because we expect to have the state budget devolving a percentage to the councils so that the population can be able to conceive, design their projects and implement them. But the issue of deciding at the central level what projects have to be carried out the local level is not the best. I want to think that this slow rate of the process is because a lot of responsibilities have been given to the councils with very little means, both human and financial. Also, by law, the mayors are contracting authorities, yet the Minister of Public Contracts has to identify some councils and create tender boards and appoint members to run the board, so what happens to those areas without tender boards? The only reason they give is that those councils don’t have the means to take care of the tender board, but we know that the state tender boards that sit are paid with state resources, why can those resources not be transferred to the councils to pay their own tender boards? I think decentralization is slow because some of our officials do not want to see the country decentralized.

You are Mayor of the Kumbo council which is being run by the SDF for many years now, what are some of the changes the party has brought to the municipality?

Come to Kumbo and see, talk to the people and they will tell you. I have been mayor of Kumbo for 18years and if I start to number the changes that have taken place in Kumbo, I fear that I may not be able to name a tenth of them. I published a journal last year on the activities of the past five years, I invite you to come and see for yourself.

Even with so many changes, I believe there are some challenges still being faced, what are some of them?

The major challenge is having those projects which are not solely the responsibilities of the councils, take-off. For instance, one can only lobby or put pressure on the state to tar a KM of road, as it is an activity to be carried out by Central Government and not the council. As at now, the SATOM Company has been stationed in Kumbo and we think that the government should take this advantage and get the roads tarred. Another challenge is mentality change, to make the people more proactive. The community is made up of all of us and mentality change is very important for the progress of every people. My people’s mentality right now is proactive but I think that we have to continue to ensure that people are able to accept what is good.

How do you describe your relationship with the Supervisory Authority, we know sometimes they interfere a lot especially when it comes to finance, what is the situation in Kumbo?

I don’t have a problem with the Supervisory Authority, I know many mayors do and the simple reason is because maybe they don’t know their responsibilities. Once you know your responsibilities, you will have no problem with the Supervisory Authority. Mayors should understand that there are certain activities they cannot do without the prior authorization of the Supervisory Authority. Also, he has the prerogative to advice, and an advice can be taken or rejected.

On the issue of Council Additional Taxes, in your opinion, is it being fairly distributed?

It is not fairly distributed. I take the case of Kumbo, four years ago, I use to have in a year about 200M and above, and at that time FEICOM was repartitioning about 4Billions to councils. When the new figures of the population census started being applied by FEICOM, the council is earning less; meanwhile FEICOM is repartitioning to councils three times what they used to and now Kumbo council has 100Million in a month. When they were repartitioning 4Billion, Kumbo used to have above 200Million, now they are repartitioning 12 Billion which means that we are suppose to be having above 600 Million, but it is not the case. I don’t understand the gymnastics being used in the distribution, and I think the population census was tailored to favour some councils. Six years ago the Kumbo council received more than Buea council, of course, the population of Kumbo is more than that of Buea. However presently, if the Kumbo council is having 40M, Buea is having about ninety something. As a matter of fact, Kumbo council receives less than Oku council!  Which means that in the Northwest region, after Bamenda council is Oku council and when Oku is not up to a major quarter in Kumbo?  There is no equity and justice in the distribution of Council Additional Taxes. I think that it is high time a new population census is conducted.

What about mayors’ salaries, are you already receiving it?

The law says that we are supposed to be paid a salary, but since 2004 when that law was promulgated, that article has not been implemented, because there is supposed to be a text of application signed by the Head of State. Till date, mayors don’t have a salary, and they are being given state responsibilities. I honestly cannot understand because the state budget has been budgeting FCFA 4 billion for that yearly but the decree has not been signed and I don’t understand why. This is very dangerous because it means inducing the mayors to commit errors because with the heavy responsibility and absence of a salary, how do they function? Everybody in the municipality looks up to the mayor even for a tablet of soap, school fees etc!

Mayor Njong Donatus has been mayor of Kumbo for 18 years, how long does he hope to remain at the helm of the council?

For as long as the people want me to be there. I am a servant of the people and I have accepted to take this responsibility as a vocation to work for people. The moment the people don’t want me to be there, I will leave, but I am not tired. I started this in 1996; I was the youngest mayor in this country, now I am a resource person, I have gathered so much experience that I don’t want to take away if I still have the opportunity to give it to my people.

Which way forward for the SDF in 2014?

I think that the SDF is moving on the right path. We don’t yet have a good electoral system in this country. Even with the biometrics, it is not being well handled by ELECAM. We are improving the electoral system, but we have not yet reached the transparent level, where if you win you win or vice versa. We need a single ballot paper to put an end to all forms of fraud and it will be another way forward for our democracy.  The SDF will continue to push for the country to have a credible electoral system.

''UNIVERSITY'' OF KUMBA: Who takes credit for its creation?

Following the Presidential decree No 2014/090 of 7th March, 2014, creating the Higher Technical Teachers Training College ENSET, in Kumba attached to the University of Buea, barely two weeks after the celebration of the golden jubilee of the reunification of Cameroon in Buea, a new phenomenon have sprang up in Kumba as to who takes credit for the creation of the Institution. While the Secretary General of the South West Elite Association, SWELA, Epie Ekale is hitting his chest that its thanks to his efforts, the 1st Vice National President of the National Alliance For Democracy and Progress,ANDP, Elius Agbor puts forward strong argument that its his party through his connections at the presidency ,the Meme Chiefs Conference, are claiming same including the Kumba III Electoral District Chairman of the Social Democratic Front cum Mayor of Kumba III, John Kona Makia and above all the some quarters are giving the glory to the paramount Ruler of the Bafaws and  Kumba Senator Nfon V.E Mukete as the brain behind the achievement.

SWELA's Scribe

''I 've received several congratulatory messages from top government functionaries in Yaounde ,from South West Extraction Senators and Parliamentarians , for a job well done immediately news about the creation of the college was made public'' Epie Ekalle, SWELA's scribe told THE SUN. He narrated that the creation of the College is his handiwork and is surprise that some group of persons are arrogating themselves to have cause the creation.

According to him, in his memo addressed to the Head of State as he came calling in Buea for the celebration of the golden jubilee of the reunification of Cameroon which he described as a master piece, it carried the need for the creation of a Higher Technical Teachers Training College and  a Higher Teachers Training College, ENS, to be attached to the university of Buea with campuses both in Kumba and Buea. Epie Ekale observed that, even before the coming of the Head of State, he had led a delegation to the Presidency carrying with him a catalogue of worries and demands of the South West People in which was included the creation of an ENSET. He opined that its purely intellectual dishonesty for some quarters to boost that they worked hard for the creation of the College.

Enter ANDP vice National Chair

The 1st Vice National President of the ANDP, Agbor Elisus on his part is arguing that he played a frontline role for the college to be created. According to him he carried a memorandum as far back as in December 2013 to the National President of the party Amadou Mustapha, who doubles as Minister of Special Duties at the Presidency urging him to plead to the Head of State to create a Higher Technical Teachers Training College in the South West with Kumba to be a favorable hosting town. Agbor Elisus upholds that, when the Memo was transmitted to the Head of State, the National Chairman of the ANDP, reminded him to be rest assured about the creation of the college.

Though the creation has come late, he hinted that it’s better late than never.

 However commentators in Kumba are of the opinion that such a good thing could only have happen if the hands Senator Nfon V.E Mukete were not they.

According to them he remains one of the the Head of State close friends and has contributed a lot to the development of Kumba and Meme as a whole.

This college comes as compensation to the people of Kumba due to the major role their paramount ruler is playing at the Upper House of Parliament as the most senior Senator, a Meme political elite observed.

At a meeting held at the Kumba City Council chambers Monday 10, March 2014, by Meme elite to send a motion of thanks and support to the Head of State for the creation of the college, it filtered that Senator Nfon V.E Mukete played a fundamental role in the creation of the college by the Head of State. The Kumba III SDF District chairman, cum Mayor of Kumba III, John Kona Makia on his part hinted that during the ordinary council session he made mention in his speech reminded the SDO, that there was a need for some faculties and higher institutions attached to the university of Buea to be operational in Kumba more especially in Kumba III, Mambanda since the area has abundant land with a conducive climate suitable for education.

200 hectres of land to host campus

While the Kumba Higher Technical Teachers Training College, will open it doors this 2014/2015 school year at the temporal campuses of the Kumba Community Development Specialisation Training School and Government Technical High School Kumba aka SOFATI, THE SUN gathered the college will be constructed on 200 hectares of land in Kumba. According to the SWELA's scribe, the college is made up of 14 departments and all the department will have good and sophisticated workshops thus the need for land estimated at about 200 hectares. Though its not yet known where the school will be located in Kumba its rumoured that it might be constructed in Kumba III since at has land and moreover that the CDC, will be able to provide land in that area, in addition to the fact that the newly created Government Technical Teachers Training College ENGNET, will be constructed in Mambanda KUMBA III.