Cameroon:CEFAM Purchase of 4 Computers for 25 million Fcfa Forces Public Investment Follow-up Committee to Open Probe

By Christopher Ambe Shu

The Regional Follow-up Committee on the execution of Public Investment Budget for the Southwest, which held its fourth quarter meeting for 2011 on January 18, was thrown into confusion when it emerged that four computers were bought for 25 million Fcfa by CEFAM Buea.

Suspicious of the cost of the 4 computers, which many thought was grossly exaggerated, the meeting chaired by Mrs. Magdalene Agbor of the civil society, immediately set a five-person commission to investigate the contract execution and evaluate how sophisticated the computers were that they swallowed such huge sums that could have been used to buy several more durable of equipment.

Presenting the level of execution of public investment projects in the Southwest Region, Eseke Ivo Bende, Southwest Regional Delegate for Economy, Planning and Regional Development (MINEPAT) and Secretary of the Follow-up Committee, said in 2011 the Region had some 457 projects spread across the six divisions. He said the 457 projects were estimated to cost about six billion francs.

Eseke disclosed that by the end of 2011 the physical execution of the projects stood at 89.51% while financial execution stood at 82.14%

He attributed failure to attain 100% execution to the in accessibility of some roads during the rainy season and the late arrival of some credits.

But the MINEPAT Regional Boss was confident that by the end of this January, the percentage of execution would significantly increase.

Before the regional follow-up committee meeting rose, it recommended that technicians who go to the field to control the execution of contracts should be more committed; that these technicians be provided with the means to ease their movement to the various project sites. The setting up of a five-person commission to investigate how four computers supplied to CEFAM could have cost up to 25 million francs was also one of the recommendations.

Mrs.Magdalene Agbor, Vice-President of the Follow-up Committee, who chaired the meeting in the absence of its president Hon. Adolf Ngale, told reporters that, it was also observed that some contracts in the Region were poorly executed. She cited the construction of the Ekondo Titi Sport Complex and the Gendarmerie celibetarium as examples of the poorly done projects.

The Follow-up Committee members were later on same day trained at one capacity-building seminar.

According to Eseke Ivo Bende, earlier mentioned, the seminar was organized by MINEPAT to empower actors involved in the execution of the 2012 public investment budget.

(First Published in The RECORDER Newspaper,Cameroon)

Buea Mayor:"We’ve have placed Buea Council at a Level Admired by Cameroon Government”

 Cameroon will celebrate its Reunification Golden Jubilee this year in Buea.Ahead of that celebration, The Recorder Editor Christopher Ambe caught up with the Mayor of Buea for an exclusive interview.

Excerpts below:

Mr. Lord Mayor, Buea has been pronounced as the host of Cameroon’s reunification golden jubilee, what challenges are you faced with now?

Mayor Charles Mbella Moki

The up-keep of our municipality and the preparation of our population towards hosting an event of this magnitude is a great challenge. That would entail enhancing the infrastructure of this town.

Of course, creating enabling environment that will provide the conducive atmosphere for every activity to take place within the context of the Buea spirit-that of Legendary Hospitality.

I must  say that it will require a lot of resources-which resources are not available at our level; So  we look up to the Central government, the Central Organizing Committee of the jubilee and well-wishers -who are going to make contributions to ensure that we live up to expectations.

We have another aspect which has to do with the putting in place of all of what is the entire story of reunification. We intend to harness all the available resource and avenues that are connected to our reunification in one way or the other, so that the out come of the event should reflect the true story of reunification. That way it will warrant the authorities that be to a make a comparison of what had existed before as a government  here and what was  over the Mungo as a government and then see how to merge what is good  from  both entities so as to come out with a good Cameroonian example.

It is about one month since the Head o State announced Buea as venue of the golden Jubilee. So far, what have you done?

A lot is being done. We have held several meetings with the departments of Government especially those concerned with the development of the road infrastructure, electricity and water supply infrastructure of the town. We have indentified a number of projects that are necessary for the success of this event; we have documented all the items and addressed to the appropriate quarters. We pray and hope that, there will be a quick and positive response to our requests. Also, we have been sensitizing our population through interviews; statements are made and meetings held almost in the entire region including some interactions we had in Bamenda two weeks ago. We think that information is spreading and the explanations are well-received by the population concerned.

We want to use this opportunity to thank the press-public and private, print and audio-visual for their journalistic contributions to this event. I should add that their contributions will not go unrewarded. We remain grateful to them.

It is understood that this golden jubilee will enhance the infrastructural development of Buea. Can you consider this event to be hosted by Buea as one of your successes as two-term mayor?

Well, I wouldn’t say that. I leave that with the population to judge. All I know is that, I did my work. I became the spokesman of the people who elected me. I merely assumed my responsibility and we were able to work together in a very coordinated manner to register our requests at the appropriate time and at the right quarters. By the Grace of God the response came in an appropriate manner and at an appointed time. We have expressed our gratitude to the Head of State who in his magnanimity decided to extend this opportunity to Buea to host the nation and friend s of Cameroon

If as a consequence of all what we said and did the event has come, then I want to give the credit to the people of Buea in particular and Cameroonians of good faith in general.

Recently you announced your plan to stand reelection as Mayor of Buea. What pushed you to announce your ambition to seek another mandate so earlier- even before the reorganization of your party (CPDM) organs?

Let me correct you to say that, I said I was not yet ready to quit as mayor of Buea.I have not yet clearly pronounced my ambition for the office of Mayor of Buea.There is still much time by my reckoning; which time requires that I complete my mandate and conduct an evaluation of my performance. However, I am quite optimistic and confident that we have done a good job-judging from the responses registered from various quarters.

We are very satisfied with the collaboration of our population and dedication of our councilors; we have and will continue to be graceful to God that at an appointed time we were able to work in a certain community in a manner that brought happiness and satisfaction to the population.

Let me put ask the question  this way: You are said to be Man of the People, now if the people say, “Mr .Mbella Moki stand for reelection (again) this year as Mayor of Buea”, would you accept to?

Until they make that call. That should be the people’s call. If it comes -and as some one who shares the concerns of my population ,and as someone who has had the mastery of the leadership of this conscious community  I will think over it, consult with my informed advisers and seek the approval of God,sothat it should be a holistic response to the desires of my people.

Don’t you think you have done your best during these two terms to give way to other hopefuls?

Let them come up!! The contest is open to everybody. And I would be very happy to hand over to someone Buea people trust. That should be someone who can continue with people-oriented development projects, continuing from where we ended.

Mind you, I have had a few signals from certain individuals who are inordinately ambitious in becoming the Mayor of Buea or taking over the party leadership from me here in Buea.Up to now that I am talking to you, I don’t think they possess what it takes to lead the CPDM in Fako 3 or manage the Buea Council.

The management of the party or the council is not just for people who think that because Mbella Moki is there, they too can be there. Leadership requires a lot of qualities such as humility, foresight, competence and selflessness. It requires level-headedness, maturity and the fear of the Lord; it requires vigor; of course, the job is not that of retired people; it is NOT a job done through insults and in off-licenses; it is NOT the job done from back-stabbing, character assassination and witch-hunting.

Leadership is a job for refined minds and those who have people at heart. It is not for greedy people.

I think that we have taken the council to heights that have to be maintained or improved upon. We are conscious of the fact that as our goals and vision are enlarged so it is that the concerns of those who love Buea continue to be registered, warranting anybody in leadership in Buea to be level-headed, to be conscious of community needs and lead from the heart, with a human touch. That is what Buea needs.

Which are some of your achievements you consider so striking?

First of all, you know that we have strategically managed the council in Buea for almost ten years here, bringing in stakeholders in Buea to participate in the development of our local communities. We are happy that never before has it been registered either in the Council or the party that we -as a community- attained the level of consciousness, involvement, development and participation that we are witnessing in Buea today. Therefore, if I want to look back I will first of all underscore the extent to which we managed to bring everybody on board-first in approach to management. We did ordinary things in an extra-ordinary manner; we invested in human capital development of our population by investing in the education of out youth and the training of our population through seminars and workshops. We created an enabling environment for all in the municipality to be part of the council institution. We have engaged in the economic empowerment of our populations and conducted a vigorous fight against poverty and unemployment. The labor force of the council has tremendously increased and we have provided support to students, widows and the underprivileged. We are comforted that we brought satisfaction to these segments of the community. We inherited a council that had a history of debts; we reduced the debt burden and cleared all salary arrears of the workers. And as I speak to you now the council doesn’t owe any worker. We have computerized and modernized the council management, hooked it up to the internet-socially networking with institutions world-wide.

We are erecting a new and befitting council office building and other economic structures such as markets. We have greatly improved on the hygienic conditions of the municipality by waging a war against environmental degradation .We have brought for the first time a noted garbage collection, management and disposal company, HYSACAM ,to Buea, which has created employment for over 100 Cameroonians.

These are just some of the things we have done for our community and popularized our council in several domains, winning respect from Government, and partners nationally and internationally.

I can’t present all we have done in an interview like this.But if we want to conduct an assessment on our performance indicators we will certainly have pass marks.

You fought hard for Buea to host the Reunification Golden Jubilee, and Buea has been chosen. But some people think that you may not be lucky to witness the celebration of this big event in your capacity as mayor; that you may be voted out of office if municipal elections come before the Jubilee celebration. How will you feel if this comes true?

Before I get to that, let me say that we have placed the Buea Council at a level where the council is admired by the Government and leadership of this country. And, of course, the international community. That is why we sit on the board meetings of distinguished state corporations and associated to high-profile committees that are regulatory and executive agencies of Government. We enjoy a privileged position in the gathering of mayors, and out of the country in the world conference of Mayors and Association of African Municipalities and Councils, and the Commonwealth Local government Councils. We enjoy a place for Chinese Association for Friendship with Local Governments.

Having said that, we want to imagine that we have a balance sheet which the people of Buea can be Proud of; not me Mbella Moki.But you know when you attain a level like this, many become jealous of it and develop interest for it. That is why Chinua Achebe said “when the sun is shining even the lame would want to walk”

Coming back to your question, it is true that some detractors have taken delight saying nasty things or writing falsehood about the Mayor of Buea.  But one proponent of good and objective journalism said “Let truth and falsehood meet in the market place of ideas”. I am comforted by that statement.

As Mayor of Buea what is your position about what has become the Muea market imbroglio? I mean the controversy about rescheduling the Muea Market

Permit me to use this opportunity to clarify mathers. I am an elected, not appointed mayor. I am responsible to council in session. I have to render an account to that session anytime. Councils in session had resolved that an ad hoc committee study the matter. That committee has not even been formed; here comes the saga of the Muea Imbroglio.

It would not be correct and as a matter of principle and in keeping with Anglo-Saxon tradition for me to make a statement now; I am not expect to make a statement on the matter until I receive the findings the ad hoc committee. So nobody except my supervisory authority-the SDO for Fako,is competent to talk about the matter. And so far as the law is concerned, the SDO can only talk after consulting us to know the reality on the ground; which reality was expressed through a council deliberation to be transmitted to him. It is just a matter of time and the council’s findings and the outcome of the ad hoc committee will present to the public what is relevant for the economic development of our community and the provision of services that the market has and those who depend on it.

Do you foresee the CPDM again winning the Buea Council this year with or without you at the fore front?

Well, the CPDM can always remain as a leading party in Buea because the people agree with the party in various dimensions. It is a party that is respected and has brought a lot of good to this community.

I think it still well-placed to win in coming political consultations. That does not mean that its leadership here is eternal. It has to be sustainable in the management of its activities and having the right people at the decision-making of its activities.

But when the party is allowed to be infiltrated by people who have nothing to show or who are short of productive ideas, people who are afraid of their own shadows, people who don’t possess the elements of trust, and people who are committed only to self-enrichment, people who delight in dividing what has been put together in this party as a jurisdiction, then that will spell the doom of the party.

But as I earlier said, we are in a position to direct the party to victory for a long time. The party has so much to rely on –lots of talents. It is a mass party. We will make sure that the leadership of the party here are serious people; people who can deliver and ensure that the party maintains its leadership position; people who must be able to light candles where and when  there is darkness -and not those who blame darkness.

Almost ten years in office as mayor. How has it been?

It has been a vey challenging period for me; very exciting and enriching as well. I am thankful to God that through His Grace and Guidance I have been able to manage and direct the affairs of this council alongside people of goodwill, the people of Buea, the elected councilors and the collaborators of the council in the Council administration.

That we can find many people who testify that we touched their lives positively in one way or the other, I am happy. That within this period under review, Buea has witnessed tremendous growth and there is an atmosphere that makes for the expansion and evolution of our city, we should all be proud.

(First Published in The RECORDER newspaper, Cameroon.)

Cameroon:Anglophones Feel Like a Subjugated People

The reunification monument in Yaounde. Anglophone Cameroonians say they do not feel like equal partners with their Francophone counterparts. PHOTO | NGALA KILLIAN | IPS | 

By Ngala Killian Chimtom
YAOUNDE  (IPS) - When Cameroon’s President Paul Biya announced that the 50th anniversary of the reunification of French and British Cameroon will take place later this year, it resurrected bitter feelings among Anglophone Cameroonians who say they do not feel like equal partners with their Francophone counterparts.

Jannette Ngum, a primary school teacher from the English-speaking Northwest Province, said she would love to never have anything more to do with Francophones in Cameroon. In this West African nation, Anglophones make up a minority, about 20 percent of the country’s 20 million people, and most live in the country’s two English-speaking regions, Southwest and Northwest Provinces.

Ngum’s frustration comes after the shabby treatment she received at the Ministry of Public Service and Administrative Reform when she went to Yaoundé to follow up on her job application to the public service.

"When I spoke in English the lady frowned and said ‘Je ne connais pas votre patois –la’, which literary translates into ‘I don’t understand that dialect of yours.’’’

"Instead of serving me, she continued playing cards on her computer. But when a colleague of mine came in and spoke in French, he got what he wanted in seconds. Yet the constitution clearly states that English and French are the official languages in Cameroon, and therefore equal in status," she told IPS.

But Ngum’s experience is a common one among Anglophone Cameroonians. Michael Ndobegang, a history lecturer in the University of Yaoundé, said that Anglophones in Cameroon feel "reduced from partners of equal status to a subjugated people."

According to Ndobegang, Anglophones have been systematically removed from the centres of power, with unwritten laws making it impossible for them to hold certain key government positions. Since independence, no Anglophone has ever been a Minister of Defense, Finance, Education or even Foreign Affairs.

"Anglophones have been appointed mainly into subordinate positions to assist Francophones, even where the latter have been less qualified or incompetent. This is the dilemma of the Anglophone in Cameroon", Ndobegang told IPS.

In June 1990, J.N.Foncha, the main architect of the federal state, resigned from government saying that "the constitutional provisions which protected the Anglophone minority have been suppressed, their voice drowned..."

Economically, Anglophones also feel exploited. "Cameroon’s oil comes from the Southwest Provincce. How come the road network in the region has been abandoned?" Fru Ndi, the Anglophone opposition leader of the Social Democratic Front (SDF), asked during a rally in Buea, in the run-up to the October 2011 presidential election in Cameroon.

He also blasted successive Francophone administrations for killing the vibrant economy of the British Cameroons. "Small- and medium-sized enterprises in the region, such as the West Cameroon Development Agency, Power CAM, and the West Cameroon Marketing Board have been destroyed," he told his supporters during the rally.

Ndi, initially opposed to the idea of secession from Francophone Cameroon, seems to have changed his mind. "If the SDF is again denied victory during this year’s parliamentary elections, then I will be left with no other option than to join the SCNC," Ndi told members of the SDF’s National Executive Committee on Jan. 19. The SCNC or Southern Cameroons National Council is a secessionist movement.

Anglophones are also at odds with what they perceive as discriminatory practices when it comes to recruitment into the civil service.

The historians, Nantang Jua and Piet Konnings, said that in "February 2003, it was announced that there were only 57 Anglophone youths among the more than 5,000 new recruits into police academies. The next month, records show that there were only 12 Anglophones among the 172 recruits into the customs department."

Years later, not much has changed. Statistics from the Ministry of Public Service and Administration Reform indicate that of the 25,000 young certificate holders recruited into the public service last year, less than 2,000 were Anglophones.

This, the authors say, has created an Anglophone consciousness of "the feeling of being re-colonised and marginalised in all spheres of public life and thus being second-class citizens in their own country." Government though denies the fact that there is an Anglophone problem in Cameroon. Instead, its strategy has been to use state violence against secessionist groups. And some of the Anglophone elite have been co-opted into government to down play the existence of a problem.

But Cameroon’s scholar and political scientist, Emmanuel Tatah Mentan, has described such elite as "impostors, unrecognised leaders and emissaries of "La Republique du Cameroun."

Meanwhile, the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Cameroon’s reunification will take place in Buea, the capital of the southwest region.

"It is just natural; it is true to the history of this country," says Mbella Moki Charles, the Mayor of Buea, of the celebration that will be hosted by his town. But the national communication secretary for the SCNC has said that Biya will be attending the celebrations in Buea as a foreign head of state. "We have been inviting other heads of state and Biya, the president of La Republique du Cameroun, is also invited," he told IPS.

Political Punch, a regional newsletter with SCNC sympathies, has called for the president to apologise to Southern Cameroonians before going to Buea.

"For the past 20 years, over 700 Southern Cameroonians have been arrested, dragged to court and charged for secession for simply honoring the date of Oct. 1 as a historic and most important date in this country," the publication said, revealing that over 100 lives have been lost in the process.
-Source:ipsnews

Cameroon says to issue 20 bln CFA in bonds in Feb

YAOUNDE Jan 19 (Reuters) - Cameroon will issue 20 billion CFA francs ($39 million) worth of treasury bonds in three installments in February, the Finance Ministry said in a press release on Thursday.

The first 10 billion CFA will be issued on Feb. 9, while the remaining 10 billion CFA will be split evenly between sales scheduled for Feb. 16 and Feb. 23, according to the release which gave no further details.

Cameroon issued hundreds of billions of CFA worth of bonds in 2011 aimed at funding a slew of infrastructure projects, including a deep-sea port, hydroelectric dams, water distribution pipelines and road improvements. ($1 = 511.8070 CFA francs) (Reporting by Tansa Musa; Writing by Richard Valdmanis)

Authors and activists condemn decision to deport Cameroonian playwright

Home secretary urged not to deport Lydia Besong and her husband, who fear they will be persecuted in Cameroon

By Alexandra Topping

Bestselling authors and leading human rights figures have joined forces to condemn the UK Border Agency's decision to deport a Cameroonian playwright and her husband.

Playwright Lydia Besong, who is threatened with deportation. Photograph: Guardian/Christopher Thomond

A coalition of writers, including the former children's laureate Michael Morpurgo, Helena Kennedy, Monica Ali, Hanif Kureishi, Nick Hornby and Alan Ayckbourn, have written to the home secretary, Theresa May, to urge her not to deport Lydia Besong and her husband, Bernard Batey.

Kennedy, a leading QC, described the agency's decision to deport the couple as "hideous" and "insensitive", and called for an overhaul of the way women are treated in the asylum system.

Besong is due to be deported back to Cameroon, where, she says, she was raped and would be persecuted for speaking out against the government. She is expected to leave on Saturday, barring successful last-minute efforts attempts to stop her removal.

Supporters say Besong was not informed that her husband's latest appeal against deportation had failed on 23 December. Instead the pair were taken into detention when they registered normally with immigration services on 10 January.

Since arriving in the UK in 2006 Besong has written three plays about her life as an asylum seeker and criticised the political situation in her home country.

Besong's play How I Became an Asylum Seeker – produced by Women for Refugee Women, who continue to support her – has been performed in Manchester, Salford, Liverpool and London. She believes that a return to Cameroon would bring danger to her and her husband, after her work garnered negative media coverage there.

Rehearsals for a new play were due to begin in Manchester the week Besong was detained at Yarl's Wood removal centre, with a performance scheduled at an international theatre festival in Bristol at the end of March. Her husband is being detained separately.

Morpurgo said he was begging the home secretary not to remove a "remarkable woman". He said: "How this country treats asylum seekers is the measure of what kind of a people we are. Lydia was oppressed in Cameroon. That there is risk she will be imprisoned and abused again seems undeniable. That she is extraordinarily brave in her stand against oppression is clear. And that her talents would be of great value to us as a citizen in our society would seem to be obvious."

Kennedy said the manner in which Besong and Batey had been detained was unfair. "The way in which this was done was hideous, with the couple not informed they were going to be removed. The whole way it was carried out was insensitive and terrible."

She added that the Home Office and the UKBA was failing women. "There are serious concerns about the culture of disbelief in the immigration system," she said, adding that a lack of training and willingness to listen meant women who had been raped were not able to tell their stories. "There is an ongoing lack of understanding of the issues and how they affect women, because they do affect women differently."

Lawyers for the couple are now seeking an emergency judicial review to stop the deportation. Supporters argue that cuts to legal aid have left Besong more exposed, and reliant on fundraising to pay for legal representation. "It is so hard to get good legal advice in these cases and cuts to legal aid mean the only way of getting advice is to rely on others to pay. It is just hellish," said Kennedy.

Speaking from Yarl's Wood, Besong said: "Of course it would put me in danger if I was returned to Cameroon. There is no hiding that my work is critical of the current government. I would be detained indefinitely. There is no freedom of expression in Cameroon, this is happening every day."

But she would not stop writing, she added. "I wanted to highlight what was happening at home," she said. "If it couldn't be beneficial to me maybe it could be beneficial to others. I didn't know I would find myself in this situation. I am very, very, scared."

The couple say they were jailed and tortured in Cameroon as punishment for involvement with the SCNC pressure group, which campaigns for southern Cameroon's independence. Besong said that while in jail, she was raped by a guard.

Previously, Juliet Stevenson, Joan Bakewell, Andrea Levy, Ali Smith, Sarah Waters, Lisa Appignanesi, Linda Grant and the writers' group English Pen, have all expressed support for Besong

 Source:The Guardian

Cameroon: 85 year- old Njoh Litumbe Replies Biya’s sms

But Insists Only Dialogue with Southern Cameroons Can Bring Biya Happiness
 

By Christopher Ambe shu

Mola Njoh Litumbe:Greets Biya but wants Dialogue

President Paul Biya of Cameroon and wife Chantal recently sent SMS via MTN and Orange mobile phone companies to millions of Cameroonians, wishing them a happy new year 2012. 

Many people received the SMS with mixed feelings, especially as the president couple’s mobile phone numbers were not made available for feedback. 

Mola Njoh Litumbe, Chairman of Liberal Democratic Alliance (LDA) was one of the several millions who received the presidential couple’s SMS. 

Unable to text back the president, Mola Njoh Liumbe has issued a release as his reply to the Presidential text message in which he calls on Biya to dialogue with Southern Cameroons, if he (Biya) must have happiness this year.  

Following is  Mola Njoh’s  release added Janaury 12,2012:

“The Chairman of the Liberal Democratic Alliance, Mola Njoh Litumbe, has received, with grateful thanks, a text message from His Excellency President Paul Biya and his gracious spouse, conveying their best wishes to him for a happy and prosperous 2012.

In appreciating the kind thought which prompted this goodwill message, Mola Njoh  would like to respectfully inform His Excellency that what would bring him joy and happiness in 2012 would be if His Excellency  takes the bold and wise step to dialogue with Southern Cameroonians, as recommended by the African Commission, in peacefully resolving the constitutional  differences  regarding the terms of association between La Republique du Cameroun  with the former UN trust territory of Southern Cameroons.                   

                                                                                         Mola  Njoh Litumbe

                                                                                              Chairman, LDA

______________________________________________________________________________

Tel/Fax:  3332 2202;  Cellular:  7982 0473;  email:  njohlitumbe@ymail.com

Cameroon's Kribi plant set to start from Q1 2013

YAOUNDE (Reuters) - Construction of Cameroon's 216 MW Kribi gas-fired power plant should go operational in the first quarter of 2013, the general manager of the country's lone public power supply company AES-Sonel said on Wednesday.


"I am pleased to inform you that we've acquired all the funds needed for the construction of the project, whose total cost stands at 173.2 billion CFA francs," AES-Sonel's Jean David Bile told a news conference.

"We reached agreement with all the lending partners in Paris last month. International funding partners will provide 75 percent - that is about 130 billlion CFA francs, while the remainder will come from local lenders."
He thanked the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Standard Chartered Bank Cameroon for not only providing some of the funds but for also coordinating the syndicated and parallel loans of international and local lenders.
Bile said construction of the project was fully under way and expected to be completed by December this year.
He said Kribi would boost the country's electricity supply to 1,238 MW up from the present 1,037 MW and help meet the rise in domestic demand estimated at about eight percent every year.

The World Bank estimates power shortages currently cost the Cameroonian economy two percentage points of GDP growth a year.

Increasing power generation capacity and efficiency is at the core of the government's "Vision 2035" plan to turn the oil-producing country into an emerging economy.

Cameroon population must grow quickly (Part 4)

                                                  By Chief A.S. Ngwana*

Population Controllers please note! God did not ask any of us whether he or she wanted to be born as a man or woman. God decided to create you as a man or as a woman according to what He wanted you to achieve as a Human Being, for His honor and glory. He created you so that you can perform the specific duties of your state. He instilled different organs in a man and a woman. He specifically created the reproductive organs of a man different from those of a woman. God blessed the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, saying to them, “Be fruit, multiply, fill the earth and conquer it” God gave Adam and Eve a free will and reasoning faculties, guided by a (well formed or badly formed) conscience to know what is good or bad. Individuals must decide by themselves according to their individual circumstances when and how to fulfill God’s commandment “to multiply, fill the earth, and conquer it”

Jesus Christ was born about 2011 years ago in a remote village called Bethlehem, a town in Judaea, in Palestine a Roman colony, when Quirinius was governor of Syria in the reign of Emperor Caesar Augustus. The Jews were the only people in the whole world who believed in one God while others worshiped many Gods. Jesus Christ tried to correct their errors in the Mosaic Law but they refused. In His famous “Sermon on the Mount”(Mt 5-6), Jesus Christ taught mankind how to live correctly. “You must love your neighbor as yourself and you must love God with all your heart.” He came to reveal to mankind the universal love of God. God loves all men, and He wants all men to love Him. He  established a Church and appointed Simon Peter as its Head. 

He was arrested by the Jews for blasphemy for He said He was the Son of God. He was condemned and crucified under Pontus Pilate, about the year AD 33. He proved His divinity by rising on the third day before He ascended to heaven. His followers were called Christians and are still called Christians today. Simon Peter transferred his Head Quarters to Rome the Roman Capital-“All Roads Lead To Rome”.  Simon Peter the first Head of the Church (Pope) was martyred by the Romans in Rome. 

The Roman Emperors tried to exterminate the church but failed, instead Rome became the Head Quarters of the Church. From Rome the Church grew very fast into the whole Europe. The whole Europe was Christianized, and the Pope became the most powerful spiritual and temporal man in Europe. He crowned kings and emperors, and all European countries adopted Christian principles in their laws and practices. (The Pope is no longer a temporal ruler but only a spiritual ruler.) Polygamy was forbidden. They treated murder, manslaughter, abortion, euthanasia and suicide as serious crimes, punishable in some cases with the death penalty. Divorce was forbidden, adultery was forbidden, contraceptives were forbidden, homosexuality was forbidden, prostitution, bestiality, incest, necrophilia, pedophilia, and pornography were all forbidden by law.

Europe extended these Christian laws and practices to their colonies in North and South America, India and Africa. So we find in 1873 where the U.S. Congress enacted  “Comstock Law”, which regulated public access to birth control devices, medicines, or information for the next 60 years. It was illegal to distribute any device (condoms etc) medicine or information designed to prevent conception, this was applicable even to physicians.

Christianity influenced the laws, practices and moral behaviors of not only Europe but the whole world. Christians today control one third of the world’s population, numbering nearly 2.34 billion people.

Today Population Controllers are determined to change all Divine laws, human laws, and moral practices and behaviors.

The discovery in the early 1950s by the American endocrinologist, Gregory Princus (1903-1967), that contraception could be reliably done by a pill containing female sex hormones, sparked off a revolution in contraception and revolutionized human sexual behavior.  The advent of the Pill ushered in the sexual revolution of the sixties and set the stage for uncontrollable changes.   What the sexual revolution and radical feminism promised was that the pursuit of freedom, sexual equality, sexual pleasure and the rejection of traditional morality would bring individual happiness and build a more truly human society.

“Reproductive rights” and “anti-birth ideology” spread rapidly under the umbrella of the U.N. and the European Union.  Anti-life groups and Governments took this up and started legalizing illegalities. Contraception was legalized, prostitution was legalized, abortion was legalized, homosexuality was legalized, euthanasia was legalized and suicide was legalized. Some countries legalized Divorce, adultery, bestiality, incest, necrophilia, pedophilia, and pornography.  

       

When certain practices violet human dignity and the intrinsic nature of womanhood and motherhood, they produce psychological problems based on the denial of the truth about the human person.  It is true that Europe has advanced tremendously in science and technology, but it has unfortunately regressed in morals and ethics.

Population Controllers are bent on corrupting the world morally, spiritually, economically, financially and politically. Population Controllers are using the United Nations and its Agencies (UNFPA, WHO, UNESCO) and are using many World Governments which they control to promote their “Anti-Life Agenda”. Population Controllers are using their powerful rich friends and the International Planned Parenthood Federation and its multi- NGOs to achieve their ant-life goals. They are using money, lies, and half truths to promote their attacks on Life. Population Controllers have invented all sorts of arguments to show why human population should be controlled and reduced. Their real hidden agendas are mainly eugenic, economic, political and satanic.  Their greatest enemy is the Christian Religion. The Christian Religion teaches truths as revealed by God. But Population Controllers contradict all Gods Commandments. These are people who have succeeded to convince many governments in more than 93 countries to legalized abortion. China is one of their victims with the One Child Policy.

Population Controllers are concentrating all their energies on the destruction of the “Human Family Institution” The family is the original cell of social life. In the African context, the family includes the man and his wives, children, cousins, grand-parents, and close relations. In the European context, the family means only the nuclear family of a man and his wife and children. In the Christian context a man and a woman united in marriage for the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of their children forms a family.   In general, the family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. To destroy the family is to destroy the foundation of the human race.  Without families the human population cannot grow. Therefore Population Controllers spend billions of dollars and resources to promote artificial birth control.

NATURAL BIRTH CONTROLS are instilled by nature (the Creator Himself) in the human body so that the body can function correctly and naturally.

ARTIFICIAL BIRTH CONTROLS is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Artificial birth control techniques and methods include contraception (the prevention of fertilization), contragestion  (preventing the implantation of the blastocyst) and abortion (the removal or expulsion of a fetus or embryo from the uterus). Contraception includes barrier methods, such as condoms or diaphragm, hormonal contraception, also known as oral contraception, and injectable contraceptives. Contragestives, also known as post-coital birth control, include intrauterine devices and what is known as the “morning after pill”.

Population Controllers must accept the truth that the world is not overpopulated.  Population Controllers must accept the fact that the present world population of 7 billion people can be contained in New Zealand’s smallest province or in the State of Texas in the Unites States of America, and still have room to sit down. The issue of feeding them, housing them and clothing them is entirely solvable with current technology.

Population Controllers must accept the fact that about half of the countries in the world (by UN and CIA ratings) are “Below Replacement Fertility” (the TFR rating is the minimum expected number of children born per woman in her child-bearing years which is 2.1 children, most countries are “Below Replacement Fertility” – 1.9 children.)  Population Controllers must know that the destructive “Contraceptive and Abortion Mentally” they tirelessly promoted is causing the human race a danger of extinction.

The population density of Russia is 8.3 people per square kilometer, the fertility of Russian women is 1.4 which is “Below Replacement Fertility”. Since 1985 the population of Russia has decreased by 5.2 million, prompting Prime Minister Valdimir Putin to say that “Without exaggeration, the central problem of contemporary Russia is demography, strengthening the family, [and] increasing the birth rate”. Most countries are attempting to stop their population decline. The declining and ageing populations are causing them serious economic problems. They are desperately trying to persuade women to have babies, even with cash incentives, they are not succeeding. Most countries with high population densities, are “Below Replacement Fertility”.

Singapore has 7,023 people per square kilometer, 1.09 children is below replacement fertility

South Korea has 487 people per square kilometer, 1.21 children is below replacement fertility  

Japan has 337 people per square kilometer, 1.21 children is below replacement fertility

Germany has 229 people per square kilometer, 1.41 children is below replacement fertility

Netherland has 399 people per square kilometer, 1.66 children is below replacement fertility

United Kingdom 254 people per square kilometer, 1.66 children is below replacement fertility etc,

while India with a population density of 357, people per square kilometer, 2.68 children is above replacement fertility, will overtake China, the most populous country in the world, with its one child policy, and 139 people per square kilometer, 1.79 children is below replacement fertility, as the most populous country in the world by the turn of the century.  Many women and men today have negative attitudes towards children, they think that children are inconvenient, expensive and, as a group, they are a threat to the environment.

Africans love children and consider children a gift from God. It is estimated that the African population will increase by 98% this century while the population of Europe will decrease by 6%. Population Controllers are not African friends, they do not want to see the African population grow. They do not want to see Africa develop and grow rich like the rest of the world. They pump in trillions of contraceptives, pills, condoms, birth control materials, and gargets to control our population growth. They are spending millions of dollars to try to corrupt African presidents and leaders to legalize abortion. They are spending millions of dollars to try to corrupt and influence various Ministers of Health, doctors and nurses, to promote “Reproductive Health and Artificial Birth Controls” using methods and gargets, especially Pills, female and male Condoms and other abortifacients which are against our population growth.

 Nigeria, Cameroon’s next door neighbor, has a population density of 167.5 people per square kilometer and a fertility rate of 5.32 children per woman, and is developing fast, by lips and bounds.     

Cameroon has a population density of 41 people per square kilometer and a fertility rate of 4.31 children per woman, and is developing  too slowly. In fact compared to other countries Cameroon has negative development. Our population must grow fast. Cameroon must develop quickly   

DEVELOPMENT IS BY PEOPLE FOR PEOPLE.

WHERE THERE ARE NO PEOPLE THERE IS NO DEVELOPMENT

May God bless Cameroon.

*Chief A.S. Ngwana is National Chairman, Cardinal Democratic Party

BP 2401 Bonanjo, Douala,Cameroon

Cameroon slash Eto'o ban

                                    By Tansa Musa

YAOUNDE (Reuters) - Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o has had a 15-match ban reduced to eight months, meaning the former African Footballer of the Year will miss just four competitive matches before August.

The decision was taken in the early hours of Saturday following a lengthy meeting of the Cameroon Football Federation, who had been asked to reconsider the controversial sanction by Cameroon President Paul Biya, officials told Reuters.

Eto'o was punished for leading a strike in November when the Cameroon team refused to play a friendly in Algeria because they had not been paid promised bonuses.

The teams played two friendlies in three days in Morocco but then refused to travel to Algeria in protest at not receiving the funds.
Eto'o's punishment had been widely condemned in Cameroon, where the former Barcelona and Inter Milan striker enjoys widespread popularity because of his performances at both club level and with the Indomitable Lions.

Cameroon's federation has since agreed to pay $500,000 to the Algerian federation in damages after the game, for which more than 40,000 tickets were sold, had to be called off.
Vice captain Enoh Eyong also had his ban reduced and he will miss just one game when Cameroon begin their bid to qualify for the 2013 African Nations Cup finals in February.

A $2,000 fine on Tottenham Hotspur defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto for failing to show up for the two matches in Morocco was rescinded.

Paul Biya: Man of Slogans without Achievements!

By Tazoacha Asonganyi in Yaounde.

Paul Biya:President of Cameroon/UN photo

 Let me start by recalling that the last presidential elections held in Cameroon on October 9, 2011. Paul Biya was later declared “winner” of the election and sworn in to a new 7- year mandate on October 21, 2011. Following that, he appointed a “new” government on Dec 9, and held his first ministerial meeting on December 15, 2011. We understand that during the ministerial council meeting, he instructed his ministers to establish a road map to reflect the objectives, deadlines and needs in human resources of their various ministries! Interestingly, in his 31 December message, we are told that “we now have a roadmap, the Growth and Employment Strategy Paper which sets the objectives for this decade…” One would wonder if what the ministers have been asked to do is extract from this roadmap, or create their own new roadmaps for their own sectors.

Then it should be remembered that this was Biya’s first end-of-year message to the nation during his new 7-year mandate, coming during his 30th year at the helm of the state.  In the message, he announced that we are entering our “first phase of a ‘long march’ towards being an emergent country…” And with a straight face, he gave the example of “new Asian dragons some 30 years ago” most of who were at par with us at independence and were emerging countries when Paul Biya took the helm of power in Cameroon thirty years ago!  It is a pity that on May 20, 2010, the same man was presiding over the celebration of 50 years of independence, with 30 years under his leadership. What he want us to believe is that the old tree can suddenly bend and change direction for him to imitate the type of leadership that produced the “Asian dragons” that harnessed their resources to bring prosperity to their countries, while he watched for 30 years!

I say all this to draw attention to the anger and embarrassment of Cameroonians like me that are watching a Head of state that is insisting on hanging on to power after thirty years at the helm of state, and yet does not seem to know how to change his tried and tested methods that have failed woefully during that time. We have watched and listened to him year after year say the same thing: “in the past, government action suffered from lack of entrepreneurial approach and the administration from inactivity. We must overcome this inertia which has caused us so much harm,” “corruption is an insidious and dreadful enemy,” Bla Bla Bla!  Like in the past, he is now giving the impression that by promising a “new impetus” during his last campaign, there will be a new impetus. And he wants us to believe him, as if his harping on “rigour and moralization,” ”the new deal,” “grandes ambitions,” and others of his several empty slogans in the past caused them to come to pass, whatever they represented to him!

He tells us that the investment budget has increased. The budget might have increased, but the manner of its implementation will not change; just like his first ministerial meeting of December 15 left us with no doubt that the government might have had some cosmetic changes, but his haughty and distant attitude to the government has not changed.

There are abundant natural and human resources. Yet, harnessing natural and human resources for the development of a country depends on visionary leadership that is an example of hard work, patriotism, selflessness, pragmatism, and an unselfish magnanimity. Paul Biya has not been an incarnation of these during the last 30 years.  I doubt that he can become their incarnation during the next 7 years, to provide the “new impetus.”

When a Head of State that is just starting a new 7-year term in order to clock some 35 years at the helm of the state says that “I count on this (new) government – which I consider as a ‘government with a mission’ – to devote all its energy and competences to the implementation of these projects. I will see to that personally,” what does he expect the rest of us to think? That in the past his plethoric governments have not been “governments with a mission?” That in the past he has not been seeing to the work of the government “personally?” In this way, he has always refused to take the blame for failures of the different governments that have crowded his thirty year reign.

Again, we are told that “time has come to decide whether we want to summon all our strength to revive our economy and provide adequate living conditions for the majority of our people.” Yet, this is not reflected in his “new” government. It is still a roll call of sycophants, cronies, tribal cohorts, and the morally bankrupt. After 30 years, he is supposed to have matured in humility, integrity, wisdom combined with common sense, and a willingness to learn. Unfortunately he has still surrounded himself with personal supporters who would never question his authority.

The history of Cameroon is supposed to be mastered by its leadership. It is well known that Cameroon became a German colony in 1884, and was later divided between France and Britain in 1919 as League of Nation mandates. French Cameroon gained independence on 1st January 1960 with the name of Republic of Cameroun; English Cameroon got its independence on 1st October 1961 following a plebiscite during which they answered the question whether to gain independence by reunifying with French Cameroun or by joining Nigeria. The result of the 11 February 1961 plebiscite showed that the people of Southern Cameroons decided to gain independence by reunifying with the Republic of Cameroun. Southern Cameroons and the Republic of Cameroun therefore reunified in a Federal Union of two states with equal status, giving birth to a new country, the Federal Republic of Cameroun on 1st October 1961.

Since October 1, 1961, there have been repeated changes of name of the Federal republic of Cameroon, until we acquired the name with which French Cameroon – the Republic of Cameroon -joined the Federal Union. The declaration by Paul Biya in his Dec 31 message that “we should always remember that reunification was our nation’s first step towards its unity,” must be this “unity” around the name of the Republic of Cameroon! It has always been my opinion that those like Paul Biya who repeatedly caused the change of name of the country and the destruction of the spirit of the union of 1st October 1961, are nationalists of the Republic of Cameroun that had its independence on 1st January 1960, not patriots of the country that emerged on October 1, 1961.

However, history is not about regurgitating historical dates, names and events; it is more useful to learn the lessons of history, the story behind names, dates and events, and the vagaries of human nature. The Soviet Union and the eastern European block countries failed  in this and all collapsed after 70 years of “unity.” As Paul Biya’s celebrations in Buea approach, he should not only listen to the pressing voices of the Anglophones in this country about their disappointments with the union or his “unity,” but should remember that 1st October is both the Independence Day of the people of the former Southern Cameroons and the anniversary of the coming together of the two Cameroons in a Federal Union.

Finally, Paul Biya has no moral authority to tell us that the October 9 election went well. We all know that the election failed because he did not want it to succeed. What was the use telling the rest of us that the degree to which the election failed did not affect his “victory?” If he is taking all of us for fools, he would be making a monumental mistake because I know those of us he thinks are fools will have the last laugh!