Plan to make statement after meeting with
authorities
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| Ex-Premier,Chief Ephraim Inoni |
By Christopher Ambe
Wide-spread allegation that chiefs of the Southwest Region have not shown
real concern ever since one of theirs,
Ephraim Inoni , Chief of Bakingili and
former Prime Minister ,was arrested and detained in Kondengui ,one of Cameroon’s
maximum security prisons, accused of embezzling
public funds in what is now known in Cameroon as the Albatross Saga ,has
been described as unfounded.
The chiefs have,
through their president, dismissed the talk, insisting they have not abandoned Chief
Inoni, who is said to have been very supportive of the Southwest Chiefs
Conference while serving as Prime minster and Assistant secretary-General at
the Presidency of the Republic.
The chiefs say they will react when the
time comes.
Chief Inoni is one of several former
ministers now in detention charged for attempted embezzlement / embezzlement of
public funds.
Although some critical observers allege that the charges have been trumped up
to target potential political threats to Biya and his cronies, the Presidency
of the Republic has said the charges are
not politically motivated.
His Royal Majesty, Fontem Njifua, Fon of
Fontem who is the newly elected President of the Southwest Chiefs’ Conference
(SWECC), on May 11, told The Recorder in an exclusive interview:
“It is true that
Chief Inoni is one of the prominent chiefs in the Southwest region. It is also
true that he is a popular state personality, because he has served this country
as former Prime Minister and as former Assistant Secretary-General at the
Presidency of the Republic. It is also true that he is a member of the Central
Committee of the ruling party.
But “I think that it
is still premature for the Southwest Chiefs Conference to issue a statement to
that effect, because we have not yet met with him to know why he was picked-up;
We have not yet met the Minister of Justice to tell us why our colleague was arrested,
neither have we met the Prime Minister or the Secretary-General of the Central
Committee”
But told by The
RECORDER that many people are disappointed that the chiefs have not yet made
their powerful voices heard on Chief Inoni’s detention, Fon Njifua, who is the
Fon of Fontem, retorted:
“The chiefs have their
programme.The public cannot think that, they would push the chiefs to act or
prepare a programme for the traditional rulers. By the way, it is important for
the public to know that matters concerning chiefs are not always discussed in
public”.
Many Anglophones were
taken aback by the arrest of Chief Inoni.
Many years ago he was in the forefront in the fight against corruption
and is credited with an anti-corruption campaign styled Operation Antelope,
which he launched that led to the identification of hundreds of ghost workers
who were feeding fat on the public purse. Operation antelope enabled the sate
to recover billions of FCFA.
Particularly angry
with Chief Inoni’s arrest are Southwest elites. They showed this anger recently
during a fund-raising in Kumba for the Reunification‘s 50th
anniversary celebrations.
At the ceremony, Professor Peter Agbor Tabi, Assistant
Secretary-General at the Presidency proposed that a motion of support be
addressed to President Biya for intensifying the fight against embezzlement of
public funds, following the most recent
arrests which included that of Chief Inoni, but the assembly of elites erupted
with shouts of disapproval; they reportedly booed and jeered Professor Agbor Tabi for his suggestion.
The President of
SWECC spoke to The RECORDER in Buea
at the Southwest Chiefs Secretariat, following the handing over ceremony between the former SWECC executive body and
the new one-led by Fon Njifua of Fontem
,which executive was elected last April
14 in Menji-Lebialem.
After the formal
handing over ceremony, the new SWECC Executive paid a courtesy call on the new
Governor of the Region, Bernard Okalia Bilai.
Fon Njifua
said some of the immediate priorities of the new SWECC leadership include
contributing to the successful organization of the 50th Anniversary
celebrations of Cameroon‘s Reunification, billed for Buea this year and the
construction of the SWECC Permanent Secretariat Near Muea,in Buea
First Published in The Recorder newspaper, Cameroon,of May 23,2012
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