2011 Presidential Election:Dorothy Njeuma Confident More Suggestions to Improve ELECAM will be considered!

Dorothy Njeuma

By Chrsitopher Ambe Shu

Professor Dorothy Limunga Njeuma, one of the 12 members of the Electoral Board of ELECAM, Cameroon’s election management body, has given assurance that, suggestions they will get from stakeholders for the improvement of the functioning of the election management body will be considered.

Professor Njeuma-widely said to be a woman of integrity and a stringent manager, gave the assurance to journalists during a press conference on November 9, in Buea as she was about to start a three-week meet -the –stakeholders tour of the South West Region, to assess the functioning of ELECAM, its structures and facilities and as well as get suggestions for improvement.

 “Is there any guarantee that suggestions for improvement of the functioning of ELECAM that you get from the field will be considered?” Recorder Editor asked Dorothy Njeuma.

And she had this as reply: “In the past month certain things have happened {in ELECAM} which may not have happened if people did not make their voices heard. I hope you understand what I mean.”

 Although she did not cite any particular thing, it is common knowledge that President Biya only signed a text making the functioning of ELECAM legal after the SDF had filed a suit in the Supreme Court, noting that the election management body was operating illegally. ELECAM had started carrying out its functions even before an enabling act was signed by the President of the Republic-as required by law, for it to begin operating, a move which was described by the opposition as a violation of the law.

  

The decision to go down to the field to get first hand information was taken at ELECAM Board meeting last October in Yaounde.

All the Board members are supposed to be on the field in their various regions of origin ”to assess the effective installation of ELECAM regional structures on the ground and to see how the exercise of registration of voters on electoral registers launched in August 2010 is going on ”,it emerged

During their visits, they are programmed to meet with election stakeholders and opinion leaders such as political party representatives, MP’s, mayors, civil society organizations, religious leaders, judicial authorities and media practitioners.

Professor Njeuma stressed that despite reservations expressed by some people especially the opposition parties, ELECAM would organize what she described “Free, Fair and credible Elections”.

The Board member called for massive enrollment in electoral registers, noting that it is a civic responsibility to choose those who govern. “If Cameroon has a population of 20 million people and only one million vote, it is the decision of the one million that governs them”, he pointed out.

Asked if she had contemplated resignation from ELECAM as reported by media reports, Prof.Njeuma quipped, “Papers want to sell so they write what they like. I saw the paper myself .That is all I can say”

Njang Emmanuel, Southwest Regional Delegate for ELECAM, who assisted in answering questions from reporters, said the region had just registered 22,776 potential voters.  “We hope to have higher figures in the days ahead,” Njang said.

Cameroon:Buea Central 1 CPDM Launches Scholarship Program

First beneficiaries given FCFA 300,000

By Christopher Ambe Shu

Buea Central 1 CPDM subsection has launched a scholarship program ,and at least 34 pupils and students residing in the subsection are now on record as the pioneer recipients.They smiled home with cash awards amounting to about FCFA 300, 000, for their outstanding performance during the 2009/2010 academic year.



(L-R):Mayor Moki & Stephen Luma



Stephen Luma, president of the subsection and initiator of the scholarship scheme, last November 4, used the first ever joint Buea Central 1 CPDM subsection conference, which he convened in Mokunda neighborhood, to launch the scholarship program,which has been highly commended. 

The conference, which held under the theme “ Buea Central 1 for Greater Achievements” and holding on the eve of the 28^th anniversary of President Biya’s ascension to power, was a come together intended to mobilize support for President Paul Biya,who is also national chairman of the ruling CPDM and the party’s natural candidate for the coming 2011 presidential election.

Luma said henceforth the scholarship award would be an annual event, intended to encourage academic excellence among young school goers in the locality.

“The scholarship awards will be given annually and they are aimed at developing our branches, building the capacity of youth and to encourage education -for as the civil rights Activist Malcolm X states: ‘Education is our passport to the future, tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today’.”

Beneficiaries of the scholarship scheme, Luma told The Recorder, must not necessarily come from homes with CPDM ties but those who meet the defined criteria qualifying them for the award.

The sum of FCFA 50,000 was shared among the first three winners of the Cleanest Branch Competition of the subsection that includes localities such as Mokunda, Vasingi,Komboni and Wonyamongo.

In his opening remarks at the conference, Luma called for unity and a sense of purpose and direction in the subsection, warning against character defamation and irresponsibility championed by some misguided militants.

He called for massive enrollment in electoral registers. “We all have to mobilize and register all militants ahead of the 2011 presidential election in order “to ensure a resounding victory for the CPDM party.”

 The conference was attended among other dignitaries by Charles Mbella Moki,Buea CPDM president and Mayor of Buea,and Chief SML Endeley,paramount ruler of Buea,who  reiterated the need for unity and commitment in the subsection.

Mbella Moki encouraged militants and sympathizers to enroll massively in electoral registers in order to qualify to vote for the reelection of President Biya, come the 2011 presidential election.

The achievements of the subsection include: extention of portable water supply to parts of the subsection, the opening of access roads from Bonalyonga to Vasingi (thanks to support from Hon.Meoto Paul Njie) ,the clearing of farm-to- market roads and the intensification of self-reliant activities to check  youth unemployment

Buea central 1 subsection has about 2000 CPDM militants and is the heart beat of politics in Buea, having served as the place of abode of prominent West Cameroon politicians such as P.M kale,former Speaker of West Cameroon House of Assembly and EML Endeley,a party leader in West Cameroon.

Buea Municipality and leaking CDE pipes

 By  Mofor Samuel
Talking about twenty four hours of regular water supply in most of Buea Municipality can only be in the rainy season when residents take into consideration rain water collected from roof tops.


In Buea just like in many Cameroonian towns and cities water is scarce and sometime even difficult to obtain. Residents have to walk for a very long distance and wait in line before carrying a heavy bucket of the precious liquid back home. Women and children spend hours fetching water for their households, lugging it home in containers, that when full sometimes weigh more than twenty kilograms.


The fact that one is connected to the pipe borne network is no guarantee that one can just turn the faucet and water pours out immediately. Even though water has been described as the liquid gold of the 21^st Century, human beings in their different walks of life are squandering it to such a degree that they can barely have anything left for drinking and the different human activities not to talk of pouring into the sea. The issue of 250 persons per stand pipe by 2015 is still to become a reality as far as Buea is concerned.


  But for climatic hazards and increase in the town’s population, the water crisis currently encountered by residents is further compounded by the non-chalant and lackluster attitude of the company in charge of water distribution in the municipality- from the former SNEC to the present Camerounaise des Eaux (CDE) that has just inherited all the shortcomings of the former and is doing little or nothing to improve on them. Even the council seems not to be too enthusiastic in the handling of the water issue.


For the time being, rationing is the order of the day. If one is not around when water is released in one’s neighbourhood, then one has to wait for the same time another day or go to another neighbourhood where water can be found. Large containers for storing water is the order of the day.


In fact residents are forced to bear the brunt as they are often seen with large containers in overcrowded stand taps or trekking from one neighbourhood to the other in search of water. Well- to- do persons either use their vehicles or hire cabs putting in large containers going from one neighbourhood to the other in search of water.
 At one point in time, the situation became unbearable within the university community forcing students to take to the streets. This was due to the fact that water was not running from their taps.


 In spite of all this headache, anyone visiting Buea and going from one neighbourhood to the other will be surprised by the number of leakages found along supply lines. According to the authorities of Camerounaise des Eaux, in order to check water theft by consumers, Meters are installed at strategic points but these strategic points are often several meters away from the consumer’s house or residence.


 The consumer bears the brunt in case of any leakage after the Meter. The authorities of Camerounaise des Eaux remain indifferent to such leakages after all the consumer will have to pay as per the quantity of cubic meters of water consumed registered by the Meter. Just like with the private lines, lines under the water corporation suffer the same fate, theirs is even worse. These leakages greatly affect the pressure and supply of water to households. Even with the increase in the population, can one really say that the quantity of water leaving the reservoirs to consumers really gets to the number of persons intended to with all these leakages?
   The constant cry is that the pipes were planted many years ago and need to be replaced. When confronted on the state of affairs, authorities often complain of lack of equipment.


That Douala is yet to send equipment. This gives the impression that the corporation does not have a maintenance service or if it exists then it is just there to serve as window dressing. Even those who want to install water into their homes have to wait for months with their money already paid for their installation to be put in place.


The controversy about the whole issue is the fact that residents are always trooping into the Water Corporation Office to settle their bills for fear of being victims of the corporation’s sledge hammer if they do not respect the deadline for the payment of bills. It is said that he who goes for equity goes with clean hands. Can the authorities of Camerounaise des Eaux really talk of doing justice to their customers? What about those who do not have water for very long periods but are forced to pay bills? What about those whose Meters’ screens have been blurred by dirt making it difficult to see the figures?


Why must the corporation ask customers to pay their bills first before complaining even though they know that their system is suffering from maintenance crisis and sometimes Meters are not even read? How just is the corporation when its workers fail to signal leakages along supply lines to individual Meters after several months? Why are the workers and authorities of Camerounaise des Eaux generally so indifferent to the plight of their customers? Uncertainty looms in the air since customers are generally of the opinion that they are often forced to pay for what they are not sure of consuming. The day the floodgates will be open not even the workers will be spared.


The truth is that there is a lot of mixed feelings about the services offered by Camerounaise des Eaux. The earlier they sit up the better. Generally speaking Buea is one of those few towns where people see water and let it flow away without doing anything to preserve it.


 In the month of December 2009, the water corporation was carrying out some maintenance work along its supply lines. Were those signs of saying that leakages will be a thing of the past?
How can the story be true when most of the areas where maintenance was carried out saw water oozing out of the pipes before the technicians could settle down in their office. The long and short of the story for now is that leakages have come to stay unless consumers and customers pressurize the CDE authorities to put an end to the leakages in the municipality.
                                                  

University College of Technology, Buea:“We Are Fully Equipped to Train the Best Engineers in Africa”



Paul Arrey Abunaw

By Christopher Ambe Shu

The University College of Technology, UCT Buea-Cameroon is fully equipped to train the best engineers in Africa, a top official of the institution has said.

Paul Arrey Abunaw, registrar of UCT who made the statement, was speaking to journalists last October 29, during a press conference organized to end activities marking the college’s orientation week.

“We are fully equipped to train the best engineers in the continent”, Mr Arrey Abunaw boasted. “Nobody leaves the University College of Technology and is at home for one day. If there is one job out there and the competition is fair, the UCT graduate will pick up the job”

The Registrar said UCT, which has as one of its mentors, University of Buea, Cameroon’s most prestigious state-owned university, has been operating for eight years.

 “It has been 8 years of Total Quality Technical Production-Oriented Professional Education,” he said, adding that graduates of the institution become what he described as “Total Quality engineers, managers, entrepreneurs or professionals”

UCT students and Lecturers

UCT awards from first to terminal degrees. “Training in University College of Technology leads to University of Buea Degrees and the Ministry Education Higher (Cameroon) Professional Diplomas (HND/HPD)”

Mr.Arrey Abunaw noted that UCT‘s international reputation is growing because it trains not only Cameroonians but foreigners such as Ngerians, and Tchadians.It was said that,UCT has graduated students who are today big employers/job creators, engineers/directors in both public and private sectors in different countries.

For more information about UCT Buea, visit: http://www.uctbuea.cm/  Email:registrar@uctbuea.cm

CAMEROON:CELEBRATING ANOTHER 6TH NOVEMBER OF ILLUSIONS!

By Tazoacha Asonganyi,Yaounde.


During the tripartite conference of 1991, one of the agreements upheld by all participants was that there should be a constitutional provision that a presidential mandate would be 5 years, renewable once, giving a maximum of ten consecutive years at the helm of state, if the people wanted. A singlehanded-modified version of this agreement was inscribed in the 1996 constitution in article 6(2) which provided that each elected president of the republic would serve a term of seven years renewable once.



Paul Biya



In doing this, Cameroonians were aware that by nature, human beings are vain, self-seeking and easily corruptible, making them victims of the allures of power and honours, or of the material benefits bestowed on them by those in power. They were also confident that 10 years were largely enough for any good intentioned individual to serve the people in the capacity of president of the republic.

By the time of the tripartite conference and the eventual publication of the “new” constitution in 1996, Paul Biya had already served the country as president for well over 10 years. But since laws are never retrospective, he was still allowed to face the new constitution as if he was starting with a clean slate, on the proviso that he would go after at most two new terms of seven years each. This is why there was much talk about the first seven years, and then the second seven years, until... ops – the clock seemed to be racing faster than he thought!

 Long before this seven-years-renewable-once clause was changed, Cameroonians had started contemplating what the future reserved for us, and I wrote as follows in an essay titled Cameroon after Biya: Prospects for Change and Continuity “...speculating about the day after a leader in Africa is usually considered in bad taste ... whether it is in terms of age or health, there is very little that one can accurately speculate about for the advent of the “new” day. After all, Wade just got re-elected at age over 80; and Lansana Konte could not even walk to a polling station to vote for himself because of ill health, and yet he was re-elected into office...Therefore no speculations on health and age as facilitators of the emergence of a new day in 2011 can hold much water. Nor can one be sure that the 7-year clause in the Constitution will bring the “new” era. Aging leaders are usually very reluctant to give up office; and any excuse is usually good enough...”

Excuse(s) they found, and the term limits clause was removed to allow Paul Biya to reign... for ever! On the heels of 6th November 2010, a third volume of what the regime people describe as “the people’s call” for Paul Biya to be candidate in 2011 was launched. In doing so, they want us to capitulate to the lie that such motions of support on the people’s back reflect popular sentiments in Cameroon.
The “people’s call” is the umpteenth fraud of some CPDM militants on the people. The call is nothing short of different versions of texts written in offices in Yaounde by party zealots from various corners of the country. With these gesticulations, the regime people seem to be affirming their belief in Hitler’s line that no matter how big the lie, repeat it often enough and the masses will regard it as truth.

One of the trademarks of Paul Biya in 28 years has been his failure to respect the terms of political deals struck with other stakeholders. He has repeatedly trumped opponents with his single card of reneging on political deals on term limits, NEO, ELECAM, and others, over which he has always behaved like a man of second thoughts.  Thus, symbolic victories usually thought to be won by his opponents with the striking of deals and the clinching of promises, sooner or later, turned into defeat. This is because much attention is not usually paid to the practical politics of the new deal of exploiting the gullibility of opponents and friends alike, to further the single, obstinate goal of the life presidency of the prince.

There is something really surreal about what the CPDM is presently involved in. They are involved in abstractions about the people and their problems, and promising that if Paul Biya remains in the presidency come 2011, they will find solutions to the problems that have been around for the past 28 years, staring all of them in the face! To show the lack of seriousness in these abstractions, they are making long-range promises that will mature by 2035, long after most of the long-range planners and many of us would be dead!

As CPDM militants celebrate 6th November, they should keep in mind that the people have changed a lot over 28 years. The media revolution has broadened and deepened the people’s thinking, and reinforced their insistence on taking control of their destiny. The people have learned a lot from some of the powerful symbols and symbolic acts about change communicated to them from all corners of the globe during the better part of 28 years, right in their bedrooms. 2011 will neither be like 2004, 1997, nor 1992!

Cameroon:CAROSAF To Remember Traffic Victims In Special Way

By Christopher Ambe Shu

Cameroon Roadsafety Foundation (CAROSAF), a Buea –based NGO that advocate’s road safety and high way injury prevention, will join many  other road safety advocates to celebrate this year’s World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, come November 21, in grand style,it has emerged.



Achimbom Minang



 The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims (approved by the United Nations Organization) is observed on the third Sunday of November each year worldwide.

Edwin Achimbom Minang, director of CAROSAF, today in a briefing with The Recorder ahead of the celebration proper, said his NGO is planning to organize several road safety- awareness activities to that effect.

Minang said the celebration will be under the theme “We Support a Decade of Action for Road Safety:2010-2020”

He said these activities will include: a demonstration of various road safety placards at different points on the major highways in Fako division of Fako Division of Cameroon, where CAROSAF activities so far have had a greater impact; distribution of road safety guides and gadgets; testimonies from highway drivers who have been involved in road accidents and the placement of CAROSAF bill board carrying road safety messages at popular road junctions such as Buea (Mile 17)Motor Park; visits to road crash victims in chosen hospitals.

Achimbom Minang said the activities are just coming to complement what CAROSAF has been doing to ensure road safety.

 The NGO is currently running a traffic controllers’ project to help cross school children in high traffic areas.

According to Achimbom Minang, “This project was a major success in the 2009/2010 academic year. No incident of a child being injured or killed in a road crash was registered at any of the location where CAROSAF Traffic Controllers operated”.

He had even urged the Cameroon government, municipal authorities and other concerned stakeholders to “actively support this project by funding the operation of traffic controllers at other locations ,”adding that, “This will support the global objective to increase and sustain action to prevent road traffic injury and death, especially those involving vulnerable groups such nursery and primary school pupils”

 Robert Tama Lisinge, a CAROSAF official and UN staff abroad while in Cameroon recently, regretted that, each year world-wide over 1.2 million people die as a result of road crashes and about 50 million are injured.

 Achimbom Minang,CAROSAF director,regetted  that since 2005 when the UN approved the Day of Remembrance, “Cameroon- a UN member-state and listed as one of the countries with a high rate of road traffic accidents, is yet to organize any national activity in this regard.”



                                            

Haiti: The ugly face of Cholera

By Mofor Samuel

It has been estimated that as many as 80% of all diseases in the world are associated with unsafe water or poor environmental hygiene. Low standards of hygiene, both personal and public, are responsible for a vast majority of disease everywhere in the world and particularly in the tropics where poor living conditions are so common. Recent statistics reveals that over 1.2 billion people still suffer from poor water supply. The percentage of unsafe sanitation (1.7 billion people) and waste disposal is even higher, as they have usually had
The diseases are generally confined to human beings and are maintained in human community by unsanitary living habits. The causative agent leaves the human body in the excreta and the new host is parasitized by ingestion of infected faeces conveyed to his mouth in a number of ways, the most common vehicles of transmission being contaminated hands, food and water.
    
The history of safe hygiene behaviour and understanding of the relationship between diseases and environmental hygiene is rather short. It is often forgotten that as late as during the 19^th century cholera pandemics, thousands died of waterborne cholera in the American cities of New York, New Orleans and St Louis as well as in several European cities. It was only after some pioneering studies on cholera outbreaks that the sanitary revolution started in the 19^th century. The efforts in organizing water supply, sewerage and waste disposal services and their safety were accompanied by improved hygiene behaviour, strongly promoted through public health education.
    
 Cholera is a classic al example of a waterborne disease and it spreads along man’s route of travel from the endemic area as a result of contamination of water supplies along the route. It is an acute specific infection of the alimentary canal caused by vibrio cholerae and characterized by onset vomiting and frequent watery stools resulting in rapid and extreme dehydration.
      
The recent outbreak of the cholera epidemic in Haiti where close to 275 people were reported dead, with over 2000 more affected, brings the ugly face of the disease to the limelight again in that part of the world, and indicates that the danger of spread still exists. Mention should also be made of sporadic cases of cholera epidemics in Benin and Cameroon in West Africa where some lives were equally lost this year. Man is the only reservoir of infection and is thus solely responsible for its maintenance in a community.
    
Diseases associated with poor sanitation and crowded environment decreased in number in the West even without planned medical interventions, curative medicine or immunization and life –span increased.

It may be argued that many developing countries are repeating the Western history of decreasing water- related morbidity as a result of their infrastructural development. However, this process is facing serious constraints in the least developed countries where high population growth, declining economic situation and environmental deterioration are increasing health risks at an accelerating speed which hardly can be followed by development actions.

Therefore, the historical approach where improvements were achieved through sole construction of safe water supplies, sewerage systems and waste disposal services may not be adapted in poorest developing countries- Haiti and Benin are two of such countries. Instead, the actions should be based on beneficiaries’ own initiative and resources, utilizing simple and innovative approaches in problem –solving.
                                                                       

Cameroon :SDF looking for what to do

Tazoacha Asonganyi

(While the political garden of the people lies fallow) 
 By Tazoacha Asonganyi,Yaounde.
In other circumstances, one would let sleeping dogs lie. But the present circumstances are so central to our political life that it is difficult to let them just lie by.

There are conflicting signals all around us, like: there will be no elections organised by ELECAM; the SDF is in the Supreme Court to nullify the activities of ELECAM; the SDF is calling on the people not to register to vote; the SDF has forced Paul Biya to legalise ELECAM; the SDF is going to Geneva...the SDF is calling “on Cameroonians to take their responsibilities.... and do what others have done under similar circumstances...”!

All this is cacophony that confuses the people more than it empowers them! The SDF seems to have reduced its struggle to an elite pastime of memoranda, ultimatums, and court actions – without the people! They are going to court with elite lawyers to argue for the legalisation of a structure they tell the people they do not want. They are giving instructions to the people not to put their names in electoral registers, and punishing those who call on the people to do the contrary, instead of descending to the people to convince them about the wisdom of their instructions, and the folly of the counter call. After all, politics has always been a competitive endeavour in an arena where the people are the sole judge.

Since 1990 the National executive committee of the SDF has always been composed of different categories of people, including elected and co-opted members. They enjoyed the same honours and prerogatives, except when it came to voting on issues in NEC. Of course, co-opted members could always lose their status of member of NEC through the same process by which they were co-opted – that is, by decision of NEC. Until that was done, NEC members were never at the mercy of lower structures of the party on issues of discipline!

Since 2006, NEC members are only handpicked by an all powerful Chairman of the party, not elected. It is difficult to understand that co-opted NEC members like Kah Walla suddenly became so unequal to handpicked members that they are left at the mercy of an Electoral District, in spite of precedence, and the existence of other regulations in the party that protected her from such ridicule. Bringing up cases that have been lying silent since 2007 just when she expressed a different opinion in 2010 on the need for the people to enter their names in electoral registers, smells of the type of settlement of political scores we are witnessing with “Epervier”. For the hierarchy of the party to have watched silently while a lower structure ridiculed her within the party and in the press only added salt to injury.

 The rule of law is the rule of law, whether it is within political parties or in the country as a whole. Those who cannot respect and enforce the rule of law within a political party cannot convincingly promise to enforce and respect it in the society as a whole.

In 20 years, the SDF has failed to come to terms with the complexity of human nature, and so has failed to develop the humility to deal with strong human egos, to be tolerant of divergent views; and the intelligence to understand the varying motives and desires of their members, so as to overcome personal vendetta, humiliation, and bitterness.

Like the rest of the opposition in Cameroon, the SDF has since become an instrument for the validation of oppressive state power, since they have been reduced to the impotence of barking while the caravan of the dictatorial power we sought to overthrow trudges on. They have ended up becoming managers of  the image of a repressive regime because the more they are heard and seen trading repartees with the regime while it calls one bluff after the other, the more the regime is thought to be...“democratic”, since everybody seems to be doing and saying what they want to.

Repressive regimes always want to give the impression that they are in power because of the ballot box. However, every school boy knows that such regimes are in power because of tanks, guns, truncheons, water canons, and sometimes the courts, not because of the ballot box. Interestingly, most repressive regimes that are usually overthrown by the people, are overthrown because the opposition engaged them around the ballot box on the terms of the regime. The core strategy of such opposition groupings has always been to turn election fraud – which the regime always engages in – into an advantage; to turn it into a trigger for protests to humble the weapons that keep the regimes in power!

The opposition in Cameroon should mobilise the people to deal with the ballot box as it is, because the regime is not ready to change the substance of its game plan around the ballot box. The people should be taught their own strategy to use the ballot box as it is, to gain their power. It is foolhardy to indulge in the endless distraction of enumerating the obstacles the regime has consciously put around the ballot box.

The ballot box is an inanimate thing; it is only as powerful as the people want it to be. Since people’s power has overcome tanks, guns, truncheons, and water canons, it can overcome any obstacle put on the way to the recapture of their power.

The SDF should encourage the people to register massively in electoral registers, in order to be able to exercise their ballot box power when the time comes!

Cameroon:HYSACAM, Buea Council and the Caravan of Cleanliness

By Mofor Samuel

The problem of poor waste management is a serious national problem which simply will not go away and should be a matter of deep concern at every level of government. Before the recent outbreak of the cholera epidemic up in the north, some individuals, technicians and organizations had raised concern and voiced out their dissatisfaction in the manner in which solid waste was being disposed of in our communities.

Rapid urbanization is attracting more and more people into the Buea municipality who construct and live in suburbs deprived of basic amenities where daily threats linked to the environment are still being aggravated by pollution and poor solid waste management.
How do council authorities intend to deal with the vast amounts of urban waste which makes our municipality a breeding ground for vermin and disease? How can the council awaken the consciousness of the average Buea resident to the seriousness of environmental problems like improper human waste disposal, unsafe water supplies, and massive air pollution? Mountains of refuse have become more or less permanent features in some neighbourhoods of Buea.

  At a time when residents had been made to believe that the hygiene and sanitation situation had gone off hand to the extent that, the council could only dispose of the quantity of solid waste that it is capable of, Buea Council Authorities want to prove to residents that they have not been lying on their laurels.
  It all started at least in the eyes of the man on the street seeing HYSACAM’s machinery clearing garbage heaps and emptying public garbage cans. Before residents had time to ponder over what was going on, some new containers larger than the ones residents were used too, were seen around the Council premises. Finally there was this banner at Bongo Square announcing the Buea Council – HYSACAM Partnership with the slogan “taking the caravan of cleanliness.”
 Does the signaling of the coming of HYSACAM to Buea mean the end of mountains of refuse in our neighbourhoods-motor parks, quarters, junctions, highways and streets, graveyards, drainage systems, water points, schools, health facilities etc?

The importance of proper solid waste management for the health of the individual and the community cannot be overemphasized. The components of solid waste management are: storage in generating premises, collection, transportation and final disposal. Proper and sanitary storage of solid waste in the premises where they are generated constitute a very important link in the chain of activities for efficient solid waste management. The most satisfactory method of collection is to provide or require each householder to provide a covered bin or other receptacle into which household refuse is placed. Public places, including parks, churches, shops, markets, motor parks etc must have containers for solid waste storage.

 Solid waste collection and transportation entail the gathering of the waste from generating premises or from designated depots, and its conveyance to the final disposal sites. These two activities are the most important and expensive aspects of solid waste management accounting for about 70% of the total budget. They can equally constitute the Achilles’ heel of solid waste management, something both Council authorities and HYSACAM must bear in mind. House to house solid waste collection is the most convenient and efficient. It should be maximally employed in Buea.

Where houses are not accessible by motorable roads, suitable collecting depots should be designated and strategically located. Households are required to deposit their refuse in these receptacles, which are emptied at intervals of not more than two days or preferably daily.

Buea Council must elaborate a hygiene and sanitation policy of the municipality and use the best of convincing and educative approach to raise awareness among the population to see the link between environmental sanitation or simply put cleanliness and public health; and above all, get them to be fully involved in the implementation of the council’s hygiene and sanitation policy. Even the face and approach of the Monthly Clean Up Campaigns have to change.

Generally trucks for collection and transportation of solid waste are usually in short supply. The problem is compounded by the use of unsuitable trucks which cannot withstand the severe wear and tear to which solid waste are exposed to. Most companies and municipalities prefer to buy Skip Eater Vehicles which are very expensive and require skillful operation and management. They are only cost-effective when solid waste is of low density and consist mostly of papers, cartons, and plastics. Simple tipper lorries which are covered to prevent the scattering of light refuse materials are the most cost-effective for household wastes. Moreover, tippers are assembled and the superstructure built in Cameroon. Wider use of these simple vehicles will therefore improve the quality and efficiency of solid waste management, conserve foreign exchange and provide more jobs to young people.

The efficiency of operations is enhanced by collecting and transporting solid wastes at night or in the very early hours of the morning. Unfortunately, this far, it is common practice to carry out these activities during the day when normal traffic impedes efficiency and effectiveness of operations.

 The disposal of solid waste is the final treatment given to the waste in order to make it stable or environmentally friendly and healthy. It is expected that council authorities are going to give a deep thought to this reflection as they bring in HYSACAM in the municipality.

THE CHALLENGE OF REPORTING ARMED CONFLICT

Seasoned Journalist Sam Bokuba

By Sam BOKUBA*

Along the long and winding road of time, the press has been involved in socio-political conflicts, fighting more wars than any standing army.

Notorious theatres of armed conflicts such as Somalia, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, to mention but these, with the attendant spiral of violence and savage bloodletting claiming both life and limb; have seen the media in the thick of it . But for journalists to properly report such armed conflicts and their resultant atrocities, they must be well grounded in the necessary legal and professional tools. That’s just what the International Committee of the Red Cross set out to do when it recently organized a thee-day seminar for radio journalists in Nairobi, Kenya.

The radio and to a lesser extent television carry such power in outreach and impact as could easily exacerbate the dysfunctional character of the news media. Like it has been warned time and time again, the media as instruments of mass communication are a double edged sword, capable of making as much as marring. The damage from irresponsible broadcast content could be colossal.

Take just the example of ‘Radio des Milles Collines’ and the havoc it wreaked in Rwanda in 1994! The Rwandan carnage and the ensuing strife in that country were all caused by irresponsible broadcasting. The news media and particularly the electronic news media in a context like ours where illiteracy is a big obstacle to newspaper readership are potent vectors in the information and formation of public opinion as well as the cultivation of a democratic culture.

Understanding armed conflict

Simply put, an armed conflict involves the use of arms by the warring parties or belligerents. There are two types of armed conflicts: an international armed conflict and non international armed conflict. An international armed conflict means fighting between the armed forces of at least two states like the ‘war’ over the oil-rich Bakassi peninsula between Cameroon and Nigeria. Wars of liberation [the 1967-70 Nigeria-Biafra war and Somaliland against Somalia, for instance] are also considered as international armed conflicts.

A non international armed conflict entails fighting on the territory of a state between the conventional armed forces and identifiable groups such as The Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta [MEND] in Nigeria. For it to be considered a non international armed conflict, the hostilities must reach a certain level of intensity and extend over a certain period of time. Worth noting is that internal disturbances [riots like the February 2008 nation-wide unrest in Cameroon, struggles between factions or against established state authority] characterized by a serious disruption of internal order resulting from acts of violence are not considered an armed conflict. When a state is fighting against armed insurgents or rebel groups, it is a non international armed conflict. Examples in Cameroon are the 1955 UPC armed struggle against the French colonialists and the April 6, 1984 coup d’etat. An armed group has no status of a state.

Even when an armed group benefits from external support, the nature of the support [weapons, training of fighters, money etc.] must be determined. Still, the conflict will be considered internal.

But if for instance an armed group in state A is found to be acting on behalf of state B by which it becomes a de facto state B, it becomes a proxy war and thus an international armed conflict e.g Yugoslavia. However it is complex qualifying a conflict as international armed conflict or non international armed conflict.

The following scenarios pose a challenge to qualification of armed conflicts: war on terror, transnational conflict[a foreign authority governing people who are not its own like the case of the USA in Iraq and Afghanistan]and internationalization of an armed conflict[internal conflict characterized by state intervention of a foreign power].Generally, the qualification of an armed conflict is done a posteriori, not a priori, taking into consideration the constitutive elements and the rules enshrined in two legal instruments that regiment armed conflicts: International Humanitarian Law[IHL] and International Human Rights Law[IHRL]

The IHL and IHRL

The International Humanitarian Law [IHL] also known as the ‘law of armed conflict’ or ‘law of war’ is the body of rules that in war time, protects persons who are no longer participating in hostilities. It limits the methods and means of warfare. Its central purpose is to limit and prevent human suffering in times of armed conflict.

The rules are to be observed not only by governments and their armed forces, but also by armed opposition groups and any other parties involved in the conflict. The four Geneva conventions of 1949 and their Additional protocols of 1977 and 2005 are the principal instruments of humanitarian law. The body charged with its implementation is the International Committee of the Red Cross [ICRC].During international and non international armed conflicts, the IHL seeks to limit the suffering caused by war by protecting and assisting victims as much as possible.

The law addresses the reality of a conflict without delving into the reasons, politics or legality of resorting to force. It regulates only those aspects of the conflict that are of humanitarian concern such as the type of weapons used by the belligerents-biological, chemical, nuclear or conventional. The application of humanitarian law does not involve the denunciation of guilty parties. The IHL protects civilians through rules on the conduct of hostilities viz: parties in a conflict must at all times distinguish between combatants and non combatants and between military and civilian targets and neither civilian population as whole nor individual civilians may be the object of attack. The central issue here is protection; protection of combatants out of combat, a little protection during hostilities, big protection for those not taking part in hostilities anymore: the wounded, sick, shipwrecked at sea and prisoners of war, protection of civilians, special protection for certain categories of civilians such as women, children under 15 years and journalists.

The International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law are complementary. Both strive to protect the lives, health and dignity of individuals albeit from a different angle. Humanitarian Law applies in situations of armed conflict whereas Human Rights law, or at least some of it, protects the individual at all times, in war and peace alike. However, some human rights treaties permit governments to derogate from certain rights in situations of public emergency. No derogations are permitted under Humanitarian Law because it was conceived for emergency situations namely armed conflict.

The International Human Rights Law is born of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The main treaty sources are the International Covenants on civil and political rights and on economic and cultural rights[1966],conventions on genocide[1948],Racial Discrimination[1965],Discrimination against women[1979],Torture[1984],Rights of the child[1989].The main regional instruments are the European convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms[1950],the American Declaration of the rights and duties of man[1948]and the convention of human rights[1969] and African Charter on People’s and Human rights[1981].The IHRL sanctions grave breaches during international armed conflicts especially those that constitute war crimes. According to the Rome statute, crimes against humanity can occur outside armed conflicts as well.

The International Criminal Court [ICC] has been given the mandate to deal with international crimes: war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. A distinction must be made between an act of aggression and a crime of aggression. An act of aggression or what is known as jus in bello [law in war] applies to the warring parties irrespective of the reasons for the conflict and whether or not the cause upheld by either party is just. A crime of aggression also known as jus ad bellum or jus contra bellum refers to law on the use of force or law on the prevention of war.

War Reporting

“Death of four journalists on the war front, six journalists reported missing, release of three journalists detained on spying charges…,” these are just some of the headlines that highlight the problems confronted by journalists who, in the course of doing their job, are caught in the cross-fire of armed conflicts. What provisions does the public international law make to protect them and to facilitate the exercise of their profession?

The question touches on other, more basic problems. What is the task of the press, radio and television during armed conflicts? What sort of institutional framework must there be for the media to enable them fulfill their tasks? Is there any such thing as a right of access to information even in war? Fundamental issues such as freedom of expression and right to information are involved.

The law of armed conflict has for a long time shown concern for the special situation of journalists on dangerous assignments. This is because journalists are exposed to the physical danger of war and suffer collateral damage arising from hostilities; they can be victims of the direct effects of hostilities [a bomb raid, a shot fired at him or a stray bullet etc.]These are risks run in military operation zones. Journalists can also be victims of arbitrary acts [arrest, ill-treatment, disappearance, etc.]by the authorities, in particular the armed forces or the police in the country in which he finds himself.

Protection for journalists during armed conflicts is contained in article 79 of the Geneva Convention Additional Protocol 3.Accordingly, a journalist is considered a civilian and so cannot be targeted or attacked. Nor can he take part in hostilities. Protection for the journalist ceases when he is seen to take part in hostilities. This is different with a journalist of the military press who is a member of the armed forces and so has the right to take part in hostilities which makes him a legitimate military target.

A journalist engaged in a dangerous assignment to report an armed conflict may be given the status of a war correspondent. By this, he or she is accredited to the armed forces and is authorized to follow hostilities on the field as a neutral, unbiased, non partisan observer. This is called embedded journalism which throws up its own challenges. Can a journalist who benefits from the protection of a warring party during an armed conflict maintain an arms length approach vis-à-vis the protagonists in his reporting? It’s been an issue for lively debate whether journalists should have a special status when they are on dangerous assignments like covering armed conflicts.

Ethical Issues

According to Johannesburg-based journalism trainer, Shenaaz Bulbulia, a journalist reporting an armed conflict should address himself to certain fundamental questions: why am I reporting an armed conflict? What is my angle? Am I objective? Reporting for who? Informed by whom? Reporting with who in mind? Whose voice? Who is the source? Are there multiple sources?

After taking hard ethical decisions regarding the foregoing questions, the reporting should convey the right information; correctly sourced and well attributed with a reporting style that engages the audience and appeals to the broad public and not to special interest groups.

The bottom line is social responsibility and professional ethics that underpin relationship of trust the media have with audience built on truth telling, fairness as well as a detached, non-partisan and unbiased relationship with news sources and warring parties. Journalists should also watch out for xenophobic tendencies intruding into their reporting of armed conflicts and eventually fuelling the conflict like the well documented case of Radio des Milles Collines in Rwanda. Such are the challenges to be met by journalists reporting armed conflicts.

*The writer, a CRTV Journalist, recently participated in a radio seminar on armed conflict in Nairobi-Kenya organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross

Cameroon:Community participation and solid waste management in Buea

By Mofor Samuel,health /environment educator
Human waste is generated as a result of a variety human activities, including domestic, agricultural, commercial and industrial activities. Solid waste comprises solid materials which have been discarded because they are no longer required by individuals, households, groups or organizations at that particular time and place. The components of solid waste include garbage (kitchen waste), papers, empty plastics, rags, cardboard cartons, glass; scrap metal, old tyres etc.

The composition of solid waste varies from one neighbourhood to the other within the same town or municipality. It depends on the food habits, cultural practices, the occupations and trades of the inhabitants etc.
The sound of the horns of HYSACAM trucks on Monday 20/09/2010 along the main highway in Buea officially announced the commencement of the collection and disposal of solid waste in the municipality. Residents saw HYSACAM’s machinery at work along the major boulevard in town.

To resolve the problem of solid management in the municipality, council authorities must collaborate with the civil society and get the views of the population on how they can together better manage solid waste disposal in the municipality. The introduction of the Hygiene and Sanitation Company of Cameroon (HYSACAM), by itself, will not help much if there is no dialogue, understanding and concrete agreement between the council and the different communities which make up the municipality as to how they have to go about the whole exercise.
Community participation is therefore very vital if any success must be arrived at in the whole project. The attainment and maintenance of cleanliness(environmental health) in the Buea municipality requires the committed and sustained collaborative action of all the stakeholders including governments at the national, regional and local levels, industry and the private sector, individuals and communities, the media, professional, cultural, and social associations and organizations and non governmental organizations.

 Effective community mobilization is essential for a proper and sustainable solid waste management. Undermining the aspect of effective community mobilization could mean the whole exercise being counterproductive. Buea Council and HYSACAM should not underestimate or overlook the importance of this constraint.
  In the 8^th edition of The Recorder newspaper, this commentator attributed the poor management of household waste to an extent, to the non-involvement directly of women in the handling and management of household waste. This time around Council Authorities and HYSACAM have to go beyond women. They have to involve quarter heads, the civil society, people of different trades and occupations, young people, scavengers, churches etc in the mapping and zoning of the strategically located points, in those communities where accessibility could be a problem, where depots can be created and to agree on the time of the day when the trucks have to pass in the different communities and neighbourhoods to collect their solid waste.

 HYSACAM and Buea Council do not have a monopoly of how solid waste can be managed properly. For example during a workshop organized by Global Health Dialogue, a Buea-based NGO on “ Guidelines for Healthy Communities with special reference on School and Health”, talking about Hygiene and Sanitation in schools, participants proposed sorting as one of the best way of handling and managing of solid waste in schools. They went an extra smile to create the Community Health Association of Buea (COHAB) to facilitate this activity and other planned activities.

Buea Council and HYSACAM have to take this hand of fellowship extended by COHAB by providing receptacles to schools so that the sorting of waste can be carried out successfully in schools. When this practice gains ground in the school environment, the children and students would then serve as ambassadors in their different communities as they are going to be the ones to promote the idea of sorting of perishable from non perishable solid waste before disposal.

This will not only go a long way to separate the high density waste materials being generated by most of our households, low density solid waste materials which constitute recyclables like papers, plastics, nylon and scrap iron will be properly taken care of. For example HYSACAM’s Skip Eater Vehicles will be reserved for low density solid waste materials like cartons, cardboards, and plastics and this will enable them to stand the test of time.
On the whole if sorting is done at the premises of generation, the task of collection and transportation will be highly facilitated. Only the community can facilitate this task hence the need for total community participation in this new Buea Council and HYSACAM solid waste management partnership. Poor results derive more from inadequate planning and implementation than from the lack of knowledge of what is supposed to be done.
Bearing in mind the culture, religion, age, sex, level of education, social and economic status as guidance, it is very important to raise awareness, educate and empower people and communities on: “What to do”, “How to do” and “What to be”. This is the message being transmitted in this write up as we welcome HYSACAM into the Buea Municipality.
                                       

Cameroon:Giving Buea Municipality a facelift.

Buea Mayor, Mbella Moki

By Mofor Samuel

For close to a month or so things have been moving very fast within the Buea Municipality. Local council authorities have been on the field with the aim of giving the municipality a face lift. How far can they go in that direction? Only time will tell.

The signing of a five year contract worth over 2 billion francs with the Hygiene and Sanitation Company of Cameroon, HYSACAM, to keep the town clean as far as waste management is concerned in the municipality is just one side of the story.

Another side of the story has got to do with the pulling down of all semi permanent structures said to be constructed haphazardly along the major highways in the municipality.

 Anyone driving into the town will notice that most of the small businesses from Molyko right up to Clerks’ Quarters particularly along the hospital road have disappeared.

The owners of the structures could be seen struggling to remove the containers that they used to use for their small businesses. Owners of small businesses and council workers could be seen working side by side as far as the demolishing of unwanted structures and the retrieval of what could be retrieved by owners of the small businesses are concerned. In fact the scenario is not a very good one as there is lot of gnashing of teeth and tension in the affected quarters.

Talking over Radio Buea(CRTV) prime time programme, Press Club, the Mayor of the Buea Municipality said that he regretted that things got to that level as far as those affected were concerned. He went further to say that the ministerial decision to demolish all makeshift structures had been respected in some major towns and cities since the decision came into effect some five years ago but Buea Council had been giving time for people to comply and since the time had run out, the sledge hammer had to fall on them.


 The part of the discussion that caught this analyst’s attention and he wants to believe did catch the attention of many other listeners too had got to do with the relocation of those whose business premises were destroyed or were asked to remove their containers. Where do they go from there? The answer provided by the mayor already tells anyone who can read the handwriting on the wall that he might be consciously or unconsciously threading into trouble waters.
Unless proved wrong, this commentator heard him say among other things that some of these people will relocate in the Buea town market that is being constructed, that a mall is also been constructed in Buea town where people can go for shopping, ten hectares of land has been secured in the Molyko neighbourhood to construct a central market for Buea and that the Great Soppo Market will no longer exist as every one will have to move to the new sight. The timeframe was not well defined.
 By trying to deprive Great Soppo of a market under the cover that the local authorities wanted to seize land from individuals to be used as a market site for Great Soppo, don’t he think it is so flimsy an excuse?


There is this old site of the Great Soppo Market, since he said that the ministerial decision to demolish unwanted structures had been going on for five years, couldn’t the council have thought of relocating some of these people here? After all even though they had been asked to quit or demolish the structures as the mayor insinuated during his chat with journalists, the council has all this while been collecting taxes from them.


How could the council be legitimizing their status by collecting taxes from them however little the amount and expecting them to respect its order? Can one not rightly say the council authorities were going out through the door only to come in through the window? It is often said that better be late than never.


Don’t the mayor and his etat-major think that it could have been better to come up with a plan of relocating people starting with the old site of the Great Soppo Market before dialoguing with some on the need for them to move to elsewhere? One could talk of a food market and see how people will react to the suggestion rather than trying to deprive the largest neighbourhooh in the Buea Municipality of a market. It is high time the council authorities rethink their position or they might be starting a war whose outcome will not be the best at least for the image of the town. Remember Buea is not just any town.


People are watching and are silently preparing to counter some of these moves being carried out by the council authorities as far their livelihood and survival are concerned. The issue of a central market in Buea does not concern only the inhabitants of Great Soppo alone or those whose businesses have been destroyed elsewhere but the whole municipality.

Why must the mayor have to go on the air to take on Great Soppo in particular? Can he honestly say that if eventually a central market is constructed, only people who are resident in Great Soppo will be giving stalls?

Every other neighbourhood in Buea to the best of my knowledge has it own market however small or disorganized it might appear to look like. And so let Great Soppo not be used like a scapegoat because the local authorities did not give the municipal authorities the response they expected. In development parlance, it is said that, start where the people are and work from there.
Great Soppo already has an oldsite that used to serve as its market and the former mayor of Buea, Mokake Endeley had started doing something on the site before Mbella Moki and his team came in. What has become of the work started by the former mayor? Does the present mayor not think that if they had deem it necessary to continue with the initiative left by his predecessor it could have gone a long way to reduce some of the headache and stress that is gaining ground within the municipality presently.

Just as the population of Buea Town needs a modern market of their own so does the population of Great Soppo too needs one too, at least on the old site.
It is said that he who goes for equity goes with clean hands. Just like the council authorities have been collecting taxes from sellers and traders in the Buea Town Market so has it been doing the same in Great Soppo.
The new market in Buea Town is part of the facelift given to the town.

 What is wrong in constructing or completing what was left by the previous team as far as the old market site for Great Soppo is concerned so that the abandoned structures left there can be transformed to modern market stalls there by including Great Soppo in the new picture of the municipality and above all reducing some of the tension that is already breeding in the municipality and Great Soppo in particular over the issue of finding a place to set up a business.
The mayor and his etat-major must remember that poor results derive from inadequate planning and implementation than from lack of funds and knowledge.