Cameroon:SW Regional Deputy Treasurer, Dorothy Forchak, is dead

By Christopher Ambe

Forchak Dorothy: Farewell !

The Buea Regional Treasury is bereaved. One of its senior Personnel, Forchak Dorothy Ebong, who was Deputy Regional Treasurer No.2, gave up the ghost in a hospital in Limbe last Sunday, reportedly after a protracted illness.

The corpse is presently at the mortuary of the Kumba General hospital, pending removal on Friday September 21, according to sources at the Buea Regional Treasury.

Forchak Dorothy, 46, noted for her broad smile, is said to have been a very duty-conscious and respectful Inspector of Treasury. 

The personnel of the Buea Regional Treasury have described her death as a great loss. The Southwest Regional Treasurer/ Paymaster-General, Ayuk Peter, is said to be mobilizing to give the fallen colleague a befitting burial.

She died barely weeks after she buried her father, Enow Forchak Sampson.

Forchak Dorothy was appointed Deputy Treasurer at the Buea regional treasury sometime in 2011 and she occupied that position until her death last September 9.

Before that, this mother of two children, served as Deputy Divisional Treasurer, Limbe(2004-2010);Interim Divisional Treasurer, Limbe(2003-2004);Deputy Divisional Treasurer, Limbe(1998-2003).

Before she enrolled in ENAM Yaounde in 1998 and graduated with Diploma in Finance in 2000,Forchak Dorothy who obtained her First Degree in English Private Law from the then University of Yaounde, was Legal Adviser  with Satellite Insurance Company ,Douala.

She was born on August 23, 1966 in Atibongwire in Manyu Division of the Southwest Region.

Forchak Dorothy did her primary education at Saint Joseph Primary school Fiango Kumba; secondary education at Government High School Mamfe,where she obtained her GCE Ordinary Level and proceeded to Cameroon College of Arts and Science ,Kumba where she passed the GCE Advanced Level before enrolling in the then University of Yaoundé to read law.

Forchak Dorothy has left behind many family members, colleagues, class mates, friends and well-wishers to mourn and remember her.

(First published in The Recorder Newspaper, Cameroon, of August 14, 2012)

Ministerial Road Maps: Will the Yang government please stand up!

                   By Tazoacha  Asonganyi in Yaounde.

Professor Tazoacha Asonganyi

Paul Biya took over the helm of power from Ahmadou Ahidjo in Cameroon in November 1982. He ruled for some 10 years before Cameroonians together, at the tripartite conference of October/November 1991, decided to limit the mandate of any person who sought the presidency of Cameroon to a maximum of two-seven-year mandates. He was given the leeway to start afresh with all other Cameroonians, under the ambit of the new rule. He did, but before the end of his second and last mandate, he forced the hand of the country to change the constitution to give him the possibility of a life presidency. This is why he is still at the presidency some 30 years later!

During the 30 years Paul Biya must have formed some 20 governments or more. Choosing a government is undoubtedly one of the most important ways in which he, like most rulers, exercise power over the whole conduct of government. During 30 years, choosing a good government team would have virtually become routine to him, since he would know many people with the calibre of becoming good ministers.

A good ministerial team is of great importance in keeping effective political control over the work of government departments. It is the job of government to create a framework for stability, the rule of law, and sound economic policies within which individual families and businesses are free to pursue their own dreams and ambitions. It is also the duty of government to provide the right framework of laws and an educated work force to widen choice, generate wealth and jobs and improve the quality of life of the citizens.

Unfortunately, Paul Biya is not a man of force and character. He seems to agonise a lot over decision making, taking too much time to reach most decisions; he seems to be too concerned with personal detail, and less with discussion and collective action. He has been docked with the problems of nurturing democracy which he does not want, but talks a lot about it like a pet project. In appointing his plethora of members of government over the years, he hardly ever pays attention to the fact that if a person is disloyal in one department, he would be in another; he pays too much attention to regional “balance” without ensuring that a man of the same or better calibre replaces the “brother/sister.” He regularly papers-over cracks, not seeming to know that the cracks will come later to haunt him, as they are doing now; he ignored for a long time that irresponsible behaviour that does not involve penalty of some kind, slowly becomes the norm.

Upon the formation of each government, the overall strategy of the government has to be defined in a very clear way. Such strategy is supposed to be repeated over and over again at regular ministerial meetings to compel every minister to relate problems to the overall strategy of the government, thus constantly keeping the eyes of the government on the ball. During such ministerial meetings, each government department is supposed to provide the facts which constitute the framework for thinking, talking, writing, discussing, debating, and fine-tuning overall government policy.

Rules of engagement are usually the means by which the politician authorises the framework within which the military can be left to make operational decisions; they have to be clear and cover all possible eventualities. It is supposed to be the same with the overall strategy of government dished out to new governments, and repeated to the government regularly.

Regular ministerial meetings also allow the government to talk to itself, and so prevent tensions from building up when departmental actions cause frictions which are always present due to the frailty of human nature; the meetings give vent to such tensions and clear up misunderstandings which build up when people do not see and talk to one another frequently enough.

On top of ensuring the choice of good governmental teams, the public service should be professional to allow governments that change from time to time, to come and go with a minimum of dislocation and a maximum of efficiency. Unfortunately, our public service is at the beck and call of the ruling CPDM party: highly corrupt, prompt to descend to the field to defend the interests of the party, constantly abusing and misusing state property, highly unprofessional!

Of recent, we have been told that each department of government has been asked to draw its own “road map” for government action. And the league to which they will belong – bad, good, or excellent – will depend on how well they do this. This is preposterous, given that a government should act as one harmonious unit meant to deliver or facilitate the delivery of goods and services to the citizenry. If each department has to think up what to cook and how to cook it, the cacophony on the table of Cameroonians would be beyond description, as it already seems to be already. A ministerial department should enter a common kitchen, find the ingredients, the cookbook with the various menus, and prepare only menus already present in the cookbook of a government that intends to deliver a good nutritional health to the citizens.

Asking each individual minister to identify their own ingredients and write their own menus and cookbooks, is like bungling the classical work of government, while leaving the perception that the government has its hands on deck. It will just not work that way.

Will the Yang government please, stand up!

 

Dr. Fru: Traditional Medicine Growing By Leaps And Bounds in Cameroon

But Still To Be Integrated Into  National Health Care System

Dr. Richard  Fru.

 By Christopher Ambe

Dr. Fru Richard, Founder/Director of the famous Dr. Fru‘s Garden of Eden International Healing & Research Foundation  with headquarters in  Buea, has said   traditional  medicine is growing by leaps and bounds in Cameroon, despite lackluster efforts by the Government to promote it as recommended by the World Health Organization(WHO).

Dr. Fru ,who is a celebrated researcher of  traditional medicine, made the statement on the occasion of the 10^th African Traditional Medicine day, which he organized single-handed, at his Buea clinic premises last August 31, and brought together a huge crowd of lovers and users of traditional medicine.

African Traditional Medicine Day, which is August 31 yearly, is backed by the WHO.

This year’s theme was “African Traditional Medicine Day: What impact?”

The ceremony, which coincided with Dr. Fru’s yearly donation of foodstuff to the less-privileged, was characterized by a well-attended press conference, during which Dr.Fru proved to journalists that he remains a master in traditional medicine by answering questions to the satisfaction of all.

Dr. Fru with mike at drugs' exhibition as reporters take notes

 Other highlights of the ceremony were free consultation and treatment of patients with drugs produced by the researcher/healer-and an exhibition of newly produced and packaged traditional drugs.

“Everywhere in Cameroon, there is a new spirit of traditional medicine blowing. More and more people are now embracing traditional medicine to take care of their health needs”, Dr. Fru told the press conference

Africans (80%) Depend on Trad-medicine

Many answered present for  free consultation and treatment

 According to the WHO more than 80% of Africans depend on traditional medicine, Dr. Fru said, adding that the positive impact of traditional medicine in Cameroon is greatly felt by people of all walks of life.

He disclosed that because of the importance of traditional medicine the WHO has since been mounting pressure on governments to integrate it into their health systems.

But Dr. Fru expressed regrets that in Cameroon, some unscrupulous government officials are working against the WHO request by Intimidating those practicing traditional medicine.

“ It is 10 years now, while there is noticeable progress in many other countries ,there is still no significant progress that has been made in Cameroon by {the Government}  when it comes to integrating traditional medicine into the national health care system,” fumed the Director of Dr. Fru‘s GEIHR Foundation.

 “Unfortunately, this is still an area where the dominant culture is treated like a marginal culture”  

He insisted that traditional medicine is the mother and the future of all medicines and that it is based on the truth. The researcher said in traditional medicine there is no standard dosage.

“Traditional Medicine has no limitations. This is why traditional medicine is referred to as holistic medicine; it is medicine that widens and extends beyond the narrow world view. It is super medicine; it has a lot of super natural properties in it”, according to Dr.Fru.

He said heads of state of African Union (AU) at last AU meeting declared the period from 2011 to 2020 as the Second Decade of Traditional Medicine with the recommendation that, member countries should promote and develop the practice of traditional medicinal medicine.

The purpose of the day, Dr.Fru said, was to sensitize the public on the merits of the usage and practice of the traditional medicine.

 “The horizon of traditional medicine has been broadened as we are now talking about botanists who identify plants, pharmacognosy, microbiologists and all other fields related to health care. All we need to do is to fasten unity among colleagues and have one voice in defense of the practice,” he observed as he called for improved collaboration between ordothox and traditional practitioners.

Communication needed for awareness creation

 The CEO of GEIHR foundation lamented that government agents don’t want tradi-practioners to sensitize the public on the importance of traditional medicine.

Journalists at the press conference

 “Many uninformed persons have categorized our activities being propagated and mediatized to promote traditional medicine as advertisement”, he noted. “Many uninformed traditional healers still depend only on the patient-to –patient information as sensitization”

Dr. Fru stressed the important role of communication in creating awareness. “The Bible is is a medium wherein God is made known to man. Is this advertisement? If it is, then, what we are doing in the press is advertisement par excellence!”

He stressed that “our media campaign is intended to promote an idea or influence behavior of patients and society in general towards healthy living. “Just imagine what would have happened to the population if there was not a vast and aggressive media campaign against the HIV/AIDS and others?” he asked rhetorically.

It should by noted that although an invitation was sent to the Southwest Regional Delegation of the Ministry of Public Health in Buea, neither the  Regional Delegate nor his representative attended  the ceremony, pushing   observers to question whether Government  is actually committed to promoting traditional medicine as recommended by WHO.

Although headquartered in Buea, the GEIHR Foundation has established branches in some towns and cities of Cameroon. Towns and cities already having branches of GEIHR Foundation are: Kumba, Douala, Yaounde, Bamenda, Limbe and recently Bertoua.

Dr.Fru plans to establish more branch clinics in Maroua, Ebolowa, Ngoundere and Graoua-especially as the demand for his drugs and consultation is greatly increasing as the days pass by.

 

Dr.Fru”s Popularity

Dr. Fru's Foodstuff  donation for  the needy

Dr. Fru, as young as he is, has become a famous  award winning  modern traditional doctor who has proven beyond doubts that, traditional medicine is the bedrock of all medicine on earth and remains the future of all medicines 

Dr. Fru  has, for years now,  been a household name not only  in Cameroon but also abroad because of  the effectiveness of his  medicinal drugs, that knock out diseases from the body - even some considered by conventional doctors as incurable.He is also a philanthropist,assisting the needy in various ways.

Cameroon:Mothers Told Exclusive Breastfeeding of Babies for First Six Months Highly Recommended

By Christopher Ambe 

The decision by some healthy mothers- especially young ones, not to subject their new born-babies to exclusive breast feeding has been condemned by health professionals.  

Speaking to journalists at a media sensitization conference in Buea last August 27, on the occasion of World Breastfeeding Week 2012, organized by the Southwest Delegation of Public Health in collaboration with UNICEF,it emerged that the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding to the baby, mother, the family and  the society as a whole ,are quite numerous.

The sensitization week was placed under the theme “Exclusive Breast Feeding, Not Even Water for the First Six Months of Your Baby’s Life”

Some journalists with Dr.Ejigui (carrying red bag) after meeting.

It has been observed that among other reasons some healthy young mothers choose not subject their new-born babies to exclusive breast feeding for fear that their breasts would become flaccid very soon.

But Dr. Ejigui Jeanne, of UNICEF Yaounde, who was one of the resource persons at the conference, insisted that mothers must consider the health of their babies first, and not worry about falling breasts.

Asked what mothers who just give birth should do when they realize that their breast milk is not flowing, Dr.Ejigui advised that new born babies be allowed to suck the nipples. She said sucking stimulates the breasts to produce milk.

She said mothers should start breast feeding in the first hour after birth, noting that, “Early breast feeding helps reduce bleedings”and that “Colostrum, the first yellow milk is good for the baby because it helps protect the baby against diseases and eliminates black stools”

On how new born babies be suckled, Dr. Ejigui recommended “Breast feed on demand”

 She said after six months of exclusive breastfeeding, the child should gradually be given appropriate nutrients in addition to breast milk.

  On his part, Mr.Epie Gerald, nutritionist, working at the Southwest Delegation of Public Health, enumerated the various benefits of exclusive breast feeding.

According to him, for the baby, during the first six months of life, breast milk: provides enough water and all nutrients the baby needs for proper growth; is easily digested by the baby; protects the baby against infections thanks to antibodies that it contains; creates and reinforces affective links between mother and child and helps an harmonious brain development of the child.

For the mother, the nutritionist said exclusive breast feeding “reduces the risks of breast and ovarian cancer”; reduces obesity and weight gain risks and that exclusive breast feeding also acts as a contraceptive.

Looking at the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding to the family and society, Mr. Epie said it helps achieve savings, reinforces social cohesion and reduces mortality rates.

 The conference was opened by Dr.Bedifeh Atembeh, representing the Southwest Delegate for Public Health. Dr.Bedifeh Atembeh is head of Expanded Program for Immunization (EPI) at the Delegation. He called on journalists to regularly educate the public on the importance of exclusive breastfeeding

Dr. David Makongo Awards Scholarship to 20 Deserving Bakweri University Students

Each student receives 50,000 FCFA 

Dr.David Makongo