The Post (Buea)
30 March 2008
Posted to the web 31 March 2008
Jeff Ngawe Yufenyu
Cameroonian Consultant on Governance, Edward Ngala, has said revising the Constitution in favour of a tiny class of people is wrong and can ignite an uprising in the country.
Ngala made the declaration to The Post in Bamenda, on March 25, while commenting on the current constitutional review debate.The international consultant said some ruling class around the world may revise a country's Constitution to
strengthen their grip on power, while others do so to meet the challenges of their citizens.
The Cameroon Constitution, Ngala said, has many inapplicable and poor articles, which may need revision after genuine public consultations, not single party consultations. Some Constitutions, he went on, are poorly written, with the intention to
facilitate future debates on their review. "This is the case with Cameroon," Ngala stressed.
According to Ngala, the experts who drafted the 1996 Constitution created lapses that are being now used to back its revision. He nursed fears that even after revisiting the 1996 Constitution, Cameroonians may still have to wait for more than a
dozen years for its "progressive implementation."
Commenting on the generation gap in Cameroon, Ngala said the old generation rulers and politicians have taken the younger generation for granted. "There is no bridge being built anywhere for the transfer of power from the old to the young,
be it within the ranks of political parties or in government circles," according to Ngala.
He described the old generation rulers and politicians as "graft booster Cameroonians" who cannot survive in any genuine competitive environment. They know very well that they are old, but continue to cling to power by uncouth means, Ngala
said.
He also argues that power must change hands at one time or the other, in any genuine democracy, regardless of how good the performance of the ruler may be.
Truth is always simply written. The world may hate you for speaking the truth, but God will always be with you.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
The second wives of African leaders 11
The worse blunder or marriage of an African leader to a second wife is that of Cameroon ’s President Paul Biya to Chantal Vigoroux. Contrary to leaders such as Robert Gabriel Mugabe, Mathew Olusegun Obasanjo, Albert Bernard Bongo Odimba
or Laurent Gbagbo, Paul Biya is not charismatic. But like any other new leader, when he came to power on the 4th of November 1982, he raised a lot of hope in the minds of many Cameroonians. On his side was an exceptionally intelligent,
beautiful and humane lady, late Irene Biya.
When Irene died, Biya had to remarry the one who is the first lady of Cameroon today. She is by name Chantal Biya nee Chantal Vigoroux. But in other to perceive how and why the first lady that Biya has taken as wife is a blunder, it is important
to know that, the lady who now looks as though she has been force fed, had a very miserable record and background. Hence she wants to revenge and in her sinister adventure, any person who does not dance to her tune has to lie down or
run for his/her dear life.
However many Cameroonian lovers of Tele novellas or Latin American movies, beamed into the country via satellite, courtesy the Moroccan kingdom’s Satellite TV channel 2M, what has happened in the Unity Palace called marriage (name of the
official resident and office of the President) is/ was like a déjà vu or a deja lu.
This is so because, it resembles the story lines of movies, that only Latin Americans are known be best at writing and also putting them on screen . Born in 1970 in Yaoundé to a Lebanese father and Cameroonian mother, Chantal Vigoroux got
married to Paul Biya President of the Republic of Cameroon on the 23rd of April 1994.
Like most Cameroonian Christians, Paul Biya got married in the church and did that in strict respect to biblical norms. The bible, it should be recalled doesn’t encourage divorce or is strongly against it. Nevertheless, the only instance where the bible
tolerates remarriage is when there is cheating or adultery or fornication, but the divorcer is normally not required to remarry. The other situation where in a second marriage is accepted, is only when a partner dies.
Hence, when Jeanne Irene Atyam Biya died, Biya had the leeway to get married or remain a widower. It is not as though this author has anything against the current first lady of Cameroon . In fact she is a gem and will make any real man turn on
his seat if he was seated or be confused, if Chantal Biya is passing by.
But since this beautiful creature got married to Mr Biya, she has transformed the man completely. He doesn’t stay in his official residence and office any more or he comes by only when there are envoys. In addition, he seems to have forgotten all
his friends in particular those who dared complained about the young lady.
Excesses
Chantal’s problem is that, she wants to become or has already become the Vice President of Cameroon, just like Grace Mugabe, the second wife of the dictator of Harare has done in Zimbabwe. She has created her own foundation and its bears
her name and that of her president of a husband. The aim of the foundation we hear is to fight against HIV/AIDS.
That is a noble course, but as it seems to be norm with second wives of African head of states, she has deliberately taken upon herself, to destroy all the representations of the former first lady, the late Jeanne Irene Atyam Biya. At the Yaoundé
Central hospital, there is or was a pavilion named after the late former first lady, but the current one has not only brought them down, she has smashed any references of the former first lady.
And strangely, her Communications advisers and image makers amongst them Professor Jacque Fame Ndongo, former minister of Communications and current minister of Higher Education, has seen nothing bad in the actions of his boss or
perhaps he does not have the strength to tell her the truth .
The promoter of a Communications theory in Cameroon known in French as le renoveau communicationelle is demonstrating all what that theory means at the Chantal Biya foundation. Perhaps the Communications theory of the grand minister of
Communications and minister of Higher education of Paul Biya is focused more on how to develop ways and means of memorial destructions, as Chantal Biya is currently doing with the memories of the late former first lady at the Yaoundé Central
hospital and elsewhere in the country.
If she was destroying the photographs of Irene (the first name of the former first lady) at the presidency as she seems to relish, it would have been another case, even though it is unacceptable as an act. However, she has taken the madness
she demonstrates within the presidency to the public and it is a monumental calamity and disgrace to the President.
Chantal Biya has to be stopped by all means. For failure to stop her excesses, the famous former night club goer and lover of American gang star rap, will soon start confusing and even start confiscating the lone commercial plane owned by the
state, for her shopping spree in trendy boutiques in Paris as does Grace Mugabe.
Her vengeance
When Chantal set foot at the Unity Palace , a building built with monies of tax payers, she immediately began behaving like the famous West African story of rain water and palm wine in a calabash. Those she suspected of despising her were
removed and replaced by her own praise singers. Her first casualty was Laurent Esso and that was in 1996. Before his dismissal from the presidency, he was the head of civil cabinet at the Presidency of the republic.
He was lucky because, as he lost his post, he began a petty merry go round of ministries to land finally at the ministry of foreign affairs as minister. What was the crime of Laurent? He did nothing at all. The first lady just suspected the very calm civil
servant of being snobbish or was not her praise singer.
The next person to leave the presidency was the gallant, elegant and flamboyant chief of presidential protocol, Mr Martin Belinga Eboutou. He too was driven out of the presidency in December 1997 and send as Cameroon ’s representative at
the UN in New York . One year later, it was the turn of the erstwhile influential Divisional Police superintendent, Mr. Pierre Minlo Medjo to be driven out of the post of head of presidential security.
Well his crime was that, he could no longer stomach Chantal’s vagaries and had to give her a reprimand. Some sources claim that, he even had to slap the first lady in one of the many corridors of the presidency, because he did not see why she
should be roving about them like a dejected cat.
However, Mr Medjo has since be re- appointed in March 2000 as Delegate General for National Security. Although Medjo has been given a ministerial post, Chantal has succeeded in her macabre tour de force against all those she imagined
despised her or were not her praise singers.
Her game plan
After driving away all those she deemed submissive from the presidency of the Republic, her stratagem was to replace them with her own cronies. Amongst them was a certain playboy called Jean Stephane Biatcha. A man also suspected in
passing of being one of her many former or current sweat hearts. Mr Biatcha who was already pacing the lobbies of the Unity Palace was Chantal’s replacement for Belinga Eboutou.
But hardliners of the regime said, the institutionalised manage a trios could go on, but an intruder of the calibre of Biatcha won’t have a place at the Presidency of the Republic. The winners in that battle for the selection of a new chief of
presidential protocol were the ideologues of the regime and he was Mr Awono Essama. Chantal being good at concocting vicious plots and all sorts of conspiracies was not abated by her failure to in bringing in her alleged former boy friend to get
a precious post at the Presidency.
Anyway it is also claimed that, as early as in 1996, the year when she drove away Laurent Esso from the Presidency of the Republic, she wanted him replaced by one of her protégé, in the person of Mr. Antoine Zanga. But she failed,
nevertheless as a Spartan, she seldom gives up. As I wrote in part one of this series, since these second wives of African leaders know what they want, they are always ready and preparing constantly for rainy days. As the Chinese saying goes,
an intelligent man or in this case, an intelligent woman or women, will always keep their swords by their sides in time of peace or enjoyments.
Chantal Biya has a well furnished bank account at the French Bank BNP, the Bank of African dictators, their wives and entourage. She also has a well supplied account with another French bank, Credit Lyonais. This bank is also where the
petroleum monies of Cameroon were deposited by late Antoine Assoumos under an alias. But now there is a problem between Mr. Adolphe Moudiki the current chair of the SNH (National Hydro Carbon Corporation of Cameroon ) and a
professional rogue in the name of Adham and his friend Ndahimi Auchi.
They are battling to claim the loot. The former claims that, he wants the monies because it that of the company that he is now managing, while the second team for they are two, also claim that, the lump sum is payment for services rendered to the
late manager and the state of Cameroon. If like me you are angry with the excesses of the second wives of African leaders come and joint the club of protesters.
# posted by ELIE SMITH REPORT11 @ 2:03 PM
Comments:
About Me
Name: Elie Smith
Location: Bonneuil sur marne, Greater Paris Region, France
My name is Elie B. Smith. I am 34 years old and a holder of a Diploma in Mass Communications and a Bachelor in International Marketing. I am a Broadcast Journalist by profession and have worked with the English services of Radio France
International and Canal France International,respectively as a correspondent in Africa and sports commentator here in Paris where I am now living.
Subject: weeklypost1.tripod.com/id3.html
Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2008 10:06:38 -0500
weeklypost1.tripod.com/id3.html
THE WEEKLY POST
EVENTS
Probe Into MOPCOOP
Dear Sir,
I read with shock and dismay, the revelations made in your issue number 273 of April 20 – 26, 2006 concerning the Manyu Oil Palm Cooperative Society (MOPCOOP) by the former president of that cooperative society, Chief Bayen Michael Tabe.
It is a miracle that MOPCOOP is still on its feet after such massive embezzlement and fraud. That such malpractices have been going on for several years with no reaction from the supervisory authorities creates the impression that they too have
been on the take. Or should I say cooperative societies are no longer audited in this country?
It is disheartening that whilst the ordinary farmers toil day and night to plant, nurse to maturity, harvest and feed the Nchang oil mill with the fruits that keep it going, a handful of individuals have been using MOPCOOP as a milking cow to the
exclusion of the real owners of that cooperative society.
With the former MOPCOOP president speaking out at last, I think it is time government steps in to probe into the activities of that farmers’ organisation going back to at least ten years. I think the rape of MOPCOOP has continued unabated
because hardly any of its rogue leaders has been punished over the years. Until something serious that would act as a deterrent to aspirant embezzlers within MOPCOOP is done, the rip-off would continue. Over to you government. Do something
now!
AYUK ELIAS OBEN
KOSSALA QUARTER
KUMBA
Fight Against Corruption And Embezzlement:
4 Ministers, Several GMs To Be Arrested Soon!
By Our Yaounde Staff Correspondent
Since the cleansing campaign against embezzlement and corruption started with the arrest of three former General Managers of state corporations (Ondo Ndong of FEICOM, Joseph Edou of Credit Foncier and Gilles Roger Belinga of the
Cameroon Housing Corporation), many Cameroonians have been asking what next. Many other high-ranking personalities in the country have since been arrested including a seating minister (Siyam Siwe of Mines) as well as many of their
collaborators in high and low places.
Whilst most Cameroonians have been calling on government to ensure that the arrests don’t end only there but that the billions embezzled and deposited in foreign bank accounts be made to be returned to Cameroon, others have been asking
whether the wave of arrests has ended.
The answer that the WEEKLY POST can give now is an emphatic NO! In fact, since the euphoria that swept the nation after the first arrests, more arrests have been made but this time in discretion.
“Government seems to have been advised that by making a lot of noise about the arrest of certain high-ranking individuals, they stood to jeopardise the chances of the cases against the said individuals succeeding in court. Most lawyers for the
accused persons have been talking of pleading prejudice at the subsequent trials and government does not want to be embarrassed when the cases come up”, one knowledgeable source told the WEEKLY POST in Yaounde.
“The arrests have been going on quietly and in fact, as I speak to you, there are some very sensitive dossiers that have been deposited with the State Counsel in Yaounde concerning some members of government and other high-ranking officials
of state corporations”, our source revealed.
The WEEKLY POST has learned that the dossiers concerning four seating ministers have already been handed over for prosecution and sooner or later the said four would be arrested and grilled on the offences against them.
Two of the ministers whose arrests are impending are accused of having embezzled highly indebted poor countries initiative funds. In the case of one, he is accused of having misappropriated about 2.1 billion FCFA. Yet another minister is accused
of having misappropriated 3 billion FCFA HIPC funds.
“We have the names of the said ministers but would not dare mention them for fear of being sued for libel, especially as the cases have not yet come up in open court”, Chief Bisong Etahoben, Editor-in-Chief/Publisher of the WEEKLY POST told
this Reporter.
Amongst the dossiers already with the State Counsel are those concerning some Board Chairmen of state corporations whose former general managers are now in detention. The Board Chairmen are also accused of having been accomplices to
the embezzlement.
About 350 million FCFA is alleged to have been embezzled during the census operations that took place in the country some months ago, and some files that have been handed over to the State Counsel involve the census bureau.
Most of the information the government has been getting concerning embezzlement has been coming from some of the officials already in detention. One of the most garrulous detainee is Ondo Ndong, former General Manager of FEICOM who
has been pointing accusing fingers all over the place.
“He has even pointed accusing fingers at some former high-ranking officials of the CRTV whom he says collected over 300 million FCFA from him in order to do publicity stints on the councils in Cameroon but which publicity was never made.
“The General Managers of at least three state corporations would be targeted during the future wave of arrests”, our source revealed.
About 34 billion FCFA is said to have disappeared from CRTV’s coffers over the last several years up to 2004 and over 20 billion FCFA is said to have been unaccounted for in the Rural Electrification Corporation.
There are other persistent allegations that some money involving the Nsam disaster did not reach the intended quarters and government is surely not going to close its eyes to this.
If all these hints given to the WEEKLY POST end up being true, then several heads would roll any time soon. Already there are very strong indications that some members of government might not be at the Unity Palace dinner on May 20.
“Rumours of a cabinet reshuffle have been rife and always ended up being just rumours. However, should prosecution on the dossiers now with the state counsel start, then the ministers involved would surely be asked to vacate their posts
pending the end of the investigations. This would surely lead to a cabinet shake-up”, a very reliable source close to Unity Palace told this Reporter.
There are surely very many people having sleepless nights these days.
Former Manyu Oil Palm Coop President Unearths Massive Embezzlement
The former President of the Manyu Oil Palm Cooperative Society (MOPCOOP) Chief Bayen Tabe Michael has in a rejoinder to media allegations of improprieties during his tenure, made public the massive misappropriation and mismanagement that
has visited the cooperative society with the arrival of a new management team at MOPCOOP.
To avoid any misinterpretation that may result from analysing the contents of Chief Bayen’s letter, we publish hereunder the full text of the said letter:
Dear Sir,
Chief Otun Etta's recent pronouncements over the Voice of Manyu, in a programme, "The Moment of Truth", relative to WEEKLY POST publication Vol. 12 No. 0247 of June 3 - 9, 2004, prompts me to comment in a matter I had earlier, out of
maturity, decided to ignore.
The catching words or parts of that publication remain, and I quote: "misappropriation"; "impropriety"; Embezzlement"; "fraud"; “incompetence"; "mismanagement"; disappearance of 25.558.274 FCFA in MOPCOOP Ltd". And "The endorsement of a
move to write off the entire amount of 25.558.274 FCFA, some of it clearly stolen”.
My position here is not defensive over the malicious defamatory and libellous allegations imputed on my person and the Manager of MOPOOP Ltd by Mr. Echu Samuel Ayuk who took over from me as President in 2002. I should rather focus on why
the repeated trumpeting of the allegations by Chief Otun Etta.
As an insider in the oil palm cooperative, I know Chief Otun Etta has been a long time ally to Mr. Echu Samuel Ayuk and Mill Engineer, Mr. Besong, for the supply of mill spare parts.
THE TRIO
Chief Otun Etta has supplied mill spares for 18 years; Mr. Echu Samuel Ayuk has been in the cooperative for 21 years, either as President, Vice President, Management Committee Member or Delegate. Mr. Besong has served for 27 years and was
promoted from category 4 to category 8 to become Mill Engineer by Mr. Echu Samuel Ayuk.
The Engineer advices for the purchase of parts while Mr. Echu gives support at the Board or the General Assembly for Otun Etta Enterprise to supply at excruciating prices, particularly during the times of non-technical managers like Messers Abane,
Agbor and Tabot Ayuk Johnson, all of late.
In 1993 Chief Otun Etta started getting into trouble following the advent of the supervisory committee, with me as Secretary. Besides exorbitant prices, he often took advances before supplying. An example is 600.000 francs on payment voucher
No23 of 17/12/94 for the supply of test weights. That amount he failed to deduct from his final bill of 2.750.000 francs paid on voucher No07 of 3/4/95. He supplied tractor tyres at 600.000 frs instead of 350.000 frs.
Things came to a head with the employment of a mechanical engineer as manager in 1996. Chief Otun Etta fell in to disfavour, particularly with the supply of an elevator chain in 1997. The Mill Engineer instigated the urgency for the purchase of
the chain. Mr. Echu Samuel Ayuk, as Vice President, influenced its supply by Chief Otun Etta instead of direct importation of the chain and 2 sprockets by MOPCOOP Manager at the cost of 3.6 million francs. Chief Otun Etta lied that the chain was
already at Lagos wharf pending collection and got an advance of 2.5 million francs promising to supply it by 5/1/97. It took three months for the chain to be supplied on 1/4/97 and despite protest; he bagged a total sum of 8.3 million francs for the
chain by 14/4/97. That chain, when put into use, did not last two years for MOPCOOP to go back to the old chain that was earlier rejected by the Mill Engineer.
Outside cheating Mopcoop Ltd in his spare parts supply deals, Chief Otun Etta is neither a member of the cooperative nor an oil palm farmer supplying fruit to MOPCOOP Ltd. Yet he wrote, calling himself an insider, in confirmation of Mr. Echu
Samuel Ayuk's wanton blackmailing allegations of embezzlement even though Chief Otun knew that:
I. His friend, Mr. Echu, had converted debts owed by some customers and detailed in MOPCOOP Accounts to embezzlement just to blackmail the Manager and me.
II. Mr. Echu contracted in 1985 for the payment of 147 million francs to the Catholic Mission in 10 years for the Oil Mill. From 1985 to 1995 (10 years) only 13 million francs was paid compared to 31 million francs paid from 1996 - 2002, the 6
years period in which I was also involved. Incidentally, my period recorded the highest single yearly amount ever paid of 10 million francs.
III. In 1995, Mr. Echu Samuel Ayuk, without authorization, dug 47 palm trees belonging to MOPCOOP and paid 10.000 francs to the cashier. When I questioned, the Board asked him to pay an additional 13.500 francs to resolve the matter,
which up to date has not been paid.
IV. In 1999, as Vice President, Mr. Echu, against MOPCOOP rules, took a loan of 500.000 francs repayable in 10 months. After 14 months, when nothing was repaid, I intervened and he grudgingly repaid the loan in 20 monthly instalments.
V. Mr. Echu took over from me as President in December 2002 and immediately contracted to himself the completion of the Board Room, initiated by me on direct MOPCOOP labour by collecting 200.000 francs from the cashier for a start. The
colossal expenditure of 671.000 francs made by him cannot be considered reasonable or in the interest of MOPCOOP.
VI. As can be seen on page 2 of Mr. Echu's address presenting the Accounts of 2003, he had in one year squandered 10 million francs from the 27.874.656 francs I handed over to him.
VII. Mr. Echu, despite the serious drop in production and the fall in price of oil, increased the number of Delegates from 28 to 40 and Board Members from 5 to 7 all involving additional costs on the society.
VIII. Mr. Echu negotiated the supply of engine oil at 47.000 frs instead of 35.000 frs by the Manager.
IX. Mr. Echu raised his daughter from learner to a cashier so as to readily get access to MOPCOOP funds.
X. With the Manager on leave, Mr. Echu, with the complicity of EBOT'S WELDING METAL WORKS, urged the Board to pay an exaggerated bill of 1.9 million francs that should have totalled 1.4 million francs. After scrutiny later by the Manager,
770.000 francs was then approved by the Board for payment. Over 1.2 million francs would have gone in to thin air following Mr. Echu's diabolic plan.
XI. In one year, as President, Mr. Echu took 330.000 francs on I.O.U., as indicated in the accounts of 2003, contrary to MOPCOOP rules.
XII. When the in-law's son died at Bafoussam, Mr. Echu went with MOPCOOP vehicle duly fuelled from the oil mill and collected out-station allowance and hotel bills when he returned.
XIII. But for the Manager's refusal to sign for Mr. Echu's out-station allowance and hotel bills in the trip the sister's son got married at Konye and later Kumba, MOPCOOP would have spent just as in the journey to Bafoussam.
The above is the backdrop of the stewardship of the Board President, Mr. Echu Samuel Ayuk, whom Chief Otun Etta in total connivance, must back and misled the public to see as having MOPCOOP interests, at heart. With Mr. Echu back as
President, Chief Otun Etta saw a chance to stage a come back to resume his swindling deals at MOPCOOP Ltd.
o That is, per quote, the "prominent traditional ruler in Manyu Division, Chief Otun Etta" who with his collaborators have realistic sympathy for the survival of MOPCOOP at heart;
o That is the "prominent traditional ruler" who blind to reason in the bid for vengeance over losing supply deals, cannot see the danger faced by MOPCOOP, including those he says, "have fallen short of expectation", in defamatory suits that
could have resulted from Mr. Echu Samuel Ayuk's allegations;
o Here you are with that "prominent traditional ruler" who borrows from his struggling village Group Meeting and for years cannot repay despite intervention by the State Counsel.
It is true that crooks or fraudulent people think every other person must be like them. Without self-praise, I stand tall in the face of who matter to MOPCOOP as a forerunner for correcting many ills in that Society.
I challenge Chief Otun Etta to reply, for his mentor, Mr. Echu Samuel Ayuk, to my letter of 12th March, 2004 on the subject of: "Presentation of The 2003 Final Accounts" addressed to Mr. Echu Samuel Ayuk. I challenge frustrated Chief Otun Etta
and his collaborators to go to court for any shortcomings or misappropriation on my part during my tenure of Office at MOPCOOP Ltd instead of resorting to blackmail and character assassination.
Kindly publish this rejoinder in its entirety.
Chief Bayen Tabe Michael
Former MOPCOOP President
Meme SCNC County Chairman Says At This Stage Of Struggle There Is No Going Back
One aspect of the “SCNC’s fight for independence” that has been putting water into its wine is its factionalisation and the contradictory pronouncements made by some of its operatives. Sometimes, their statements are so outlandish that they have
no bearing with truths on the ground. The Meme County Chairman of the SCNC, Mr. Henry Bovala Nganje recently spoke to WEEKLY POST’s Sama George and some of his declarations may not be as helpful to the cause of the SCNC as one
would have expected. He also seems a stranger to the names of some United Nations arms and specialised agencies, which he claims are fighting the cause of the SCNC. We publish exactly what he said and leave the names as such, with only
a little editing for clarification.
Excerpts of the conversation:
WEEKLY POST : You are the Meme County Chairman of the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC). Can you tell us what problems your county has been facing?
BOVALA NGANJE: Our main problem has been that of constant arrests, detentions and torture.
WEEKLY POST: What does the SCNC really want, at this point in time?
BOVALA NGANJE: We want to restore the independence of Southern Cameroons since the government of La Republique du Cameroun does not want and is not ready to dialogue with us through our leaders Chief Otun Ayamba and Dr. Nfor
Nfor. The government also ignores the fact that there is an international organisation known as OMPO (it fights for the rights of marginalized peoples), which has been handling our affairs at the international level so it is not by lobbying opposition
leaders like Ni John Fru Ndi to stay quiet that would solve the problem of the SCNC or the Anglophone problem for that matter.
WEEKLY POST: If the government were to call you people for dialogue, would the SCNC problem be resolved?
BOVALA NGANJE: I can’t say here and now that if government called us for dialogue the SCNC/Anglophone problem would be over since I am not one of the main leaders of the SCNC. I am just a county chairman.
WEEKLY POST: Are you sure Southern Cameroons would attain independence soon?
BOVALA NGANJE: Ours is a peaceful struggle. We don’t want to achieve independence through war. In any case, we don’t have the means with which to go to war. Our struggle is being supervised and supported by the United Nations
International Security Council and the human rights organisation, as such, it would be successful by God’s mercy.
WEEKLY POST: The SCNC has several factions. Have these factions been reconciled? If not, which of the factions do you belong to?
BOVALA NGANJE: I thank you for this important question. The truth is that those who are the real leaders of the SCNC are Chief Atun Ayamba, who is the National Chairman and Dr. Nfor Nfor and others who actually took the matter to an Abuja
High Court. From Abuja, they went to the African Human Rights Court in Banjul, The Gambia. The government of La Republique du Cameroun is aware of all these movements. The SCNC won their cases in all these instances and even at the
United Nations. What we have been waiting for is just the final verdict and La Republique has not been showing up at court sessions and this question of government not being ready for dialogue is what has been prolonging the matter.
Concerning the faction I belong to, I would say I belong to the Ayamba faction which is the authentic faction and this is why I am the Meme County Chairman. My position here in Meme is like the position of the SCNC Senior Divisional Officer for
Meme. I am also a member of the National Executive Council of the SCNC so any other faction which has not been to court in Banjul or is not dealing with OMPO is not a legitimate faction. You cannot be crying someone else’s death when you are
not the principal actor. The other factions are the ones which go to government and deceive it that they are going to end the matter and they give them huge sums of money without solving the matter.
WEEKLY POST: Which are some of the SCNC factions which are not authentic, according to you?
BOVALA NGANJE: Ambassador Fossung’s faction is one of them. Fossung is one of those who has duped government. He is just a noise-maker and has no following whatsoever, neither does he have a base. There are also Chief Isaac Oben of
Muyuka and Theodore Leke who have been deceiving the government that they would do everything to end the SCNC imbroglio. These are the people the government dialogues with and claims to be dialoguing with the SCNC.
Our county has 13 divisions and we have our representatives in these divisions. We even have representatives abroad.
QUESTION: What can government do in order to put this SCNC matter to rest?
BOVALA NGANJE: Thank you very much for this question. However, it can only be answered by my leaders. As far as I am concerned, having reached the level where we are today, I think there can be no turning back. What has been
aggravating things is the constant arrest, detention and torture of SCNC militants, which government thinks is the best way to dialogue with us. What this government is doing to us is in the same line with what the apartheid government in South
Africa did to Nelson Mandela. We all know what happened in South Africa, and today, apartheid is history.
WEEKLY POST: Have you ever been arrested and tortured yourself?
BOVALA NGANJE: I have never been arrested and detained, but they have always been threatening to arrest me and each time, I have always succeeded in outsmarting them. Besides, I am not a radical so I always try to solve all problems I come
fact-to-face with in a peaceful way.
In 2002, I went in for parliamentary elections under the banner of the CDU of Dr. Adamu Ndam Njoya. We have tried in so many ways to convince the Biya government to listen to us but to no avail, so we are bent on going all the way to the
independence of Southern Cameroons.
WEEKLY POST: Who is Henry Bovala Nganje?
BOVALA NGANJE: I am born and bred in the Southwest province but my parents are from Balikumbat in the Northwest province. My father was once a Secretary of State in the West Cameroon government.
WEEKLY POST: Your last word?
BOVALA NGANJE: I want to tell you the truth: Some Southern Cameroonians are married to daughters and sons of La Republique du Cameroun and vice versa. When our country had two states, things were moving very well and Anglophones
felt fine, but today the Anglophone is looked upon as a second class citizen in La Republique du Cameroun. I am asking all Southern Cameroonians to keep on praying and to stay calm as God shall one day answer their prayers.
IS NNOKO MBELE COVETING THE BAFAW PARAMOUNT STOOL?
By Our Cultural Affairs Correspondent
The recent meeting called by the Paramount Ruler of the Bafaws, HRH Nfon V.E Mukete to discuss very pertinent issues affecting the Bafaw tribe has come and gone, but the echoes of this meeting continue to make headline news in some
news organs. Despite the attempts by a handful of some disgruntled so-called elites to sabotage this important gathering, the meeting, nevertheless, recorded a huge attendance and success never experienced in the history of the Bafaw tribe.
The success of this meeting clearly demonstrates the popularity the Paramount Ruler of the Bafaws enjoys amongst his kinsmen despite all the smear campaigns against his person and immediate family over the years orchestrated by those who
covet the stool of the Bafaw paramount chiefdom.
It is therefore not surprising that despite the success of this meeting, a handful of so-called Bafaw elites led by Caven Nnoko Mbele, Government Delegate to the Kumba Urban Council, Akwo John Eyoh, Divisional Delegate of Secondary
Education for Ndian and a certain Aduma an impostor who refers to himself as the Chief of Mambanda village decided to sponsor the publication of a Kumba-based tabloid to play down the success of this meeting and give the impression that
there was a succession problem facing the Bafaw Paramount Chiefdom.
From the declarations of these individuals, one might be tempted to think that there is a chieftaincy problem in Kumba and that there is likely going to be a succession problem after HRH Nfon V.E Mukete. This is a very wrong perception that could
only be believed by those who are ignorant of the history of the Bafaw tribe.
The present Bafaw Chiefdom of Kumba was founded and inhabited by over 8 different families with each of these families operating independently. It therefore required the intervention of the German colonial administration in the mid 19th
century to organise the various families of the Bafaws in Kumba into a single chiefdom that Kumba is today.
History has it that it was late Nfon Abel Mukete who was chosen by his own Bafaw kinsmen to become the first-ever chief of Kumba. After he was chosen by his kinsmen in absentia, on his way back from the farm, he was informed by his kinsmen.
He rejected the offer twice on grounds that it was going to disturb his large scale agricultural activities and business since he was already representing a German firm in Cameroon at that time. It required the pleading of the German colonial
administrator (who even advised him that he could appoint a regent) for him to reluctantly accept the chieftaincy throne. Any doubting Thomas can consult the German Colonial report of 1872 known as the Donder’s Report.
Since then, the Bafaw chiefdom has evolved to embody all the other Bafaw villages out of Kumba into a Paramount Chiefdom with the Nfon of Kumba assuming the throne as Paramount Ruler of the Bafaws.
We are all aware of the fact that since the reorganisation of the Bafaw chiefdom during the German colonial era, this chieftaincy institution was inherited by the British colonial administration which later on introduced the indirect rule through the
Native Authorities ( NA). To further demonstrate their trust in the Paramount Ruler of the Bafaws, Nfon Abel Mukete, the British Colonial authorities gave him more powers by making him the head of the Native Authority in the then Kumba Division
which extended right up to the present day Kupe Maneguba and Ndian Divisions. The Kumba chieftaincy has, since its inception, always rotated within the Mukete dynasty and this status quo, right up to this present date, has never been
challenged by any of the eight founding families of Kumba.
Where then is all this propaganda about the end of the Mukete dynasty coming from? Who are these individuals challenging the chieftaincy institution of the Bafaw people? What moral authority have they got to challenge the chieftaincy
institution of the Bafaw people? Are we sure that some of them even have Bafaw blood flowing in their veins? Since when did they become king-makers to decide how the succession to the Bafaw throne should be?
We cannot attempt to give answers to some of these questions if we do not unmask some of the faces behind this attempt to destabilise the traditional institution of the Bafaw people and the selfish reasons for such behaviour.
Our investigations so far have identified some individuals behind these destabilisation attempts against the Bafaw Paramount chieftaincy. They include Caven Nnoko Mbele, Akwo John Eyoh and Aduma.
As concerns the Government Delegate to the Kumba Urban Council, he claims to be a descendant of Ebako Dibo, one of the eight founding fathers of Kumba. However his claim as a descendant of Ebako Dibo family is being challenged by his
fellow kinsmen because his so-called late father had disavowed him as his legitimate son and there are documents such as the late man’s affidavit in the Kumba High Court attesting to the fact that Caven Nnoko Mbele is not his son. Nfon Mukete’s
only sin against Nnoko Mbele is the fact that he presided over the said meeting in which Nnoko Mbele was disavowed by his father and is still in keeping of the minutes of that meeting. Secondly, when his stepmother Lillian Nnoko challenged his
claim to be heir to late Pa Nnoko in the Kumba High Court, Nfon Mukete and late Barrister Eseme were called up by the widow as her witnesses to the fact that Caven Nnoko Mbele was not her late husband’s son and therefore could not claim to
be the rightful heir of her late husband. Even though the matter was later on adjoined till further notice, the court went ahead and recommended that both parties should sort their differences out of court because of the damage the said case
was causing to the personality of Caven Nnoko Mbele.
Since then Caven Nnoko Mbele has never forgiven Nfon V.E Mukete for protecting the interest of a poor widow. Sources close to the Government Delegate say he covets the Bafaw Royal throne ostensibly as a descendant of Ebako Dibo.
To this end, when Nnoko Mbele was informed of one of the resolutions of the General Bafaw meeting (Mbom Bafaw ) in which all the eight founding fathers of Kumba, all Bafaw chiefs and notables unanimously declared their allegiance to the
Mukete dynasty and further signed an undertaking that no other person out of the Mukete Dynasty can contest the throne, he saw his ambitions slipping through his fingers.
The Eseme murder trial has come and gone as such, honour and decorum demands that Nnoko and his cohorts make peace with their ruler, HRH Nfon V.E. Mukete. Anything outside this would be a threat to public peace.
By declaring that the Nfon wanted him to go to jail over the Eseme murder trial and giving this as an excuse for not attending such an important Bafaw general assembly is a clear indication of intolerance and immaturity on his part. If there is
anybody who should still bear any grudge against that trial, it should be the Nfon for all the ordeals he went through during that trial despite his age. Yet, he still had the fatherly mind to extend an invitation to all his subjects to express their minds
on very important issues affecting the chiefdom. Even those who had opinions different from those of the Nfon were given the opportunity to express themselves. That should have been the right forum for Caven Nnoko Mbele to air his grievances
and extend a hand of reconciliation to his Nfon like any other matured politician would have done. Yet he turned his back on his Nfon and kinsmen by passing judgement against his people.
He should be reminded by what Chinua Achebe says in his novel “Arrow of God” that “no one man, no matter how great can ever win judgement against his people” and that “a child who wrestles with his father risks being blinded by the old man’
s loin cloth”.
The recent disclaimer of his declarations by his own Ebako Dibo family heads is an indication to Nnoko Mbele that no matter how long a toad stays in the water it can never turn into a crocodile.
AKWO EYOH, A DISGRUNTLED LOSER
His recent declarations against the Bafaw General Assembly do not come as a surprise to many Bafaw people. He is most often described within the Bafaw community as an epitome of ungratefulness. Most Bafaw elites have attested to the fact
that his ungratefulness knows no bounds. As a matter of fact, it is said that Akwo Eyoh owes everything to Nfon V.E Mukete who did everything to have him recruited into the civil service as a secondary school teacher. The generosity of the Nfon
towards him did not only end there as the Nfon personally appointed him as the Head of the Bafaw Linguistic Programme intended to teach Bafaw children their language. Despite several discrepancies in his management of the said programme,
the Nfon still went out of his way to confer on him the title of “Kwo” which is the most coveted title in the Bafaw tradition.
Akwo Eyoh’s is angry with Nfon V.E Mukete because the Nfon did not back his candidature to take over from late Chief Eseme as chief of Kokoboma. It should be noted that the kingmakers of Kokoboma placed their choice on the son of the late
Chief Eseme and Nfon Mukete being a very principled man decided to respect the choice of the kingmakers of Kokoboma to the disenchantment of Akwo Eyoh who petitioned in vain. Since then Akwo Eyoh has remained one of those destabilising
factors trying to incite other Bafaw elites and subjects against Nfon V.E Mukete. In fact, the question one may be tempted to ask here is: why should a man who has no royal blood in his veins get up one morning to contest a royal throne with a
royal prince? Is chieftaincies in the Bafaw tribe for sale?
ADUMA, AN IMPOSTOR?
Unlike Akwo Eyoh who does not have royal blood in his veins, the case of this young man who wrongfully arrogates himself the title of a chief is quite regrettable. This is because the chieftaincy stool in Mambannda unlike that of Kokoboma rotates
amongst the royal families of that village and is not hereditary. As such, after the death of the late Chief Aduma of Mambanda, the kingmakers with the instruction from the administration decided to carry out consultations to select a new chief. The
self-proclaimed chief never showed any interest and did not, at anytime, challenge the decision of the kingmakers. The young Aduma who is a driver to a prominent cocoa dealer (whose names we are withholding and who has a vested interest in
the succession process being a native of Mambanda) only surfaced after one of the Mambanda elites failed to be selected by the kingmakers. As such, their plan was to have this young Aduma appointed by the administration after which the
cocoa dealer would send him abroad and Mr Matuke will be appointed as a regent. When the administration got wind of their plans, the Paramount Ruler of the Bafaws HRH Nfon V.E Mukete was consulted and he endorsed the decision of the
kingmakers appointing Mr Akama, a railway engineer as the legitimate Chief of Mambanda.
I would like to praise the bravery of HRH Nfon V.E Mukete to prepare a smooth transition after his rein. It is very rare today to find people with such principles and vision. When finally you are gone to meet your ancestors, you would not only be
remembered for your generosity towards your subjects, most especially towards your detractors but you will equally be remembered as a man who worked tirelessly for the unity and success of this country and who in his last days did everything
possible to preserve the unity of the Bafaw people.
Last Updated: Friday, 3 June, 2005, 15:21 GMT 16:21 UK
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Is there life after the presidency?
Ghanaians are still debating former President Jerry Rawlings' role
What to do with former heads of state when they leave office is a source of debate for many Africans.
The African Statesmen Initiative, which is being launched in Mali is hoping to focus on the positive examples of life after office.
More than 20 African former leaders will be talking about promoting democracy and democratic transition in Africa.
According to the National Democratic Institute which is organising this meeting, "many African presidents cling to power beyond constitutionally and democratically tolerable limits, in part because life after the presidency is seen to offer little in
comparison to the riches, stature and security of being in power".
In Malawi and in Zambia, former Presidents Bakili Muluzi and Frederick Chiluba tried unsuccessfully to get their country's constitution amended to allow them a third term in office.
And in Mr Chiluba's case life after the presidency hasn't been as restful as he might have envisaged. He has been stripped of his immunity and has been in and out of court on corruption charges.
Former Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings on the other hand has carved a new career for himself as a UN volunteer and public speaker while recently retired Namibian President Sam Nujoma has decided to go back to school and study geology
at the University of Namibia.
On BBC Africa Live, we're asking: Is there life after the presidency? Should retired presidents be involved in politics? And should they continue to enjoy immunity?
living.