At Installation Ceremony Ako Mayor Says Council is Heavily Indebted

By Fai Cassian Ndi

Akio Augustine Abe

Akio Augustine, the mayor elect of Ako Council has been installed by the Senior Divisional Officer for Donga Mantung Division with firm instruction to ensure the territorial integrity of the border municipality. Officially married to four wives and a father of 20, Akio Augustine is on his second mandate given that he took over from an impeached mayor and was booted out of office barely two years later. However, since politicians are what they are, they fiddle with words and talk big out of nothing. Akio Augustine, who would have fitted well as a traditional ruler (with an extra-large family of ten wives-four officially recognized) upon taking over the mayoral position of Ako council is already on tree top telling everyone who cares to listen how he is inheriting debts estimated above 55 million FCFA as if when he was leaving the council some 12 years ago, the coffers of the council were loaded with money.

However installed Mayor Akio Augustine Abe told this reporter that he shall ensure that the agricultural sector is harnessed to the fullest to bring about the much needed development of the municipality.  And that if the agricultural sector is full developed, the Ako border market will which is still under construction have a ready market with neighboring Nigerians. Located in Donga Mantung Division of the North West, the municipality is very fertile but most of the people rely mostly on old palms planted by rats to earn a living. A new generation of youths have taken over this black oil (palm cultivation) as a challenge and iIt is however hoped that with the coming of the Cameroon Development Corporation-CDC in the palm sector, improved palm species would be planted so that hardworking farmers could improve their standards of living.

While commissioning the elected Mayor and his deputies in to office last November 30, SDO Ngone Ndodemesape Bernard warned that they should take the council management for a blank check to manage it any how and that as supervisory authority, he shall not hesitate to make use of every legal administrative measures to bring back any defaulter on track. The chief executive called on the elected officials to continue to show proof of maturity as demonstrated during election and strife to serve everybody irrespective of party leaning given that the council is not an organ of a political party. Ako municipality which is border town the SDO called on the Mayor to ensure that Cameroonians living in his council area have a sense of nationality. It has been noted that the use of the Nigerian currency (naira) right in Ako town is a common phenomenon. The development of Ako municipality should surpass all other interest thereby pitting the mayor and his team to harness every possible means to realize that goal. All revenue sources should be exploited with human face for the growth of the municipality.

Notwithstanding, a critical judgment analysis of this SDF run council indicates that there is no equitable sharing. The configuration of the council executive doesn’t take into consideration the sociological component of the municipality. This is so because the mayor and first deputy Chemo Alice come from the same village, Akwesse. Hon Ntoi Joseph out gone parliamentarian for Ako/Misaje who was present for the occasion believes very strongly that Ako council was supposed to be shared between SDF and the CPDM given the results of September 30 which did not give SDF party an absolute majority. Harping on the results SDF obtained, Hon. Noti said with 50.71 percent which was not an absolute majority the council would have been shared between SDF, CPDM and NUDP. He tagged ELECAM Council Head for Misaje for falsifying the results.

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