After spending 367 days in office as
mayor of Fundong Council, Awoh Ndang Denis has broken records to give an
account of his stewardship. The local governance meeting dubbed “Public Hearing”
which was massively attended by people from all walks of life took at the
ABASSAKOM Hall in Fundong. As the moderator of the event Choves Loh puts it:
Public communication is generally absent in most council set ups in Cameroon
whereas it is very important in the drive and achievement of local development
as an instrument in good governance.
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| Awoh Ndang Denis in Blue suit and the Moderator Choves Loh |
To impressionists, October 16, 2014
marked the opening of a new chapter in Fundong council’s communication which is
very crucial in setting records straight, checking rumours and misinformation. As
hundreds stormed the meeting hall to listen to their mayor gives a vivid
account of his one year in office, expectations were also high at that the
forum will create a permanent bridge to enhance interaction between the council
and the population. Facing the population has been one of the major problems in councils in Cameroon given the corrupt nature of some elected officials. Fundong Council mayor took the challenge to tell the people who elected him into office what he has been doing and his vision for the municipality.
When Awoh Denis Ndang moved to the
rostrum to present his activities, he revealed that when he took over office,
the Fundong council had FCFA 53.000.000 unpaid bills, an overdraft of FCFA 12.
000.000, FCFA 19.000.000 unpaid salary to staff and FCFA 15.000.000 unpaid
taxes. Yet he has cleared almost ¾ of the debts in one year but regretted that
revenue that is located locally is very insignificant and that the council is
working towards its improvement. Even though
he met a heavily indebted council, he did not fold his arms.
Harping on his major realizations,
Fundong Mayor said that his first action was to carryout feasibility studies on
some projects which have been forwarded to PNDP and FEICOM for funding.
However, Awoh Ndang Denis disclosed that
waste management in town was one of his preoccupations. “We were able to
acquire 20 trash cans to the tune of FCFA 1.2 millions and place them on
strategic positions in town”, he continued. The council he announced also
acquired two tricycles to transport waste in Fundong town. In the domain of
hygiene and sanitation, the mayor said that a sanitation office was created in
the council since he met none and that within one year; he was able to provide
the town of Fundong with a public modern toilet constructed which cost the
council some FCFA 4 million.
In order to give a facelift to the
Divisional Headquarters, the mayor said some major streets were graded to the
tune of FCFA 8 million. “We also carried out some minor repairs at the Funding
Grandstand and extended water into the main market with a public stand tap”.
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| Awoh Ndang Denis Talking to Journalists |
In the domain of education, Awoh Ndang
Denis disclosed that in order to provide a suitable learning environment to
students in rural areas, the council donated solar lamps to GSS Adok and also
recruited two teachers. “With the support of Tom shoes, we provided shoes to
some school which students used for 11 February 2014”. And FCFA 2.5 million was
also used in the acquisition of text book for teachers with support from PNDP. The
council he revealed also paid school fees to 15 young trainees, donated bundles
of zinc to GSS Melin and GS Bomam. He also noted with satisfaction that during
the summer holidays 127 students were recruited for holiday jobs in view of
supporting them at back to school. While he is currently making a tour of the
municipality to distribute scholarships to meritorious students and the underprivileged
estimated at FCFA 3 million. In order to
amplify the minimum package to schools which the mayor says it is too small,
the Fundong council he revealed added a supplement of FCFA 1million to give
more impetus to it. “We also decided to put to use our council forest, we are
actually fabricating 160 benches with wood from our forest to share to needy
schools in the municipality and we also acquired textbooks for Primary Six
pupils to the tune of FCFA 1.2 million with the support of our two senators” he
added.
In its fight against rabies, the council
he said also bought 200 vaccines to enable the vaccination of dogs.
In the domain of ICTs, the council also
installed internet services to improve access to information technology for
youths. Besides that the mayor also told the population that the council also
allocated the sum of FCFA 20.000 monthly allowance to the Boyo Community Radio
to sustain its functionality.
“I met a council where all the documents
were typed in a public secretariat in town and to me, it is unfair. We tried to
equip our offices to the tune of 10.7 million”.
Considering the fact that the Fundong
council depends mainly on agricultural activities to generate revenue, the mayor
said that the council bought 30.000 coffee seedlings and distributed them to
farmers to boost the sector.
Need to move within the municipality,
127 holiday makers and the process of handing scholarship to the tune of 3
million. Minimum package is very small and we put in close to a million as
supplement.
Mayor Awoh Ndang Denis also said that
the Fundong council also partnered with AES SONEL to create a 5000 seedlings
eucalyptus plantation in Fundong. Extended water to the funding market and
rehabilitated the meat sales slab.
“We tiled the meat sales slab to the
tune of 4.1and we reinforced the cattle market. Fabricated 120 benches and we
need 160 benches.” And in the domain of farms to market roads, he cited the
clearing of road sides, the ongoing corrections on the Alim-Mbam road and the
FCFA 13.8 million from the Ministry of Public Works to work on the
Ajung-Fundong road.
In his conclusion, Awoh Ndang Denis said
as mayor he wants to make the difference through governance. He said one of his
main preoccupations is to disenclave the municipality. He told the story of his
trip to Mbenka which he has to pass through four other sub Divisions and two
Divisions to get enter into his own municipality. We spend over five hours
trekking including 40 minutes in a canoe. “I need to do something to link these
five villages that are cut off from us”, he ended.
Worries
Even though the
population applauded and gave him a tick for his level headedness to organize
the first ever public hearing, some of the worries raised included amongst
others his collaboration with SDF councilors. More so, they population also wanted
to know what happened to the FCFA 5 million from MINFOF to plant trees in the
municipality. I his reaction, Awoh Ndang Denis said he is working with
everybody and not a group of people. “I am the mayor of Fundong council”. On the
financial mishaps, he replied that he is not an auditor but exploded that he
discovered that the funds meant for tree planting were withdrawn from the bank
in September which to him is not normal. “I have seen reports that a million
was used for fire tracing but if we have proof that the trees were planted
there is no problem. You know that since I took over the council, we had many
court cases and I have seen that it is a waste of resources and time. I have
negotiated for the withdrawal of the majority and I am sure next time I will
tell you all the cases have been withdrawn.
On whether he will
leave the council with debts as he met it, Ndang said his dream is to level a
free of debt council.
In rating the mayor’s
performance, social critic Gwain Colbert Fulai said that the mayor touched
almost every sector, with education, hygiene and sanitation, roads and farming
taking a larger proportion while the health sector was completely ignore. The
mayor received an 80% positive note for his realizations and vision for the
municipality.
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
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