Biya Extends Mandate of Elecam Board, Appoints One New

President Paul Biya has finally extended the mandate of Board members of Elections Cameroon-ELECAM for another four years after they were acting in illegality since December 30, 2012. Dr. Fonkam Azu’u was predicted was reappointed Board Chairman while others were confirmed. Beside that the Presidential Decree of January 8, 2012 also appointed a business magnet by name Amadou Gouroudja to replace Pauline Biyong, who was sacked from the board for her involvement in the distribution of CDPM posters during the last Presidential Elections of 2011. However, the press in recent weeks has been sounding an alarm that the actions of Dr. Fonkam Azu'u Samuel, Chairman of the Board of Elections Cameroon (Elecam) as well as other members of the board were illegitimate and illegal, giving that their four-year term had expired on December 30 , 2012. Even though it is alleged the Presidential Decree was signed on December 30, 2012, public opinion is still wondering why it was on January 8, 2013 that the information public was made public. Although the Presidential Decree was made public while all members of the electoral board are in the field for a national awareness campaign on biometric voter’s registration, indicators are rife at that the registration process is still very slow and Elections Cameroon needs to intensify field activities reasons why Fonkam Azu'u is announced in the Northwest Region this week to follow-up the ongoing registration process.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa

Jakiri Council’s Five Years Action Plan is Success Story- Shang Lawrence

By Kimbi V in Jakiri

The Senior Divisional Officer for Bui Division, Nzeki Theophile has lauded the efforts of the Jakiri Council in the fight against poverty through the Five Years Action Plan initiated in 2007. While in Jakiri, Nzeki Theophile noted with satisfaction that the five years action plan of the council is an eye opener in poverty alleviation in the entire Bui Division. To Nzeki Theophile, the Jakiri Council has succeeded in bringing back the community development spirit which for some years now has died in many municipalities. In presenting his five years stewardship during the last budgetary session that took place on December 27, 2012, said the Jakiri Council Five Years Action Plan has been successful giving that his administration was able to raise access to potable water from 40% to over 93%.  

Shang Lawrence, in his presentation disclosed that when his team took over the council they toured the entire municipality and “following participatory consultations” which took them to the nooks and cronies of the municipality; Jakiri Council was able to formulate a collective vision based on the problems presented by the people. From the vision, Shang Lawrence noted, the council was able to develop a Five Years Action Plan with particular emphasizes laid on the five priority needs of the people as expressed during the participatory consultations.

Access to potable water, said was the priority, which was followed by access to farms to market roads, access to electricity, access to education facilities and access to proper health care. And it is on the basis of these needs expressed by the population that the Jakiri Council worked out its development strategy as well as out-source for potential partners.

In presenting the balance sheet on Access to Potable Water as top priority in the municipality, the Mayor of Jakiri revealed that recent studies carried out by the Ministry of Public Health, were indicative that more than 70% of health problems in his municipality were water related. These water related ailments Shang Lawrence said accounts for more than 50% of down time and as such results to low agricultural productivity. In order to overcome these problems and the constant water shortages in the dry season, Jakiri Council initiated seven mini water supply networks in the communities of Sabongari, Taron, Ngoylum, Nsom, Ntutty, Kov-Wong and Ran. And through the support of the American Embassy and the Tadu Dairy Cooperative, the Council also succeeded in the construction of a 5km potable water supply network for Ntur and another 15km pipeline to bring fresh water from the Kilum Mountain forest to the village communities of Tarshem, Shukov, Nkarkui and Tavirer. He said the process to extend the pipeline to Yer and neigbouring communities of Kumbo Central (Ntseni, Mbah and Melim) are ongoing. Still in the domain of improving access to potable water, Shang Lawrence also revealed that his council signed a convention worth 350 million FCFA with the Council Support Fund-FEICOM for the construction of seven water schemes to serve the villages in the municipality. The villages are: (Mboh-Njong, Kwa-Nso, Ndzerem-Nyam and Anseh worth 50 million FCFA), (Mokam: 50 million FCFA),(Mensai: 50 million FCFA), (Ntohtti: 50 million FCFA), (Bui: 30 million FCFA), (Lip: 20 million FCFA) and the rehabilitation of the Sob Water scheme worth 72 million FCFA. Five of the above mentioned projects were successfully realized and water is flowing in those communities while two of them are nearing completion.

As such, Shang Lawrence noted with satisfaction that when they were elected into the council five years ago, access to water stood at 40% (24 villages having access to potable water) and as their five years mandate elapse, 54 villages out of 58 now enjoy clean and potable water) estimated at 93% access to water.

As the Jakiri Council has succeeded in alleviating the problems of access to water, the Mayor of Jakiri Council also observed that such as a success is likely to reduce down time and as such increase agricultural productivity. Working in close collaboration with development partners like SODEPA and the Tadu Dairy Cooperative, the Jakiri Council rehabilitated 30km of earth road linking six communities. And in order to ease the evacuation of farm produce, a 10km earth road was also constructed to create an access road to the productive area of the Bui valley. Another 30km earth road was rehabilitated from Vekovi through Nkar, Mensai, Sob, Wvem, Faakui and Tarshem. Further more, the Jakiri Council also rehabilitated the third 35km belt way which runs from Jakiri through Noiy, Mboh-Kijah, Wasi-Ber and Shiy. The Mayor also revealed that with the framework of developing farms to market roads in the municipality, some twenty bridges were also constructed to ease the movement of farmers and farm produce. He however lamented that the actions have been slowed by the lack of adequate social structures such as the road management committees.

One of the major impediments to rural infrastructure, the mayor said is the absence of adequate electricity power supply in rural Jakiri. Working in collaboration with the Tadu Dairy Project and the Government of Cameroon, Jakiri Council succeeded in extending power supply lines from Nkar through Kisemjam, and Shukai to Vekovi. He further revealed that the Jakiri Council as also started work on the assembly of Pilot Mini Hydro Electrical Power Supply Grid in a locality known as Shiy and Wvem in collaboration GRC and ADEID. This project he added will solve the problem of inadequate electrical power supply in his municipality.

Taking into consideration that Health is Wealth and prevention is better than Cure, the Mayor of Jakiri Council in presenting the results so far achieved in five years in the health sector revealed that majority of their actions were geared towards pre-emptive measures of disease such as the provision of potable water, regular collection of garbage and the constant sensitization of the population on waste disposal. But since prevention alone is not good enough, the Jakiri Council explored other avenues to make sure that population stays sound and in good health. In making sure that these objectives are realized, Shang Lawrence disclosed that Jakiri Council had to seek partnership collaboration with the Bui Family Union-USA. This collaboration resulted to the donation of delivery beds and some essential hospital equipment to the council which were distributed to the following health centers, Vekovi, Kwa-Nso, Sob, Wasi-Ber and Mbokam. The council also recruited qualified Laboratory Technicians and other essential staff for each of the above principal health centers.

On improving access to basic education, Shang Lawrence observed that one of the biggest problems to rural transformation is the lack of skilled labour. The mayor said that apart from rehabilitating existing classrooms and distributing minimum packages to schools, the Jakiri Council also recruited trained teachers who were deployed to some schools.

On the sustainable management of natural resources, the mayor decried the abusive exploitation of the Savanna and Montane ecosystem which has degenerated to scarcity of water, food and medicines. According to the mayor of Jakiri, mitigating to sustain a sane environment is very necessary and constitutes one of the major axes, if not; the access to water program which is at 93% could not be sustainable. “As such working in close collaboration with the Ministries of Environment and Nature Protection, Forestry and Wildlife, the National Community Driven Program-PNDP and SNV, studies are underway for the protection of the main watersheds in the municipality”. He said the Jakiri council has earmarked the Vekovi, Ntunir, Mengu and Tarshem watersheds as the main water sources in the municipality. And furthermore, the Jakiri council has already passed a resolution diccouraging the abusive planting of eucalyptus in watersheds.

In the domain of good governance, Shang Lawrence reiterated that in order to ensure that the current infrastructural investments are sustained by its beneficiaries over time, there is an urgent need for communities to develop a better sense of ownership. He said the notion that every project implemented by the council is a property of the mayor, his deputies and councilors is what the Jakiri Council is trying to wipe-off the minds of the population. Especially with the advent of decentralization, the Jakiri Council intends to build grassroot social structures such as village development associations in order to better solicit their active participation in their own development. As the Jakiri Council is working in collaboration with VSA and the American Peace Corps implement the Transparent, Accountability and Participation Program-TAP to empower Council executive, councilors and community leaders on their roles and responsibilities. As a result, the Community Action Center-CEAC and VSO assisted the council to reorganize 50 village development associations.

2013, he said will be a year for the Jakiri council to strengthen its participatory approaches which will be more community oriented. With a budget of 412, 148,572 FCFA, voted for 2013, the mayor concluded that they will only use this year to dot the (i)s and cut the (

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa

Different challenges in Central African Rep., Mali

 (AP) -

 Two land-locked, desperately poor African countries are gripped by rebellions in the north that have left huge chunks of both nations outside of government control. Neighboring countries are rushing troops into Central African Republic only a few weeks after rebels started taking towns but Mali's government is still awaiting foreign military help nearly one year after the situation there began unraveling. Here's a look at why there's been quick action in one country, and not in the other.

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THE INSURGENTS

The simple answer lies in the vastly different challenges faced by intervention forces. Northern Mali is home to al-Qaida-linked militants who are stocking weapons and possess stores of Russian-made arms from former Malian army bases as well as from the arsenal of toppled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. The local and foreign jihadists there are digging in and training forces in preparation for jihad and to repel an invasion. Central African Republic, by contrast, is dealing with home-grown rebels who are far less organized and have less sophisticated weapons.

The numbers of troops being sent to Central African Republic are relatively small - Republic of Congo, Cameroon and Gabon are each sending about 120 soldiers. The rebels stopped their advances toward the capital on Dec. 29, perhaps at least in part because of the presence of the foreign troops who have threatened to counterattack if the rebels move closer to Bangui, the capital. In Mali, it will take far more than the 3,000 African troops initially proposed for a military operation to be successful in ousting the militants, analysts say.

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THE MISSION

The military objectives are also a stark contrast. In Central African Republic, neighboring nations have a mandate to help stabilize the region between rebel-held towns and the part of the country that is under government control. The intervention force will fire back if fired upon, but so far are not being asked to retake the towns already in rebel hands.

The mission in Mali that foreign forces are slowly gearing up for is far more ambitious. It involves trying to take back a piece of land larger than Texas or France where militants are imposing strict Islamic law, or Shariah. Making things even more complicated there: A military coup last year that created chaos and enabled the rebels to more easily take territory has left the country with a weak federal government and the country's military with a broken command-and-control structure, and with its leaders reluctant to give real power to the civilians.

"In Mali you have a very undefined mission. What does it mean to retake the country and give it back to government forces that were not able to hold it in the first place?" noted Jennifer Cooke, director of the Africa program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Central African Republic's situation "is a more limited, defined and frankly somewhat easier mission in the military sense," she said.

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THE TERRAIN

Northern Mali is a scorching desert that is unfamiliar to many of the troops who would be coming from the West African regional bloc of countries known as ECOWAS. By contrast, Central African Republic's neighbors already have been pulled into past rebellions in the country.

Chadian forces helped propel President Francois Bozize into power in 2003 and they have assisted him in putting down past rebellions here.

"These forces - particularly the Chadians - have been there before," Cooke said. "They know the players, they have an interlocutor in Bozize however fragile he is. This is familiar territory to them."

The Economic Community of Central African States, or ECCAS, also already had established a peacekeeping force in Central African Republic known as MICOPAX.

"From the beginning, they knew that they needed to have troops on the ground. MICOPAX was already there, had already been deployed there. There was already a structure in place," said Thierry Vircoulon, project director for Central Africa at the International Crisis Group.

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DIFFERING MOTIVATIONS

The rebels in Central African Republic are made up of four separate groups all known by their French acronyms - UFDR, CPJP, FDPC and CPSK. They are collectively known as Seleka, which means alliance in the local Sango language, but have previously fought one another. For instance, in September 2011 fighting between the CPJP and the UFDR left at least 50 people dead and more than 700 homes destroyed. Insurgent leaders say a 2007 peace accord allowing them to join the regular army wasn't fully implemented and are demanding payments to former combatants among other things. Rebel groups also feel the government has neglected their home areas in the north and particularly the northeast, said Filip Hilgert, a researcher with Belgium-based International Peace Information Service.

In northern Mali, the Islamist rebels are motivated in large part by religion. Al-Qaida fighters chant Quranic verses under the Sahara sun , displaying deep, ideological commitment. They consider north Mali as "Islamic territory" and say they will fight to the death to defend it. They also want to use the territory to expand the reach of al-Qaida-linked groups to other countries. This would seem to make other countries more motivated to intervene in Mali than in Central African Republic, but the challenges are so steep and convoluted that an intervention mission is still on the drawing board.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa

No Journalist Will Become Mayor, MP or Senator on SDF Platform- Fru Ndi

Ni John Fru Ndi

FC Junior 

The National chairman of the leading opposition party in Cameroon, Ni John Fru Ndi has vowed that he will make sure that no journalist will ever become Mayor, Parliamentarian or Senator on his party’s ticket( the Social Democratic Front-SDF). Chairman Ni John Fru Ndi busted out to journalists at the Mini Agropastoral Show organized by the Tubah Council last December. He blamed journalists for propagating rumours that he (Fru Ndi) kicked the bucket (died). According to SDF chairman, the counterfeit information about his death was cooked up by journalists during the National Communication Forum in Yaounde.  He went further to illustrate and substantiate his argument by adding that journalists who had never called him, were calling and asking whether he was doing fine.   For that reason, he swore that no journalist shall hold any public office on the SDF ticket.

Journalists were taken aback by the chairman’s declaration yet many still look at it as a political statement shouldn’t be considered while to others are of the opinion that there is a lot of seriousness in what he intended. Some political analysts have also expressed indignation at Fru Ndi’s declaration giving that it was the press that catapulted the SDF in the 90s.

However Fru Ndi said that like his friend Paul Biya he will not say that he has more twenty years to live, but rather he will “chop corn” on the grave of everyone who said he had kicked the bucket.

Back to the issue of journalists not assuming any public office on SDF ticket, Fru Ndi it should be noted is just like Louis XIV who said he was the state because he is the Chairman of the National Advisory Council-NAC which implies that he advises himself, he is also the Chairman of the National Executive Committee-NEC and the chairman of the Investiture Committee. By implication, in his capacity as the chairman of the Investiture Committee, he (Fru Ndi) appoints Mayors and Parliamentarians the way President Biya appoints Ministers, Directors etc……

The most pathetic thing is that this statement is coming at a point in time that journalists were bent on supporting their colleagues like Beatrice Animbom Munjo to pick the ticket to Parliament as the MP for Bafut-Tubah, Martin Fon Yembe as Mayor of Ndu, Chris Mbunwe as Mayor of Nkambe and Teche Nyamusa  as MP for Mbengwi  as well as Francis Wache (who Nkor people allegedly want him to contest in any elective post). History had it recorded that the first journalists who would have assumed an elective public office in the SDF was Vanegasen Mochiggle, but went he won the primaries to contest in 2007 in the Bali-Santa Constituency, President Biya carved Santa into a Special Constituency and Bali was attached to Bamenda. Mochiggle was forced to drop his beat for Parliament. Annebom Munjo who contested in the primaries in Bafut-Tubah packed home a meager 16 votes and dashed the hopes of journalists supporting their colleague during campaign.

Now that Ni Fru Ndi declared journalists unwanted specie, many hopes will certainly die prematurely. However, anyone who doubts Ni John Fru Ndi’s declaration should not that he is not a politician who misses his words.  Hon Akonteh Andrew, Hon Augustine Jua, Hon Kwemo Pierre, Hon Ngwasiri and Hon Ndobegang  may have a story to tell just like Mayor Mangoh Jones Tanko (Nkambe), Mayor Chiato David  (Njinikom), Mayor David Kangong Nfor (Ndu) and the Mayor of Bafoussam III were sacked from the party for challenging the decision of the Investiture Committee before being rehabilitated.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa

Model Credit Union By-laws Go Operational this Year, Musa Shey Nfor Confirms

Musa Shey Nfor

The President of Cameroon Co-operative Credit Union League-CamCCUL has declared that the final count of option of mandate and term of office of elected officials of Credit Unions in the CamCCUL Network was officially done in conformity with recommendations of the Minister of Finance.

In a Press briefing today December 4, 2012 at the CamCCUL Head office in Bamenda, Musa Shey Nfor revealed that the voting took place in 197 credit unions out of the 199 that make up the CamCCUL network. According to the President of CamCCUL, 159 credit unions voted for a three-year mandate renewal twice (representing 80.7%) while 38 credit unions voted for three years renewable once (corresponding to 19.3%).

According to Musa Shey Nfor, all the chapter of CamCCUL nationwide voted overwhelmingly for three years renewable twice and a “yes” for mandates to be brought to zero except the Nso Chapter that voted against the two options to harmonize the system.  

On the condition of eligibility of elected officials and on whether the existing mandates should come to zero and fresh elected organized, Musa Shey Nfor told the Press that out of the 199 credit unions, 171 credit unions voted for the mandates of all election officials to come to zero and for fresh elections to be conducted. He added that the MODEL CREDIT UNION BY-LAWS go into effect as of January 1, 2013, which implies that the harmonization process will go on inline with the adopted majority.

Fresh elections he said will be organized in all the credit unions under the supervision of CamCCUL while elections of the Board Members of CamCCUL shall be conducted under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance.

He noted that considering the nature of the process, which required constant movements in the field, it is resulted to some members not paying their loans at the agreed moment. He also revealed that some clauses that hindered members to go in for elective positions would be harmonized to give all members equal opportunities to contest for elective positions. On the new approaches and modalities that come along with the harmonization process, he also talked elaborately on the ADR, (Alternative Dispute Resolution) which is intended to dialogue with delinquent members. He regretted that this committee is coming to wipe-off the notion of the credit unions knowing lawyers. “we will move from know your lawyer to neigbour” he added. Musa Shey Nfor also added that following the harmonization process, the biggest credit unions affiliates of CamCCUL shall be grouped under what would henceforth be known as G36.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa