The Eye Newspaper

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Councilor Threatens Court Action Over Road Rehabilitation In Bamenda

Ezekiel Nji Chi: SDF Councilor for Ntamulung

The SDF councilor for the Ntamulung neighbourhood, which is the heartbeat of the Bamenda city council area, is now threatening court action in relation to the rehabilitation of earth roads in his constituency. The fracas between councilor Ezekiel Nji Chi and another resident, Lucy Ndefru first made rounds after the Bamenda City Council decided to open up roads in Ntamulung which is closely linked to the central business district of the city of Bamenda.

This reporter gathered that after the earth roads were successfully opened up and some houses and property affected, Lucy Ndefru raised a protest that the SDF councilor, Ezekiel Nji Chi had collected huge sums of money as bribe to cause the deviation of the rehabilitated road from the property of one Pa Nanje to her plot of land. It is an infuriated Lucy Ndefru who raised an alarm with the administration of Bamenda II and Mezam division through a protest.

Contacted to comment on the widespread allegation of corruption which was fueling tension in the neighbourhood, the SDF councilor refused the allegations pointing out that as chairman of a nine man development committee, he was only charged with overseeing the road rehabilitation. He explained that it is the technical services of the Bamenda city council that demarcated the roads to be rehabilitated and the quarter development committee was only there to supervise the work. The councilor who is also chairman of the finance committee of the Bamenda II council revealed that before the roads were graded, there were land marks, adding that unless it was discovered that some people had their building permits and the city council did not want to compensate them in case of any destruction. Councilor Nji Chi challenged Lucy Ndefru and other detractors who claim that the chairman of the quarter development committee has collected bribe to bring the proves. Failure to bring the prove amidst the raging tension, he fumed; there will be no other alternative than to take the matter to court. He said when roads were being graded on the disputed area, he as the development committee chairman was not present to have influenced the bulldozer, noting that Lucy Ndefru even has no authority over the land because her mother and brother are still alive to manage the family land.

Nji Chi disclosed that following the dispute, the DO for Bamenda II, Itoe Mbongo Peter visited the said piece of land ad asked for a land certificate which was not produced .He said despite promises that the land certificate, said to be in the keeping of the Fon of Mankon would be produced, nothing has since happened .The councilor regretted that even though he lobbied for the army rescue to supply water to the population of the area amidst severe shortage ,Lucy Ndefru went out on a sabotage campaign that the councilor was fake. He concluded that the said Lucy Ndefru has refused to respect hierarchy or pay her development levy like any other inhabitant of the area. Nji brandished a list of those who have paid their development levy and the name of Lucy Ndefru was not there. Given the magnitude of the allegations and the increasing tension on the ground, Ezekiel Nji Chi, with the support of the Ntamulung quarter head, Fonjong Samson Anye and the entire development committee are now bracing up to go to court to seek justice. The opening of roads in the Ntamulung area has however eased traffic flow in the city centre especially the Sonac Street and Ngen junction areas which usually create significant traffic problems in the city of Bamenda. The road rehabilitation project in Bamenda is part of ongoing efforts to decongest the town and similar exercises have already been carried out in other parts of town with demolition of several houses. Nji said the worst was that when he lobbied for the Army Rescue Unit to supply water in the quarter, the same lady was shouting from the nearby house “fake councilor”. This, he said is part of the chain of smear talks to tarnish his image which he cannot that it lightly.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)

SDF Secretary General Resigns, Says Party Has Lost Values & Principles of the 90s

By Fai Cassian Ndi

Elizabeth Tamanjong & Ni John Fru Ndi

Professor Elizabeth Tamanjong tabled her resignation letter to Ni John Fru Ndi, the National Chairman of the Social Democratic Front-SDF this weekend as members of the National Executive Committee are meeting in Bamenda. In her resignation letter which has been described by Impressionists as pregnant with meaning, Prof. Elizabeth Tamanjong decried that in the past years, the SDF has been drifting from its initial vision of a genuine democracy. She also outlined that the values and principles of the party such as social justice, equal opportunities, transparency and accountability in the management of party affairs have been lost. The outgoing SG went further to stress that there is an urgent need to revolutionize the SDF in a way that the three power structures of the party, such as the National Executive Committee-NEC, National Advisory Committee-NAC and the National Investiture Committee –NIC should play complementary roles, and hence to be chaired by different personalities for check and balances to ensue.

Hear her: “Mr. Chairman, the Social Democratic Front (SDF)is a party that has always been very dear to me. This is the reason why I have relentlessly and diligently served in all the positions that I have held.

I became a member of the SDF in 1991. Since then I have occupied several positions of responsibility ranging from the Centre Provincial Treasurer from 1991 through many other positions at different times to the Secretary General in 2006 till date.

Sadly enough, I have been noticing, in the past fifteen years, that our party has been drifting from its initial vision of leading this country to a genuine democracy. We have lost even the values and the principles that we resolutely stood for in the early 90s; values and principles such as-social justice, equal opportunities, transparency and accountability in the managing of the party affairs, to name but these few. On many occasions, I have attempted to draw the attention of the party hierarchy to this sad phenomenon, but to no avail.

All is, however, not lost; this party can still spring back to its enviable position that it once occupied in the hearts of Cameroonians. To this end, we need to revolutionize the party in the following ways:

· The three power structures of the party, namely: NEC, NAC, & NIC should play complementary roles and hence be chaired by different personalities, in order to ensure effective checks and balances in the party;

· Let the position of SG revert to being elective, as it was once before the 2006 Convention. Thus, Section 13.3(b)-page 55 of the SDF Constitution should be amended.

· State subvention should be used to fund party structures, in order to revamp and revitalize the party;

· The Socialist women and youth movements should be empowered to give them a sense of belonging and thereby strengthening the party.

Having tried unsuccessfully to make the party revert to the spirit, ideals and commitments of the early 90s, I therefore resign from the post of Secretary General of the SDF Party. However, I still remain a committed member of the party and I am willing o contribute in many other ways o move the party forward. I would like to thank everybody who, in one way or the other, assisted me in accomplishing my duties as Secretary General. The SDF will for long remain very dear to me”.

SDF National chairman, Ni John Fru Ndi is quoted to have told NEC members today February 14, 2015 that her resignation was accepted and he went further to laud Prof. Elizabeth Tamanjong for her contribution to the party. It should be recalled that during the last Convention that took place in Bamenda, Fru Ndi remarked that the SG should be given the benefit of doubts eventhough her pen is very powerful.

Elizabeth Tamanjong is the third Secretary General to have problems with party hierarchy. It should be recalled that Siga Asanga formerly SG of the party clashed with Fru Ndi when he questioned the management of party funds that we donated by militants in the Diasporas. They fell out. Asongayi took over and fell out with Fru Ndi for criticizing him when he lost the wife. For fear of booby traps, Asonganyi did not attend the meeting in Bamenda to defend himself and quit the position of SG.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)

Friday, February 13, 2015

'God’s hand’ revealed in space: Telescope in Chile captures glimpse of the mysterious spectacle 1,300 light-years away

Courtesy: MailOnline

· The cometary globule, also known as CG4, is powered by the leftover, dense core of a star

· The head of CG4, which is the part visible in this ESO image, has a diameter of 1.5 light-years

· Why CG4 and other cometary globules have their distinct form is still unknown by astronomers

· One theory is cometary globules are shaped by stellar winds and radiation from hot, massive stars

A telescope in Chile has captured a stunning view of 'God's Hand' 1,300 light years away.

The cometary globule, also known as CG4, shines brightly in this spectacular image, and looks as though it is about to grab at stars.

Although it appears vivid in this picture, this is in fact a faint nebula, which makes it very hard for amateur sky watchers to spot.

Astronomers believe it is powered by the leftover, dense core of a star that blew up in a supernova explosion. But its exact nature remains a mystery.

In 1976 several elongated comet-like objects were discovered on pictures taken with the UK Schmidt Telescope in Australia.

Because of their appearance, they became known as cometary globules even though they have nothing in common with comets.

They had dense, dark, dusty heads and long, faint tails, which were generally pointing away from the Vela supernova remnant located at the centre of the Gum Nebula.

Although these objects are relatively close by, it took astronomers a long time to find them as they glow very dimly and are therefore hard to detect.

The object shown in this latest picture, CG4, which is also sometimes referred to as the Mouth of the Beast, is one of these cometary globules.

The fist of 'God's Hand', which is the part visible on this image and resembles the head of the gigantic beast, has a diameter of 1.5 light-years.

The tail of the globule — which extends downwards and is not visible in the image — is about eight light-years long. By astronomical standards this makes it a comparatively small cloud.

The relatively small size is a general feature of cometary globules.

All of the cometary globules found so far are isolated, relatively small clouds of neutral gas and dust within the Milky Way, which are surrounded by hot ionised material.

The head part of CG4 is a thick cloud of gas and dust, which is only visible because it is illuminated by the light from nearby stars.

The radiation emitted by these stars is gradually destroying the head of the globule and eroding away the tiny particles that scatter the starlight.

However, the dusty cloud of CG4, captured by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, still contains enough gas to make several sun-sized stars.

Why CG4 and other cometary globules have their distinct form is still a matter of debate among astronomers and two theories have developed.

Cometary globules could originally have been spherical nebulae, which were disrupted and acquired their new, unusual form because of the effects of a nearby supernova explosion.

Other astronomers suggest, that cometary globules are shaped by stellar winds and ionising radiation from hot, massive stars.

These effects could first lead to the bizarrely named formations known as elephant trunks and then eventually cometary globules.

To find out more, astronomers need to find out the mass, density, temperature, and velocities of the material in the globules.

These can be determined by the measurements of molecular spectral lines which are most easily accessible at millimetre wavelengths — wavelengths at which telescopes like the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (Alma) operate.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)