COPAX: Land mark Opening Speech by H.E. Paul BIYA On Fight Against Boko Haram

 •Heads of State and Government,

•Heads of Delegation,

•The Representative of the UN Secretary-General,

•The Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission,

•The Secretary-General of ECCAS,

•The President of the Senate,

•The President of the National Assembly,

•The Prime Minister,

•The First President of the Supreme Court,

•The Procureur General of the Supreme Court,

•Members of the Diplomatic Corps,

•Members of Parliament,

•Ladies and Gentlemen, 

On behalf of the Cameroonian people, I wish you a warm welcome and pleasant stay in Yaoundé. I would like to heartily thank you for attending this summit.

Just as you desired, this summit is devoted to attacks on some of our countries by the Boko Haram terrorist sect. Your presence here testifies to the solidarity within our Organization. Above all, it also reflects our determination to implement the various decisions we have already taken against Boko Haram, a movement which, as you are aware, rebuffs the values of human life. It uses methods of blind and ruthless terrorism.

Its atrocities have already claimed thousands of lives – Muslims for the most part – and caused extensive property damage in Nigeria and in neighbouring countries.

Chad, Niger and Cameroon, and of course Nigeria, are currently at the front line, so to say. Their armed forces are bravely waging battle… Needless to point out that their battle is also the battle of our entire Organization.

I would like to pay fraternal tribute to President Idriss DEBY. With the support of the Chadian people and as a sign of solidarity, he took the courageous decision to send a large contingent of Chadian soldiers to reinforce our troops. Their bravery is well known and has been demonstrated in the latest battles.

Furthermore, Cameroon commends the decision taken by the African Union at end-January 2015.

As you know, the African Union’s Council for Peace and Security in Central Africa, at its meeting of Heads of State and Government, authorized the deployment of a 7 500-man strong Mixed Multinational Force. It also decided to convene an experts’ meeting in Yaounde from 5 to 7 February 2015 to specify the operational concept of this force. The meeting conducted an in-depth situation analysis and prepared the mandate of the Mixed Multinational Force.

The African Union’s decision also paves the way for referral to the Security Council with a view to adopting a resolution.

Permit me to point out, once again, that this is in no way whatsoever, a “crusade” against Islam or an episode in some kind of “clash of civilizations”.

The reality is simple. On one side, there are our forces, defenders of a modern and tolerant society which guarantees the exercise of human rights, including that of religion, as well as representative democracy. On the other side, namely Boko Haram and similar movements, there are partisans of an obscurantist and tyrannical society which has no consideration for human dignity.

You would agree with me that these two models of society are absolutely incompatible and, hence, compromise is absolutely impossible.

Therefore, we need to put an end to the actions and activities of terrorist movements. We need to eradicate Boko Haram. By so doing, we would be able to reassure our populations and better focus on the only worthwhile struggle: the struggle against poverty and for the dignity of Africans.

Thank you.

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

Raymond Dinga Gwanyalla: The Outstanding Leader of the Month

 By Fai Cassian Ndi

Raymond Dinga Gwanyalla: Outstanding Leader

If leadership qualities were to be measured by impact, our leader of the month Raymond Dinga Gwanyalla would have done appealingly fine on the hinges of that weighing machine given that he has proven his worth in very many domains. And if leadership as they say is a career committed to solving societal problems, Raymond Gwanyalla is for that reason a gigantic problem solver.

And he has been fairly rewarded for his leadership skills both as mayor of Bali Council and President of BOBA where he was voted by acclamation to build the future of emerging leaders. But since nature demands that everyone who exudes excellence in the line of duty deserves a pat on the back or some prizes for making the difference, Raymond Gwanyalla has enjoyed some good romance with glittering accolades for his leadership qualities. In the North West Region of Cameroon, one of the leaders who have built his great influence to excellently empower a new generation of leaders is Gwanyalla. He is one that always takes the lead and receives the support of others. People have a lot of trust in him for his honesty and spirit of accountability. His influence is inspiring change all over North West Region. Born and raised in a typical Christian family, he grows up to be a high flying academic achiever. His Alma matter CPC Bali has remained in his heart for ever.

Last January 17, 2015 he was re-elected by acclamation at the BOBA Elective General Assembly. This is so because where Gwanyalla had taken the lead, there evidences have been glaring that he is one of those who run of the wheel of positive change for society to prosper, an audacity of integrity whose passion reflects his desire to see sustainable development being put into practice. CPC Bali is likely to be the first secondary school in the North West Region where students and teachers will say bye-bye to blackboard and chalk and say welcome to laptops and book notes. Thanks to the dynamism of Gwanyalla, BOBAN has been transformed into exemplary enterprising venture. The BOBA warehouse in Douala is a model example. Gwanyalla’s confidence has always given him a place in different leadership capacities, increasing his favourable influence at every favourable occasion and putting forth innovative ideas into concrete actions. The renovation of the CPC library, pavement in campus, the biogas project and water supply scheme are amongst the realizations of Gwanyalla at the helm of BOBA.

Ba Nkom Raymond Gwanyalla is an accomplished leader, philanthropist, devout Christian, family man and pragmatic politician. His outstanding leadership skills have won him several awards; including the prestigious title of Ba Nkom (the highest title for nobles in the Bali Fondom). Besides, he was also voted,  Best Mayor, Best Politician, Most Result-oriented mayor etc by readers of frontline Anglophone newspapers such as Chronicle, The Guardian Post, and Cameroon Post International etc. Ba Nkom Gwanyalla’s leadership skills are many and varied. This strong and resilient man loves what he does; his influential drive for development, education has made him the most active man of all men in action. The way he promotes humanitarian activities, social welfare and the social cohesion distinguishes him as one of the silent achievers in Cameroon who is changing lives. When two or more are gathered to talk development, he is always present.

Meet him to talk about politics and you would not regret to have met a refined politician. And politics has played a very important role in his life-shaping mission to his community. When he retired at the head of the Costumes Department, he returned to Bali and engaged into politics. He was honoured as the head of the council list for the CPDM in the 2007 Twin Elections. His list won and he was elected mayor. As mayor, Ba Nkom Gwanyalla left an indelible mark of greatness and a catalogue of achievements. He targeted and solved the water crisis in Bali and he solved them with dexterity. He embarked on the opening of farms to market roads, construction of classroom in areas where there were none, and at the end of his mandate, he stepped down democratically from the position of mayor. Bali youths would never forget the scholarships he offered to promote excellence in schools to youths ranging from Nursery through Secondary, High Schools, Universities and professional schools. Popular opinion in Bali sees him as the next section President. Yet Ba Nkom Raymond Gwanyalla is yet to declare his intentions. The people Call may likely usher him to take over the management of the CPDM in Bali given that without him, the CPDM may be naught.

In the domain of business, he is a successful businessman who like Fafre in the Mayor of Casterbridge is blended with the gifted charm that everything he touches grows. The Chief Executive Officer of Cargo Management Services is not a man to pigeon hole with. Through this structure he has been able to demystify transactions at the Douala Port. It is his greatness and savoir-faire that CAMAStransit is a household name in Cameroon. At CAMAS he has employed hundreds of youths to work for his company CAMAS.

The Unsung Hero

He was born to a father who was a court clerk and a housewife mother. That is to say Ba Nkom Gwanyalla was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth, yet he was not equally born into abject poverty. His parents understood the significance of schooling and enrolled him early in Primary School in Momo Division in 1964 where he later moved to P.S Azire to obtained his FSLC in flying colours and got admitted into CPC Bali. After CPC Bali, Ba Nkom Gwanyalla was recruited into the Costumes. Yet he continued learning while working. He then moved out of Cameroon to Sierra Leone where he enrolled in the University of Furrabe. After graduation, Raymond Gwanyalla being a patriot refused all work positions abroad and returned to Cameroon. Back home he decided to fine-tune his knowledge of customs. He entered the Advanced School of Administration and Magistracy, ENAM in 1972 where he graduated as Custom Inspector. Proof of this is that he started as a customs clerk and because of his hard work and commitment; he gradually rose through all the rungs of the professional ladder to the coveted and prestigious position of Director of Customs. His appointment by the powers that be was in recognition of his contribution to the growth of the customs department and the economy of Cameroon through revenue collection and the stamping out of corruption.

A President Paul Biya’s loyalist of the first order, Raymond Gwanyalla does all in his powers to support the ideals of the New Deal government. He has always told his people of Bali that the CPDM is a large enough umbrella to shelter everybody and there was no need for some of his people to keep on standing under the rain of the opposition. He has converted many militants from the opposition into the CPDM through his practical politics of development and not sterile promises.

To say that the municipality of Bali has witnessed great changes is to use to weakest idiom to describe the great silent achievements of Ba Nkom Raymond Gwayalla. To say Bali has grown in leaps and bounds under Ba Nkom Raymond Gwanyalla as mayor worthwhile. When he was elected mayor of the Bali Council, there was no befitting council hall.

Today, the Bali town hall is one of the best in the region.  As mayors he has graded old roads and opened up new ones. He has electrified villages and established water schemes in almost all the villages that had none. The Bali market today is of modern standards thanks to the assistance Ba Nkom Gwanyalla got from FEICOM to build the market. Before he solicited assistance from FEICOM, the Bali market was an eye sore as it had dilapidated.


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

Anti Terrosism Law Hangs on Police Inspector Napped in Boko Haram ID Cards Deal

According to information recently published in the social media and other news outlets, the Police Inspector, Abdoulaye Farikou who fraudulently issued Cameroonian national identity cards to some members of Boko Haram has been napped. Abdoulaye Farikou according information gathered issued over 2,500 Cameroonian national identity cards to members of Boko Haram. He helped 2,500 fighters of the Nigerian sect to impersonate as Cameroonians or to reside to Cameroon.

The Police Inspector Abdoulaye Farikou was arrested by the forces of rapid intervention battalion (Bir), and was transferred to Yaoundé, on the instructions of the Procureur for Maroua, where he will be tried by the military court. Abdoulaye will be judged by the Anti Terrorism Act recently passed by parliament, which punishes with death penalty terrorist accomplices.

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

Donga Mantung: Who Succeeds Late Senator Jikong Stephen

 By Tamngwa Marcel

It is few months’ back that the lone senator of Donga Mantung origin Senator Njikong Stephen Yeriwa passed on to eternity. Senator Njikong as he was fondly called was from Nwa sub division and was among the 70 senators that were ushered to Cameroons upper house of assembly through the ballot box. Having served this country in various capacities starting from a classroom teacher to University don, technical adviser to the Prime Minister, it was painless for him to influence the self-confidence of big wigs of the CPDM party. When his candidature was endorsed contest for the first ever senatorial elections in the history of Cameroon, everyone was sure he would make a good senator. Months after his dead, the billion dollar question that occupies the minds of political analysts and politicians especially those of Donga Mantung extraction is; who will wear the shoes of the late senator Njikong Stephen Yeriwa if elections are to be organized? Here are the potential CPDM candidates.

  SHEY JONES YEMBE:

Shey Jones Yembe is a native of Binka village in Nkambe central sub division. He is the former sectary of state in the ministry of public works. He is also the CEO of Ste.MAG he and current BOD chair of the Cameroon Port Authority in Douala accumulatively BOD Chairman of Labogene. In fact he has a rich profile and all it takes to be a senator. One may be tempted to call him a true successor of senator Njikong but as BOD chair of the port authority and Labogene, the positions that can only be compared to a ministerial port folio, it would be too much for him and so he is already out of the race.

NGIE CHRISTOPHER:

Mr. NGIE CHRISTOPHER hails from Ako sub division. He was one time divisional delegate of MINEPAT, what sent him parking, I cannot tell. He is the alternate to the late senator and per the laws of this country cannot succeed his substantive in the event of death. Even if that were possible given that Cameroon is a land where nothing is impossible, public opinion is largely that he is young and not experience and mature enough to wear shoes as big as that of a senator. So if bi-elections are to be organized today he will not even be qualified for primaries. But Ngi is a a savvy intellectual and his better lies ahead of him.

MAYAAH PATIENCE TAMFU:

This woman of royal integrity is daughter to the late S.N TAMFU “the man who saw tomorrow” Mayaah Patience Tamfu resides in the United States of America and is ever at the frontline organizer CPDM activities in Uncle Sam’s country.  She is the WCPDM section president for the United States and doubles as a member of the CPDM Central Committee. Prior to the senatorials of 2013, pundits anticipated that if Donga Mantung Division was to have a female senator she was a good senatorial material. Today, such stance have not changed especially when political analysts look back at what female senators the likes of senator Emma Lafon in Kumbo is doing. The conclusion is obvious, namely; what we need in Donga Mantung in this present dispensation is a female senator, someone with a motherly heart and royal integrity that cuts across all angles of the political divide. So if bi- elections were to hold today public opinion would be highly in favour of Mayaah Patience Tamfu as a better if not best replacement to the late senator Njikong.

NDOMBANG NGALA GERARD:

This gentle man is a native of Tabeken in Nkambe central. He is the CEO of a private company in Douala known as Jerry Sarl. He contested in the last parliamentary elections in Nkambe on the ticket of the ruling CPDM but luck did not smile on him if not he would have been an honourable gentleman as we speak. He is a good philanthropist. However, many were of the opinion that his running for such a post was too early. The argument was that he needed ample time to become politically mature enough to contest into the lower house of assembly talk less of senatorial. In short if bi- elections are to be conducted today he should be given more time on the bench to master how the game goes.

DR NICK NGWANYAM:

He is the CEO of St Louis Institute of Biomedical Sciences in Bamenda. He is equally the “Mbang Fon”. Call it the staff of the fon if you like. He has a rich mind set. To say the least he can be considered as the leader of Donga Mantung class of intelligentsia. He has demonstrated his rich mind set in the many write ups that he publishes periodically in a bid to change the mentality of his Donga Mantung people and Cameroonians at large. He was the earliest bird on the model senate that Cameroon should have. At one point people thought that he will go to senate even if not through the ballot box at least through a presidential decree. But such dreams remain up to this day mere wishes. The reason according to public opinion is that even CPDM supporters more often rightly or wrongly doubt his CPDMness given that he is outspoken So, if bi- elections were to hold today it is advisable that he constitutes a list. After all, as “mbang fon” the fons tried to use him as their “mbang” to the house of senate.

    CAPTAIN CHUYE MBUNKUR

He is another rising political philanthropist in Donga Mantung Division and hails from Binju in Nkambe Central. Yet he is not well known. Even though some people say he is well to do, his political maturity is doubted by the very many that could support his bid. He is however a new political kingpin but lacks the experience that could make him senator.

    Dr. TAMO

Dr. Tamo hails from Misaje and falls within the range of new breed of politicians in Donga Mantung Division. Dr. Tamo would certainly be a good senatorial material if he noses up. He had proven his worth in the Mbessa area as a political kingpin and Misaje as an elegant organizer. But considering the fact that Dr. Fuh Calistus is also minister, his chances of grabbing the ticket would be slim. Yet popular opinion in his Misaje area sees him more as a new Section President in wait. 

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

SDO Suspends Juju, Development Association

The Senior Divisional Officer for Donga Mantung Division has issued two Prefectoral Orders suspending Juju displays in Bih village and another banning the activities of Moh Development Association-MODA. According to information gathered the two Prefectoral Orders issued on February 13, 2015 has sparked controversy amongst traditionalists and the administration. Accordingly, The Eye gathered that Prefectoral order No 017/PO/E27//C.76 /SAAP of 13 Feb 2015 which suspended juju display in Bih village was ignited by the fact that the Pastor and some members of the Bih Baptist Church were given snake beating by the jujus.

Another Prefectoral order No. 018/ PO/E27/C25/SAAJP of 13 Feb 2015 equally suspends the legal existence and activities of 'Moh Development Association- MODA, Nkambe Sub Division Donga Mantung Division. When contacted by this reporter, Dogo Dogo Elvis, the President of MODA said the entire Moh is looking at the Governor of the North West to solve the problem.  The brouhaha between the people of Moh and Nkambe resurfaced last December when MODA staged a walk to the cave and carried out some juju displayed during their annual event. Matters came to a head when the President of Moh Development Association wrote to the Governor of the North West Region to look into the problem. In another confidential mail to the mayor of Nkambe, Ngabir Paul Bantar, Moh Development Association also accuses the mayor that he is not respecting the gentleman agreement they had before elections. Besides, the problem between Moh and Nkambe steams from a chieftaincy crisis. Worthy to note that some years back, Moh clashed with Nkambe at Mbot palace during WACUDA and since then there has been tension between the two. (details up next)    

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