Wamey Panky
25 February 2008
Hon. Cyprian Awudu Mbaya, SDF MP for Nkambe Central and Questor at the National Assembly, has recently been thrashing in a whirlpool of accusations of embezzling micro-project grants for his constituency, duping the Nkambe Council of FCFA 25 million and causing the liquidation of a financial institution.
Hon. Awudu, who spoke to the press recently in Nkambe, dismissed the allegations, claiming that they were meant to sully his image and put his people against him. According to the MP, serving his people in Parliament for the third mandate was clear testimony that he was above belly politics and that is was why his people trusted him to continue representing them.
Awudu was also accused of reaping what late Hon. Chemo Sama, former MP for Ako/Misaje, sowed. He was been taken to task for 'embezzling' micro-project grants worth FCFA 8 million for 2007 meant for that constituency.
His critics claim that Awudu took advantage of Hon. Chemo's death with whom he worked closely in Parliament. They maintained that not a franc was used for the benefit of the people of that constituency.
Equally, some people from that constituency have insinuated that Awudu lied when he claimed responsibility over the recently approved electricity project for Ako of over FCFA 50 million within the 2008 HIPC budget. They maintained that it was the effort of Dr. Gentry Calistus Fuh, Secretary of State for Mines, Industry and Technological Development, and Hon. Joseph Ntoi, the CPDM MP for that constituency.
Mbaya classified such claims as mere calumnies to sabotage his personality and his SDF party. The MP explained that micro-project grants are often given to MPs to be used in their constituencies. And that if one dies, the National Assembly Bureau has to select a committee, which would manage the deceased's projects and a report is given.
This, he said, was the exact thing with late Hon. Chemo's case. He argued that although he was a member of that committee, he could not have embezzled the grant.The MP said he was embarrassed that Dr. Calistus Fuh, who was appointed Secretary of State in October 2007 and Hon. Ntoi (his alternate) who replaced him in Parliament upon his appointment, could claim that the FCFA 50-million electricity project grant was their effort and follow-up.
Awudu handed the press an acknowledgement letter from the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources dated 13th December, 2007, which also informed him of the approval of the CFAF 50 million grant for the Ako electrification project, (he had requested).
He disclosed that those who were now launching diatribes at him were those who wanted him to share the money on the table but he told them micro-project grants were for the people.
Awudu was also accused of duping Nkambe Council of FCFA 25 million, a claim that he also refuted. Some of the local people blamed the MP for causing the liquidation of a financial institution, Money Express. But the MP says that much of what has been said about his embezzling is wrong.
According to Awudu, some individuals were faking documents claiming that he embezzled their savings when the Money Express financial house was closed down."These are fault finders," he retorted. He said he felt scandalised when he was reliably informed that the same person who was the Northwest Coordinator, who, from all indications, helped in the mismanagement of Money Express, championed the faking of documents against him.
He said, before its final closure, there was a liquidator; Barrister George Kinyang a Douala-based lawyer who published the liquidation of the Money Express institution for quite a reasonable time.
The Assembly Questor claimed that he was just a shareholder in Money Express "and if there was any mismanagement, it was not Awudu" because there were documents to substantially charge the various managers of mismanagement.
In spite of the criticisms, Awudu boasted that he was still the hunting-dog of the Nkambe Constituency and Donga-Mantung Division in general.He enumerated some projects he has achieved within the 2008 budget for the Division.
These include the FCFA 50m for the Ako Electricity Project in which his, was the continuous follow-up of the project from where late Chemo Sama left, FCFA 40 million for the electrification of the villages of Mbarr, Wanti and Kup, FCFA 15.5 million for Binshua Water Project, FCFA 30 million for Mbiyeh Water Project, FCFA 20 million for Nwa-Mbem Water Project, classrooms to be constructed and other projects that are still in the pipeline.
Awudu also told the press that all the accusations against him were schemes by his political adversaries who are determined to ruin him and have vowed to denigrate him in the eyes of his party hierarchy and the public especially to cause him to lose his post of Quetsor in March 2008.
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