Olive Ejang Tebug Ngoh
17 July 2008
Southwest Chiefs have decried the prolonged and slow pace of implementation of decentralisation in Cameroon.
Council of SW Chiefs:Unhappy with delay in implimenting decentralisation
This observation was made on Saturday, July 12, during the all Southwest Development Conference that took place at the Kumba City Council hall.Chief Atem Ebako, during the discussion forum, lamented that twelve years after the introduction of decentralisation in Cameroon, it is still a dream.
He said Senior Divisional Officers are still allowed to lord it over people and command everywhere.The Chief observed that Southwesterners are sick; else they would have opened their eyes and follow the mainstream of politics in the nation.
Chief Ebako stated that they are tired of MINATD's "jazz" of decentralisation that still impoverishes the masses in villages.According to Ebako, it was a disgrace that Chiefs boast of Ministers and a Prime Minister whereas the Province continues to go backward.He further chided the Chiefs for claiming to have abundant natural resources and questioned what the government has given them in return.
The Chief bemoaned the fact that even CRTV radio signals are absent in Kumba, since the lone transmitter was carried away. He noted that domestic flights would soon go operational in Douala and Yaounde at subsidised rates while their province is left out.
The Chief also expressed bitterness that the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Jean Kuete, has visited three Provinces in the Francophone region, where he donated FCFA 100 million to each Province for farmers. "Where is the Southwest Province?" he questioned.
Recalling the development conference of May 23-24, where the Chiefs resolved to increase food production in the Province, he regretted that one month after, the project is yet to kick off. He told his fellow Chiefs to design their projects following the political mainstream of the nation, else they risk failing.
Also, the disgruntled Chief decried the absence of Parliamentarians and Mayors (whom he claimed were invited) at the development conference.In a socio-cultural committee report presided by HRH Nfor Tabetando, it was noted that factors impeding development in the Province include infighting in terms of jobs, appointments and contracts.
The report revealed that there was lack of patriotism and commitment to issues relating to the Southwest. The Chief noted that there was marginalisation and exclusion, chieftaincy disputes over succession, leadership and indiscriminate sales of land.
At the end, a socio-cultural committee was formed to unite Southwesterners and encourage them to live with the spirit of love, reconciliation and oneness.
"Food For All" Project
The meeting also evaluated the work of an Agro-Economy Action Committee that started work on May 25, after the end of the Southwest Development Conference that ended the previous day.The committee initiated a project dubbed "Food for All," aimed at increasing food production in the Province.
The Chiefs said the bureau of Southwest Chiefs Conference, SWECC, is planning to meet the Minister of Agriculture for the project to go operational.Encouraging the "Food for All" Project, Nfon VE Mukete, paramount ruler of the Bafaws, and agronomist, advised the Chiefs to apply fertilizer in food production. He urged the Chiefs to sensitise their subjects to boost production and alleviate poverty.
On his part, Chief Norbert Mbile expressed regret that farmers have been abandoned to wallow in poverty. He said only less than 10 percent of money allotted to farmers by government reach them.According to him, even improved species of seedlings are not given to farmers.
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