Banmi Emmanuel, Member of Organisation Committee“Delegates are impressed”You heard it from the representative of the delegates, they are very impressed with the organization and in such occasions there are little lapses here and there but I think everybody is happy that this went on as we planned.
The coming of the head of state to open the conference is an additional push and it shows the importance he attaches in blending the multiplicity of cultures that we have in Cameroon and also to manifest his attachment to the bilingual nature of Cameroon. In his speech he talked about the challenges that are ahead. He referred to the millennium development goals, an agenda which he said has not been fully attained, I share that point of view with him and it ties with the theme of the conference which is repositioning the common wealth for the post 2015 agenda. It means that the commonwealth will take a more vigorous action towards development and the head of state made mention of that and equally made mention of the fact that all this cannot take place if the issue of security is not put in place which is a major challenge for our country and the sub region. The attendance of this conference is impressive; we are counting about 700 delegates from all the nine regions across the globe, although we were expecting 800.Mohammed Rozai, Delegate Malaysia“CPA Headquarters should move to Asia or Africa”I do not have much knowledge about Cameroon but we know the country only through Roger Milla and Samuel Eto’o and the about the world cup; we do not have our embassy here, but it is in Nigeria and caters for Cameroon. We decided in our meeting in Malaysia that we are coming to Cameroon and all our delegates are here. It is very impressive especially the weather and we are looking at any opportunities to have bilateral trade with Cameroon.Most of the member countries of the CPA are not in Europe but in Africa, South East Asia and that’s why we are pushing very hard to have the Headquarters of CPA outside Europe. Secondly, the CPA cannot only be opened to club members , we want the association to have a say in the world issues otherwise it is just like meeting friends once a year without any pressure or impression about any organizations or country in the world. We want to see women and youth more involved in every member state.Unfortunately resolutions that we take here in a crude way are not recognized by anybody but then that is why we are working very hard to make the CPA a body like any organization in the world, it cannot be under the parliament of the UK, the CPA belongs to 53 countries, and we cannot continue to legislate under the laws of the British parliament. It should have its own procedure and regulations. Jagdish Chandra, Delegate Indian“It is about the future of our children”My stay this far in Cameroon has been comfortable and there have been appreciative statements and all my colleagues especially the speaker are comfortable. I was elated by what the President of Cameroon said when he enumerated ways of forging the democratic systems of the country and this conference is a forum where all the delegates come to discuss what will be the future of our children particularly after 2015, the new responsibilities and the steps CPA has to take. This is a forum during which we interact with each other and talk about the problems that almost all countries face with the view to find solutions. Crispin Blunt, UK delegate“Ebola needs to be in the agenda”Cameroon is a beautiful place, I have never been to West Africa before and I am very pleased to have come. Concerning the conference I will like to talk about the speech of the president in which he spoke about attainment of the 2015 goals. Part of the job at this conference is to come up with ideas and concepts we can put to the United Nations which reflect the commonwealth branches and the countries of the commonwealth. I am chairing the meeting that has to come up with those goals. I listened to the president very carefully and this was one of the important challenges for the developing nations and the world at large.Security remains a difficult issue and the President is correct to identify that as a challenge to all countries in the world. Cameroon is a victim of violence like terrorism and is struggling with these challenges as are many countries around the world. The common wealth branches have a duty to comment about that though it is very difficult because it involves countries with Moslem religion and they may not necessarily agree with one common statement.One of the things I think is missing from this conference is the Ebola threat which we expected to be on the agenda. It is both a security and a health issue and it is a disaster fort West Africa. Common branches need to make an expression and we need to came up with a resolution that commits all the countries taking part in this conference to helping west African countries like sierra Leon which is a member of the CPA and whose members could not be here. We should be supporting these countries.Russ Herbert, Delegate Cananda“Put forth proposals about the future”So far we have been received very warmly with great generosity and great display of culture. I feel very comfortable. I did not know much about Cameroon, but I see that the country is growing with the President of the IPU, Cameroon born Martin Chungong. The development goals constitute the theme of this conference and there will be discussions on what those goals entail likewise closing statement that summaries the debate and then that debate can then be brought to the United Nations and other organizations. We will be putting proposals that the world should be focusing on in the future. I am here to make friends and to see how you deal with your two official languages and the multiplicity of faiths and ethnic groupings. I am a member of the trade community back in Canada, and I always keep in my mind how we can increase the trade between our two countries.
