Following lawyers and teachers’ strike, and the civil strife in Bamenda and Buea, the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement Party worked in collaboration with the authorities to restore order and push for solutions to their demands.
At the behest of the Second Deputy Speaker, Hon. Emilia Monjowa Lifaka, the CPDM MPs of the troubled regions; North West and South West met with representatives of the lawyers, to listen, understand their problems and present a good argument to the government; a way out of the crisis. The MPs persuaded the lawyers to go to the table and talk with the authorities. But the meeting called by the Minister of State Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals Laurent Esso on Tuesday November 22, 2016, was boycotted by some factions of the legal core; the Common Law lawyers. While, the Minister of Justice thought his decisions and recommendations were going to sway the lawyers to stop the strike, they never moved a muscle.
As the CPDM MPs were battling with the lawyers strike, the Anglophone teachers in the North West and South West Regions went on strike on Monday November 21, 2016. Though some teachers, students and pupils went to class and schools opened, the strike paralyzed classes as of yesterday. The teachers undermined the recommendations to government of the inter-ministerial committee in charge of examining and proposing solutions to preoccupations raised by teacher’s trade unions, headed by the Minster of Higher Education Jacques Fame Ndongo. While the Anglophone education family stayed home, youths in Bamenda took to the streets, it turned violent and the forces of law and order stepped-in robustly. The town came to a standstill, and one person “unfortunately” lost his life, according to the governor of the North West region Adolphe Lele Lafrique. Faced with this uprising, the Secretary General of the Central Committee Jean Nkuété dispatched a delegation of four to Bamenda; Political Bureau Member Regina Mundi, Questor at the National Assembly Njingum Musa, Enwe Francis MP for Momo West and Fru Jonathan Chargé de mission at the General Secretariat on Tuesday November 22. Their mission was to listen, understand and talk with the lawyers and teachers and report to the SG. On Monday November 28, the delegation was at the CC headquarters to report and explain their findings to Jean Nkuété. After the meeting, the delegation was redeployed to the North West Region.When the Prime Minister, Head of Government Philemon Yang was in Bamenda over the week-end for a dialogue with the lawyers, teachers and other stakeholders, the legal minds admitted in a final statement, signed on Friday November 25, that the diplomacy of CPDM central committee delegation lured them to the dialogue table. Meanwhile, the deputy speaker at the National Assembly and other MPs went to the South West Region over the week-end as has held talks with teachers, teachers, women’s group and others. Also, we learnt that the senators of the two Anglophone regions met under the leadership of the CPDM Parliamentary group leader at the Senate Peter Mafany Musonge, on Thursday November 24, who said: “we are working at the background.”
J.V.
JUDE VIBAN,
