Meeting at the midterm evaluation session of the council, Friday September 23, Mayor Chenwi Peter presented ex-fighters who succeeded at the GCE Advanced and Ordinary Levels examinations to councilors and supervisory authority as part of the council’s success story.
Beri Sevidzem and Moses Echu, repentant fighters currently undergoing rehabilitation at the Bamenda DDR Centres passed the 2022 GCE session at the Advanced and Ordinary levels respectively thanks to goodwill support from stakeholders like the Bamenda II Council.
To Moses, 34, his success is the revival of his academic and career project, which he aborted back in 2008 after failing the GCE O/L at his first attempt. The assistance leading to his success is to him “unforgettable”.
Presented to the councilors of the Bamenda II council as one of the pluses recorded last academic year, the students who succeeded at the DDR Center thanked the Head of State for forgiving them and solicited continuous support through ensuring that they achieve their goal of attaining quality education.
Imaging the need for continuous intentional progress among those who have chosen to heed to the call of the Head of State and give peace a chance, Chenwi Peter pledged his council will lend an endless hand of support to all former combatants willing to be educated to the length they desire. “We are ready to support ex-combatants to the highest height of their education,” he assured.
He further urged his councilors to use the success stories of former combatants to inspire their constituents to embrace peace and give development a chance in Bamenda II.
During the session, Mayor Chenwi Peter outlined projects the council has executed since that start of the ongoing financial year and one of which stood out clear was the support and attention paid to the education sector.
To him, “education is the only industry in the North West region which should not be toiled with”. He echoed that despite the security challenges, his council has constructed and renovated classrooms, donated didactic materials to all functional government primary schools in his municipality, donated braille materials to visually impaired students and has supported hundreds of homes with didactics ahead of back-to-school this academic year.
The Bamenda II council has so far collected above 179 million CFA in revenue with a 75% rate of execution of earmarked projects at the start of this fiscal year, with education and infrastructural development as priority areas of investment.
Jenny Hans NDE
