Strides have been made but the there is more to be done, it emerged Thursday August 4 in Yaoundé at the 4th Session of the Committee for the follow-up of the implementation of recommendations of the 2019 Major National Dialogue.
The committee was set up on March 23, 2020 after the peace talks to ensure “the recommendations are translated into palpable actions”, the Prime Minister Dr Joseph Dione Ngute head of the Committee said in his opening statement of the session. The PM who chaired the dialogue said the “history-making and epoch-marking event” has contributed dousing tensions as the decentralisation process is accelerated.
The security situation in the North West and South West regions is radically and positively changing and the population is gradually rejecting and denouncing the Prime Minister said. He then outlined the road covered in the last three years and the measures in gestation.
Wins
A plethora of recommendations have been implemented, the chair of the follow up committee said as he read out the litany of measures taken so far deal with the grievances raised by the population of Anglophone regions. Among the actions is the vetting by parliament and the promulgation by the Head of State of the law on decentralisation that gave the North West and South West regions special status based on their historical and cultural values that promotes community-driven development. “Regional assemblies are already in place, the Public Independent Conciliators have been appointed and are already at work,… ” Dion Ngute said. He said the special status satisfies the nostalgia of the people of the North West and South West regions to have a major say in their education and legal systems, and traditional chiefdoms. PM Dion Ngute also mentioned President Biya’s Plan for the Reconstruction of the North West and South West regions as one of the offshoots of the Major National Dialogue. He said the plan hinges on how “to restore social cohesion, reconstruction of infrastructures and revitalize the economy.”
He said “amendments in government procedures continue to be made,” adding that government institutions are upgrading their level of bilingualism. He gave a pat on the back of the National Commission for Bilingualism and Multiculturalism for championing the fight against hate speech and xenophobia, and the security and defence forces for protecting people and their properties. He also cited the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration, (DDR), centres created by President Paul Biya, and amnesty granted to combatants. That spurs fighters to continue leaving bushes.
Schools are back
Among the avalanche of successes because of the dialogue, the PM cited the increase in school enrolment in the troubled North West and South West regions. He revealed telling figures we cannot independently verify. In 2017, the North West had 220,000 schoolchildren. Enrolment fell to 24,000 in 2019, but in 2022 the figure tripled to around 70,000. “This is remarkable steady improvement,” Dion Ngute remarked. Over in the South West, before the crisis school enrolment was 185,000 and dropped down to 23,000 when the crisis was biting harder. “Today I am happy to report that school enrolment stands at more than 91,000 today,” the PM said. In the recent academic year the head of Government said several schools opened in many parts of the Anglophone regions. Furthering, he cited the a hitch-free organization of the First School Leaving Certificate, (FSLC) and the General Certificate of Education.
Echoes of Cultural, Social Activities
The massive turnout at cultural events like the enthronement of the Paramount Chiefs of Buea, and Limbe, funeral of the late Fon of Mankon, and the meeting of the South West Chiefs’ Conference, according to the PM are perceptible indicators of a cultural revival. He also cited the upsurge in celebration of marriages and other social activities that were almost impossible between 2018 and 2021. “People now keep late nights and in some cities, the military and civilian population drink side-by#side in bars in the North West and South West regions,” the PM mentioned as things are turning out for the better. He added that residents in the two regions can now booze beer brands that were “outlawed” by spawned armed groups in the North West and South West regions.
Economy breathes again
The local economy of the North West and South West regions that was in free fall with near impossible socio-economic activities has changed and economic activities have blossomed, Dion Ngute said as evidence of the spinoff of the dialogue.
He said agro-industrial giants Cameroon Development Corporation, (CDC), Pamol Plantations and Ndawara Tea Estates are back in business. Rubber, banana, palm oil and tea are leaving their factories. Dion Ngute said fresh vegetables and other food products from the North West region are now available in Yaounde markets a sign that farmers can hoe. “This shows that life is gradually returning to normalcy and we must together work to consolidate this,” the Prime Minister said. Moving the food stuff out of the regions is possible because road transport in North West and South West regions is more fluid now but there are still challenges in remote parts. The situation could keep improving. “The Kumba-Ekondo-Titi road project which was torpedoed by activities of armed groups in the area has been handed over to the Military Engineering Corps at the behest of the Head of State, while the Bamenda-Babadjou road project has been handed to local contractors who master the terrain,” the PM revealed.
Amba Anti-Climax
PM Dion Ngute said ‘Ambazonia is a veritable mafia organisation’. Many fighters he said have abandoned the Ambaonia fight after realizing “My Trip To Buea” has failed. He said the erstwhile fighters are now armed robbers, kidnapping their own brothers and sisters and killing their own kinsmen they swore to protect. He said villagers have declared amba boys persona non grata in several localities. He said the Ambazonia struggle “has been transformed into a veritable mafia organization and some of their sponsors are callous international conmen masquerading as freedom fighters.”
Despite these wins and gains, Dion Ngute said there are “still pockets of resistance in some areas.” “We have scorched the snake but we have not killed it,” he said calling on the population of the North West and South West regions to believe in government.
Jude VIBAN
