Society

Thousands turned up at Unity Palace on May 20, 2015 in honour of the invitation of the presidential couple to round off the National Day festivities. Guests who answered present to the invitation of the presidential couple, Paul and Chantal Biya, at the Unity Palace yesterday May 20 for a State House Reception to round off the 43^rd National Day were in thousands. The fine weather that characterized military and civilian parades at the 20th May Boulevard in downtown Yaounde continued in the evening, offering the visitors the opportunity to communion with the presidential couple in all quietude.

Even before the gates of Unity Palace were flung open at 5 pm as planned, queues of people could already be perceived at the entrance, with each guest struggling to get in as early as possible and gain a vantage position from where he/she could better catch a glimpse of their host and possibly shake hands with them. And when Paul and Chantal Biya made their way into the Banquet Hall of the Unity Palace which was already jammed to capacity with the elated guests, there was movement in almost all directions. While some struggled to shake hands, others fought hard to get souvenir photos. Even in the garden where other visitors were entertained, the atmosphere was the same. The smiling presidential couple moved round shaking hands and chatting with the visitors as they moved.  Here, national unity was on display as there was neither race nor culture but all Cameroonians and friends all united behind one leader to surmount challenges of the time

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Ngwa Bertrand

22.May.2015

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Cameroon Concord has gathered intelligence that lawyers in Fako are set to begin legal actions against the Divisional Officer for Tiko soonest. Our Fako bureau chief reported some hours ago that On Monday 18^th of May during Clean up campaigns in Tiko, the Divisional Officer for Tiko, Che Patrick sealed Eagle Law Chambers; the office of Barrister Samuel Ashu Bessong. He was in the office with his colleague Forsac Eric. They were both locked in the office on grounds that their office was open during the cleanup campaign. Sources deep within the DO's office told Cameroon Concord Barristers Ashu Samuel Bessong and Forsac Eric were released after about 1 hour.

Lawyers in FAKO Division later had a crisis meeting at Airport Hotel in Tiko in which it was unanimously agreed to meet at the DO office the next day. On the 19 of May, 250 Lawyers met at the DO’S office and held a meeting with the DO and his top aides and some traditional authorities in Tiko. For close to 2 hours there were heated arguments and discussions prompting the DO to acknowledge that what happened was regrettable but that he could not in his official capacity apologize. The Fako lawyers left for Limbe for another meeting with the Senior Divisional Officer. The SDO pleaded with the lawyers to be calm and appreciated the fact that they came to dialogue with him. He promised to get back to the lawyers after meeting with the DO. Cameroon Concord has now been reliably informed that the President of FAKLA (seen here) has created a legal team that will be charged with instituting legal actions against the DO. Cameroon Concord is keeping an eye on this developing story and we will of course keep our readers posted.

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Ngwa Bertrand

22.May.2015

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Cameroon's  First Lady, Mrs Chantal Biya received in audience Monday, May 18, 2015 at the Oriental Salon inside the Unity Palace Mr. YASIN ERDEM, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce for West Africa-Canada. Facing the press, after a 30-minute interview, Mr. YASIN ERDEM praised the cooperation between the Chamber of Commerce Canada-West Africa Cameroon and the African Synergy.

For half an hour, Chantal Biya and her host scrutinized the tracks strengthening cooperation between the two institutions. Mr. Erdem was accompanied at Unity Palace by his wife Chantal Bergeron. Created on 15 November 2002 in Yaoundé, African Synergy is a Non Governmental Organization involve in the fight against AIDS and suffering today comprises the First Ladies of nearly 30 African countries.

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Ngwa Bertrand

19.May.2015

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L to R Sunjo George, Dr. Humphrey Monono, Prof Nsamenang Augustine Bame, Prof. Tafah Edokat Edward, Nji Joseph and Prof. Nyasse Barthelemy

Participants at a first ever Higher Teachers’ Training College (HTTC) Bambili Awareness Building Colloquium have disagreed with some resolutions/recommendations that were presented at the end of the session. This maiden HTTC Community Outreach organized under the theme “Curricular Implications of the Profiles of the Applicants Seeking Admission into the HTTC, Bambili”, took place Friday May 15, 2015 at the auditorium of the University of Bamenda (UBa). The imbroglio during the presentation of the resolutions was on the requirement for admission which most participants considered too tough. Some old hands in the profession even claimed that if that criterion was implemented, then the number of postulants will drop drastically whereas there is an acute shortage of teachers. The resolution said that “In a bid to improve the quality of teaching only candidates who score a minimum of 10 points in the GCE A/L and Mention Bien in the Bac, should seek admission to HTTC”. After so much row the resolutions committee decided to leave the matter to the Prime Minister’s discretion. Other resolutions included:

Students who feature amongst the best 10 at the GCE in any subject should be admitted without necessarily taking the entrance exam

With MCQs in place, consideration should equally be given to structural and essay questions during entrance exam

Other forms of impairments should also be considered, not just loss of any of the five senses

Curriculum should be structured to answer the “How” and “Why” questions

There must be a certain quota set aside for science students of the English subsystem of education

Such a colloquium should be a yearly event and the resolutions sent to policy makers.

The idea behind the colloquium was to sensitize stakeholders on its teacher training options and the extent of the competitiveness for these alternatives. The main objective of this massively attended event as spelt out by the Vice Chancellor (VC) of UBa Prof Tafah Edokat Edward in his welcome address; “is to disseminate instructive experiences and statistics on HTTC gleaned over the years in order to build awareness about the competitive nature of entrance examinations into HTTC Bambili”.

At the start of the colloquium, the Director of HTTC, Prof. Bame Nsamenang provided facts clarifying procedural issues and realities on about HTTC. He said the ministry created Computer science department and lodged it only in the technical section and not in the general education which equally needs it. The Director went on to say that when the ministry cut out HTTC Bambili from Yaounde, it created 18 departments which do not yet exist. Also there are ten First Cycle departments excluding philosophy and computer sciences. He added that bribery, corruption and other vices characterize admission into HTTC but he is determined as current head of HTTC to stop corruption. He then drew the attention of participants to the fact that HTTC Bambili is a national school and not one for the North West Region.     

To meet the colloquium’s objective, nine papers were presented and discussed:

The Deputy VC of UBa Prof. Nyasse Barthelemy opened the discussions with “Benchmarking Admission Conditions and Norms for Entry into the Teaching Profession”. He wondered what HTTC can do in increasing a benchmark of its teachers as compared to those from other teacher training colleges. According to the Deputy VC, becoming a teacher should not be a last resort but that a normal teacher should have an appeal for the job thus it should be a vocation. Prof. Nyasse suggested that what is happening elsewhere be replicated in Bambili. He wondered what the future of big halls will be since with the evolution of technology students can choose when and where to study as lessons can be recorded and placed online for all to access.

The Registrar of the GCE Board Dr. Humphrey Monono was next with “Experience of the GCE Board and their Implications for Teacher Training”. His presentation indicated a very poor performance in the compulsory subjects Maths, French and English Language even though these are given more teaching hours per week. The Registrar also complained of a lack of qualified personnel in Commercial and Industrial subjects.

Next in line were Dr. Nguendjio E. and Prof. Tita M. whose presentation was titled “Competitive Entrance Examinations into the First and Second Cycles of HTTC: Some Hidden ‘Facts’ in Statistic”. Their presentation focused on the 2014 entrance exam into HTTC which showed that the bulk of the applicants and the bulk of science candidates were Francophones. A majority of the few Anglophones who postulate for the HTTC go in for the Arts subjects. Another issue is that most of the applicants performed very poorly in the GCE. In effect 84% of those who applied in 2014 had just 2 papers at A/L and only 16% had 3 papers and above.

On his part, the Director of HTTC Prof. Bame Nsamenang presented a paper on “Cumulative Deficit Syndrome Young Cameroonians bring into the First and Second Cycles of HTTC: Probable Sources and Potential Solutions”. According to Prof. Bame, at admission, students have considerable deficits which the institution most often cannot erase in either 3 years of the first cycle or 2 years of the second cycle.

Other speakers included the Regional Delegate of Secondary Education for the North West Sunjo George who spoke on “GCE O/L and A/L statistics for his region in Arts and Science Subjects and the Career Prospects of Boys and Girls”. There was also Richard Chin whose paper centered on “Manager/Parent’s Perspective on the Academic Profile and Personal Comportment of Applicants into Cameroonian Universities”. Valentine Semma talked on “Teacher Training and Cameroon’s Vision 2015: Achievements, Gaps, Mismatches and Prospects”; and last but not the least was Prof. Shadrack Ambanasom whose paper was on “Language and Communication Challenges to Teacher Training in HTTC Bambili.

Discussions after Paper Presentations

The deliberations that ensued indicated that there was general dissatisfaction with the present state of affairs in the HTTC Bambili. Stakeholders of the Anglophone subsystem of education are uncomfortable with the seeming dominant influx of Francophone candidates in the institution and also the deployment of Francophones to teach English speaking students but who cannot express themselves in English. The colloquium was also a forum to stamp out the notion of corruption in the admission process as the Director of HTTC Bambili challenged anyone who had proof of anyone having given or received bribe for the admission of a candidate to come up and say it .

One of the participants who is a principal complained that HTTC Bambili was created to train teachers for the Anglophone subsystem of education but that he has a case of a purely Francophone Chemistry Teacher who was sent to his school even though he cannot say a word in English where all the students are English speaking. The Executive Secretary of the Cameroon Teachers Trade Union CATTU, Tassang Wilfred said CATTU has no problem with Francophones being trained in institutions for the Anglophone sub system of education but it frowns at who the francophone candidates are trained for. Reacting to the statistics presented by the GCE Board Registrar, Tassang Wilfred said out of 225 Public colleges in the northwest region, there are more than half of these without French and Math teachers thus accounting for the poor performances in those subjects. In reaction, Prof. Bame acknowledged the deficiencies and added that the forum was meant to gather suggestions on what should be done to better the situation and not play a blame game. He concluded that HTTC’s role is to train and not to deploy teachers. Prof. Bame concluded that the question on the issue of deploying Francophone teachers to teach in Anglophone schools should be directed to the Ministry in charge. 

General Participants’ Proposals

Present for the colloquium was a retired teacher who doubles as a CPDM Central Committee member and Alternate Senator, Regina Mundi. She advocated strongly that other national institutions in the country east of the Mungo should equally practice regional balance as much as is practiced in the University of Bamenda. To her it would seem there is an excessive stress on regional balance only when it comes to institutions of the Anglophone sub system of education. The Alternate Senator added that in the admission of candidates, a special quota should be reserved only for science students of the Anglophone subsystem of education.   Prof. Nyasse Barthelemy proposed that students be trained taking internationalization into consideration such that they can be deployed anywhere in the world citing the cases of Indonesia and Finland that have what he termed the best qualities of conditions or requirements to become a teacher. Above all the professor recommended that compensation to teachers be carefully thought about and the said compensation should be standardized.  

Dr. Humphrey Monono recommended that HTTC should be at the heart of government and initiatives; that policies designed by HTTC should benefit many and not just a few; that standards should matter more than structure and finally that there should be zero tolerance to examination malpractice. Tassang Wilfred of CATTU proposed that students of HTTC should graduate with a First Degree so that they can proceed to the Second Cycle and be able to fill the gap of shortage of English speaking teachers in and out of HTTC. Also present at the inaugural Awareness Building Colloquium were the representative of the North West Regional Governor Joseph Nji who is the head of Division for Social, Cultural and Economic Affairs at the Governor’s Office. At the close of the colloquium, Regina Mundi observed that all the criticisms were meant to move the Bamenda University ahead and place it on the same level with other state universities. Above all the main concern was to make Cameroon have ideal teachers since everyone is what they are now because they passed through the hands of teachers.   

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Ngwa Bertrand

18.May.2015

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The population of Kendem and environs in Upper Banyang Sub-Division, Manyu Division, South West Region of Cameroon have since the last few weeks remained befuddled over the mysterious disappearance of a 2-year, 2-month old child, Ashu Enow Christopher. According to Ashu Robert Tambe, the father of the aforementioned, he had just returned from the farm and later fell asleep in the parlour with his child. He further said that he left the aforementioned with his brother and went to a nearby river (River Bokwa) to take a bath during which they were playing with other children in front of the house. Ashu Robert Tambe said on his return from bathing he was informed that a hawk had carried and flown away with the 2-year, 2-month old Ashu Enow Christopher. According to 5-year old Ashu Chesuh Tambia and 6-year old Besong Bonaventure, they were playing together when suddenly a hawk appeared, glanced from a distance before carrying and flying away with their brother. During a fact finding mission at Kendem Mile 33 (Omen Quarters) where the incident is said to have happened, the father confided that a Witch Doctor he brought from Batibo in Momo Division of the North West Region confirmed that it was a female family member who transformed into a hawk and committed the atrocity.

The Witch Doctor indicated that the child was still alive, held in captivity in a nearby bush, under a big tree across the river. After several incantations, the Witch Doctor embarked on a journey to emancipate the child from captivity. The move was abortive as the Witch Doctor returned looking tired with several wounds on his body. The Witch Doctor would later confess that the wounds were as a result of the beatings he received from the witches and wizards in the event of trying to free the child. The Witch Doctor then revealed to the father of the child that the perpetuators of the act needed a pig before they could release the child. This story has been authenticated by the father of the child who confirmed that on the instruction of the Witch Doctor, he provided the family members with an extra-large pig. He continued that after the hawk disappeared with his child in broad daylight, he only saw the child a day after he provided the family members with a pig despite thorough search for six days. He added that the seventh day was a big surprise to him especially given the fact that the child was found on a stone on the same path he passes everyday to the farm.

Village sources said that the father of the child is being punished by the family members for refusing to give them fallouts from the sales of farm lands. According to a villager who pleaded secrecy, the family members had asked the father of the child to let them enjoy some of the material dividends derived from the farm business. It has been alleged that the father of the child inherited some farm lands from his father. They say each time he sells them; he keeps the money as well as the pig offered by the buyers. The villager concluded that this explains why the child in question remained crippled 2years, 2 months after birth and why he was carried by a hawk and the dead body only seen seven days after a pig was provided to the family members for sacrifice. The mother of the child Ashu Victorine Asan who could hardly speak expressed surprise how a hawk could carry a child as big and heavy as hers.

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Ngwa Bertrand

18.May.2015

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A 44 year old Cameroonian was murdered in Basel, Switzerland on May 8, by an Angolan man. The body of Chantal Beyala slashed with knives was discovered by a witness on the 8^th of May in an apartment in Basel in Switzerland. Suspicions were worn to her Cameroonian compatriot with Portuguese nationality, who had alerted the police after the discovery of the body.

However, a statement from the state council office in Basel City, Switzerland revealed that the alleged murderer was an Angolan who knew the victim. He is reportedly on the run and is the subject of an international arrest warrant. The body of the Cameroonian will this Saturday be repatriated to Cameroon.

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Ngwa Bertrand

15.May.2015

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