Society

 The National Civic Service Agency for Participation in Development (NCSAPD) has launched a program in various sub-divisional headquarters of the country geared towards recruiting volunteers and conscripts to strengthen the operation capacity of the President Biya elite force popularly known as BIR. Cameroon Concord has learnt that all sub divisional headquarters of the South West region including the National Police Academy in Mutengene have received directives from the Secretary General at the presidency to host two lists of conscripts and volunteers for a period of six months.

A prominent member of the Southern Cameroons National Council who opted anonymity hinted this reporter that the idea of a final list bearing the names of those accepted for the training to be established in Yaounde "after the volunteers and conscripts have gone through what BIR sources say is a "patriotism test" is very disturbing". The selection process in the South West region currently being chaired by Clement Fon Ndikum representing the Governor of the South West region has already enlisted 620 volunteers and 400 conscripts for the training.

Cameroon Concord security analyst did observe that the General Manager of the National Civic Service Agency for Participation in Development who has been mandated by the Francophone  Beti-Ewondo government to set up various teams around the country to mobilize and select conscripts and volunteers was also given special directives and resources to rally the support of the local Cameroon media informing them that the project is channel towards developing the nation via community service.

At the time of writing this report, 31 sub divisions had taken part in the exercise and the 620 volunteers (20 from each sub division) will be trained by experts from the Ministries of Youth Affairs and Civic Education, Agriculture and Rural Development, Defense, Fisheries and Animal Husbandry, Sports and Physical Education. It is widely believe that the group will also receive courses on entrepreneurship and civil responsibilities.  

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Ngwa Bertrand

16.Jul.2014

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Cameroon Concord has been reliably informed that His Lordship Bishop Immanuel Banlanjo Bushu, Bishop of the Diocese of Buea will commence a pastoral visit to the United States of America come July the 18th. Bishop Bushu who also moonlights as Proprietor and Chancellor of the University Institute of Buea will make the trip to the US along with Rev.Father Cajetan Ejolle, the Director of the Campus Ministry. During his stay in the US, Bishop Bushu is expected to meet academic partners of the Catholic University of Buea, donors to the Buea Diocese and benefactors of the Catholic University. The visit will also provide the man of God an opportunity to meet the Buea Diocese diaspora in major states in the US.

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Ngwa Bertrand

13.Jul.2014

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Against a background of persistent crime in Cameroon, we of this publication are advocating that only Cameroonians with upright morals should be recruited into the police force to put an end to this vice. Cameroon Concord's security reporter opined during last week's editorial meeting that the rising crime wave in urban centers like Yaounde, Douala, Bamenda, Limbe, Kumba and Garoua reflected the inefficiency of the police force which has lost respect from the public. Members of the public no longer collaborate with the police who today in this CPDM confusion, consider themselves as lords and bullies instead of servants and friends to the public. It is common these days for a family under attacks from armed robbers to telephone the police station and be told by a police man on duty to channel their complaints to BIR-the President Biya newly created elite force.

Cameroonians have resorted to lynching as a result of apparent loss of confidence in what this generation of CPDM policemen can do. In Anglophone Cameroon where the rule of law reigned supreme in the days of the Late President Ahmadou Ahidjo and J.N.Foncha, people suspected of committing crimes today in Bamenda, Limbe, Mutengene, Kumba and Buea are killed through mob justice simply because the public feels that it would not achieve justice, equity or fair play if it reported such cases to the Cameroonian police force. While innocent people are being killed in the process, other suspects are unfairly presumed guilty and lynched without trial by the law courts.

A career policeman and a senior member of the Cameroonian judicial police who spoke to us recently on the policing situation in the country noted that during the Ahidjo regime, he never heard anything about lynching. Policing he added was carried out by the police officers in collaboration with the civilian elements who cooperated with the police force. He argued that the CPDM have politicized every aspect of the police force from appointments, promotion and down to command operations with Francophone personnel who do not have a mastery of the English language heading major security operations in the South West and North West Regions culminating to many fiasco.

In neighboring countries like Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, the ordinary citizen is vigilant and would provide intelligence to the police the moment anyone was suspected. This relationship between the police force and the community is possible because the police were kind and collaborative with the ordinary citizen of the towns and cities. Numerous francophone delegates of national security have come and gone but the policing establishment in Cameroon in shambles. In the Federal Republic of Germany, a country in Europe that Cameroon shares a special relationship, and even in mother France, no matter how intelligent you are or what exam you passed, police recruitment is a matter of moral upbringing. This explains why the Ahidjo government insisted on moral background checks from all academic institutions attended and even religious denomination before you were accepted into the police force. Cameroon Concord under cover reporter who visited the police academy in Mutengene found out that it was a normal practice today for young recruits to have scuffles with their bosses and were not fired from the school. There is indeed an urgent need to redefine and expand our Cameroonian policing policy and scope to fit into today's security challenges.  

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Ngwa Bertrand

09.Jul.2014

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Expanding the Scope of Tackling Cameroon's urban and rural crime Highlights: Worsening urban and rural crime in Cameroon is placing increasing demands on the State's police departments -Cameroon police forces are typically woefully underresourced, inadequately trained, unaccountable, and distrusted by local communities,

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Ngwa Bertrand

01.Jul.2014

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Nowadays, some Cameroonian women spend eternity searching for Mr. Perfect. Others put cultural considerations to influence their lives. Most Cameroonian women in the city of Birmingham put themselves in the situation they are by virtue of their supercilious attitude. Most can’t even tell what they want in a man and in a relationship. They are confused and can’t decide whether they are Africans living in the West. They wish to be co-captains, coequals and at the same time quote Orphisms or threaten you with the intervention of the Social Service or police if you tell them to behave like a wife. No Cameroonian man in his right mind will go near such a woman -- unless by mistake.

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Ngwa Bertrand

26.Jun.2014

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It is easy to understand why very few Cameroonians are succeeding in the Western world particularly in countries like Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Many of our people have turned to blame their failures on circumstances. Success should not be tied to our environment and circumstances surrounding us.

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Ngwa Bertrand

26.Jun.2014

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