Editorial

The recent closure and rehabilitation of the Douala International airport is critically important and is a matter of deep concern to every Cameroonian. The construction work at the airport is the largest piece of maintenance ever carried out by the Biya regime and cost billions of FCFA. Recently, the Minister of Transport, Edgar Alain Mebo Ngo’o revealed that all is now set for flights to resume at the airport. Minister Alain Mebo Ngo’o noted that work will still continue throughout this year. We of this publication, after a series of visit at the site can now reveal that nothing new has been added to the airport. The operating, supervisory control and data systems are still the old ones that were there before the so called renovation. 

Our Douala Bureau had sounded an early warning even before the closed down concerning the safety of the airport. The ministry of transport ordered a rigorous testing on safety issues regarding the aviation control system. To be sure, the Douala airport authorities were asked specifically about the safety of the runways and whether there were any issues in respect of it. The Douala International airport representatives working on tribal sentiments misled the duly appointed Edgar Alain Mebo Ngo’o committee by not reporting that the airport could still operate with the main runway often used by the military.

We of Cameroon Concord contend that the current leadership at the ministry of transport has no credibility with regard to the transparency of what is going on at the Douala International airport and perhaps even with regard to the truth about what is happening in respect of the maintenance work. The current aviation system which they claim is modern is unable to ensure the required level of safety in take-off and landing. Cameroon Concord Intelligence Unit is aware that there are design and operating deficiencies and a lack of reliability in all what have been done over a one-month period. What Minister Alain Mebo Ngo’o and his gang have there now is completely inefficient to improve and it would create more confusion with the system if there were attempts at upgrading.

Another key issue in this whole Francophone Beti-Ewondo process now taking place at the Douala International airport is the absence of documentation in respect of the award of contracts in the prime minister’s office and even at the level of the Douala airport administration. Without mincing words,documents on how to run the so called new system, what was there and what was not,are still not available at the level of the Prime Minister and Head of Government including the presidency of the republic. It will interest our readers to know that returning workers who were seconded to the Yaounde Nsimalen airport have still not have any list of the alarms system. Our chief economic correspondent was heard murmuring privately that, “This would generate dangerous situations”.

There are very serious problems with the Douala International airport and they have been known to the CPDM regime since the crash of the Kenyan airlines, yet no media outlet in Cameroon had put this into the public domain. Accountability, credibility and, most of all, safety of the Douala International airport are today in the hands of the man they call Edgar Alain Mebo Ngo’o, Minister of Transport. Minister Alain Mebo Ngo’o is not accountable to us-the Cameroonian people nor even to the anglophone Prime Minister and Head of Government on what is happening in this matter. Instead (he) and his men are playing the CPDM game and he has issued a statement saying that work in the airport is being adjusted and improved.

From what our cream of reporters have seen, we have concluded that nothing has been done at the Douala International airport. All the systems have not been improve and will not be able to accommodate the huge air traffic developing in Douala. Nothing has been replaced. The use of components, material and software,adequate for real-time monitoring are still issues that the regime still have to handle. No one gave us satisfactory answers as regard technical options which have been upgraded within this one-month period of work. For instance, we wanted to know the response times for the commands and status reports, reliability of the communication system and data collection system, legibility and efficiency of the control interfaces, list of alarms, multiple windows and highlighting of important information relating to the structure. There is clear evidence of significant problems in the operating safety of the Douala International airport. Minister Alain Mebo Ngo’o has clear knowledge of the matter which he has failed to give to Prime Minister Philemon Yang.

The key points we are making to the CPDM government are these: Has a neutral government body gone to inspect the work done at the Douala airport? What was replaced during this one month period of work? How much did it cost the Cameroonian tax payer? Can the Minister of Transport vouch for the safety of the airport? With regard to the current operation and money spent, we must have an independent assessment.

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Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

24.Mar.2016

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The Laquintinie Hospital incident has not only shocked the entire nation, it has indeed thrown up many questions about healthcare in a country where elections focus more on individuals rather than on issues and policies that can enable the country address those issues that have blighted the people’s lives. The pictures of a woman slaughtering her own sister within a certified medical facility just to save her sister’s twins is an indication that the country’s healthcare system is suffering from serious issues. This is a job that was supposed to have been done by health officials of that medical facility, but since money has replaced humanity in our own country, lots of people, including medical doctors, have simply walked away from the theory of being there for their fellow citizens for a philosophy wherein money is the be-all-and-end-all of life. There is nothing else that can really beat this gross display of inhumanity by Laquintinie hospital officials. And this case is simply the tip of the iceberg. 

Many Cameroonians have lost their lives just because of inhumanity and carelessness in our hospitals. When you visit some of our hospitals, you end up shedding tears when you see how fellow citizens are treated. Not only are these hospitals not equipped, they have, at best, been reduced to consultation clinics and, at worst, funeral homes. Our hospitals are now places where people pay their transport fare to spend their last days.  The type of things that happen in Cameroon’s hospitals could kill a patient even before they get to meet the medical doctors who themselves have become businesspeople. Nowhere else in the world, except in Cameroon, is someone charged for being on the premises of a medical facility. In most hospitals around the country, access– not to the medical officials – is paid. Laquintinie is very much notorious for that. This underscores the point that even emergencies are not considered as emergencies, if the patient or their loved ones accompanying them do not have money to pay for access. This even gets worse if you have to meet with the medical doctors themselves. If you do not have money to deposit, then yours is the kingdom of pain and death. Nobody will attend to you and many hardworking, but unfortunate Cameroonians, have lost their lives just because of this type of mentality that is very much countenanced by a government that is more elitist than populist.

Of course, the Laquintinie incident seems to be a wake-up call. Even members of the ruling party are calling for disciplinary measures against officials of the hospital. But it is not the hospital that is the problem. Laquintinie is just a symptom of a disease that has affected the entire nation. Moral decadence and inhumanity have become the cancers of our country. This is a country where crooks are hailed as strong men, thieves are revered and con-men have become models to our children. Punishing Laquintinie hospital officials will be a welcome measure, but such a measure will not address the issues facing the entire nation. You do not eradicate a disease by striking at the branches instead of the roots. Cameroon is gone down the drain. Morals have disappeared from the country. The community spirit and strong sense of citizenship that characterized the country in the 70s, 80s and, maybe, the 90s have simply migrated to other parts of the world.  Go to most schools in the country, and you will be shocked beyond expression at the attitude of the teachers. If levels of healthcare and education have taken a nosedive in Cameroon, it is surely not in error or by accident. It is the way the government has run the system.

The notion of Garbage in, Garbage out (GIGO) also applies to human systems and not only to the computer. Take a look at the way teachers are recruited and you understand why standards of education have suffered over the last two decades. Most Cameroonian teachers are simply a bunch of people who are fleeing unemployment. They are not driven by the passion we saw in our teachers in the 60s and 70s. Teachers were the makers of men and they exuded knowledge wherever they were. Compare them to what we have today, and your mind will bleed for a country that is already on life support. For the medical field, the story is grimmer. Many of our medical doctors have simply transformed the Oath of Hippocrates into an Oath of Hypocrisy. For sure, these doctors were pushed into our faculties of medicine by some invisible hand and even when they cannot perform properly in school, they cannot be dismissed. That should explain why we have lots of butchers in our hospitals wielding long, sharp knives. They are always prepared to operate or to exaggerate the extent of the patient’s illness just to make a quick buck. Cameroon needs a new vision, a vision that will place the citizens of that country at the heart of every action.

One would think that after the colourfulcelebrations of the International Women’s Day in Cameroon, Cameroonian women will be treated like queens every day. But the nasty and unpardonable incident that took place at the Laquintinie Hospital in Douala underscores that the nation and its leaders are simply paying lip-service to the whole notion of women and their rights. Worse of all, is the public’s indifference; indifference that has pushed me into questioning the whole notion of a collective conscience in our country. While the hospital officials have gone mute since the incident took place, government officials, for their part, have been struggling to provide explanations, some of which have been at best annoying. How could a country endowed with some of the finest human resources on the continent be going through this for so many decades. Why should we be losing our women at a time when technology has simplified delivery across the world? And where is our collective conscience. Our silence in the face of this disaster is tantamount to acquiescence. While we may have been reduced to sorry spectators of events in our country, let’s not forget that our silence is being considered as approval of what is happening to some of us. If this can happen to Mr. A, then it will one day happen to Mr. B. This has nothing to do with tribe or region. Our leaders should be held accountable and this is one moment that can enable our leaders  understand that we cannot always be taken for a ride. Silence cannot always be golden, not when human life is involved.

 

 

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Dr Joachim Arrey

14.Mar.2016

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President Biya and his ruling CPDM party are now scaremongering that our nation is at war and needs continuity in leadership. MPs and top government officials are warning that any change in Etoudi could cause a political tsunami that may destabilized the nation. Mr Biya is directly behind these manouevers and he is expected to order a constitutional change soonest. Such a change could cause an unprecedented collapse of Cameroon as a nation. 

The French are not happy with the arrangement but have no neutral third option. It is hard to say which political grouping really thinks well for the country as the blatant scaremongering from Etoudi and Ngoa Ekele has been very efficient eventhough it has no grounding in reality. The Cameroon army is fighting the Nigerian Islamic sect, Boko Haram in the Far North region and the anti Belaka terrorist group in the East as a matter of principle not because of our absentee Commander-in-Chief. Clearly, Biya is in a blind panic over the failing motions of support.

The youth of his home constituency including those of the Far North region have all asked him to step aside.The claim that we are at war has been branded preposterous by Cardinal Tumi who say Biya no longer has the physical and moral ability to govern the nation. A new head of state and commander-in-chief in Cameroon would give our nation control of its borders policy and attract thousands of foreign investors from Europe and even beyond.

Any new constitutional amendment that will guarantee Biya’s continued stay in power will be making a mockery of our national assemblies, our judiciary and our military. A change of the current leadership in Cameroon is not only urgent but non-negotiable. There is need for an emergency brake on Biya’s attempt at holding on to power at 83.

The ruling CPDM party should organize a congress and elect a young and dynamic national chairman to take over from the frailing President Biya. Whether Biya changes the constitution or not, his days at the head of our nation and politics are drawing to a close. Any moment from now, the world will see Cameroon as a nation and not as a person.

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Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

11.Mar.2016

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There will not be new Bishops in the Bamenda and Buea Arch Diocese and Diocese respectively this Easter even though the frail Arch Bishop Cornelius Esua and Bishop Bushu (seen here on photo with a Marist priest) no longer have the physical strength to do justice to their offices.

It was reported to Cameroon Concord by a priest of the Buea Diocese that both Archbishop Cornelius Esua and Bishop Bushu have very serious health problems. Yet both men have blatantly refused to take the  brave and humble action from the former Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI to retire.The Bamenda and Buea Diocese are run like a CPDM section with ailing Bishops not willing to step aside and indulged their lives to study, prayer and reflection. 

Archbishop Cornelius Esua is not considering stepping down even though he reportedly spent more than six months in an Italian hospital and doctors had advised him not to take any more pastoral missions and trips. We learnt that,  ArchBishop Esua has increasing difficulty walking but resignation as part of a natural process is off the table.  Age is weighing on him but the Archbishop wants no rest.

The  strength in mind and body of Bishop Bushu of the Buea Diocese has deteriorated to the extent that he recognizes his incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to him by the Holy Father. We gathered from our recent visit to the Bomaka and Molyko parishes that the strengths, due to an advanced age and cancer are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry by Bishop Immanuel Bushu

We of this publication are well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, like Pope Benedict XVI noted: “In today's world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary”.

For this reason, it is vital for both ArchBishop Cornelius Esua and Bishop Bushu to renounce the ministry of Bishop of the Bamenda ArchDiocese and Bishop of Buea entrusted to them by the Holy Father.If both ArchBishop Cornelius Esua and Bishop Bushu should step aside,many will recognise it to be a decision of great courage and characteristic clarity of mind and action.Many Roman Catholic christians in the Bamenda eccleciatic provimce  recognises the challenges facing the Church and that strength of mind and body are necessary for the tasks of governing the Church and proclaiming the Gospel which ArchBishop Esua and Bishop Bushu no longer have.

We of Cameroon Concord are asking people of faith to keep both ArchBishop Cornelius Esua and Bishop Bushu in their prayers with great affection and the highest esteem for their ministries. Both Esua and Bushu have  worked tirelessly to strengthen the Bamenda ecclesiastic province with great respect and affection. Like Bishop Emeritus Francis Lysinge, they now need rest.  This editorial has been written most carefully and after much prayer and reflection. If both ArchBishop Esua and Bishop Bushu should resign, it will be seen as a profound act of humility. The Lord Jesus now wants ArchBishop Esua and Bishop Bushu to use their remaining physical and spiritual energies to serve the church in prayer.

 

 

 

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Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

06.Mar.2016

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In Cameroon, the president of the Senate is rightly the constitutional successor to President Paul Biya. Article 4 of the Constitution of 18th January,1996 stipulates that in case of vacancy at the Presidency of the Republic, due to death, resignation or permanent incapacity, the president of the Senate takes over as the interim head of state until the election of the new President of the Republic. The President of the Senate, Marcel Niat Njifenji in the present state of affairs is the one who will succeed Paul Biya. 

Following recent photos of President Biya celebrating his 83rd birthday, a lot of tongues have been waging on whether the president of the senate has the physical and moral strength to run a nation with very weak institutions? Some pro CPDM comedians hinted recently that age is a source of experience and wisdom.They added that if Senate president Marcel Niat were to succeed President Paul Biya, he will continue with what they described as "such great works" such as completing the construction of the port of Kribi, the building of many electric power plants in the country. Some even suggested that Marcel Niat was the right man for Cameroon's top job.

However, Jean Emmanuel Mpouma of the African Movement for New Independence and Democracy (Manidem) opined that there was not nothing different between Mr. Biya 83 and Mr. Niat who is presently 82 years of age. A majority of Cameroonians are of the reasoning that, there 'will be no change in policy and governance if Marcel Niat becomes head of state since it will simply be a matter of reproducing the same system, whose defects, slag and dysfunctions have already been criticized for more than three deades.

A cross section of the Cameroonian youth in a recent opinion poll conducted by our Yaounde bureau said Cameroon can not emerge in 2035 with Biya or Marcel Niat as leader. Some constitutional law experts observed on state owned radio and television that the problem was the absence of a constitutional court and term limits. Issues such as how to interpret the basic law have also been raised. Whether Marcel Niat succeeds Biya or not, Cameroon is likely going to be another flash point in Sub Sahara Africa.

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Ngwa Bertrand

20.Feb.2016

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In Cameroon, the president of the Senate is rightly the constitutional successor to President Paul Biya. Article 4 of the Constitution of 18th January,1996 stipulates that in case of vacancy at the Presidency of the Republic, due to death, resignation or permanent incapacity, the president of the Senate takes over as the interim head of state until the election of the new President of the Republic. The President of the Senate, Marcel Niat Njifenji in the present state of affairs is the one who will succeed Paul Biya. 

Following recent photos of President Biya celebrating his 83rd birthday, a lot of tongues have been waging on whether the president of the senate has the physical and moral strength to run a nation with very weak institutions? Some pro CPDM comedians hinted recently that age is a source of experience and wisdom.They added that if Senate president Marcel Niat were to succeed President Paul Biya, he will continue with what they described as "such great works" such as completing the construction of the port of Kribi, the building of many electric power plants in the country. Some even suggested that Marcel Niat was the right man for Cameroon's top job.

However, Jean Emmanuel Mpouma of the African Movement for New Independence and Democracy (Manidem) opined that there was not nothing different between Mr. Biya 83 and Mr. Niat who is presently 82 years of age. A majority of Cameroonians are of the reasoning that, there 'will be no change in policy and governance if Marcel Niat becomes head of state since it will simply be a matter of reproducing the same system, whose defects, slag and dysfunctions have already been criticized for more than three deades.

A cross section of the Cameroonian youth in a recent opinion poll conducted by our Yaounde bureau said Cameroon can not emerge in 2035 with Biya or Marcel Niat as leader. Some constitutional law experts observed on state owned radio and television that the problem was the absence of a constitutional court and term limits. Issues such as how to interpret the basic law have also been raised. Whether Marcel Niat succeeds Biya or not, Cameroon is likely going to be another flash point in Sub Sahara Africa.

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Ngwa Bertrand

20.Feb.2016

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