Ahead of Grand National Dialogue: Anglophones Begin Seeing Light at the End of the Tunnel

Ahead of Grand National Dialogue: Anglophones Begin Seeing Light at the End of the Tunnel

As the clock is ticking through out the territorial confines of the beautifully unique Central African country, Cameroon, unarguably described as Africa in miniature,  all heads are uniformly turning  towards the nation's political capital, Yaounde as the count down to the highly anticipated grand national dialogue tappers down to the D-day, September 30th 2019.

At the tail end of 2016, lawyers and teachers across the two English speaking regions of Cameroon took the government to task, requesting for reforms in the educational and legal systems of the country that will permit them to better practice in the language they master most. Their demands had nothing to do neither  with the form of the state nor secession.

Meanwhile proponents of secession had long been nursing ambitions of destabilizing the long reigning peace Cameroon had been priding itself of. For years they'd incessantly been looking for avenues to push through their agenda, reason why when lawyers and teachers later took to the streets during the negotiation sessions with government ministers in Bamenda and Buea that were at times ending in deadlock, these agents wasted no time to hijack the peaceful street matches from the lawyers and teachers and converted them into violent  demonstrations involving confrontations with the duty consciousness state forces. 

In defending fatherland with honour and fidelity, the military was soon taken aback when before the twinkle of an eye, incited and brainwashed youths had picked up arms, mostly Dane guns and locally fabricated pistols to face them. No nation in the world had ever folded it's arms to watch citizens pick up arms to fight the army.  Sooner, fire exchanges ensued and before long a multiplicity of non state armed groups sprouted up across the two English speaking regions. As days went by they too began gaining possession of more sophisticated firearms. 

It now became obviously clear that the bird had been dancing on the road because there was a drummer hiding in the bush. At first the secesionist fighters came like Messiah's  to repeat Moses' legacy of freeing the Israelites from Egypt to the promised land.  They were embraced,  loved,  cherished and willfully supported. No doubt on September 22nd 2017, hundreds of thousands  of Anglophone Cameroonian's took to the streets for a peaceful protest.  Some went as far as hoisting flags and nylon papers saying their imaginary country,  Ambazonia was now in existence. Images emerged on social media portraying the military accompanying the population to exercise their constitutional and civic right of peacefully demonstrating. 

Months went by till date, Ambazonia remained a white elephant dream.  The supposed Messiah's  gradually metamorphosed into the complete opposite of what they had portrayed.  The population itself was taken aback when they started facing the wrath of the fighters,  Amba Boys so they call themselves.  After successfully installing themselves on the ground,  from thence henceforth they began showing their real colours.  First they shutdown schools then imposed ghost towns afterwards, weeks of lock down. As if that wasn't enough they started kidnapping wealthy citizens and asking for ransoms worth millions and hundreds of thousands before freeing them.  Those who can't comply to their demands are killed or parts of their body chopped off.  Anybody that tries to criticise them is termed a black leg and his punishment is death or severe torture.  

In all of this,  the Head of State never stayed indifferent  to the plight of citizens in this part of the nation. He kept sending his ministers to the field to meet the people and ask them what they want.  In all the talks, they never mentioned secession. Yet the sessionists kept pushing forth their agenda. It became glaring that abuses on the ground committed by the armed fighters were masterminded from abroad.  Multiple fund raising ceremonies were organised  by some unscrupulous diaspora Cameroonians who've even picked up foreign nationalities to buy arms and send to the ground fighters.  Shockingly,  financial squabbles soon started erupting within their ranks as accusations and counter accusations of embezzlement  arose. Leadership tussles also erupted as the quest for power became the order of the day.  The angel the population thought they had became the real devil they had never wanted to ever have. 

On the 8th of September 2019, the Head of State shocked all his detractors who had judged him as a silencer.  At 8pm on state media in a 30 minutes well loaded speech,  he announced the convening of a Grand National Dialogue to discuss not only the anglophone crisis but other concerns plaguing the entire nation. The big bag announcement was received with immeasurable euphoria nationwide and beyond.  Many began seeing it as the highly sort for light at the end of the tunnel that shall get all and sundry Anglophones out of the ongoing quagmire.  In addition to the announcement he fatherly extended a hand of fellowship to leaders of the various armed groups to come to the dialogue table for as it is said,  nothing pass arrangenent.

Unfortunately there are still those who've continued to give the dog a bad name in order to hang it.  Most of such are those who see an end to the crisis as a termination of the benefits they've been reaping especially through ill gotten money. Despite the good intentions of President Paul Biya, they still carved baseless arguments like there must be s must be a neutral third party, it must take place on a neutral ground, this and that. Unfortunately all has been planned and come Monday September 30th, the big history making event shall be held at the Yaounde conference  centre with close to 400 delegates to represent the wishes of the Anglophones

Unto Bamenda a New Journalism Association is Born

Unto Bamenda a New  Journalism Association is Born

A new journalism body, christened Association of Cultural Journalists (ACJ) has seen the light of day in the N.W region of Cameroon. This was at the end of a Half-Yearly  Follow Up Workshop for Journalists of Radio, TV, Print Media and Bloggers on Reporting on Cultural Journalism that recently took place in Bamenda on the 25th and 26th of September 2019 organised by the Mbororo Social, Cultural and Development Association (MBOSCUDA) in collaboration with the North West Farmer's Organisation (NOWEFOR), funded by the European Union through United Purpose based in the United Kingdom.

ACJ N.W Pioneer EXCO

In the Month of May 2019, MBOSCUDA carried out a Training and Sensitisation Workshop for Journalists on Cultural Diversity and Cultural Rights Issues in Bamenda with objective to strengthen the capacity of media houses in order to raise more awareness and understanding of cultural diversity and cultural rights as stipulated by the international (UNESCO Convention) and national instruments ( Cameroon Government Initiatives/Policies). 

As a follow up measure to ensure the knowledge passed across and gained doesn't end in vain, a network of cultural journalists in the North West Region was formed and on the 21st of June 2019, its maiden General Assembly was held during which its official name and bylaws were adopted.

Four months after, MBOSCUDA once more rallied the earlier on trained journalists to evaluate the distance covered after the initial training with interest on work done, challenges faced, work still to be done and way forward. The follow up workshop was facilitated by Mr. Nji  Charles, a journalism consultant who evaluated the output of the journalists ever since their training and ranked their performance at 90%, considering the peculiarities of the region amidst the ongoing Anglophone Crisis after personally monitoring what they reported on radio, TV, newspapers and blogs about cultural journalism.

Participants at Follow Up Workshop

This was corroborated by Sali Usmamu, the MBOSCUDA Monitoring and Evaluation officer  who expressed satisfaction with the turnout and participation of members. Accessing the work done, he said  "Most of them have taken some steps towards incorporating intercultural dialogue in their discussions and programs as there are now interesting elements of culture which are  becoming very eminent in their programs and reports." He then ended by letting the participants know that though sustainability is very important, every project has a lifespan. Sali Usmamu assured participants that  MBOSCUDA after terminating the Bridging the Gap project will not end its cordial relationship with the media in the region. Considering the importance of communication in development, subsequent projects of the association will still involve the media in their implementation.   

At the end, an elective General Assembly of the earlier on formed network was held during which a pioneer Executive Council of the Association of Cultural Journalists (ACJ), N.W was democratically voted into office headed by Abongwa Fozo of City FM and Fawah Agatha of Abakwa  FM as Vice President. Other members of the council included Nji  Ignatius of Eden Newspaper as Secretary General, Mokom Thomas of Ndefcam Radio as Vice S.G, Philo Happi of Eden Newspaper as Financial Secretary, Ninpa Francis of Radio Hot Cocoa as Treasurer and Gnoukapasi Martial of Afrique Nouvelle Radio as Public Relations Officer. Wanchia  Cynthia of MBOSCUDA Communication Unit and Jeff Ngawe of The Reporter Newspaper were tasked the responsibility of being advisers of the EXCO.

Abongwa Fozo, ACJ N.W President

On behalf of MBOSCUDA,  members of the newly elected maiden bureau of the association were immediately installed into their various functions by Sali Usmanu who first expressed satisfaction with the gender consideration of the team before cautioning them that  "leadership begins with yourself." He  then congratulated the elected members for the confidence bestowed unto them by their peers while promising that MBOSCUDA will always be available to lend a helping hand for the betterment of the newly formed journalism association in the region. 

Legalisation modalities of the association are soon to be completed after which the body shall effectively commence work, that of upholding the practice of cultural journalism reporting and sourcing for funding for cultural journalism practices especially from international bodies like UNESCO.

COMINSUD Orientates Journalists on GBV Communication

COMINSUD Orientates Journalists on GBV Communication

An orientation workshop with radio broadcasters and social media platform actors on communication approaches and content for mass sensitization on Gender Based Violence and Sexual Reproductive Health was on Thursday September 19th 2019 held at Blue Pearl Hotel, Bamenda.

Organized by Community Initiative for Sustainable Development (COMINSUD) with funding from the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), the one day conclave brought together 35 media actors within the N.W region drawn from 10 community radio stations and 5 social media platforms to share strategies on communication that leads to changes in attitudes, behaviours and practices for GBV prevention and seeking responses for GBV survivors and those in need of Sexual Reproductive Health services.

Since the advent of the ongoing Anglophone crisis, many women, girls and children are becoming more and more vulnerable to GBV as a result of school shutdown and internal displacement leading to high risk behaviours like drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, rape and promiscuity. Several instances have been reported of state and non state fighters indulging into rape usually after drugging themselves.

The United Nations Fund for Population Assessment has since March 2018 in collaboration with the Delegations of Women Empowerment and the Family and Public Health, Medecin du Monde Suisse been carrying out different interventions like assessments, capacity building, awareness raising and direct actions to prevent and respond to GBV in the N.W region. COMINSUD is thus being supported by UNFPA to carry out extensive sensitisation, dissemination of GBV/SRH referral pathway and connect survivors as well as interested needy persons to qualified and specialized service points.

Article 1 and 2 of UN General Assembly Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women defines  Gender Based Violence as  any act that results in or likely to result in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women because of being women and to men because of being men including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.

To reestablish victims of GBV, there exists the Listening and Orientation Unit at the Bamenda Regional Hospital where all medical attention offered to rape survivors is free of charge. Moreover, the regional delegation of Women Empowerment and the Family has a Safe Space in charged of counselling and follow up, referral and provision of a dignity kit to each GBV survivor containing basic needs. Currently, there are plans to open Shelter Homes for survivors.

The workshop ended with attendees being provided a sensitisation manual on the subject, recorded spots and microprograms on Family Planning, Safe Delivery, GBV, Menstrual Hygiene, STI/HIV, T-shirts, posters and information leaflets to support community sensitisation via broadcast and social media. Broadcast agreements were also signed with the selected radio stations and social media actors that shall be carrying out the campaign.

UNESCO Trains Journalists on Migration Reporting

UNESCO Trains Journalists on Migration Reporting

Some thirty media men and women drawn from the audiovisual, print and online media in Cameroon have been intellectually edified on how to better cover and report migration stories. This was during a three day Forum on Migration Issues and Training Workshop on Investigative Journalism Techniques for Migration that took place from the 28th-30th of August 2019 in Douala.

L-R: Mr. Kassie Claude (Bureau Chief, UNHCR - Douala), Madam Bongouen Hortense (Focal Point - MINCOM), Mr. Salah Khaled (UNESCO Central Africa Regional Director)

Organized by the Multisectoral UNESCO Regional Office for Central Africa as part of implementing the project “Empowering Young People in Africa through Media and Communication” with funding from the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation and support from the Cameroon government, the workshop attendees were schooled on how to pass unto young people, quality information on the risks of irregular migration and the opportunities they have back home in terms of entrepreneurship and employment. 

Mr. Salah Khaled, UNESCO Regional Director for Central Africa in justifying the context of the workshop said “The project is basically working with the journalists to enhance their capacities in telling the stories to young people aspiring for a possible potential future in other places outside Cameroon and aspiring to travel to Europe, hoping for a better future without knowing the risks they could face and probably perish in the Mediterranean or in other countries by showing the youths of this country and the entire Central Africa Sub Region the huge economic potentials and opportunities that they could have in their own countries.” 

Mr. Salah Khaled, UNESCO Central Africa Regional Director

After being declared open by Madam Bongouen Hortense, Focal Point personnel from the Ministry of Communication, working in collaboration with UNESCO to implement the project, participants within the three days exchanged with the various facilitators on various migration related topics and investigative journalism techniques on migration issues.

Peter Tambe of P-News Magazine had once migrated out of Cameroon only to realize the grass wasn’t actually greener on the other side of the fence as he had thought. Today, he is back to fatherland and practicing journalism. Cautioning young people on the dangers of irregular migration, he said “Staying here, you could help to build your country while going out there, it is what others tell you it is but it’s not really what you think it is. Back home, you know what it is and you can make an idea on how to build it up. Going to somebody’s land is like going to a place you’ve never seen, a place that only lives in your imagination but home is not imagination. Home might be bad like many people think but it’s not that too bad and if it’s bad, it’s for all of us to fix it up.”

Officials & Participants

Due to its geographical, socioeconomic and political peculiarities, Cameroon is an exit, entry and transit zone for migrants. Findings have shown that neither are migrants the poorest in society nor do they originate only from poor countries. Among the many reasons that provoke (irregular) migration are climate, sociopolitical instability, natural disasters, studies and the quest for better life, better opportunities.

Massabe Rafiatou, a returnee migrant is one of the many victims of irregular migration that have faced the thick and thin of the practice. Luckily, after all the hurdles encountered, she was fortunate to have been brought back to her country of origin thanks to the IOM and the Cameroon government. Today, she is gradually reintegrating herself back into the society. She now belongs to an organization that is educating youths on the risks and dangers of irregular migration. UNESCO brought her at the workshop to tell her story.

WhatsApp Groups; New Form of Social Security

WhatsApp Groups; New Form of Social Security

WhatsApp was founded in 2009 by Brian Acton and Jan Koum, former employees of Yahoo! Koum named the app WhatsApp to sound like "What's Up" indicating it's intended usage, for chatting. WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app in over a hundred countries, according to Android device usage data. It allows you to send messages, pictures, videos and even voice recordings over the internet.

According to 99Firms.com, WhatsApp 2019: Stats and Facts show that WhatsApp has 1.5 billion active users in over 180 countries. The average user checks WhatsApp more than 23 times per day. 58% of users access WhatsApp several times per day. WhatsApp is the third most downloaded Android app in the world. WhatsApp is banned in 12 countries. Internet Live Stats estimates the Cameroonian population having access to the web  to be at 4.3 million people (out of 22 million inhabitants).

In 2015, a good chunk of the Cameroonian population most especially the youths became versed with WhatsApp following the introduction of 3G and 4G networks by mobile operators in the country thus simplifying access to the internet. When many users especially those who just bought new android phones became versed with how to create a WhatsApp group, a new trend ensued. Users started creating groups out of excitement and for adventure, adding members even without their consent to such groups. At some point in time it became a nuisance as users kept finding themselves in funny WhatsApp groups they couldn't identify themselves with. And so within ten minutes for example, 10 new persons will be added at the very time when 7 are leaving the group.

People left because they weren't consulted before being added, because the groups hadn't defined objectives or they couldn't identify themselves with the members and those that had laid down rules kept facing a major setback of the rules being broken by some recalcitrant members. Of recent, the phenomenon of creating WhatsApp groups and adding people to it has reduced.

Nowadays, it is assumed that there exist hundreds of thousands of WhatsApp groups for all walks of life: journalists, teachers, medics, lawyers, associations, churches, political parties and any other professional field one can think of. Even families now have WhatsApp groups in which family issues are discussed. Unfortunately, most  professional groups have been converted to chat groups. Even when there are calls for order to reign, such calls are often discarded. It is for this reason that in a journalism, medical, sporting, teaching group for example, often one will anxiously go online to check for latest gists only to find hundreds of unread messages which upon reading through, very little will be found concerning the profession. Instead, it will be realised that few persons had been chatting or quarreling in the group on issues that don't even concern the profession and piling up messages.

On the other hand, there are WhatsApp groups that are really meeting up with their objectives. In such, professional problems are shared and solutions provided. New discoveries and latest information concerning the profession are also shared for members to learn. It is certain these days that belonging to a WhatsApp group is seemingly unavoidable. Once you have an android phone plus internet access, be rest assured to find yourself added into a group or creating yours.

Wikipedia defines social security as "any government system that provides monetary assistance to people with an inadequate or no income." Social security may also refer to the action programs of an organization intended to promote the welfare of the population through assistance measures guaranteeing access to sufficient resources for food and shelter and to promote health and well-being for the population at large and potentially vulnerable segments such as children, the elderly, the sick and the unemployed.

Within the past years, several WhatsApp groups have been providing social security to members and non members through financial and material contributions to celebrate marriages, births, graduations etc and mourn with the bereaved, some of whom have benefited hundreds of thousands from group members. Some groups have been carrying out humanitarian responsibilities where needy cases in the society are identified, brought to the group and members contribute money to rescue the situation.

In a sports WhatsApp group like YOSA OYE AHEAD AHEAD fans and supporters of the lone division 1 club from the North West Region, Young Sports Academy have been contributing money to support their darling team. In journalism groups like Media People Bamenda MPB, Journalists of Integrity, CAMASEJ North West etc, huge amounts of money have in the past been contributed by members to support the burial, wedding or bereavement of one of theirs. Even flagship radio talkshow programs like Press & Associates aired weekly on Ndefcam Radio Bamenda on July 3rd 2019 donated a cash sum of 342.000F to the management of the Bamenda Regional Hospital as its own effort to support the  maintenance and sustainability of the recently constructed VIP modern toilets in the hospital. This  whopping amount was raised through the program's WhatsApp group coupled with other channels.

Nowadays, almost every ex student association of every school has a WhatsApp group, batch by batch. In these groups like SHESA, SABESA, LESA, SOBA, PEMEXSA, BOBA, SAJESA etc, hundreds of thousands and even millions have constantly been raised to support their alma mater, organise parties, reunions and support mates in need.

Often than not, the financial contributions are hardly ever done by up to half of the group members but the credits reaped from the positive  outcome of the gesture are often enjoyed by the entire group. The total amounts contributed are often juicy and if 3/4 of group members were to chip in their tokens, most WhatsApp groups would've been providing social security to members and non members worth hundreds of thousands and millions. Some would've been realising multimillion worth projects on the field.

On Saturday the 11th of August 2018, two nurses, Azah Nancy (wife) and Njong Padisco (husband) were murdered in Nyen village in Mbengwi central sub division and accusing fingers were pointed at government soldiers. Before being killed, the wife was pregnant and the couple left behind five children, now orphans. One year after, to mark their memorial, a WhatsApp news group Mbengwi Online through Mobile Money contributions from members raised over a hundred thousand Francs to support the education of the kids that are now without parents. This is just one of the several humanitarian works most WhatsApp groups have been carrying out.

Bakah Derick is a Bamenda based journalist. Just like any other user of social media, he belongs to several WhatsApp groups that have been of great impact to members and the society at large. Talking about the concrete realisations carried by some of the groups to which he belong, he said "WhatsApp Groups have been a great resource. I am into some serious media  professional groups in which we discuss work related issues but I have noticed a new trend with people contributing to assist others get healthcare services or during weddings. Though these contributions use to sound like freewill, I just noticed of late that people complain if the group doesn't  contribute for them when they are sick or lost someone. I have never benefited, I don't expect it though but for those who complain I think they see these groups as a source of social security."

It is for this assured social security provision that some members enjoy belonging to certain WhatsApp groups for no one knows tomorrow as they may in turn be the ones to enjoy benefits like hospital bills payment, school fees payment just to name these few after having contributed for others.

Exodus; Multitude Flee From "Saviour" to "Oppressor"

Exodus; Multitude Flee From "Saviour" to "Oppressor"

As the anticipated controversial lockdown of Anglophone Cameroon approached, a tactic that was enforced by proponents of secession as means of venting their anger on the government of Cameroon for the life sentence jail term that was slammed on the Nera10 team headed by Sisiku Ayuk Julius Tabe on Tuesday August 20th 2019 and also to reenforce effective school boycott for the 2019/2020 academic year, there's been a mass exodus of multitudes of persons mostly women and school age children from Anglophone Cameroon, these days referred to as "Ground Zero" to Francophone Cameroon, these days referred to as "La Republic". Hundreds of thousands of passengers had been trooping all travel agencies within the North West and South West Regions to scramble for any available ticket.

Hundreds of Passengers at a Travel Agency in Bamenda Scrambling for Tickets

It was a sunny Saturday morning, August 24th 2019. From where I stood at the Mbon Motor Park, Mile 18 Mbengwi, I could count hundreds of passengers that just came in from Ngie, Njikwa and the hinterlands of Mbengwi like Tugi, Munam, Touembeng, Mbengbu, Zang Tabi. They all had one destination, Bamenda, from where they shall be continuing their journey to other urban towns like Bafoussam, Douala and Yaounde.

Fortunately, the fare between Mbengwi - Bamenda remained unchanged. In the past, drivers would've instantly hiked the fare. I later learnt they had been warned by Amba Boys (non state armed groups) never to take advantage of many travellers to add transport fare. Curious to see the end of the trail, I  boarded a cab too to Bamenda.

Child Who Wants to go to School

Here, I was perplexed with what befell my naked eyes. At all the travel agencies, passengers kept cuing just to obtain a travel ticket. Under the baking sun, they stood with all perseverance, non ready to give up his/her position to another. The passengers were mostly women and children of school going age. They carried along with them boxes, mattresses, beds, tables and other household items, indicative of how lengthy their stay across the other side was going to be. They were like illegal immigrants fighting to cross over into the land of milk and honey against all odds. At the ticket sales points, it was a matter of fighting with one's last strength to obtain one.

Between 2017/2018, proponents of secession had called for a school boycott. The call wasn't fully respected as in some areas, schools kept functioning. Many had hoped things will get better in 2019 so that those who had stayed out of school could resume studies. Even parents who had sent their children across to Francophone Cameroon for studies were also hopeful things will normalise so they could bring back their kids to school in Anglophone Cameroon. Prior to the commencement of the 2019/2020 school year, several campaigns mostly on social media were being carried out to support school resumption. Even the government too joint in singing the back to school choruses. 

Passengers Cuing for Tickets at a Travel Agency

Many had hoped freeing the detained leaders of the Anglophone struggle otherwise referred to as the Nera10 will be a positive decision that will in effect give way for effective school resumption. But when news broke on Tuesday August 20th 2019 that the leaders have instead been slammed a life jail sentence, all hopes became dashed to the wall. To make matters worst, Chris Anu, Communication Secretary of the Interim Government that was formed in the course of the struggle announced a three weeks shutdown of Anglophone Cameroon beginning August 26th 2019. These two bitter peels; life sentence and lockdown are what caused the biggest exodus ever of Anglophone Cameroonians from the comfort of their homes to "the enemies camp" since secessionists had been referring to Francophone Cameroon as enemies. 

Parents who couldn't bear the grunt of another wasted academic year saw a cross over to the other side as last option. Those who hadn't the means only had to continue grinding and gnashing their teeth as an illiterate generation was being raised due to the inconsiderable decisions of a few. Despite the increase in transport fares and deployment of empty buses to come transport passengers, at the end of the day, not all ended up succeeding in travelling. Some remained stranded and only had to return home in tears. The lock down date met them on the ground.

Traffic Jam at Sonac Street Caused by Mass Exodus out of the Region

Meanwhile those who made it through have been seeking admission spaces for their kids in the many bilingual schools that have sprouted up almost everywhere across Francophone Cameroon. Even though Francophone Cameroon is now remedying the increasing level of illiteracy across Anglophone Cameroon brought about by the armed conflict, many see it as a well calculated plan put in place to assimilate the once cherished Anglo Saxon system of education and instead of rescuing the system, proponents of secession are rather simplifying the process by enforcing school boycott across Anglophone Cameroon.

Momo S.D.O Seals Bessi-Awum Palace in Batibo after "Illegal" Enthronement of Mbah Ndam as Fon

Momo S.D.O Seals Bessi-Awum Palace in Batibo after "Illegal" Enthronement of Mbah Ndam as Fon

It was on Wednesday July 10th 2019 that hundreds of villagers alongside observers  from within and without stormed the Bessi-Awum palace esplanade in Batibo sub division, Momo division to witness the enthronement of H.R.H Fon Mbah Wilfred Ndam  as new fon of Bessi-Awum village. Before now, his predecessor, H.R.H Fon Richardson Mbah Forkum II ruled the village for 82 years and was said to have been the longest serving traditional ruler in the entire North West region before "disappearing" on Monday June 22nd 2019. The people of the North West region believe that a fon does not die, he either disappears or travels.

Prefectural Order Sealing the Bessi-Awum Palace

Barely about two weeks after, the travelled fon returned to the palace, this time around through his son in the person of H.R.H Fon Mbah Wilfred Forkum III. Reports say the enthronement ceremony of the new fon was void of any gun firing as tradition demands and that no single administrative officer was present as the law demands since fons are auxiliaries of the administration. Heightened insecurity would've accounted for this as Batibo sub division is alleged to be a fief of separatist fighters referred to as Amba Boys.

"Illegal" Fon Mbah Wilfred Ndam
Photo Credit: Mbuh Stella/Equinoxe TV

In an interview granted Equinoxe Television on the day of his enthronement, the newly enthroned fon regretted the government imposed ban on unauthorized gun firing especially as his late father loved gun shooting so much and so he too would've loved such a practice to be carried out during his own enthronement. He also indicated readiness to join any peace endeavours that will help restore order in the entire region so that sons and daughters of Bessi-Awum can return home.

Hardly had the new fon warmed the royal stool for less than a month that the Momo Senior Divisional Officer, Monono Absalom Woloa, Knight of the Cameroon National Order of Valour, mindful of the constitution of Cameroon signed  a Prefectoral Order No. 14/2019/PO/DO/A2/SEFA sealing the palace of Bessi-Awum, 2nd class chiefdom in Batibo sub division till regular consultations in respect of the regulations in force and the tradition are carried out for the selection of a new traditional ruler for the village. The order therefore repelled all illegal actions earlier carried out by a group of persons in view of selecting a new traditional ruler and in violation of Articles 8-12 of Decree No. 77/245 of 15/07/1977 Organising Traditional Chiefdoms.

Villagers at Enthronement Ceremony
Photo Credit: Mbuh Stella/Equinoxe TV

Article 2 of the said order went on to say that Mr. Mbah Wilfred Ndam, arrogating the title of traditional ruler of Bessi-Awum village is ordered to seize from acting as such and to leave the royal palace immediately as the chairman of the Bessi-Awum traditional council shall henceforth manage all activities of the chiefdom till a new fon is selected in accordance with Decree No. 77/245 of 15/07/1977. The said prefectural order however made it clear that the sealing of the palace concerns only the fon's house and does not expel "Mafors" and their children from the palace as they shall continue to live in their homes within the palace premises as before.

The family squabble leading to the S.D.O's decision stems from a letter of complaint dated 11/08/2019 from Prince Mbah Daniel Fon against his brother Prince Mbah Wilfred Ndam for illegally enthroning himself as fon of Bessi-Awum village in Batibo sub division. The Divisional Officer for Batibo and the forces of law and order in Momo were each in their spheres of competence charged with the the implementation of the order but Mbengwi Online is yet to to confirm if that has actually been done or it's just a paper decision.

It should be recalled that chieftaincy squabbles are a frequent occurrence in the North West region in general and Momo division in particular. They've always been conflicting opinions on the subject as to whether the administration has any right to mettle into the traditional affairs of a people.

They Came in Armored Cars to Assure Security of Students & Schools

They Came in Armored Cars to Assure Security of Students & Schools

The North West regional governor, Adolphe Lele L'Afrique has been touring the various divisions within his region to mobilise for the effective resumption of schools for the 2019/2020 academic year. Last Wednesday July 31st 2019 was the turn of Momo division to welcome the governor and his entourage after Donga Mantung, Bui and Ngoketunjia. He was accompanied by the Minister Delegate at the Presidency in Charge of the Supreme State Audit, Her Excellency Mbah Acha née Fomundam Rose. 

It was at exactly 1pm in the Mbengwi Council Hall that the officials were received by the administration of Momo and Mbengwi. In  a quickie welcome address, the mayor of the Mbengwi Council, Madam Tebe Beatrice told her distinguished august guests "This ceremony is a signal to the expectations in the days ahead." While stating the purpose of his visit, governor Adolphe Lele L'Afrique told attendees "We have come here today with the aim and mission to remobilize the school community, stakeholders and the entire population of Momo to organise themselves in such a way that come September, classes with resume in this division."

This was followed by an intervention from the S.D.O of Momo Division, Absalom Monono Woloa during which he unraveled a balance sheet of his area of jurisdiction.  "It's a pity that the academic year 2018/2019 was very devastatingly negative in Momo Division" Monono told his superiors.  "We effectively started with some schools but due to threats and arts of arson perpetrated by armed individuals, all the schools shutdown" he continued. 

Monono also confirmed that as a result of  insecurity, the few primary and secondary plus high schools together with teacher training colleges and vocational training institutes in Momo that had few students at the beginning of the year later closed down and some students and schools were compelled to relocate to Bamenda and other regions to finish the academic year. Not only were schools shutdown within the division, some suffered arson and theft like the Government Technical Teacher Training College (GTTTC/ENIET) Mbengwi where equipment worth tens of millions were carted away by hoodlums that have decided to pick up arms against the state.

 "We have carried out searches and discovered some of these materials stolen from schools in some houses" the S.D.O assured his guests and then proceeded to notify them on the numerous sensitization campaigns his administration has been carrying out to educate the population on the need for schools to resume. Hear him; "It's a challenge we've been giving to our parents in Momo Division that they should know that there's not going to be an official examination where Momo will be declared first in honouring ghost towns, in destroying school property and school boycott. When others are giving orders on social media that no schools but their children are going to school, we shouldn't be foolish to allow a situation where our children will be the losers when competitive exams and jobs will be launched and the educated children of these activists come to occupy all the positions."

Before rewarming his seat, the seasoned administrator also condemned the hypocrisy of educational stakeholders like inspectors, delegates, teachers and all other civil servants that have completely abandoned work on basis of insecurity but are seen attending church services, funerals, meetings, markets and doing private jobs. He quoted the example of the Mbengwi District hospital which he said is the most secured as it is just near a gendarmerie post but yet is not functional as all the doctors and nurses have abandoned work. "There are health centres inside the quarters, some of which are even illegal that when we take wounded civilians and soldiers there, we meet nurses on government pay roll working there" Monono regretted.

H.E Mbah Acha née Fomundam Rose, Cameroon's Minister Delegate at the Presidency in Charge of Supreme State Audit

He then ended by giving statistics of the distribution of the Head of State's instituted Emergency Humanitarian Assistance Package to internally displaced and affected persons in Momo division. From his statistics, the government through the Ministry of Territorial Administration has on about three occasions given goods to be distributed to the concerned in the two pool centres of Mbengwi and Widikum. So far, 264 IDPs in Mbengwi and 507 in Widikum have been assisted, giving a total of 771 meanwhile 158 and 105 new IDPs have been registered in Mbengwi and Widikum respectively pending assistance.

The governor and delegation was assured by the traditional rulers present that schools will effectively resume in Momo Division come September 2019. This, after room was given to the floor for reactions or questions. First was Pastor Abanda Edwin of a pentecostal denomination in Mbengwi who stood up and lambasted the hypocrisy of the state in seeking lasting solutions to the crisis. He told them "For our children to go to school, we need peace and for there to be peace, we need dialogue." He also added that government knows those to talk with for there to be effective school resumption but keeps pretending.

Among the governor's entourage were the regional delegates of basic and secondary education, employment and vocational training, the regional coordinators of the distribution of the emergency humanitarian package and the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration commission. The officials each took turns to present statistical analysis of the situation in their respective domains with regards to the crisis. First was the regional delegate of Employment and Vocational Training, Madam Foo Ngang née Injoh Prodencia Awa who disclosed that out of the six public vocational training institutes within Momo where courses like fashion designing, decoration, building construction, wood works, carpentry and joinery, plumbing and sanitary  installation were being offered, that is SAR/SM Mbengwi, Menka, Ngie, Widikum and Azeh, three were touched by the crisis. The regional delegate of basic education on his part revealed that around the end of the 2017 academic year, Momo division had 39.980 pupils but as at now, the number is zero. He added that 16 primary schools were vandalised and 4 are currently being occupied by separatist fighters.

Armored Cars Securing the State Authorities

As concerns secondary education, its regional delegate, Mr. Ngwang Roland Yuven unveiled startling statistics from which it was gathered that out of the 63 secondary schools in Momo division, only 3 managed to at least receive a student at the start of the 2018/2019 academic year but later shutdown as one, Saint Benedict's Comprehensive College, Widikum had to relocate to Bamenda. "Out of an expected enrolment of 5.511 students in Momo, we had just 154 that showed up at the beginning of the school year mostly in teacher training colleges" said the delegate. These later transfered to Bamenda. He added that out of 93 teachers that were directly affected by the crisis in the region, 4 are from Momo and that still in the same division, out of the 63 secondary schools, 22 have been partially or wholely destroyed. Fortunately, out of the 7 secondary school teachers in the region that died directly as a result of the war, non was killed in Momo division. 

Apart from schools and classes, Mr. Ngwang Roland also presented statistics about results which indicated that in the recently published end of year examination results, Momo had no single candidate for BEPC, CAP, Probatoire and BAC. For CAPIET, Momo sent in 92 candidates (the GTTTC Mbengwi students that relocated to Bamenda) out of which 89 passed giving a percentage of 98.87%. Lastly, for G.C.E, St Benedict's Comprehensive College, Widikum that transfered to Bamenda scored 100% in the Advance level and 88.89% at the Ordinary level.

Taken aback by the poor performance of her division as concerns the functioning of schools, Minister Mbah Acha née Fomundam Rose, Cameroon's Minister Delegate at the Presidency in Charge of Supreme State Control, coming in as an elite of the division while addressing the stakeholders made it clear to them that whether Momo children go to school or not, they will continue to do their job. Talking to the press at the end of the meeting, she said "When the schools will start, I promise the children of Momo that I am going to assist them in one way or the other because it bleeds our hearts to see that the children are not going to school." She went ahead to make it clear that educating children is for the benefit of families and communities not state officials. "Competitive entrance exams have been launched and their qualifications are certificates not staying in the bush. If I didn't go to school, I wouldn't have been minister. So I will want to see many more high civil servants, ministers, governors, S.D.Os come from Momo Division. It will be our pride" she ended

Combat Ready Government Troops

On the day of the visit of the state officials to the Momo Divisional Headquarters, Mbengwi inhabitants were compelled to stay indoors as a ghost town operation was forced on them by separatist fighters. This prompted Minister Mbah Acha to express dismay. She said "I am surprised that when the governor and S.D.O invite people to come seat and talk about the school year, a ghost town is declared as if what the governor and prefect are coming to say here is for their interest" She attested to the fact that they've been holding a series of meetings in  Yaoundé but can't seat there as ministers and decide what will happen on the ground, reason why she decided to come and talk to her people as an elite not as a minister because she has nothing in Mbengwi to control. 

During the various presentations in the council hall, the Momo S.D.O and regional coordinator of the disarmament commission talked of how some fighters have laid down arms and are currently undergoing reformation at the regional centre. Not long had the delegation departed from the hall to the S.D.Os office in G.R.A for a security meeting that the separatist fighters announced their presence with sequential gunshots just near by. A tensed atmosphere of confusion and panic then ensued as people ran into buildings for safety. The gendarmes and police officers that were at their duty posts in Mile 18 Mbengwi stood in front of their offices on high alert. The BIRs and war artillery that came in from Bamenda responded to the approaching enemy with thunderous gunshots of various magnitudes. The fire exchange exercise lasted for over a minute before subsiding and a calm atmosphere returned.

The back to school campaign was a repetition of a similar exercise carried out last year by same officials with no positive results. It is expected that this year, there will be a great improvement in the functioning of schools in the N.W region in general and Momo division in particular. This because many persons including  national and international bodies have been intensifying calls for school resumption because the anglophones are the ones losing in the school boycott. The governor shall in the days ahead be visiting other remaining divisions within the region to preach the same message.

In a Friendly Football Match, CAMASEJ Yaoundé Bows to N.W Chapter

In a Friendly Football Match, CAMASEJ Yaoundé Bows  to N.W Chapter

Tongues are still wagging within the Anglophone media corp in Cameroon following the recent humiliation imposed on CAMASEJ Yaounde chapter by their peers of the North West Region during a friendly football encounter that was played on the green turf of the G.P Stadium, Melen, Yaounde on Saturday July 27 2019. Members of the Cameroon Association of English Speaking Journalists (CAMASEJ) N.W chapter were in the nation's political capital  upon invitation from their colleagues of the Centre region for a safari come together.  

The socio-sporting and fun filled safari visit had football on the agenda. It was at 2:30pm that the second division central referee Ismael Ngandifon blew his whistle for kick off. He was assisted by Daniel Meli and Danny Meli with a medical staff on standby from Unite for Health Foundation. The two nurses that got most of the players suspiciously falling just to have their attention were Florence Njang and Lydia Banseka

The two contenders 

Prior to the encounter, Angu Lesly, a renowned sports reporter and analyst had made startling revelations that showed that CAMASEJ N.W was going to win Yaounde, this after the host chapter published her line up. To Lesly, administrator of the online sports site www.kick422.com, Viban Jude (CAMASEJ Yaounde chapter president) will lack pace since the shambolic center half pairing of the  North West squad was going to use long range passes into the final channels, then Amindeh and Viban were going to be in all sorts of trouble.

Lesly expressed worries in his pre-match analysis. "I can't equally understand the coach's decision to play Mua Patrick (Yaounde city reporter of The Guardian Post Newspaper) as a wing back because he lacks match fitness and has never put in an inch perfect cross" He went on to say "Randy Joe Sa'ah (Publisher of The Voice Newspaper & BBC Reporter) and Ndi Eugene may have a good game but not sure about Mbom Sixtus because I feel he will be exposed."

Me and my team mate, the lone queen

And like a seer, so did it come to pass that just within 10 minutes into the first half, Neba Jerome of the North West chapter netted the first goal to begin the confirmation of Angu Lesly's prophesy. Action will continue and before first half recess, the boys from the North West were up by two goals to zero. Upon resumption for the second half, team captain for the Bamenda Boys, Nji Nelson Chefor alias Mr. Rush collected a beautiful pass from his team mate around the penalty ring of his side and embarked on a do or die mission to shaken the net of his opponents again. Like lightening, before the centre regional boys could decode his mission statement, he had dribbled five of them like a primary school mathematical equation and the Yaounde goalkeeper only came to his senses that he again failed to safe his team from humiliation when he saw the net behind him shaking.

At full time, it was 3 goals for CAMASEJ N.W and one for Yaounde with the biggest surprise being that of the lone lady on the pitch, Mbuh Stella, Equinoxe TV reporter from the N.W who played full time. Talking to the media after the encounter, Ndi Eugene, Chairman of the organising committee on behalf of the host chapter commended the exceptional performance of the "Ground Zero Boys" as the team from Bamenda was nicknamed. He said, "Considering that we are a family and the purpose of this encounter was for camaraderie, I think CAMASEJ won but Bamenda took home the medal"

Warm Up

The victory of CAMASEJ N.W to some pundits, is as a result of the numerous runnings exercises compulsorily carried out each time they are gunshots on the ground. To them, this makes anybody from Bamenda to be automatically sportive.

From Light to Darkness A Reporter's Experience

From Light to Darkness
A Reporter's Experience

Of recent I was in Douala and Yaounde. My journalism profession took me to these two big cities of the country. In the former, I was invited for a 3-day workshop on Fact Checking, Fake News and Data Journalism by ADISI-Cameroon. In the latter, I joined my colleagues of the North West Region to answer to a call from the Yaounde chapter of the Cameroon Association of English Speaking Journalists (CAMASEJ) that we pay them an exchange visit.

It was on Sunday July 21st 2019 that I left Mbengwi for the North West Regional Headquarters from where I boarded a bus to Douala. By 7:30pm I was in my hotel room in Yassa. For three days, we underwent the training. It was very enriching, intellectually. By Thursday, I left for Yaounde to wait on my CAMASEJ N.W colleagues who travelled in on Friday night. Again we were lodged in our hotel rooms in Obili. 

The Food Combination that Erupted a Crisis in my Tummy

That Friday night, our hosts welcomed us with drinks. It seems in the cities, the first question visitors are always asked is "What will you drink?" Next day we had sports, a friendly football encounter on the Presidential Guard's Stadium in Melen. I heard myself soliloquizing, "Look at me this small Mbengwi boy now playing football on such a playground in such a strategic and sensitive location."  

At the end, we of the North West Chapter won the match. By nightfall, we were catching fun till dawn. By 10am on Sunday July 28th 2019, I was in a bus herding back to where I came from. By 7pm, I arrived Hospital Roundabout, Bamenda and there stood a bike ridder beckoning on me to mount his bike for a ride to Mbengwi. Cab drivers were also hunting for my money but I went for the bike rider. 

I took him because we are friends. He leaves Mbengwi to work in Bamenda everyday and by evening, he goes back to Mbengwi because the money he makes in Bamenda triples what he makes in Mbengwi per day. As we speed off, along the way he got three different passengers. The first was an elderly man who pleaded to be carried from Nitop 1 Park to U.B Relax for 100Frs. After alighting, we met the second, an average woman who also pleaded to be carried to Nchoualang for 100Frs. Then the last we came across was a young girl who pleaded too that she has only 100Frs for Alabukam.

At every stop, my rider tried hard to convince his passengers to pay more but sorrowfully they pleaded that that was all they had. He too will contemplate and ended up carrying them. This is how poverty stricken inhabitants in the two warring English speaking regions of Cameroon are now. There's little circulation of money in the economy. Buyers can't offer stipulated prices for goods and servicers. Sellers and service providers too can't refuse the little amounts they are being offered because as you refuse, some other person is collecting and your goods will remain in your keeping.

Drinking Spree in Yaounde

That evening, as I stepped foot in Bamenda, everywhere was dark, no lights. Incessant power cuts are now a trend in the entire region for more than three months and still counting. The electricity utility company, Eneo has never offered any official public statement on the issue. Being at night, the roads were empty. It takes only the courageous to travel during such a time. Since Bamenda-Mbengwi is my road, I wasn't scared of anything. 

From time to time, my rider kept jumping in and out of potholes. He will tell me "Sorry", apologising for something he isn't responsible for, the bumpy nature of the road, but he feels compelled to say it so as to keep his client comfortable.

Before 8pm, I arrived my final destination, Mbon Motor Park, Mile 18 Mbengwi. I noticed some shops and bars were still open, bikes and taxis still steaming around the park. I heard music, I saw people and almost everywhere was lighted. It's not that electricity supply had been reinstated but because Mile 18 is the economic hub of the Momo Divisional Headquarters, Mbengwi, many business persons here had long  resorted to generators. 

Catching Fun at a Classmate's Business Place in Y'de

I will then trek home and as I opened my room with the aide of light from my phone, rats and cockroaches ran helter skelter. Within my one week stay away from home, they became the tenants. As I laid on my bed exhausted, the brief experiences I had in Douala and Yaounde kept march passing on my mind. I slept in good hotels with A.C and WiFi, water system toilet and shower but here I am, back to my one room whose rents I'm even owing for many months. I ate good food. In fact till date I still don't know some of the things I ate, some actually caused a crisis in my stomach whose lone solution was to completely empty the content of my bowels.  

Hundreds of thousands were spent on me for my lodging and feeding by the organisers, an amount that can house and feed me here in Mbengwi for years not days but I'm back to soon start playing hide and seek with my landlord. I felt uncomfortable with the flopping sound produced when using the water system toilet in the hotels but back home, oh how comforting it is when I hear the "toum" sound when using my pit toilet with which I'm accustomed. Talking about shower, that's for Yaounde and Douala. Here, you carry water in a bucket, take it to the bathroom (I don't want to describe how some bathrooms here look like) and use your palms to bathe.

Reporter Set for Friendly Football Encounter 

After sleeping like a corpse, I finally woke up to a Monday morning, ghost town day. Every Monday here in what's now termed "Ground Zero", we stay indoors. The practice was imposed on the two English speaking regions by proponents of secession and has since then, more than two years today been unofficially adopted as a normal way of life. As a bachelor, last week I was eating food I don't even know and abandoning some but today, here I am back to reality. Hunger is looking at me and I'm looking at him too. In Yaounde, with colleagues, we drank from one place to another; beer, whisky, wine, shots, ice. The music was deafening, the DJs mastered their consoles and their "Atalakus" could make you say "To hell with Amba."

In Yaoundé, I was taken to Washing Point where I enjoyed live music. I was taken to Cubana where I saw rogues, prostitutes, urban criminals. Boys and girls here smoke cigarettes and "shisha" alike competitively. Their dressing and dancing styles could provoke one shout "Blood of Jesus" if not familiar with such environment. As an adventurer, I was ready for anything, ready to experience any new thing worth experiencing so that I'll have stories to share.

Catching Fun with Colleagues

One may be tempted to ask me, "With all these enjoyments, why hurry back to Mbengwi?" The answer is simple, no place like home. When I go North, South, East and West, I will always come back home. Such experiences give one a false perspective of life. It's not a bed of roses reason why such moments are often short lived. Like Shakespeare said in one of his literary pieces, "Happiness is an occasional episode in a general drama of pain."

I'm certain any moment soon, I'll hear gunshots and start running for safety. I'll hear my landlord whistling around my room. I will read text messages from those I owe threatening I pay their money else... I will certainly have to let go some of "them" whose basic needs I can't provide. She will soon be asking me "I di chop love?" 

C'est la vie. That's life.

Yaoundé for Beginners

Yaoundé for Beginners

Yaounde is Cameroon's political capital. Almost every Cameroonian whether educated or not knows of Yaoundé either by name or physically. To a few, Yaounde is Cameroon. No doubt stories are recounted daily of first experiences and thoughts of Yaounde.

I recall the 80s and 90s back in the hinterlands of  Mbengwi, Momo Division, N.W region of Cameroon. We grew up imagining Yaounde to be Paradise. Some of the elders that left the village in those days to Yaoundé for greener pastures upon return were automatically nicknamed "Nini reu Yaoundé", " Mama, Aunty, Uncle etc reu Yaounde" meaning Uncle from Yaoundé.

We grew up with the impression that grass does not grow in Yaounde, that all the roads are tarred, streets lighted, storeyed buildings everywhere and simply put, Yaounde in our minds was an Eldorado where money circulates like rainfall and life is just so full of merriment.

We dreamt of the day one family relative will come and take us to Yaounde. The few fortunate kids that successfully went probably for Sumner holidays and came back became stars in the village. We will gather around them to listen to stories about Yaounde. They told us about street lights, tarred roads, storeyed buildings, many cars, spaghetti etc. The attention we paid listening to such could be mistaken for a TV watching session in an uncivilised village. 

Street life in Yaounde

The apex was when these kids spoke French. We will giggle and laugh out loud hearing strange words like "Bonjour", " Ca Va" "Merci". Some of us excitingly ran back home to repeat the words to the hearing of our parents before they slipped of our minds.

That was then. As time went on, things changed so too our impressions. Yaounde soon became a mirage. The Yaounde we had in mind was far from the Yaounde on the ground. In fact, many who later had their own opportunity to also visit Yaounde had their hopes dashed to the wall.

Travelling to Yaoundé, the first worry is with communication. You leave the village thinking French is the lone language in Yaounde. In the bus you take every passenger for a Francophone especially when the lone language of communication you hear is French. You seat there deaf and dumb. Then suddenly somebody answers a phone call and you hear pidgin. Automatically a breeze of relief flows over your body. Anxiety and curiosity grows in you as a feeling of wanting to also be identified as an anglophone grips you. You want to start a conversation. Sooner you realise those who had been speaking French are now speaking English and Pidgin. You now feel confident that you can't get missing in Yaoundé as God has made available for you those to help you find your way out.

Life in Yaounde runs on the fast lane. You greet people and they don't even answer. They don't have the culture of greeting like you will get up in the village and greet the whole quarter. If you don't know how to trace your way, sorry you will be stranded there. In Bamenda for example, a taxi driver upon sensing that you are lost can quench his engine, come out to give you his listening attention and help you find your way. In Yaoundé, a cab driver has at most 5 seconds to listen to you.

Recently I boarded a public transport mini bus from Yassa in Douala to Yaounde. First, passengers are packed in the worn out mini bus like rice in a pot. There are shabby looking boys at the road junction whose daily job is to hunt for passengers to load  buses or private cars and from every passenger, they have a financial commission to gain. For this reason, the scramble for passengers is often more than that which the colonial masters had for Africa. You hear them persuasively convincing you "Yaounde deux place" meaning two seats left but when you get in, you find yourself being the first passenger.

Here, it's like morals are for those who schooled in boarding schools. Both driver and passengers plus park boys are rude. You abuse me, I abuse you. You see a toddler telling an elder "Va la bas" meaning "Get away". Speed too is another issue. One is compelled to quietly seat in the bus and be making his last prayers as the driver speeds off like lightening. The worst is along the way, you come across accident scenes that would've pricked the driver's mind, far from that.

Upon arrival, the park boys are always quick to identify who is new. They quickly rush to assist you  get a taxi to your next destination but sorry, they are out for business not charity. That's how my journey ended at Mvan and I had to take a taxi to Arcacias. The guy was quick to help me saying it'll cost 1000frs which I accepted to pay, after all when there's money on you, your interest becomes reaching your destination. From the fare, you have the impression that its a long distance. Being always vigilant, I read all what transpired with my eyes. He stopped a taxi, discussed with the driver, took 500 from him and I still added him 100 to thank him for helping me. Not up to 15 minutes drive, I arrived my destination. My fare was to be at most 500 but since its their game, they gained from my ignorance.

From Arcadias, I trekked to Biyemassi. Take note this was neither my first nor second time of being to Yaounde. I've been here severally. Biyemassi is more of Bamenda/Buea than Yaounde. Don't bother speaking French. From roadside vendors to hawkers, bike riders etc, almost everybody speaks pidgin. So, it's an Anglophone inhabited community. If you leave your village to Yaounde and pick up residence in Biyemassi, sorry you may return to the village after ten years and still not be able to speak French, to the surprise of all, like one that goes to America and comes back after ten years with no change in accent.

As night fell, I moved round looking for where to lodge. Having done initial findings, I went straight to a motel that had been recommended to me for its affordable price.

At the reception, as I was booking my room to pass the night, a man (highly suspected to be married with children) entered with a young girl. The girl, looking like a ram that was going to be sacrificed wass directed by show of hand to stand at an obscured corner, away from public view. Then the man asked for a room for one hour and was told it'll cost 2500Frs. He protested with the justification that he's a regular customer and has been taking the rooms for 2000Frs. The receptionist told him all the rooms for the price he wanted are occupied. The man asked, how much time is left for one to be free? The receptionist opened her record books for verification and gave the reply, 30 minutes.

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