Mbengwi: Combined Efforts Make the Impassable Passable

Mbengwi: Combined Efforts Make the Impassable Passable

The people of Mbengwi have again demonstrated their utmost desire to bid farewell to the backbreaking hardship they've been undesirably subjected to bear for the past four years since the advent and subsequent escalation of the Anglophone Crisis. The community work spirit they embodied has once more been revoked and demonstrated as all hands were recently put on deck for the reconstruction of broken bridges within the subdivision.

Reconstruction Work on Mbemi Bridge

The Mbengwi Council's mayor, Ndangsa Kennedy Akam has been spearheading the exercise. On Monday July 20th, he mobilised strong men and boys from Mbengwi to the Zem bridge in Mile 20 for reconstruction. The team was later joint by some concerned locals of Zem and armed uniform officers that came to guard against any disruption. The mayor wasn't at the site to supervise but to actively partake in the exercise. Hours later, work was completed and both the population and the military men departed amicably. 

Barely a day after, the mayor again left the comfort of his office this time around to the Mbemi bridge for a similar exercise. Impressed with his workaholic spirit, many more locals, bike riders and passersby came out to give a helping hand and just within two hours, the bridge was renovated. Before now, the local population had cleared the road sides and removed the rails that had been fallen into the rivers when the two bridges were destroyed. 

Mayor Ndangsa Kennedy Actively Engaged

The Workaholic Mayor Leading by Example

An inhabitant in Nyen village that harbours Tad Market, the biggest weekly market in the entire sub division, impressed with the work, told Mbengwi Online that "I want to thank the mayor and the team that has repaired the two bridges. I'll be happier if this other bridge in Njinibi is also repaired. We've been suffering a lot by going round through Njindom." He added that several accidents had been occurring on the broken bridges as bikes transporting goods and passengers kept missing track and falling into the river. While the top of the bridges in Zem and Mbemi have been repaired with planks, Joshua wants the top of the bridge in Njinibi to be re-concreted as it long developed two large holes that now pose as a threat to the life of those crossing on it.

Mayor Ndangsa Kennedy disclosed to Mbengwi Online that the initiative to rebuild the bridges was nursed after he attended a meeting in Bamenda weeks back for the take off of the presidential plan for the reconstruction and development of the NW region during which it was revealed that the exercise will kick start only in peaceful areas. However, in his words, "This one is a different initiative, not part of the presidential reconstruction plan. It's to say while waiting for what's been promised us, let's start going ahead with something temporal so that by the time the plan comes, they should be able to mount slaps on the bridges so that they remain permanent."
Death trap on the Njinibi Bridge

He went on to reveal that the Member of Parliament for Momo East Constituency, Hon. Injoh Foo Ngang Prodencia and Minister Mbah Acha of the Supreme State Audit provided the planks that were assembled on the two bridges, the population provided the labour force while the military provided security. All hands were thus put on deck for the effective realisation of the project. 

Talking to Mbengwi Online last Wednesday July 22nd from the 3 Corners Mbemi bridge, Mayor Ndangsa Kennedy said "Mbengwi is peaceful. That's why you see the population that's come out behind me to do this work. From my point of view, sincerely, the people are very happy reason why they've been very collaborative in the maintenance works. They want development, they don't like staying in hardship and they're also praying that the government does something so that schools resume in September because they've spent a lot in the francophone areas. Those who hadn't the means stayed at home with their children, some of whom have been pregnant, others forced to join these boys in the bushes  against their will"

First Car (NW311) to Cross Over the Bridges, 2 Years After

Bike Transporting Goods to Cattle Market

In 2018, gun battles  between government forces and non state armed groups fighting to restore the independence of "Ambazonia" erupted in Mbengwi. The group that launched multiple attacks against the military in the subdivision called itself Momo Marines. They made several failed attempts to destroy the Mbengwi Principal Prison and the Mbengwi Police Station plus attempted kidnaps of some top military and administrative officials.

Such battles often ended with deaths and injuries on both sides including civilians. Mile 20 was a hot spot. The entire Mile 19, Mile 20, Zem, Njinibi, Nyen, Kob, Njindom and Guneku were almost completely deserted in 2018 as people flee to the bushes and Bamenda after tracks and warning messages were circulated, calling on the population to leave for the days ahead will be bloody. The entire sub division was tensed. Trees were fallen across roads in all villages. There was no movement of cars in the whole Mbengwi central town and the suburbs.

Mbemi Bridge Before (Since 2018)

Zem Bridge Before (Since 2018)

The fighters also scattered bridges as a technique to prevent their enemy, the military from penetrating the villages to kill, burn, torture and arrest civilians. The bridges in Zem and Mbemi were scattered and tiny space left only for bikes and pedestrians to pass. And so for two years, this section of the road became a no go area for cars. 

The bridges are on a major highway that leads not only to the Tad market but also two other subdivions; Njikwa and Ngie. Before, vehicles going to or coming from these two sub divisions and from villages like Ngwokwong, Acha-Tugi, Tudig, Nyen, Kai, Zang Tabi, Njah-Etu etc had to must go round through Njindom before reaching Mbengwi central town. Because of the high traffic density, the road quickly became deplorable. From time to time, Mbengwi central town was consistently hit by a water crisis as heavy duty trucks kept trampling on the exposed main water supply pipes on the Njindom road, causing disconnection. 

Farmers Going to their Farms

Some Used to Cross in the River

Most of the young boys in the localities having the two renovated bridges depend on sand extraction from the rivers for income generation. For over two years now, they've not been able to sell their sand because tippers can't access the area. Thus, they've been undergoing untold hardship, unable to fend for their families. The reestablishment of the two broken bridges brings utmost joy to their hearts as they're now able to start selling their sand. 

It should be recalled that after his election in February, Mayor Ndangsa Kennedy was kidnapped by restoration forces and taken to their detention camp somewhere around Mbemi where he was kept incommunicado for a month and three days before being later released. During this period, fake news even went viral on social media that he has been killed. The government later on stationed a BIR (Batallion d'Intervention Rapid) camp in Nyen, a neighboring village to Mbemi and Guneku. These have been strongholds of separatist fighters. 

New Look Zem Bridge

New Look Mbemi Bridge

With the stationing of the BIRs here, reports say all the fighters in the area have disappeared. The population now mingles with these state security elements with ease as some villagers testified they've been very friendly towards them and have since their coming not shot any gun nor cause any havoc. "We feel more secured with the BIRs than Amba Boys" one villager in Guneku told Mbengwi Online. Amba Boys is a local appellation for non state armed groups fighting to restore the independence of Ambazonia, name they've given to the two English speaking regions of Cameroon.

About four months after, the mayor has gone back to the former "red zone" to repair the bridges on which his kidnappers carried him on their bike and passed, reason why he said "This is me in Mbemi, 3 corners, where they once kidnapped me and brought me to. So by this, I'm calling on all Mbengwi elites, all Meta sons and daughters in and out of the clan plus those abroad to please conquer fear and come back let's develop home, send our children to school and see that life returns to normal because there's nothing now again."

Combined Efforts

Lastly, he promised that work isn't going to end only on the Zem and Mbemi bridges but that he's taken note of the bridge in Njinibi, the one linking Njinebai to Njiningom in Guneku and others, disclosing that the council's activities shall not only end within Mbengwi central but penetrate to interior villages like Zang Tabi. "Our next target now is to see that Tad Market is cleared and traders return to their sheds so that economic activities bounce back full swing in the market" he ended.