Presidency orders Philip Ngwese to return Danpullo’s birds!

The wildlife minister now in Biya’s bad books for defying supreme court order

By Douglas A. Achingale in Yaounde

The ‘all-knowing’ minister of forestry and wildlife, Ngole Philip Ngwese, who thought he could use his powers to intimidate law-abiding citizens, has burnt his fingers in the process. In an uncanny show of unbridled authority and intransigence, he ordered the illegal seizure of eight ostriches regularly acquired by business heavyweight, Alhadji Baba Ahmadou Danpullo. Even when the supreme court, where the matter was referred to, ruled that the birds be reinstated to their rightful owner, the supercilious minister did not budge. It required the muscular intervention of the presidency of the republic for Danpullo’s birds to be sent to Ndawara.

In effect, the Bamenda-based multibillionaire, during one of his visits to Nigeria, was offered eight ostriches with all the necessary papers showing that he acquired them under normal conditions. As some of his workers were transporting the birds to Cameroon, they were asked to pay customs duty worth 1.5 million at the border town of Ekok, which they did.

Astonishingly, however, officials of the ministry of forestry and wildlife seized the ostriches on the pretext that their ownership was not authorized, and took some to the Limbe zoological garden and others to Mamfe. This, after Danpullo’s employees had paid them the sum of 400 000 FCFA for a health certificate to be issued. The seizure and transfer were later justified by the South West regional delegate of forestry and wildlife, through a decision signed on May 19, 2012.

When Bernard Okalia Bilaï, the governor of the South West region, was informed of the matter, he issued an injunction, dated May 21, 2012, calling for the immediate restitution of the ostriches to their owner. However, on instructions from Minister Ngole Ngwese, the delegate rubbished the governor’s order and told whoever cared to listen that he received instructions only from his boss in Yaounde who had already ordered for the transfer of the birds to the Mvog-Betsi zoological garden in Yaounde.

The level-headed and experienced businessman that he is, Baba Danpullo did not doubt at any one moment that the law was on his side. And that the minister was acting out of sheer overzealousness. On July 4, 2012, following the expertly advice of his legal counsels, the business magnet reported the matter to the supreme court which, after examining it thoroughly, ruled that Danpullo’s birds be handed back to him within a fortnight. The ruling came in the form of an ordinance issued on September 14, 2012 by the administrative chamber of the supreme court.

Yet still, the power-drunk Ngole Philip Ngwese would not yield. Apparently tenacious of the false notion that he was above the law, he instructed officials of the Mvog-Betsi zoological garden not to release the birds, even after the court had reiterated the order a few days after the two-week deadline.

What was worse, three of the ostriches died at the Mvog-Betsi zoological garden. They could really not survive on account of their being subjected to unconventional handling conditions since the conservators in the two zoological gardens are not experienced in rearing this category of birds.

Strangely, the loss meant nothing to the obdurate minister who insisted on retaining the birds. But seeing clearly that Ngole Philip’s behaviour was aberrant and at the same time asinine, the presidency had to call him to order. He was asked to release the birds without delay; and as we went to press, the five surviving ostriches were already in Baba Danpullo’s keeping.

Even after handing the birds, Ngole Ngwesse, knowing President Paul Biya’s closeness to Danpullo, is believed to be having sleepless nights; having realized the respect the president has for the law-abiding Baba Danpullo. Other accounts have it that the forestry minister is looking for the slightest opportunity to meet Danpullo so he can go down on his knees for pardon.   

The incident has revealed the forestry and wildlife minister as a somewhat neanderthal and bilious administrator who would want to take advantage of his position at any time to undermine constitutional authority. Observers say at this dusk of the New Deal regime when President Biya is seeking to win the hearts of Cameroonians with his greater achievements program, Ngole Philip has simply excreted on his own tail.

Corpse abandoned in Y’de mortuary for 11 yrs!

By Cyril Nwoazeke in Yaounde

Authorities of the Jamot Hospital in Yaounde are in a confused state over an abandoned corpse that has spent eleven years in the hospital mortuary.

As the confusion persists, the hospital director, Yves Mathieu  Zoa Nanga has reportedly written to the minister of public health; asking his advice about what to do with the corpse that now appears nightmarish to the hospital authority.

The Guardian Post gathered that the controversy that surround the abandoned corpse that has been “identified” as that of one Alo’o Mve started way back in December 2001.

According to the head of the Jamot mortuary attendants, Lucien Betchem, family members of the deceased who showed up on December 12, 2001 to collect his remains for burial rejected it when the corpse was already dressed up.

While a few members of the family identified the disputed corpse as that of Alo’o Mve, a majority of the family rejected it outright; saying the corpse dressed up and presented to them did not in anyway look like Alo’o Mve.

As tempers flared between the family members on the one hand and the mortuary attendants on the other; that afternoon of December 12, 2001, the Yaounde judicial police authorities were called in.

To calm down rising tempers, the police on arrival at the Jamot Hospital ordered the mortuary attendants to remove all the corpses for identification by the deceased’s family members. A move which sparked more fire as the family went wild when they discovered that the corpse of Alo’o Mve was not among those displayed.

As the controversy ensured, several Jamot mortuary attendants were arrested while investigations went through the judicial police, the gendarmerie and the state counsel but the remains of Alo’o Mve were never found.

Meanwhile, no one has since December 2001 showed up to collect the rejected corpse that has now been christened “Alo’o Mve”.

It is being suspected that Alo’o Mve’s corpse might have mistakenly been buried along side other abandoned corpses in early December 2001; days before his family showed up to collect his remains.

But as the Jamot Hospital mortuary attendants head told Cameroon Tribune “we cannot hand over the rejected corpse to municipal authorities for burial without authorization from justice because a family can show up one day to collect it.” 

 

“I’ll resign if Asapngu is denied victory” -Osih Joshua

From Nfor Adamu in Bamenda

As the deadlock over the disputed SDF national organising secretary post continues, the SDF 1^st vice national chairman, Osih Joshua is quoted as warning that he would resign from the leading opposition party should the presumed winner of the disputed polls, Asapngu Ferdinand be denied victory.

Osih Joshua, The Guardian Post gathered, made his threat directly to Fru Ndi during the 8^th elective convention of the SDF that held in Bamenda.

Osih’s threat to resign from the SDF, The Guardian Post was further told, came on the heels of the disputed national organizing secretary polls at the convention.

As the deadlock persisted in the hall over the disputed polls; which saw incumbent, Asapngu Ferdinand winning but the poll results being contested, violently by his opponent, Vaneganseen Mochiggle, Asapngu threatened to storm out of the hall and immediately announced his resignation.

It was at this juncture that Osih Joshua told Fru Ndi, “Chairman, if Asapngu resigns, I will also do”.

Questioned why Osih Joshua should have made such a threat, a close aide to the SDF 1^st vice chairman told The Guardian Post that it was Asapngu who convinced and brought Osih Joshua into the SDF. Osih Joshua, The Guardian Post was told, is not blindly supporting Asapngu but wishes to see the true winner of the disputed poll handed victory.

 

Mochiggle, no match to Asapngu

Meanwhile as the deadlock over who would emerge winner of the disputed poll continues, SDF partisans have resorted to comparing the two contestants. In the opinion of many SDF militants, entrusting a strategic position like the national organizing secretary to Mochiggle is like handing over the interior ministry to a primary school boy.

Mochiggle, they say, joined the SDF after he was frustrated by the CPDM. After leaving the CPDM, the same Mochiggle embarked on exporting pepper out of the country, but because of lack of management acumen, the business crumbled even before it started.

When he joined the SDF, he was entrusted the responsibility to manage the party’s printing press which is today history because of bad management.

Questioned yet an SDF militant “If Mochiggle could not manage his pepper business, is it the post of national organizing secretary that he would manage?”

Mochiggle is also faulted for not having the required means that can see him tour the entire country like Asapngu has been doing. “We don’t want a national organizing secretary that would always move around with the beggar’s bowl each time he wants to make even a tour of Mezam”, another SDF official mocked.

Talking about Asapngu, who has been SDF district chairman for Kumba for the past 19 years, most SDF NEC members who hail from the North West recalled that the SDF political heavyweight is not only credited for implanting the party in Kumba but is also known to have fought running battles with soldiers and election-riggers in Meme while defending his party’s victory.  “There is no questioning the fact that the name Asapngu is synonymous with SDF in Kumba”, a North West SDF MP told The Guardian Post anonymously.

There is no gainsaying the fact that on account of his unalloyed SDF militancy, the firebrand politician has suffered more arrests and torture than all other members of the party put together. At one time, he was detained at the Secretariat of State for Defence (SED) and was held incommunicado for one full month. He has also severally been arrested and detained in the gendarmerie brigade at Bonanjo and Deido in Douala respectively, as well as in Buea.

Boundary disputes sweep away Mezam SDO

Mankons celebrate his disgraceful departure, say it’s a warning sign to his successor not to dabble with colonial boundaries in Bamenda

From Nfor Adamu in Bamenda

News of the transfer of former Mezam SDO, Mache Njouonwet Joseph Bertrand to Menoua; in the West region; has been greeted with celebrations in the Mankon fondom in particular and Mezam division in general.

Many Mankon elite see Mache’s transfer from a division that hosts a regional capital as punitive and a dirty slap on his face for attempting to disrupt public peace by creating illegal boundaries between Mankon village and the neighbouring villages of Nsongwa and Bamendankwe.

It should be recalled that Mache Njouonwet burnt his fingers when he, for selfish gains, undertook to put to question the official boundary between Mankon and Bamendankwe villages that were surveyed and demarcated in 1938 by the British administration; headed by D.O Schofield. The demarcation, it should be stated, was done in the presence and common agreement of the fons of Mankon and Bamendankwe.

Tempers flared when the former Mezam SDO’s so-called technical sub committee not only violated the presidential decree and the authentic administrative boundary of 1967 but attempted to transfer a large portion of Mankon and Nkwen land to Bamendankwe.

SDO Mache’s transparent administrative style was again put to question when he attempted to create a “new” administrative boundary between the villages of Mankon and Nsongwa; even though the official administrative boundary between the two villages was confirmed in 1998 by the British administrator, D.O Schofield.

But for their peace-loving nature, Mankon people would have gone to war with Nsongwa when they (Nsongwa people) invaded Nkura quarters in Mankon and destroyed crops; evaluated at over 25 MFCFA.

Following the destruction, the MINATD boss ordered a retracing of the 1938 boundary. The decision was implemented and 13 beacons planted to differentiate the boundary separating the two villages.

But in 2009, the Nsongwa people encroached into the said portion of Mankon land and began partitioning and selling. They equally removed and destroyed 12 of the 13 boundary beacons that were planted.

Being as law-abiding as usual, the fon of Mankon did not ask his people to go to war with Nsongwa but rather, he wrote to the Mezam SDO; seeking his intervention in order to end the dispute peacefully.

SDO Mache went, saw the beacons destroyed but to the surprise of even the Nsongwa people did not open any investigation. Instead, Mache Njouonwet created the so-called technical committee and empowered them to create an illegal boundary which if was implemented,would have seen a large portion of Mankon land, ceded, illegally to Nsongwa.

In a strongly-worded petition to North West governor against the Mezam SDO, the fon of Mankon wrote “The present SDO (Mache) is not seeking to solve problems based on facts and the evidence at his disposal. His action is a clear demonstration that he is out to create and fan inter-village boundary conflicts… Is it because money changed hands? Mankon people are aware and are tired of administrators fanning land disputes for selfish gains…”

Apart from being accused of attempting to illegally cede their land to Nsongwa and Bamendakwe villages, Mache Njounwet was also in the bad books of Mankon people for what they qualified as his suspicious and provocative silence over attempts to deform the history, identity and dignity of Mankon people and erode their image from the Bamenda city and the national map. They sited the change of name from the Mankon Main Market to the Bamenda city Main Market without the required deliberation and resolution by the city councilors as required by law and the appellation “Bafut Airport”.

It is widely-suspected that the above administrative blunders of Mache Njouonwet not with standing, what might have caused his disgraceful transfer from Mezam division was his undermining of the authority of the highly-respected fon of Mankon, Fon Angwafor III S.A.N, who doubles as the 1^st vice national president of the ruling CPDM party.

In the build up to his arrogance and lack of respect for North West traditional authorities and institutions, Mache Njouonwet once referred to the venerated Fon Angwafor as “a certain fon in Mezam division”. Any surprise therefore that he had to be sent packing in such a disgraceful manner?

Customs Department boosts President Biya’s Greater Accomplishment Programme

If there is one institution that President Paul Biya can count on to see his Greater Accomplishment Programme see the light of day, then it is undoubtedly the Customs Department.

Apparently, President Biya knew it only too well that the Customs Department is such a key institution that cannot just be placed under the care of any Tom, Dick and Harry.

It was therefore no surprise that the president settled for the God-fearing, dynamic, level-headed and corruption-free Minette Libom Li Likeng as the director general of the Customs Department.

With barely four years at the helm of the Customs Department, Minette Libom Likeng’s achievements are glaring as a lighted candle in the dark.

 

Unbeatable revenue collection records

Ever since her appointment at the helm of the Customs Department, Libom Likeng has always ensured that her institution beats set records in revenue collection.

It is therefore not a surprise that the Customs Department has recorded a 101% score in revenue collection in this third quarter. Speaking during the fourth coordination meeting of the Customs Department Administration that held in Yaounde on October 18, 2012, the emblematic Customs Department general manager, Libom Likeng announced that instead of the initial 151.7 billion FCFA that was targeted for collection in revenue, for the third quarter, her department has collected 153.9 billion; representing a percentage score of 101.

The amount collected by the Customs Department for the third quarter, it should be recalled, represents a 5% increase rate as of last year when 146.8 billion was collected during the third quarter.

With over 500 billion FCFA of the 550 billion FCFA the state is expecting from the Customs Department this year; already collected, hopes are high that Libom Likeng and her dynamic collaborators would collect far above the target; before the end of the year 2012.

Senior finance officials have saluted the unbeatable records of the Customs Department in revenue collection; saying it is eloquent proof of ongoing reforms that have been put in place by President Paul Biya to ensure Good Governance. “The Customs Department is a mighty contributor to President Paul Biya’s Greater Accomplishment Programme”, a senior finance official told The Guardian Post in Yaounde recently.

 

Implementing government’s policy

Besides having an unbeatable record in revenue collection, the Customs Department is second to none when it comes to implementing government’s policies. These policies include among others: the reduction of price hikes, reduction of the time lapse for the clearing goods from the ports as well as evaluating the level at which Custom officials have imbibed the new techniques, and ethics of their profession.

 

                                   Zero corruption in Customs Department 

There is no gainsaying the fact that if there is one institution in Cameroon that is free of corrupt practices, it is the Customs Department. This couldn’t have been otherwise, given that its director general is God-fearing and is a rare anti-corruption crusader.

The simple reason therefore why while other government departments lag behind in revenue collection, the Customs Department is rather collecting far more than what the state has tasked them.

Shortly after her appointment, Libom Likeng not only decreed zero corruption in the Customs Department but went ahead to march words with action. Her watchwords remain giving a new look to the Customs Department. To do this, Libom Likeng has embarked on the mission to let Custom officers know what they are, what they do and how they do it.

The no-nonsense Customs general manager has equally instituted a system of motivation and reinforcement of the capacity of Custom workers.

 

                                  

Libom Li-Likeng : Making the Cameroonian woman proud

As the first woman to ever head a strategic revenue collection administration, Minette Libom Li Likeng has every reason to be proud. A greater onus of pride rests on Cameroon’s public administration which has had the singular privilege of having a personality with a high-flying moral record to run the affairs of a department that is the life-wire of the state. Being the wife of a pastor, Minette Libom Li Likeng pilots the affairs of the state with the fear of God.

At the Customs Department, Libom Li Likeng is embroidering the marvellous fabric of a futuristic revenue collection institution that can match the challenges of globalisation and rapidly changing norms in international trade. Under her fearless leadership, the Customs Department can boast of a management structure that rewards competence and hardwork.

With 3000 Customs agents under her command, Libom Li Likeng has established a solid network of professionals who can also efficiently fight contraband, protect the local economy and defend the territory. Under her reign, SYDONIA and Nexus have been established to better access the content of containers arriving Cameroon from abroad and to monitor the transit of goods to neighbouring countries.

Thanks to the level of organisation at the Customs Department, the time taken for goods to leave the port has dropped from 19 to 10 days. Workers have signed a performance contract that engages them to work at their very best to achieve the institution’s set objectives. Such a remarkable sense of management makes Libom Li Likeng not only a square peg in a square hole but the pride of the Cameroonian woman. There is every reason to believe that Libom Likeng’s achievements at the helm of the Customs Department have motivated President Paul Biya to give more women top positions of responsibility.

Late Moon’s life & works unveiled

By Cyril Nwoazeke in Yaounde

The founder of the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace, Sun Myung Moon has died but his works live on. Moon, it should be recalled, died on September 3^rd, 2012.

Following the news of his death, reckless declarations and insinuations were made; apparently to rubbish his life and works. To clarify public opinion on his achievements therefore, a press conference was organized in Yaounde last Thursday by the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace.

Speaking at the over 3-hour press briefing, the regional secretary for the Universal Peace Federation, Lihinag Tam Benoit said Moon’s life and works greatly impacted North Korea and the world at large. He added that as founder of many peace organizations, Moon among other publications wrote the “Divine Principles” to help the world understand God’s word. He said through the celebration of marriages in public between people of different nations and cultures, Moon’s literary works aimed at establishing solidarity and world peace. By the year 2000, he said, Moon had succeeded in uniting 400 million couples in and around the world.

The regional secretary went further to enjoin pressmen and Cameroonians to give a deaf ear to anti-Moon rhetorics and rather use his “Divine Principles” as a guide to life. Quizzed on the issue of France painting a gloomy image on the life and works of Moon, Tam Benoit attributed it to a cultural problem between states. He was categorical that the French religion has destroyed the world and that Moon’s industrious life and works are there for all to see. Contrary to what the French want the world to believe, Tam said Moon created over 80 organizations that have to this day continue to  deal with aspects of humanity with the aim of building a world of eternal peace.

For his part, the organization’s deputy director of communication, Ronald Fusi Atoh said Moon was not a sect leader and that there is nothing secret behind his unification teachings which rather fought against communism and in turn culminated in North Korea’s independence in 1945. Concerning Moon’s business activities, he said one cannot establish a world talking only about peace or love and that the question is not wealth but how it is managed.

Worthy to note that Moon was born in North Korea on January 6, 1920. He was the founder of over 80 organizations in the world. In 1975, Moon sent his missionaries to Cameroon to implant his works and teachings. He created The Washington Times in 1982, one of America’s newspapers and also contributed to Ronald Reagan’s election as president of the United States of America. Moon has also gained recognition from many international organizations, the latest being in 2006 by the United Nations.

Service providers do not need to mount pressure on the state to pay their bills Sylvester Moh Tangongho, director general of treasury, financial & monetary cooperation

The state will close all its engagements by November 30, 2012. What measures have been put in place to ensure that all service providers are paid within the time limit?

I think that your question is double fold; having a budgetary and treasury aspects. Talking about the budgetary aspect since the closure of engagements falls within this sphere, all has been put in place to ensure that transactions stop normally. Service providers are quite aware of this date as well as vote holders. I don’t think that it is our duty to take any measures, but instead those who have services to offer to do so before this date.

 

The relationship between the state and its service providers is suffering from several ills; ranging from favouritism to anarchy. What analyses can you make of this assertion?  

The analyses I will make about this assertion is that service providers are being misinformed. I think it would be important that service providers get information from the right source. We followed some finance experts who made alarming declarations stating that the state accumulates arrears, which is of course false. The state does all it can to make sure that all its debts are settled on time. That is why of late, the minister of finance published all payments pending settlement in all treasury accounting posts. This is to let it known to the concerned that payments are made in a chronological order. When people are not aware of this system, they often rush to the treasury and beg treasury agents and go into similar procedures meanwhile they do not need all this. Anyone who has undertaken any transaction with the state does not need to come to the treasury. He simply waits for money in his account. Since the beginning of the 2012 fiscal year, we have made a duty to pay within 60 days maximum.  The last publication in Cameroon Tribune at the beginning of October indicated that expenses liquidated as of 31 August have been okayed for payment. If my calculations are good, then we are talking here of something about 46 days, far from the stipulated 60. We endeavour to respect this dead line right to the end of the year.

 

There are certain contractors who are complaining of having unpaid bills with the state. How do you explain that?   

I would like to precise here that these are dossiers that did not follow the normal budgetary procedure. They are thus not found within the treasury network. These are dossiers of which budgetary finances were not available. Services to be offered are often made based on the confirmations that indicate clearly that funds have been disbursed for that service to be provided. They are people who however carry out certain services based on placement orders. I think people need to respect the prescribed procedures. At the regional level, service providers must make sure that funds are authorized by the finance controllers and at the level of the accountant, that budgetary funds are available before they can undertake any service.

 

Some years back the idea of regrouping these service providers was brought up in order to facilitate debt recovery. Do you think that such a move is still necessary today?

The respect of payment deadlines is an obligation of the ministry of finance particularly the general directorate of treasury.  When we fixe the deadline of 60 days, it happens at times that we pay before this deadline. Service providers do not need to mount pressure on the state to pay their bills because the state tries to be self discipline in order to respect its commitment. In addition, the advantage we have is that the state has the possibility of raising funds from the monetary market at very interesting rates. Two weeks ago, we borrowed money from the monetary market at 1.7% which shows how credible the state is. In the franc and CEMAC zones, Cameroon is the only state in 2011 to have respected the four criteria of convergence amongst which is the non accumulation of arrears. This information was confirmed during the zone franc meeting that held in Paris on October3 and 4, 2011.

 

Arch Bishop Cornelius congratulates Dr. Nick Ngwanyam

Dear Dr. Ngwanyam,
Greetings and blessings from Rome where I am for the Synod of Bishops. I wish to renew my profound gratitude to you for the scholarships that you have been giving on my behalf for the last five years. You cannot image the tremendous good done not only to these young people by opening the future to them but also to the people from where they come and to the nation as a whole by giving them the opportunity which they would not have otherwise had to further their education. May God bless you and our benefactors abundantly. Rest assured of my prayers for yourself, your family and for your institution. May God continue to crown your efforts with success.

Yours Sincerely,

Cornelius Esua Fontem

Scholarships from St. Louis University Institute of Health Sciences, Bamenda

We have a series of scholarship programs designed for different groups of students and these are crafted to meet certain challenges in the communities that are beneficiaries of these opportunities.

It is our understanding that we should do one or two things to favor the under privileged in our communities and to also contribute to give back to nature what we got from her given that our own generation went to university for free and sometimes we were paid for studying ( bourse).
St Louis scholarships were designed to run for ten years. A fresh batch of students is recruited yearly for ten years. Each student is supported for three years until he/she gets the diploma. We are currently in the fifth generation of scholarships this academic year. As of last year, we had spent about 67 million or so on this exercise.

We think that this would bring a real shift into the human dynamics of these communities where this activity is being carried out. Akwaya, Furawa, Mbetta and Donga - Mantung  have been left behind because of chronic road and communication infrastructural disease. People from these areas pay a price for no fault of theirs and suffer unnecessary stigma when dealing with others. One gets the impression they committed a crime against nature and we are here to lend them a hand.
The Akwi Memorial Foundation scholarship which is given to Prof Ajaga Nji for students of Momo origin, is in honor of his mother and all mothers who have done so much to raise us. It goes to also thank him for his book ‘Why Poor People Remain Poor’. It gave me a clear understanding of what we should all be doing as a government and as a people to get out of poverty. We are locked in a deadly mindset of  ignorance, irresponsibility, inferiority complex , corruption, greed, unaccountability and denial.

 

Characteristics of the different scholarships

A.   Only Science students with a minimum of five points get a scholarship.

B.   There are no scholarships for Nursing and Midwifery.

C.   There are no scholarships for level 400 B. Tech class.

D.   Each student keeps the scholarship for three years and must work hard and be well behaved at all times.

1.     Unlimited number of scholarships to students with over 12 points at the GCE in science subjects. 100 percent scholarship on fees. These go to students from Akwaya, Furawa and Donga and Mantung Division.

2.     Scholarships covering 100 percent fees for ten students  each year from Mbetta ( Arch Bishop Esua Fontem Scholarships).

3.     50% scholarship to 20 students/ year for students from Donga and Mantung. Science papers 5-11 points.

4.     50% scholarship to 10 students /year for students from Momo. Science papers 5-25 points. This is the Akwi Memorial scholarship and recipients are selected by Prof Ajaga Nji.

5.     50% scholarship to 10 students this year only for Bororo and Fulani female students from the North West Region. Arts and Science papers are considered, 3- points minimum. Arts students can only study Midwifery and there is no scholarship for Nursing. Science students can pick out of six choices. Candidates are selected by the Cameroon National Youth Council president Prince Michelson in room 5 at the Delegation of Youth Affairs in Bamenda opposite Ayaba Hotel.

(Special dispensation will be given to students of Donga and Mantung who cannot pay in cash to bring food items like beans, corn, goats, groundnuts, soy beans and palm oil. We cannot accept more than half the fees in kind. This condition is for all the students whether they have a scholarship or not. The items would be taken at the current market value in Ndu).

 

 

These are the different departments at St. Louis University Institute of Health Sciences, Bamenda

 

We train students for three years to get a Higher Professional Diploma( HPD). These students with the HPD are readmitted for one extra year to earn a Bachelor of Technology Degree ( B.Tech). This B.Tech program is supervised and mentored by the University of Buea. She offers the B.Tech degree for our students under the instructions and guidance of the Minster of Higher Education who is the Chancellor of Academic Affairs in all of Cameroon.

 

The  HPD programs are: Nursing, Midwifery, Physiotherapy, Dental Therapy, Pharmacy Technology, Radiology-Ultrasonograpgy, and Medical Lab Sciences.

 

The degree programs are in the same fields above except that we are still carrying out the paper work and authorizations for B.Tech Midwifery and B. Tech Pharmacy Technology to be functional hopefully in 2013/2014 academic year. PharmD courses  are envisaged for a not too distant future.

We would like to remind you that the ‘odd man’ in our collection of bachelors is B.Tech Hospital Management which is crafted for a cross section of many diverse group of persons who want to professionalize. Please, go to our webpage for more ample explanations into the concept, understanding and working of this complex specialty. You can have a first degree in any other field or any HPD or HND and we can help craft you to become a hospital administrator.

FEES for all our programs are 350.000frs per year. There are a couple of extras detailed in our web page and prospectus. Remember that admissions are with ‘A’ Levels or BACC into Level 100. Arts students can only study Nursing or Midwifery. All arts students must have a minimum of 4 points. Students with the social sciences i.e. Geography and Economics can be admitted with 3 points. All science students who have passed the GCE get red carpet treatment into any discipline. Two papers where one is Religion is not a pass for MINESUP.

There is no need to bribe or beg us. The key to St Louis is the GCE and BACC result. You do not need a ‘concour’ to come. If you must come as a candidate proposed to us for training by the Minister of Public Health, then you need to pass their ‘concour’. You are the master and you hold the keys to your own destiny. We do not deny you your deserved honorable and descent passage into a glorious and productive future. You are a product of your choices.

We do not lead people; we do not push people, we help you walk the path that matches your purpose for living. We discover your passion with you; we help you to trust yourself and to trust others, we help you to value work that is well done. We help you to love yourself so that you can love others. We help you to give because you have more than enough to give. Cameroon has enough for everyone’s need but too little for everyone’s greed.

We just bless you because we have come to bless. You are St Louis; the measure of professionalism. At St Louis, we inform and form agents of transformation. Character development is our hall mark.

 

We thank all those hospitals and clinics nationwide who have partnered with us for practical training on the field. Without you, we cannot make it. We thank the Minister of Higher Education, Minister of Public Health , the Prime Minister and the Universities of Buea and Bamenda for their support.

We thank the Cameroon Government for employing 250 graduates from St Louis in 2009. We are also very grateful for the large number that was employed in the 25.000. We thank the Muna Clinic in Douala, the Catholic mission hospitals and all other users of our products in Cameroon, America, Canada and Europe who have been so faithful in their support.

We are not tired of reminding our youths and parents that the future of Cameroon and the future of all house-holds is 90% dependent on professional education in all fields and walks of life. We must be productive and we must be elements of change so that we can promote peace and development in Cameroon. It starts with discipline, hard work, honesty and the respect for man and nature. These are the core values of St Louis. Welcome to St Louis.

 

Dr Nick Ngwanyam, MD

Director; Tel( cell) 237- 7776 46 74

stlouisclinicbamenda@yahoo.co.uk

Meet Joseph F. Njoya: Our high-profile personality of the week

Joseph F. Njoya is only in his early 40s. But the kind of things he has achieved and keeps making an effort to achieve are mostly identified with people who are far above his age. They are actions and deeds that are more easily identified with people in their 50s, 60s and 70s; people who are far above that “youthful” age; people who have garnered a wealth of experience and who have made their marks in diverse other fields.

We feel utterly inspired and proud to say it in even louder and clearer terms, that on account of the wonders performed by this illustrious son of Donga Mantung, he can be referred to in the same terms as Bellario describes Balthazar in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice: “I have never seen so young a body with so old a head.”

You will not consider this an exaggeration if you take a look at his educational background, his professional career, his human rights endeavours, his development efforts back in his native Ngarum village in Donga Mantung division in the North West region as well as what those who know him say of him.

 

A well-educated man

As early as the late 1970s and early 1980s when Joseph Njoya was in Catholic Primary School Bayelle in Nkwen – Bamenda, his parents, teachers and mates could foresee him making great strides in education later in life. For, the lad was the kind of pupil who personally learned his lessons well in advance. And, in spite of his young age at the time, he did it so effectively that he was never baffled by test or examination questions, no matter from what topics the questions came.

In Government High School Nkambe where he did his secondary and high school education, the situation was the same. He was as good in the sciences as he was in the arts in secondary school. Most of the time, he found himself explaining their lessons to his classmates and answering all the so-called difficult questions in class. Many thought he would settle for the sciences especially as offering science courses at the time was considered more prestigious.

To Njoya, however, it was a matter of choice. He loved the sciences all the same, but his heart beat more for the arts. He had been a fine public speaker ever since, but he knew for sure that if he did the arts, his oratory skills would be greatly enhanced. So when they were called upon to choose, he went in for the arts subjects.

As expected, he passed both the GCE Ordinary and Advanced Levels in flying colours and proceeded to the then single University of Yaounde where he read Law. The French language that was an impediment to many English-speaking students of that university was not much of a problem to Joseph Njoya. And so after three years, he took a first degree with honours.

Thirsty for knowledge as he has always been, the young “licencié” went knocking on the doors of the newly-opened University of Dschang which readily admitted him for the post-graduate diploma (“Maîtrise”) program. A course he did successfully for one year.

Upon graduation, Njoya took professional exams, succeeded in them and actually went professional. But his thirst for academic knowledge was unquenchable; it is eternal, so to speak. That is why he enrolled for the “Diplôme d’Etudes Supérieures Spécialisées (D.E.S.S.) which the University of Evry Val d’Essone in France offers in partnership with the University of Dschang. That was in 2005. He obtained the diploma after defending a thesis on the topic “Widening Access to Justice: The Experiences of the Human Rights Clinic and Education (HURCLED) Centre – Bamenda, Cameroon. Those who were present at the event said Joe Njoya made an ex-cathedra presentation!

 

Awe-inspiring professional qualifications

In 2000, Njoya passed the aptitude test for sheriff-bailiffs in Cameroon and was appointed sheriff-bailiff before the North West court of appeal three years later. Even after succeeding in the said aptitude test, he was not satisfied. 1n 2001, he took the Bar examination of Cameroon – an exam that has remained a nightmare to many a young Cameroonian Law degree holder – and made it. He was then called to the Cameroon Bar.

But again, Joe Njoya was faced with a problem of choice. Should he continue working as a sheriff-bailiff or take up practice as a Barrister-at-Law? The man of sound judgment preferred the former and works in that capacity to this day.  

 

Enviable positions held as an experienced professional

It is common knowledge that not all professionals are given positions of responsibility at their work places. To be given it, you must not only be experienced but also highly efficient. These are characteristics that the sheriff-bailiff of great repute embodies. Reason why his collaborators have seen the need for him to hold different high-profile positions within the sheriff-bailiff corps in particular and the human rights circle as a whole.

These are: deputy executive secretary of the Human Rights Clinic and Education (HURCLED) Centre – Bamenda, Cameroon; human rights consultant for HURCLED Centre; vice president of the North West Association of Sheriff-Bailiffs; chairman of Cameroon Lawyers for Human Rights; as well as an OHADA certified trainer for the Regional School of Magistracy (ERSUMA) Benin for the period 2012 to 2014. If you do not call these feathers on Joe Njoya’s cap enviable, how else would you call it?

 

Admirable extra-academic knowledge

If this legal expert manifests such efficiency and proficiency, it is not only on account of the knowledge he acquired in school. The practical realities on the field and national and international seminars, symposiums and workshops have also helped to sharpen his savoir faire.

Some of them include: the “Séminaire en restitution en Droit OHADA” jointly organized by Cameroon’s ministry of justice and ERSUMA Porto Novo with the financial support of the European Union in Yaounde (from August 9 to 13 2004); the “Séminaire de vulgarisation du Droit OHADA” organized by the National Good Governance Project with the support of the African Development Bank (ADB) and Cameroon’s ministry of justice in Buea (from January 21 to 23 2009); a training workshop on the practice and ligitation under the simplified recovery procedures and enforcement measures organized by the Cameroon-European Union Cooperation (PAJ) Project in Kribi (from May 23 to 26, 2011); and a training of trainers session of ERSUMA – Porto Novo, Benin.    

 

Working actively for the betterment of his people

Being a human rights activist and a thoroughly outgoing and affable personality, Joe Njoya is tenacious of the opinion that having abundant knowledge and skills as he does without using them to better the lot of one’s kith and kin is of no use. To him, it is tantamount to depriving one’s brethren of their much-deserved human rights.

For this reason, he is working tooth and nail to improve on the well-being of the people of his native Ngarum village whose development association (the Ngarum Development Association) he is the legal adviser of. His financial and material support for development projects there such as the electrification of the village is enormous. Amongst the elite of Ngarum, Njoya, as a matter of fact, is one of the highest financial contributors when it comes to development projects.

What is indeed interesting about this legal luminary is that he does not choose those to whom he offers assistance. He might not be the wealthiest North Westerner, but whether you are from the same ethnic group as he or from elsewhere, he lavishes you with what he can provide to make you comfortable. Which is why non-natives of Donga Mantung hold him in very high esteem.

Njoya has also been very supportive to Prison Fellowship Cameroon, a non-governmental organization based in the North West region. Not only does he counsel prisoners, thereby making them less despondent than they were originally, he also provides them with gifts of various kinds to help alleviate their plight.

 

Testimony from an honest mind

In recognition of the selfless efforts the sheriff-bailiff makes to lift people from socio-economic quagmire, an indigene of Kumbo living in Bamenda enthused: “Ah, Mr. Journalist, I have always been looking for an opportunity like this to publicly express my gratitude to ‘Maître’ Joseph Njoya. I want to thank him immensely for his humanitarianism, his kind heartedness and his efforts to indiscriminately make people get the best out of life. I live in Bamenda but I am a native of Kumbo. I don’t see myself going to settle in Kumbo again because of all the advantages I enjoy here; thanks to a great extent to the largesse of ‘Maître’. He has touched my life and washed tears off my eyes. He is such a nice person whose heart bleeds when people around him suffer. If it were possible for some people to live forever, I would pray for such a thing to happen to ‘Maître’. Thank you indeed, elder brother.”        

 

Lovely and exemplary husband, father 

Even before he takes sunshine into the lives of others, Joe Njoya brings abundant joy into the collective heart of his loving and lovely family. He is a caring father and very devoted husband. The sound education of his family and the general welfare of his family are his utmost priority. And so whenever he has the means and opportunity, he does not hesitate to take his better half and children to trips abroad for sight-seeing and pleasant distraction. Things that only conscientious modern men do. What a husband and father!

B’da III council reaping more fruits from S. Korea

More fruits have continued to be reaped from the Bamenda III council’s twinning with the Korean city.

It is worth mentioning that in a bid to bring more development to Bamenda III council, the effervescent and forward-looking Mayor Fonguh Cletus arranged for a twinning agreement between his council and the Gwangju Metropolitan City council in Korea. This was the fruit of the endless research that he does on the internet, knowing fully well the importance of information and communication technologies (ICTs). For, it was through this medium that Mayor Fonguh Cletus learnt of the Gwangju conference on urban environmental accord which he later attended. That undoubtedly gave him the opportunity to sign the said partnership agreement.

Not long after the deal was concluded, precisely on July 17, 2012, a delegation of eleven South Koreans from the city of Suwong paid a visit to the Bamenda III council. To say the least, it was a come-and-see visit as 31 items of varied quantities, including drugs, clothing, footballs, books and bags as well as fiscal cash to the tune of 20 000 US dollars (approximately 10 million FCFA) were donated to the Bamenda III council.

While the Bamenda III inhabitants were still celebrating and thanking the High Heavens for Mayor Fonguh’s marvelous achievements, another group of South Koreans came visiting with the news that they would in the days ahead construct a goat ranch for the municipality.

The widely-saluted project, no doubt, will go a long way to boost the livestock of Bamenda III in particular and the entire North West region in general.

The South Korean city delegation that came with the good news was led by Park Si Young and Vernasius Tandia. They announced that the ranch would kick start with 30 goats.

Speaking while welcoming his benefactors, Mayor Fonguh said the ranch will produce milk, cheese, goats and will generate money that would help his council undertake projects in the health, development and the education sectors.

Meanwhile Mayor Fonguh has equally received the support and blessings of his councilors for initiating the Bamenda III Council Development Plan that when realized, will accelerate development in his municipality.