Beti director says Anglophone collaborators are incompetent!
By Sylvanus Ezieh Acha’ana and Mbom Sixtus in Yaounde
Charles Atangana Manda: Beti director |
“My Anglophone collaborators
do not deliver, they come late to work, they do not respect hierarchy... how
then do you expect me to give them the same amount of money I recommended for
the Francophone colleagues?’’.
Such was the spirited defence that was put up
by the director of media observatory and public opinion at the ministry of
communication, MINCOM, Charles Atangana Manda when these reporters confronted
him over allegations of Anglophone marginalisation in his service.
Manda is being accused of not
only showing open hatred for Anglophones working in his service but has pushed
the hatred further by caging them in an obscure room.
According to one of the
Anglophone victims, their present office which hosts circa six of them has only
two tables, one of which has a broken leg. “You need to see the office and
compare it with that being used by our Francophone colleagues and you’ll mourn
for us.”
The media observatory
director, The Guardian Post learnt, had opted to separate Francophones from
their Anglophone collaborators on grounds that the latter could contaminate the
former with bad character.
The director’s phobia for his
Anglophone collaborators however hit watermark when instead of 200.000 FCFA
that he disbursed to each Francophone staff as fringe benefits for 2014,
Anglophones were each given a meagre 30.000FCFA for the same purpose.
“We don’t feel Cameroonian in
this office. The situation is above us and I don’t know who will rescue us.
This director gives the impression that no one can torpedo any of his
decisions…Does it mean that we have ceased from being identified as
Cameroonians? Somebody somewhere should hear us and do something before it is
late.” Such were the lamentations of one of the victims who refused to be
named.
Meantime, screams of
oppression and discrimination have been characterising the daily mood of the
victimised MINCOM staff since the director undertook the “house cleaning
exercise.”
In the meantime, Manda’s
victims have reportedly written a strongly-worded complaint against him to the
minister, Issa Tchiroma Bakary whose reaction they say is still being awaited.
Atangana Manda reacts
Meanwhile when these reporters
met Manda in his office to react to the allegations against him, he told us
bluntly that the Anglophone staff of his service were incompetent and so did
not merit the same amount of benefits like their Francophone peers who were
more competent.
To Manda, the Anglophone
collaborators are merely serving the antics of some senior officials of the
ministry of communication who are manipulating them to soil the “giant image”
he has taken time to build for himself. He claimed that all the allegations
against him were as a result of the political figments of some individuals who
are not comfortable with his rise in the administration.
“I am a trained and competent
professional. I have criss-crossed several administrative departments in this
country. I have never exercised any sign of xenophobia against my Anglophone
brothers throughout my service. Those complaining are simply being manipulated
by some officials in this ministry...,” he sustained.
Asked if he actually sieved
Anglophones from Francophones in his service, Manda reluctantly accepted, but
argued that the reason was to ease administration. “I decided that since my
service has to do with observing the media, it would be better to have
Anglophones in a different unit from that of Francophones so that they will
concentrate only on English language newspapers’’.
About the nature of the two
offices, Manda refused to comment. He said: “they have been asked to come back
to the main hall if they wish.”
Quizzed on why he decided to
award 30.000FCFA each to Anglophones as fringe benefits as opposed to the
200.000FCFA which he disbursed to Francophones, the director said such benefits
are given based on staff delivery. “I did not disburse the money; my role is
simply to recommend who should benefit and who should not. I merely recommended
the amounts based on their delivery,” Manda argued.
Asked if he meant that all the
Anglophones in his service were incompetent and so did not merit the amount and
vice versa, Manda’s response was positive.
Question: “Do you mean to say
that all Anglophones in your service are incompetent while all the Francophones
are competent?”
Answer: “Yes”.
The Beti director however
mooted that he sees everybody as Cameroonians and that he hates when people
begin to differentiate between Anglophone and Francophone Cameroonians. “I am a
patriotic Cameroonian and will always see all of us as Cameroonians.”
Tchiroma confirms allegations
The minister of communication,
Issa Tchiroma Bakary has meanwhile confirmed the allegations against his
director. “Your allegations are all founded. I have been informed of the matter
by the aggrieved collaborators,” Tchiroma told The Guardian Post in a telephone
conversation yesterday.
The minister who said he was
on leave promised to take immediate action as he gets back to work by month
end. “I have received a complaint on this matter. I will examine it and take
action immediately my leave is over. I was very embarrassed when I heard of it.
Be rest assured of my reaction,” Tchiroma promised.
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