The 5th Session of the Committee for the Follow up and Evaluation of the Recommendations of the Major National Dialogue has come to an end. It had as focus, evaluating the steps and outcome of the Major National Dialogue (MND) of 2019.
The deliberations at the Buea Mountain Hotel on Friday, 11 August 2023 brought together stakeholders from the North West and South West Regions hard hit by a conflict running for 7 years now.
Chief Dr. Joseph Dion Ngute, Prime Minister, Head of Government, chair of the fifth session admitted a lot has happened since the Major National Dialogue. Yet the economic rejuvenation of the Anglophone regions is still a dream to achieve from continuous commitment of the stakeholders.
“A lot of water has gone under the bridge, a lot has been done. Economic recovery is afoot. However we are not yet there- there is still a lot of work to be done. And the participants of the meeting have made a number of very pertinent proposals, which we shall factor in our notes and present to the highest authority of the land, The President of the Republic, President Paul Biya, who we are certain is going to make the necessary measures to make sure that those proposals are put in place and that the recovery of the two regions becomes effective,” the MND spokesman explained.
The PM who was visibly satisfied at the end of the session commended stakeholders who have been putting in efforts and continue to “for example one of them is (pledge) going to re-do the stadium in Kumba and the stadium in Bamenda. You know these are very important things that we have seen today, we are very thankful to all those who have participated.”
The path to economic recovery cannot be painted without the creation of jobs. It is for this reason that the General Manager of the Cameroon Development Corporation, CDC which is the second highest employer after the Cameroon government called for government support financially to bounce back fully and in terms of security by planting military camps near CDC settlement areas.
“I am optimistic that it (military camps) will enhance our capacity to be more performant. In the recent past when we succeed to get our workers in the plantations, when they work during the day and come back to their residential areas, in the night they are attacked. With the presence of such installations, I think it will enhance security of our workers and plantations” Franklin Ngoni Njie explained.
“We are still far from a sustainable production. We need more money. We can think of galloping on our own when we have at least 30 billion working capital. Double what we have now, that is why we need the support of the state to achieve that” the General Manager of the CDC emphasized.
Giving a balance sheet, CDC GM noted that the turnover from produce sale struck bottom in 2019 with 3.3 billion FCFA francs down from 55 billion before the crisis. In 2020, it doubled to 8.3 billion FCFA, 2021 to 15.3 and remained same in 2022.
Just like the CDC, Palmoil is described by the General Manager, Mbile Tapea Solomon to be on paths of revival though the need for government support cannot be over emphasized. “We are leaning heavily on government efforts.” He stated.
Professor Fru Angwafo III who is the President of the North West House of Assembly saw the session as a opportunity to share and learn best practises amongst the two Regional Assemblies.
“From my experience, we say things are truly getting better given the understanding of the problems we have on the ground. The committee meeting was quite representative, geographical and territorially. For us in the North West we learned the best practises of the South West and hopefully the South West saw what we were doing.”
To note is that the major fallout of the MND was the granting of the special status to the North West and South West Regions. The Special Status makes the Regional Assemblies in the two English regions exclusively sub divided into the House of Divisional Representatives and the House of chiefs. The special status as well comprises the Public Independent Conciliation only in the Anglophone regions.
Now with its fifth session, the follow up committee must take tangible actions and continue the process of dialogue for a return of peace and normalcy in the conflict struck regions says the head of the Ecclesiastical Province of Bamenda, Archbishop Andrew Nkea.