Joe Dinga Pefok (Uncle Joe)
The Deputy CPDM Scribe And Member of Gov’t, Gregoire Owona, Declared On October 6, 2019, That Following The MND Which Held From Sept. 30 – October 4, 2019, He Expected For Example That There Would From Monday, October 7, 2019, No Longer Be Ghost Town On Mondays In NW/SW Regions (Anglophone Regions). Why Observers Did Not See Realism In This Expectation.
Speaking in the weekly programme, ‘Canal Presse’ over Canal 2 International on In Yaounde on Sunday, October 6, 2019, that is, two days after the end of what the Government termed, ‘Major National Dialogue’, MND, the Deputy Secretary General of the ruling CPDM, Gregoire Owona, who is also Minister of Labour and Social Security, said he expected the boys (separatists fighters or Amba boys)in the bushes and forests, to immediately drop their guns, and leave the bushes and forests, and that there would be no more ghost town on Mondays in the Northwest and Southwest Regions , as from the next day (Monday, October 7, 2019.
This is definitely the biggest wish of The Mentor, that is, the end of the armed conflict that has been causing havoc on the two Anglophone Regions (Northwest and Southwest) since late 2017, with thousands of deaths especially civilians, hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs), tens of thousands of persons in refugee camps in neighbouring Nigeria, untold amount of destruction of property, and so on.
Major National Dialogue Was Not Inclusive
But the question, that The Mentor asked then, was what had happened that Minister Gregoire Owona expected the unresolved armed conflict to suddenly end. For one thing, what the CPDM regime termed a Major National Dialogue to end the Anglophone Crisis, was everything but inclusive. How could one side in an armed conflict hold a meeting in the absence of the other party, and expects the other party to abide by the resolutions adopted at that non – inclusive meeting! Of course the expectations of Minister Gregoire Owona were simply unrealistic. And that was why contrary to the Minister’s Gregoire Owona’s immediate expectations after the “Major National Dialogue”, the armed conflict between Government troops and separatist fighters in the two Anglophone Regions, unfortunately continued unabated. Now many armed gangs or criminal gangs (armed robbers, assassins, rapids, kidnappers for ransoms), have come in, all passing for Amba boys or separatist fighters , especially in Bamenda.
Federation As Form Of State
Meanwhile, on the issue of federalism or federation which is what a majority of Anglophones certainly want as form of Government, Minister Gregoire Owona said it was the SDF that was demanding for a federation as the system of Government. He admitted that the Cameroon Constitution does not prohibit federal ism as system of Government, or federation as the form of State. However the Deputy Secretary General of the ruling CPDM, said it was the CPDM that was in power, and that the CPDM is for decentralization. He said the SDF should wait until the day that the party will come to power, to institute federalism or federation.
Dreams From MND
Worthy of note that senior journalist, George Ewane, who was very active at the ‘Major National Dialogue’ (MND), was also present at the panel discussion over Canal 2 International on that October 6, 2019, and of course sounded very positive about the outcome of the MND. Ewane who hails from Tombel Sub – division in Kupe Muanenguba Division, already saw many big development projects lined up by the Government for the Northwest and Southwest Regions, with particular emphasis on the construction of the Loum – Kumba road.
Ewane’s emphasis could be understood, given that the Loum – Kumba, which in reality is an important road in the country, also links Ewane’s Tombel Sub division with Southwest chief economic town, Kumba. Just that up till today, even the construction of the Melong – Bangem road, which has been announced a couple of times, remains an unfulfilled promise by the regime. Till date, there is even no talk about the Loum – Kumba road, despite its importance. Nobody even knows what is happening with the Kumba – Ekondo Titi road that started some years ago, and was supposed to have long finished. Worthy of note, that Prime Minister Chief Dr Joseph Dion Ngute is from Ekondo Titi.
