Special Programme For The Reconstruction And Development Of Far North Region To Cost Over 1000 Billion FCFA

Special Programme For The Reconstruction And Development Of Far North Region To Cost Over 1000 Billion FCFA

Government seems to be getting ready to launch the start of the special reconstruction and development programme

The Far North Regional Council drew up its own plan for the development of the region, with cost put at 700 billion FCFA

The Far North Region was hard hit by the terrorist group, Boko Haram, which initially had some internal collaborators

Elite of Far North Region in top Gov’t posts, failed to contribute to the development of their region

PSRDREN carried out sensitisation campaign in all six Divisions of the Far North last September

There are indications that the Cameroon Government is getting set to effectively launch the start of the programme to reconstruct and develop the war-torn Far North Region, known as ‘Programme Speciale de Reconstruction et de de Developpement de la Region de l’Extreme –Nord’, PSRDREN. That is, the Special Programme for the Reconstruction and Development of the Far North Region. Worth noting that the National Coordinator of PSRDREN is Alhadji Magra Massarou, and the Government Ministry in charge of the Programme is the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development headed by Alamine Ousmane Mey, who hails from the neighbouiring North Region.
The Biya Government adopted the special prorgamme to reconstruct and develop the Far North Region, following the devastation caused to the region by the Islamic sect, Boko Haram, which invaded the region from its base in neighbouring Nigeria in 2014, sparking a war with Cameroon. Worth noting, that Cameroon benefitted from international support in various forms, to fight the terrorist group. Boko Haram burnt down villages as well as killed and adducted many Cameroonians in the Far North Region. Cameroon troops, supported by Chadian troops, finally overpowered the terrorist group, killing many of their members and forcing others to flee back to their base in the forest in neighbouring Nigeria.
However there are reports that elements of Boko Haram occasionally succeed to sneak in Cameroon, precisely into some villages in the Far North Region closed to the border between Cameroon and Nigeria. This time around, they try to mostly carryout adductions. They take the people they succeed to kidnap to their base in the forest across the border. However life has been gradually returning to normal in many areas in the Far North Region. And that is why the Government is now preparing to launch the Special Programme for the Reconstruction and Development of the Far North Region, which will likely start with the Recovery Phase.

Sensitization Tour By PSRDREN

One of the indications, that he Biya Government may be close to kick-start the Special Programme for the Reconstruction and Development of the Far North Region, was a sensitization tour to all the six Divisions of the Far North Region by a delegation of PSRDREN and local administrative authorities, that ran from September 11 – 28, 2023. During the tour, the local populations of the six Divisions were sensitized on what the Special Programme for the Reconstruction and Development of the Far North Region is all about, as well as the perspectives and challenges of PSRDREN. Local development actors or promoters were also sensitized on the role they will be expected to play in the implementation of the huge and ambitious project, the PSRDREN.

Cost For The Implementation Of PSRDREN

One of the things that remain unclear about PSRDREN is the estimated cost that the Cameroon Government has fixed for the implementation of the Special Programme for the Reconstruction and Development of the Far North Region. Last year, the Minister Delegate at the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Paul Njukang Tasong, who accompanied the Minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze, to the nation’s economic capital, Douala, to launch an operation for the sale of public bonds, hinted that the cost of the Special Programme for the Reconstruction and Development of the Far North Region, was about 500 billion FCFA (Five hundred billion francs CFA). Actually he wasn’t quite certain of that figure. Apparently the amount by then had not yet been fixed.
However by the end of that year (2022), the President of the Far North Regional Assembly, Kalbassou Daniel, on his part disclosed in a special Tv programme that the budget fixed by Government for the implementation of the Special Programme for the Reconstruction and Development of the Far North Region, was 1,100 billion FCFA (One thousand, one hundred billion francs CFA).
Then in September 2023, there were some reports that the cost for the implementation of the Special Progamme for the Reconstruction and Development of the Far North Region that was on the table of the Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Alamine Ousmane Mey, had seen an increase. So as things stands now, THE MENTOR is not certain on the exact amount of money that the Biya Government has adopted as total cost for the effective implementation of the PSRDREN. But from all indications, the amount is over 1000 billion FCFA (One thousand billion francs CFA).

Sources Of Funds Unknown

Meanwhile besides the State coffer, the Government has so far not also said anything as regard the source or sources of the huge amount of money needed for the execution of the programme to reconstruct and develop the Far North Region. However when it comes to a region like the Far North which is predominantly a Moslem community, there is the possibility of huge financial support coming from some rich and friendly Moslem countries especially in the Gulf like Saudi Arabia. There is also the possibility of the Government obtaining some big loans from financial institutions like the Islamic Development Bank.

Regional Council Adopts Development Budget

Meanwhile in the aforementioned special TV programme at the end of 2022 in which the President of the Far North Regional Council, Kalbassou Daniel, was a guest, he disclosed that the Council in 2022, drew up its own plan for the development of the region, with the total cost fixed at 700 billion francs CFA. He was quick to add that in drawing up the plan, members of the Far North Regional Council were quite conscious of the fact that the Council could never raise such amount of funds. He explained that the Council did the plan to help assist the Government to identify or to take note of real important projects for the development of the region. Worth noting that Government’s special programme is for the reconstruction and development of the North Region, while the plan that was drawn up by the Far North Regional Council was limited to the development of the region.
Kalboussou explained that the Far North Regional Council would from the list of projects be picking out those that the Council could execute or implement with its little means, while hoping that the Government would include the major projects in its Special Programme for the Reconstruction and Development of the Far North Region. He disclosed for example that one of the very important projects for the people or population of the Far North Region, which needs to be properly rehabilitated is the State owned SEMRY, as rice cultivation is one of the major economic activities of many people in the region.

Importance Of SEMRY To The Far North Region

The good old days of SEMRY In Mayo Danay Division in the Far North Region, was like the good old days of UNVDA in Ngohketungia Division in the Northwest Region. SEMRY used to supply rice farmers in the Far North with modern seeds, assist the farmers with machines to cultivate the rice farms, provide tractors to transport the rice from rice fields, and so on. The farmers too used to supply all the rice meant for sale to SEMRY, which in turn paid them according to the fixed prices.
The President of the Far North Regional Council, Kalbassou Daniel, who recalled with nostalgia his childhood days with his parents in the rice field, said without the rice field and SEMRY, he would not have gone to school. He painfully noted that the situation of the State owned SEMRY which is today a shadow of itself apparently due to lack of funds, has been seriously affecting the lives of so many people in the Far North Region, plunging many into poverty and misery.
Today rice farmers in the Far North Region complain of lack of high quality seeds, lack of machines, poor or bad roads, old and outdated tractors, and so on. Rice production and quality had thus since dropped. So any programme for the reconstruction and development of the Far North Region that does not include the proper rehabilitation of SEMRY, will indisputable be an incomplete job.
Meanwhile it would be recalled that in April 2023, a World Bank delegation traveled to the Headquarters of SEMRY in Yagoua. The World Bank was said to have adopted a project to help rice farmers in the Far North Region, apparently by helping to rehabilitate SEMRY. But so far nothing has been heard again.

Why Some Cameroonians Joined Boko Haram

Meanwhile, it should be noted that when Boko Haram invaded the Far North Region, the Cameroon security forces soon discovered that there were internal collaborators. That is, there were some Cameroonians of the Far North Region that were working with the terrorists from neighbouring Nigeria in different aspects. Some were suppliers, some were informants or spies, and some youths actually joined the terrorist group as fighters. The internal collaborators reportedly facilitated the invasion of the Far North Region by Boko Haram.
The suppliers were a few unscrupu0lous or unpatriotic businessmen, out to make money at all cost. Following an investigation by the Cameroon security services that worked with the collaboration of the local population, these businessmen were identified and arrested. Perhaps the Government’s biggest concern was with those youths of the Far North Region that joined Boko Haram to either serve as informants or fighters.
Along the line the Government created the National Committee for Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration, NCDDR, commonly known as DDR. A DDR Center was created in Maroua for the Cameroonians that had joined Boko Haram, and were willing to withdraw from the terrorist group. There are quite a number of Cameroonians at that DDR Center in Maroua, though there are some media reports that some of them have abandoned the DDR Center and gone back to the community. Perhaps they were not been well treated at the center.

Underdevelopment, Unemployment, Poverty

When the Government and partners, as well as some Non – Governmental Organisations (NGOs) carried out findings as to what could have made some Cameroonian youths of the Far North Region to join Boko Haram, the results of the findings were mostly the same – Underdevelopment, Illiteracy, Unemployment, and Poverty.
The fact of the matter was that most parts of the Far North Region, especially the rural areas, had over the years remained very underdeveloped. Quite a number of children were not going to school, that is primary school, and so they could neither read nor write in any of the two official languages, in the 21st century. There were cases of villages without school infrastructures. Worth noting that there have in fact been times we seen some videos from the Far North Region on the social media, that show children studying under trees because there are no classrooms. That type of situation certainly also help to discourage some children from going to school. As a result of the underdevelopment and the fact that many children don’t go to school for one reason or the other, the illiteracy rate, youth unemployment rate, poverty and misery rate, all remain high in many areas in the Far North Region.

Failure By Elite Of The Far North Region

It would be recalled that after the assessment of the situation by Government and partners as well as by NGOs, elite of the Far North Region met at a crucial meeting in Maroua, to examined the accusation that they had not been contributing much to the development of their region, and that they were partly to blame for the underdevelopment of their region, poverty and misery, which pushed some youths to join Boko Haram that came with bags of money.
There was a lot of frank talk between elite of the region at the meeting that generated quite some tension. Elite, especially those in top Government positions, were accused to have led down the region, by not using their positions to help in the development the region, especially the rural areas. A situation that led to poverty and misery in many rural areas, and pushed some youths to join Boko Haram that offered them money.
Some people also accused the Government of neglecting the Far North Region when it comes to development. Not surprising, the most highly placed elite of the Far North Region, Cavaye Yeguie Djibril, who is the long serving President of the National Assembly, disagreed with those that blamed the Government for neglecting the Far North Region. He noted that one of the problems confronting the Far North Region as was repeatedly brought up at meeting, was the fact that the region was said have the highest illiteracy rate in the country. That many primary schools in the rural areas existed only in names, with no classrooms and benches. Cavaye questioned how the Government could be blamed for the situation in which the Far North Region found itself, when a daughter of the region was Minister of Basic Education for as many as 10 years.
That was a direct hit at Youssouf nee Adiidja Alim, who was appointed Minister of Basic Education on June 30, 2009, and was in office till January 4, 2019. She was at the meeting of elite of the Far North Region, and received Cavaye’s direct hit.

Biya’s Far North Region

Meanwhile, the Far North Region said to be the most highly populated region in the country, and which was created by President Biya, is often referred to as the Head of State’s second home, especially during presidential elections, as that is where he draws his highest number of votes. Well, this is for those people who think or assume that the statistics of election results given by Elections Cameroon, ELECAM, are credible.
It should however be noted that at presidential elections, all the major political parties of the Grand North like the National Union for Democracy and Progress headed by Bouba Bello Maigari, vote for Biya. This is done in respect of either the alliances that the different parties have with the ruling CPDM, or is based on the understanding they have with President Biya.
It would be recalled that during the last presidential election which was in 2018, the incumbent, President Biya, visited only the Far North Region for campaigns. This is why speculations are rifts, that the implementation of the Special Plan for the Reconstruction and Development of the Far North Region will be launched next year, because of the 2025 Presidential Election. Many people think that President Biya, who will be 92 years old in 2025, will at last take his retirement. But they think that if he does so as many people pray, he will however still have his own candidate at the presidential election, whom he would like to be his successor. And so Biya will still have to count on the votes of the Far North Region.