Veteran Journalist And Management Expert, NCHECHUMA PIUS BANLA, Bounces Back Through Another Big Appointment At Douala Port

Barely One Month And Five Days Into Retirement, NCHECHUMA BANLA,  Who Last Served As Director of Human Resources At The  Port Authority of Douala ( PAD), Was On December 23, 2025 Appointed  By  The Board of Directors  Of PAD,  As Director Delegate Of The Dredging Management Unit,  One of The Corporation’s Subsidiary Companies.  NCHECHUMA BANLA Is Also A Member Of The Northwest General Assembly.

Barely one month and five days into his retirement, Veteran Journalist and Management Expert, NCHECHUMA Pius BANLA, who last served as Director of Human Resources at the Port Authority of Douala, PAD, where he worked for 15 years after moving to the Corporation from CRTV, on December 23, 2025 bounced back to PAD with another big appointment at the Douala Port, which is officially known as Douala – Bonaberi Port.  NCHECHUMA was appointed by the Board of Directors  of PAD , during the Board‘s  meeting which held on that blessed day of December 23, 2025, as Director Delegate  of the Dredging Management Unit, which is one of the Corporation’s subsidiary companies in charge of dredging. It should be noted that it is the Port Authority of Douala that manages the entire Douala – Bonaberi Port, which is owned by the State of Cameroon.

Appointments Of Senior Officials Of PAD

Meanwhile, the Board of Directors  of PAD, at the December 23, 2025 Board Meeting  which was presided over by the Board Chair, SHEY Jones YEMBE, made  several  appointments to  top  posts in the Corporation and its subsidiary companies.   The crucial meeting of the Board of Directors of PAD, appointed the seven Technical Advisers in the Corporation, Five Heads of Divisions, Directors, Deputy Directors, and the Representatives of PAD in the nation’s capital, Yaounde , as well as  in Chad and the Central Africa Republic. Worthy of note, that neighbouring Chad, and Central Africa Republic, are landlocked countries, and have over the years depended mainly on the Douala Port for their export and import trade by sea.

Also worthy of note that  one of the appointments that was made by the Board of Directors  of PAD  on December 23, 2025, was the Deputy Director Delegate of the Limbe Port in the Southwest Region. Talking about Deputy Director Delegate, one was also appointed to assist the new Director Delegate of the Dredging Management Unit   at the Douala – Bonaberi Port.

 Meanwhile, the newly appointed senior officials at the Port Authority of Douala and its subsidiaries, who included NCHECHUMA BANLA, were officially installed to their functions at a ceremony which held at the PAD Club in Bonanjo, , Douala,  on December 26, 2025. The installation ceremony was chaired by the Deputy General Manager of PAD, Charles MICHAUX NJOH, who deputized for the General Manager of the Corporation,, CYRUS  NGO’O, unavoidable absent.

 Regular Dredging Of The Waterway From Douala Port To The Atlantic Ocean

As regard the Dredging Management Unit, which as aforementioned is one of PAD’s subsidiary companies, it is in fact one of the life wires of the Douala Port, as it is in charge of regularly dredging the port as well as the 50 km long waterway from the Douala Port, to the Atlantic Ocean.  It should be noted that the Douala – Bonaberi Port which for many years was the only major port in Cameroon, is a river port.  The Douala Port lies 50 km away from the sea, precisely the Atlantic Ocean, and the port is linked to the sea by a big river, Wouri, that empties itself into the sea.  For ships to be able to get to the Douala Port, at all times, there has to be regular dredging of the waterway, especially the first 25 km s from the port towards the sea.  If not, the sand and mud below the water, which are constantly building up, would soon block the waterway for  ships, especially big ships, from getting to the Douala Port, with all the consequences.

Creation Of Dredging Management Unit  

Meanwhile, the Dredging Management Unit was created by the current General Manager of PAD, Cyrus NGO’O, with the strong backing of the Board of Directors, ,some five years ago. The Government validated it.  It would be recalled that for many years, the big contract for the dredging of the 50 km waterway from the Port of Douala to the Atlantic Ocean, was in the hands of the French Group, BOLLORE Africa Logistics that, was draining PAD of billions of francs CFA each year for the dredging operation. The current General Manager of PAD, Cyrus NGO’O, upon taking office after his appointment, was really worried over the huge sums of money that PAD was paying annually to Bollore for the dredging operation. The General Manager also saw the dredging operation in the 50 km waterway that links the Atlantic Ocean to the Douala Port, as a matter of national sovereignty and national security.

NCHECHUMA BANLA, The New Director Delegate Of The Dredging Management Unit

Meanwhile,  NCHECHUMA BANLA, the new Director Delegate of the Dredging Management Unit;  one of the subsidiary companies of PAD,  did his secondary education at St Augustine College Nso, in Bui Division, then moved to  Government High School Mbengwi  in Momo Division, and from there to the Yaounde University in  the nation’s capital. He later also studied at the Catholic University (St Jerome) in Douala. This was when he was working at the Communication Department of PAD.  He has also done a number of diploma courses.

NCHECHUMA BANLA is holder of:   1) MBA.  2) Masters in Human Resources Management.   3) Diplomat in Modern Port Management from Galilee International Institute, Israel.   4) UNCTAD Certified Trainer in Modern Port Management in French and English. 5) Diploma in Project Management from RESIPTOR Cabinet Yaounde (owned by BABISAKANA).

From CRTV To PAD / From Director Of Communication To Director Of   Human Resources     

NCHECHUMA BANLA, who was a staff of the Cameroon Radio Television, CRTV, left the Corporation some 15 years ago, for the Port Authority of Douala (PAD), precisely to the Communication Department of the Corporation.  In 2015, NCHECHUMA was appointed Director of Communication and Cooperation at PAD.   In 2017, NCHECHUMA was appointed Head of Division for Communication and Public Relations at PAD.  Then in 2020, NCHECHUMA BANLA was appointed Director of Human Resources at PAD.  He held that post until he went on retirement in November 2025.

It should be noted that the Director of Human Resources is a very challenging job in a big corporation like PAD, with thousands of workers. Through hard work self -disciplined, promotion of team spirit, promotion of innovative spirit, loyalty to hierarchy, moral rectitude, high sense of understanding, but zero tolerance to indiscipline, laxity, and any act that was against the interest of PAD, NCHECHUMA within a few years succeeded to turn things around, and raised the Department of Human Resources to the level where top management had for a number of years set as target, for that Department to attain.

Appreciation By Top Management And Board Of Administration

The top management and Board of Director of PAD did not fail to appreciate the good work that NCHECHUMA BANLA did for the Corporation, when he served as Director of Communication and Cooperation, Head of Division for Communication and Public Relations, and Director of Human Resources.  It was thus not for nothing that when NCHECHUMA went on retirement last November, he was  barely one month and five days later, appointed to head  the Dredging Management  unit, a relatively new  and very important company which is a subsidiary of PAD., and thus a big challenge to any Director.

Worthy of note, that NCHECHUMA BANLA stole the show at the installation ceremony of senior officials of PAD and its subsidiaries in Douala on December 26, 2025. He received the biggest and longest applause from workers of PAD, when his name was read out as one of the newly appointed senior officials of the Corporation.  The MC of the ceremony could not fail to make a remark about the standing ovation that PAD workers gave NCHECHUMA.   It was a glaring indication that the workers of PAD also greatly appreciated the work NCHECHUMA did in the Corporation for 15 years, as well as appreciated his return. The Board of Directors and top management of PAD were definitely happy with the very positive reaction that the workers of PAD manifested to the return of NCHECHUMA BANLA, as it showed that they did the right thing to bring him back after he took his retirement.

Member Of The Northwest Regional Assembly  

Worthy of note, that NCHECHUMA Pius BANLA, who hails from Babessi in Ngohketunjia Division in the Northwest Region of Cameroon, is a member of the Northwest General Assembly. In fact, NCHECHUMA was amongst the Pioneer Members   of the Northwest General Assembly, who were voted into the Assembly at the first Regional Council election that took place in December 2020. He was re-elected for a second mandate at the second Regional Council Election which held on November 30, 2025. At the Northwest Regional Assembly, NCHECHUMA BANLA, is the President of the Committee in charge of Environment, Regional Development, State Property, Town Planning and Housing.   Worthy of note as well that NCHECHUMA BANLA is a notable in his village, Bebessi.