Chief Dr Joseph Dion Ngute addressing members of the follow-up committee
Members of the steering committee to follow-up the implementation of the recommendations of the Major National Dialogue have presented a possible balance sheet of their activities and mapped out strategies to better concretise their actions on the ground to ensure complete return to normalcy in the two restive North West and South West regions.
The balance sheet of the road covered so far was presented during their 4th follow-up committee meeting Thursday August 4, 2022, at the auditorium of the Prime Minister’s Office.
Opening the session, the Chairman of the follow-up committee, Chief Dr Joseph Dion Ngute, hailed the contributions of all the members in translating the recommendations into palpable actions on the ground.
Dion Ngute said the “history-making and epoch-marking” Major National Dialogue gave “Cameroonians from every strata the opportunity to rethink, re-imagine and reinvent a new, better and peaceful country” and has contributed enormously in “bringing down violence in the two regions and accelerated the decentralisation process, revived socio-economic activities among others.
He said their first three meetings gave them the opportunity to further engage relevant stakeholders and to invite them to continue serving as grassroots peace ambassadors by explaining to the population to content of the Special Status accorded the two regions, the scope of the decentralization, the importance of tolerance and community fellowship in the country’s multi-cultural society.
Dion Ngute said their previous deliberations focused on reiterating the call of the Head of State to “misguided” persons to drop their arms and join the DDR Centres in the regions as well take stock of strides recorded through the execution of the presidential plan for the reconstruction and development of the two regions with the selection of 23 councils to pilot the inaugural phase of the plant contingent on the availability of resources.
Counts successes recorded three years on
He said the successes recorded are contributed to irreversible reforms towards effective decentralization and devolution of powers with the drafting and signing about 90 decrees for local authorities, repentant combatants benefiting from the DDR centres, the reconstruction plan causing communities to start reviving their local economies.
“Through the Presidential Plan for the Reconstruction and Development of the North West and South West regions, our communities have started reviving their local fabric, destroyed basic infrastructure is beginning to be rehabilitated,” the PM said.
He added that the bilingualism commission has as well championed the fight against hate speech, xenophobia while the brave defence and security forces are continuing to protect the population and their property. The PM said there are an avalanche of perceptible indicators of steady improvement of socioeconomic life in the two regions.
“In 2017, in the North West region, we had 220,000 school enrollment. This dropped radically to 24,000 in 2019 but in 2022, this enrolment tripled to around 70,000. This is remarkable steady improvement. The case is similar in the South West region where before the crisis, the figures stood at 185,000. At the height of the crisis, it went down to 123,000 and today I am happy to report that the figures stand at more than 91, 000,” Dion Ngute revealed.
The follow-up committee chair added that the just ended academic year has been quite possible with the opening of many schools that had shut down in most towns and suburbs. He also added that the GCE exams were written in the two regions without any hitch. Cultural, he said life has picked up in many areas with mammoth crowd witnessing the enthronement of the Fon of Mankon, Paramount Chiefs of Buea and Limbe, the recent holding of the South West Chiefs Conference.
He said on the social domain, marriages are being celebrated in towns it couldn’t hitherto take place, people keeping late night and military and population drinking side-by-side in bars. Dion Ngute said farm produce from the North West are hitting the markets in Yaounde which indicates more farmers are back to their farms while agricultural activities, are also picking up, with Cameroon Development Corporation, CDC, Pamol among others having returned to production.
He added that road construction projects that were put on hold due to insecurity like the Bamenda-Babadjou road, Kumba-Ekonto-Titi road have all started despite pockets of resistance still noticed in parts of the two regions. Dion Ngute used the opportunity to call on the population of the North West and South West regions to embrace government’s peace and development initiatives and contribute to return to normalcy.
Key actions of Major National Dialogue
Dion Ngute used the opening to harp on some of the key actions of the Major National Dialogue which he cited the promulgation into law of the law on decentralistion which gave the two Anglophone regions a Special Status, the putting in place of Regional Assemblies, Public Independent Conciliators who are already working.
“Through this process, government recognised the willingness of the people of the North West and South West to play an enhanced role in the formulation of national public policies, their education system, common law system, the management of public services in their regions and the status of their traditional chiefdoms,” the Prime Minister stated.
He added that the Special Status provides a viable legal and administration framework and further generates a template for government action and international partner involvement and enables locally elected officials initiate and fast-track and promote community-driven development projects. Dion Ngute also noted the creation of the Presidential Plan for the Reconstruction and Development of the North West and South West regions to address the immediate needs of the population, restore social cohesion, reconstruct basic infrastructures and revitalize the economy.
He noted that amendments in government procedures continue to be made with the institution of the law on bilingualism with sensitisation of public officials on the implementation the two official languages, fighting against intolerance, hate speech and xenophobia on the social media. He also cited the creation of the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration, DDR, centres as a “coordinated political strategy and an integrated approach to peace-building consensus and democratic practice” with amnesty granted to those who drop their weapons as well as provided incentives for the reintegration of ex-combatants into mainstream society.
Dion Ngute said internally displaced persons, refugees, vulnerable groups both in and out of the country continue to be given action by government through such actions. Speaking to reporters at the end of the session, scores of the committee members both from within and the diaspora, hailed the efforts been made and pledged more will be done to bring back normalcy to the North West and South West regions.
By Doh Bertrand Nua
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