B’da Gov’t Delegate at Loggerheads with Senior Councillors


The Government Delegate to the Bamenda City Council, Mr. Ndumu Vincent Nji and the SDF Senior Councillors are at loggerheads over the removal of containers from the Bamenda City. According to a press release signed by 18 SDF Councillors of the Bamenda City Council, the Councillors claim that the CPDM Government Delegate has killed Bamenda town. The release postulates that the removal of containers to keep Bamenda clean has instead made the town uglier than when the containers were there.

The SDF Councillors had told the Delegate that before removing the containers there should be markets and buildings to accommodate the container people. They proposed that total banning of containers be extended to 2012. The removal of containers according to the release, shall lead to suffering, hunger, poverty and insecurity. “Feymen” have taken advantage of the situation deceiving people about possibilities of getting back their containers despite the Government Delegate’s assertion that containers must go.

Neighbouring councils like Tubah and Bafut have suddenly become reservoir centers for the containers dislodged from Bamenda City. The mayors of those neighbouring Councils like Mayor Sofa Stanislaus of Tubah Council are no longer at ease with the proliferation of such containers in their municipalities. The famous song in Bamenda now is that containers must go. The question is where those containers would go to when even neighbouring councils are not at ease with their penetrations.

Most people viewed the Government Delegate’s removal of containers without alternatives as un-procedural and a clear indication of political decision without consideration of economic advice and thus negative consequences.
People who have nothing to do with containers said that if the Delegate had established a systematic procedure for removal of containers like beginning from Commercial Avenue, the situation could have been different.  

The famous press release called on the population to stand up against “abuse of power by the CPDM Government Delegate.” Critics mention that the Delegate’s  move to purge the city of containers which is backed by the administration is related to the preparations against of H.E President Paul Biya’s announced 2010 visit to North West.

By George Chifu