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Écrit par Thepostwebedition | Bamenda Vendredi, 02 Juillet 2010 13:47

The National Chairman of the leading opposition party in Cameroon, the Social Democratic Front, Ni John Fru Ndi, in the following interview, reacts to the visit of President Biya to Bamenda and reaffirms his invitation to Biya to have breakfast with him at his Ntarikon residence"So, I think Mr. Biya made that statement before reflecting, because, if I understand him very well. This is misleading because during the 1992 Presidential Election, I won Biya right in Quartier General, amongs his presidential guards who joined the rest of Cameroonians to vote Fru Ndi."

 

The Post: Bamenda is not a military base and the Head of State, President Biya, says he is visiting Bamenda for a military event; what is your take on that?

Fru Ndi : The unfortunate thing is that Cameroonians, or Northwesterners in particular, are trying to dramatise the visit; giving it several interpretations which makes it look different.  You will recall that Mr. Biya made it clear - except you will disagree with me - during the passing out parade of the military officers of EMIA in Yaounde that the next passing out celebration will be in Bamenda. From my investigations, I have been told that the two batches of military officers passed out at the same time. There were no other offices being trained for the passing out or graduation. 

So, I think Mr. Biya made that statement before reflecting, because, if I understand him very well, that is what he said, but now that there are no officers being trained, what passing out will he be presiding over in Bamenda? Anyway, that is not my problem.  Where I find fault is that some people have taken this visit to mean that Biya is coming to launch 2011 Presidential Election in Bamenda, so, is flexing his muscles with Fru Ndi.  This is misleading because during the 1992 Presidential Election, I won Biya right in Quartier General, amongs his presidential guards who joined the rest of Cameroonians to vote Fru Ndi.

But today, you have to vote and bring out SDF or Fru Ndi's ballot paper.  He could equally be coming to Bamenda to pass out the BIR which, to some school of thought, is an elite force above the gendarmes, soldiers, police and others.  Which ever way, Cameroonians are suffering. What Cameroonians are asking for is a body that will guarantee free, fair, transparent elections.
 

Do you still maintain your stand that you will offer him breakfast or dinner at Ntarikon or anywhere of his choice in Bamenda?

Yes. As a guest of the Bamenda people, I will give President Biya the best we can offer as I have done to other ministers and diplomats here and abroad, including some heads of states and prime ministers. Unless you tell me that his position of head of state and according to his protocol, he cannot visit a house of a citizen.  Let me tell you that I went to Mali and sat with the prime minister eating and the head of state of Mali came and sat near me and we ate on the same table.  I look onto leadership being simplified in a way that you can visit your own citizens.  If Biya accepts this invitation, he is welcome.
 

But protocol arrangements stipulate that you have to proper serve the cabinet with such an invitation, not verbal or on newspapers or radio, so that you are fitted on the programme.

I had long applied, in 2007 when I noticed the way things were going in this country, for Biya to sit and dialogue with me.  That application is still valid and if Biya is coming and would want us to meet - good -and he knows there is a pending application.  The invitation for the meal or breakfast has been documented and it was channeled through the appropriate quarters at the Presidency of the Republic.

 We see SDF-run councils and their mayors mobilising, doing one thing here and there to receive President Biya in Bamenda. What a sudden U turn?

Not to my knowledge; I am getting it from you, but will it be wrong for the mayor to organise the cleaning of the town - a thing I even initiated and  championed, clearing dirt from gutters in Bamenda, Douala, Bafoussam, Limbe and so on?  What is happening is that those involved in doing maintenance of roads are instead narrowing them in other places of the town. 

There are spots here that roads have been tarred and rain has washed the tar immediately and, tomorrow, they will claim that SDF militants burnt the streets in Bamenda. So if the mayors are working and cleaning the town, I congratulate them.  I am also disturbed that the issue of privatising water is unfortunate in Bamenda during this visit.

 What do you expect Biya to tell Bamenda people and Cameroonians in general?

The last time he was here, he said this was his second home and if it takes him 20 years to visit his second home and those who gave him the title fon of fons, he should know what to remove from that bag and give to Cameroonians. There is always nothing new in Biya's speeches. 

Even if he comes to tell you something new, that will be a promise that will take too long to be fruitful and, of course, you know that his electoral promises have been all false.  Recently, a group of people were seen dancing and congratulating him that he has given a Higher Ecole Normale ENS 2nd Cycle in Bambili, only for the very people to start regretting that the umbilical cord of that ENS 2nd Cycle is still attached to Yaounde and Bambili remains the annex.

Suppose Biya comes to tell Bamenda people that there is full fledged autonomous ENS or Bamenda people, this is your university; is that news?

The first high school of technology that had the best teachers and students graduating from there and had full scholarships abroad, was CCAST Bambili where it was earmarked as a state university. So, from the onset, it was a natural university given by God.  If he says I have given you a Ring Road, is that news; when he has build roads into bushes without making noise. 

Some of these roads where I have been you go for an hour before seeing somebody on a bicycle, not to talk of a vehicle.  So, he has seen Bamenda as people you come and deceive them with little cookies. It is our right to certain acts of governance. That is why the SDF has been proposing a federal system of governance where the budget is descentralised and given people to take care of their projects; not this fake decentralisation.

 

Source: Thepostwebedition.com