Noni and Oku cement ties

The people of Noni and Oku living in Nkambe have been entreated to remain law abiding, brotherly and each others’ keeper, more so, to remain together like one man’s children. The call was simultaneously made by the Presidents of the Noni and Oku communities in Nkambe recently during the New Year celebration organised by the Noni community in Nkambe at their usual meeting venue.

Addressing those present, the Vice President of Nshii Noni Nkambe, Mr. Wamey Pancrasuis Nyonufon said, the essence of the celebration was to thank God collectively and individually through sharing, for the good things He had been doing to them. He cited that for all of them to have met the New Year and in good health were enough to thank God. He said the most essential way to thank God was coming together and sharing in food and drinks like one man’s children. He appreciated them for last year’s activities and wished that this year should be more vibrant in manifesting brotherly love and their culture.

Mr. Wamey took time to praise the constituted Delegation of the Oku people in Nkambe for heeding to their invitation. Although he regretted the absence of the Nso people in Nkambe they invited, he sounded that the Noni, Oku and Nso people were historically, administratively, and culturally condemned to live together especially when out of home. He said it was their desire that the union of the trio grow from strength to strength to yield more lucrative and long lasting fruits.

On his part, the President of the Oku Cultural and Development Association (OCDA) Nkambe branch, Mr. Moses Kingah thanked the Noni people. He said they had been bothered about it and wished it grow to fruition. He prayed for a wider forum in the nearest future that would boost the brotherly relationship and the culture of the Nso, Noni and Oku people. He begged on the people to respect the laws of the state and those of the land where they live; and that they should help each other where and when necessary.

Mr. Kingah Moses praised the Noni youths and students for their special commitment to their meeting. He told them the benefits of sitting often amongst their parents and elders were abounded and immeasurable. He reminded them that a meeting of such magnitude was a social-cultural classroom with much to learn.

Talking on behalf of the youths, their Vice President, Adeline Adamu entreated the youths to take the challenge and be regular at meetings. She thanked the parents for their usual support pleading with them not to relent their efforts in directing them. She told the student-youths that the greatest challenge was to pass their examination well. The occasion ended with extensive feasting and a cultural animation.

By our news desk

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Gendarme detains teacher for punishing daughter, students raid Gendarmerie to release their teacher

There is a lesson to be learned here. A teacher of Government High School Misaje, Misaje Sub-Division in Donga-Mantung Division whose names The Vanguard only got as Mr. Nganti was recently arrested and detained by the Misaje Brigade Commander, adjutant-chef Joseph Eyong Eyong for punishing his own daughter.

The story goes that the teacher, Mr. Nganti had given a class assignment, and the Commander’s daughter was among those who did not do the assignment. When the teacher sorted out those who did not do the assignment and asked them to kneel down, the Commander’s daughter who felt she was the commander of the class more than the teacher, refused to kneel. Beside the blunt refusal, she ignored the teacher and continued making noise when the teacher had asked the students to stop making a noise.

The teacher who felt slighted and humiliated resorted to using a whip on her. She then walked out of the class and rushed home. When she informed her father about the situation, Mr. Joseph Eyong Eyong, the Brigade Commander is said to have consoled her daughter with a threat of teaching the teacher a lesson.

The next day, he is reported to have rushed to Nkambe and cajoled a State Counsel who issued him a warrant of arrest. Brandishing this document to the said teacher, the Brigade Commander then arrested him and detained in his cell. The Principal of the school, Mrs. Monica Nchuwa Yuki made trips to the brigade for her teacher to be released but in vain. Some top government personalities and elite intervened and advised the Brigade Commander to release the teacher but he gave them a deaf ear.

Given that it was a Friday, students only got the arrest and detention of their teacher as rumour. It was only on the following Monday that the rumour became a reality to the students when they came to school and waited until 10 a.m. without seeing their teacher. Without any permission from the school authority, it is told; the students abandoned their classes and went on rampage in search of their teacher. They were chanting threatening songs warning whoever was keeping their teacher to release him or face their wrath. They all marched to the Brigade requesting for the unconditional and quick release of their teacher.

The students, who are said to have been looking so wild, carried with them clubs and stones. The said Brigade Commander and some of his elements are reported to have disappeared in thin air. Only one of the Gendarmes who feared approaching the students rushed to the cell and released the teacher but locked-up himself in an office. The students who had enclosed the Brigade hunting for the said Commander, felt disappointed not getting him but quite satisfied seeing their teacher. They sang songs of victory as they escorted their teacher back to school.

The act has been condemned in strong terms by the Divisional authorities of the Cameroon Teachers’ Trade Union (CATTU), the indigenes and other civil servants in the area. The CATTU Divisional Boss, Mr. Pancrasius Wamey threatened that the teachers were not going to take such irresponsible acts any longer from any parent. He rather prayed parents to be open to teachers and cooperate with them for the sake of their children. It was a serious warning to parents who often support their wayward children against the teacher rather than collaborating with these teachers to mend their children.

When contacted to comment on the act, the Divisional Officer for Misaje, Mr. Zachary Ungito Cheiko preferred to seal his lips on the grounds that much had been written against this very Commander but no effect from hierarchy.

It should be noted that Adjoudant-Chef Joseph Eyong Eyong has become rather a thorn in the flesh of the people of Misaje: he is suspected to have had a hand in the burglary of the Misaje Sub-Treasury where money kept under his custody disappeared. He was also involved in a marijuana racket, where he went into financial negotiations with marijuana traffickers asking them to pay him the sum of over four hundred thousand francs (cfaf 400,000frs) before passing with it to Nigeria. This met with the timely intervention of the Company Commander Captain, Michael Sowi, who later transported the said 11 bags of marijuana to the Regional authorities in Bamenda.

Furthermore, in a crucial meeting presided recently by the Senior Divisional Officer for Donga-Mantung, Mr. Mbiwan Nchaffu, with traditional rulers, Fulanies, business operators and the Municipal authorities of Misaje in the S. D. O’s office, the people associated the rampant cattle rustling in the area to the said Brigade Commander. They accused him of direct complicity with the rustlers to completely ruin them in cattle rearing. Many cattle farmers have been frustrated of recent by cattle rustlers.

According to the Misaje D.O, Mr. Zachary Ugito Cheiko, the said commander, Joseph Eyong, often violates his orders with impunity claiming a solid Yaoundé backing. The D.O confirmed that he had made several reports which he thought hierarchy would use to correct him but he is left helpless by the powers that be and so he had refrained from bothering himself writing.

The press was equally hinted that he illegally arrested and detained some six notables of Nkanchi in Misaje Sub-Division and requested them to pay c.f.a 10,000 each. The innocent notables were only rescued by a Nkambe State Counsel, who did not only order for their release but also for the money to be refunded to them. This he did by order.
Most of the indigenes are worried why the powers that be cannot correct such a wayward authority who rather exploits, extorts and give the people but pains. A man who is more interested in serving himself rather than the people left at his disposal.

By our newsdesk

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16 Detained for SCNC Activities

Some 16 activists, six women included, of the secessionist Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC), now operating as the United Nations State of Cameroon, arrested in Nwa Sub-Division of Donga Mantung Division recently are presently languishing in the Nkambe prison awaiting trial.

According to security sources 16 activists of the United Nation State of Cameroon were arrested in the Nfeh village in Nwa sub-division at the residence of their leader, a certain Mr. Nwunzah Musah. The Vanguard was hinted that the 16 were holding a meeting upon their arrest.

As per the order from the Nkambe State Counsel, one of the women who was seemingly mental was released, leaving the cell with 10 men and 5 women with one of them pregnant, The Vanguard learned.

It is said that the steam of the secessionists was coming more from some disgruntled Cameroonians settled in the neighbouring Nigeria. These people have been pressurising the United Nations Organisation to cede to them the former British Trust Territory Northern and Southern Cameroons.

They continue to blame the United Nations for their untold sufferings for arbitrating a faked independence between the Federal State of Southern Cameroons and the la République du Cameroun.

They further begrudge Nigeria for bias treatment. Given its closeness to Nigeria and the hardship borne by the people, Nwa Sub-Division in Donga Mantung Division has been noted for secessionists’ activities. From the Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC) to now the United Nations State of Cameroon, the people are turning on the same idea of seceding.

Sources from the Nkambe High Court state that, the 15 activists languishing in the Nkambe Prison awaiting trial shall face charges of secession and disruption of public peace. When The Vanguard stopped at the prison to see the detained activists, it was faced with much stiffness as the Prison’s Superintendent vowed that no pressman could talk to any of them except with permission from his Regional boss. Efforts to reach the Regional boss failed.

A warder on duty The Vanguard cornered on condition of anonymity confided that the detainees were living in very bad and painful conditions. With pity, he regretted that the female detainees despite their old ages were sleeping on the bare floor: not like it was the intention of the prison authorities but because such facilities were not available. On when these people would be tried in the court of law, remained a one dollar question.

Talking to The Vanguard in his office, the Senior Divisional Officer for Donga-Mantung, Mr. Mbiwan Nchaffu frowned strongly at such activities aimed at jeopardizing the most enjoyed peace in the Division and Cameroon as a whole. He described the activities as dumfounding and absolute. He said he had often pleaded with the people to live in peace but anyone who interrupts peace should be ready to through the same sufferings.

By Wamey Panky

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CPJ alarmed by harassment of journalists in Cameroon

March 9, 2010

H.E. Paul Biya
President of the Republic of Cameroon
Yaoundé, Cameroon

Via facsimile: (237) 22 20 33 06

Dear President Biya,

We are writing to express our alarm at the harassment and abuse of at least a dozen journalists in Cameroon. These reporters each raised questions about your administration’s management of public finances, the progress of an anti-corruption drive dubbed Operation Sparrowhawk, and local government affairs. We call on you to hold members of the administration accountable for using security forces and criminal laws to settle scores with the media. We further urge you to initiate reforms that would refer matters of defamation to civil courts.

On February 26, police in the capital, Yaoundé, arrested three journalists investigating the state-run National Hydrocarbons Company’s (SNH) purchase in 2008 of the offshore vessel Rio Del Rey, according to local journalists. Editors Harrys Robert Mintya of the weekly Le Devoir, Bibi Ngota of Cameroon Express, and Serge Sabouang of the bimonthly La Nation face charges of “imitating the signature of a member of government,” a criminal offense carrying up to 15 years of imprisonment, according to defense lawyer Jean Marie Nouga. The charges are linked to the journalists’ possession of a government document that allegedly implicates presidential adviser Laurent Esso, who is also the board chairman of SNH, in secret payouts to company managers in connection with the boat’s purchase. Esso has not publicly commented on the allegations.

A few weeks earlier, security agents had interrogated Mintya and Ngota for more than 12 hours and detained Sabouang and reporter Simon Hervé Nko’o from the weekly Bebela incommunicado for a week without charge.

We are outraged by reports that security agents used torture to force Nko’o to reveal his sources. CPJ obtained a copy of a February 22 medical certificate detailing his physical examination after his release. The certificate stated that Nko’o had bruises on the soles of his feet and that he told the doctor security agents had subjected him to waterboarding, sleep deprivation, and exposure to cold. Nko’o went into hiding fearing arrest, according to local journalists. We ask you to order an investigation into these serious allegations.

We are also alarmed by the ongoing harassment of at least eight other journalists who have raised critical questions about the administration’s conduct of Operation Sparrowhawk, an official investigation of former officials accused of mismanaging public funds.

The administration has lodged criminal charges against four leading journalists and an academic for commenting during a June 2008 TV program on the case of Yves Michel Fotso, a former executive at national airline Camair Co accused of embezzlement. Fotso has publicly denied any wrongdoing. A public prosecutor in the commercial capital of Douala charged Spectrum TV Editor-in-Chief Thierry Ngogang, freelance journalist Alex Gustave Azebaze, reporter Anani Rabier Bindzi of Canal 2 International, and Jean-Marc Soboth, a prominent journalist and leading press freedom activist, with “biased commentary” likely to prejudice an active investigation, according to defense lawyer Francis Jackson Ngnie Kamga. A second charge, “unauthorized disclosure of a confidential document,” was based on the journalists’ discussion of a copy of Fotso’s police statements that were leaked to the press. Soboth fled into hiding in January after reporting that he received anonymous death threats, according to local journalists. Also, Lewis Medjo, an editor imprisoned since September 2008, was arrested only a few months after raising questions about the Fotso case, which some journalists speculate may have led to his imprisonment.

In recent weeks, security forces have obstructed two journalists from the leading daily Le Messager from reporting on the cases of former officials indicted in Operation Sparrowhawk, according to CPJ research. On January 17, officers at the State Secretariat for Defense in Yaoundé briefly detained Nadège Christelle Bowa and confiscated her notes from an interview with Thierry Michel Atangana, a former presidential adviser jailed on corruption charges, according to news reports. On February 24, police detained reporter Justin Blaise Akono and forced him to delete courtroom photos during a hearing in the trial of Titus Edzoa, a former presidential adviser accused of embezzlement, the paper reported.

Two other journalists in the northwest town of Bamenda are on trial over an October 2009 story referencing the criminal case of Doh Gah Gwanyin III, of a former local official convicted of involvement in the murder of an opposition politician in 2006, according to the Cameroon Association of English-Speaking Journalists. Editor-in-Chief Charly Ndi Chia and Yaoundé Bureau Chief Yerima Kini Nsom of the English-language biweekly The Post are free while battling charges of “libel, blackmail, and abuse,” defense lawyer Dinga Godlove told CPJ.

We believe that arbitrary arrests, criminal prosecutions, and even torture of journalists who raise critical questions about government affairs undermine not only your efforts to root out public corruption, but also confidence in the rule of law and democracy in Cameroon. Access to information is enshrined as a fundamental human right by the United Nations, and upheld by the African Charter on Human and People's Rights. We therefore call on you to create access to information legislation, and also to ensure that press offenses are referred to civil courts.

Thank for your attention to these important matters. We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Joel Simon
Executive Director

More info on:
http://cpj.org/2010/03/post-1.php

Download here the two letters that the Committee to Protect Journalists sent to President Paul Biya:
English
French

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Catholic Bishop Donates to Presbyterian College for Fire Disaster

His Lordship Bishop George Nkuo of the Kumbo Diocese in the North West Region has donated the sum of One Hundred Thousand francs - CFA 100,000 - to the Presbyterian Secondary School (PSS) Nkambe in Donga-Mantung Division that recently suffered a gross fire disaster.

It should be remembered that a week before the Bishop’s Pastoral visit to the Binju-Nkambe Parish, one of the two female dormitory halls was consumed by fire. This happened at about 8.30 am while all the students had gone to the refectory for breakfast. Over 39 female students lost all of their belongings except the uniforms they were putting on, to the fire.

Although the cause of the fire is yet to be determined, the Senior Divisional Officer (SDO) for Donga-Mantung Mr. Mbiwan Nchaffu who was personally touched by the fire accident immediately appointed a commission of inquiry to trace the origin of the fire and assess the damage.

When His Lordship Bishop George Nkuo arrived the St. Martin de Pores Parish Binju, he was hinted of the fire disaster in PSS Nkambe that very evening during a reception Dinner. He promised to live the fire accident. During that evening, to support PSS on behalf of the Bishop, the Parishioners and invited guests present individually contributed the sum of over twenty-three thousand francs (cfa 23,000frs). This was immediately handed over to the Chaplain of PSS Nkambe.

The following day, Bishop George Nkuo personally visited the site of the fire disaster in PSS Nkambe. He donated the sum of over one hundred thousand francs (100,000 Frs) as a token of sympathy to the victims and the entire school. He expressed consoling words to the student victims. He told them that God had a reason for everything that happens and so they should not grief much. The Bishop said it was but a trying moment for them and they must be very careful to withstand the test of the trial.

Bishop George Nkuo described his visit to PSS as ‘faith in action’. Given that the Bishop arrived Nkambe just a day after the three day Ecumenical Services between the Catholics and Presbyterian Christians, he pressed for religious Unity. He challenged Christians of the both denominations not to live ecumenism only in prayers and words but in action. He said, through love, faith sharing and action, they should show the public that both denominations were but one. He cited some of the Presbyterian Christians who turned out in their numbers to welcome him. He said it was a good example of practical ecumenism worth emulating.

By Wamey Panky

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Bafoussam I SDF Adopts New Political Strategies

Committee members of the Social Democratic Front party (SDF) of the Bafoussam I Electoral District in the Mifi Division of the West Region have adopted another new political strategy in order to combat attempts by heavy weight CDPM to seize the three councils from the SDF in the division.

They met at the SDF region’s secretariat last Sunday January 17, 2010, under the District Chairperson, Deffo Oumbe Sangong. Also present were: Barrister Joseph Tsapy, resource person who also doubles as Legal Adviser to the National Chairman Ni John Fru Ndi. It was an opportunity for the ward chairmen and women to evaluate activities of their party in the 2009 year and adopt new ones to better the party that was in a stage of collapse.

Speaking to the committee members the District Chair praised the SDF ward chairs for their stewardship to the party. Though detractors had put all mechanisms to steer the party apart, they will remain leaking their wounds because as a God-sent party the wind is past Deffo confirmed.

Reacting to some public statements made during meetings and rallies by some CPDM big-wigs that history will never repeat itself over the winning of the three councils and one of the two parliamentary seats of the Mifi by the opposition, Deffo said all measures are being put in place in their new plan of action to arrest any attempt of election rigging by the CPDM as was the case with the one parliamentary seat which he won.

He cautioned the militants through their ward chairs to be more vigilant with any move by the CPDM. He cited the case where ID cards were collected from motor commercial riders in a bit to offer them free helmets. This could be another mechanism of rigging Sangong insinuated during a heated debate with committee members on the proper functioning of the district in 2010. For the party to function well in the district, a finance committee was voted and assigned up to 7th February 2010 to present a budgetary report.

On his part, Barrister Joseph Tsapy expressed bitterness and surprises why a CPDM member of parliament should leave his constituency and think of sharing micro-project grants in another one. This in itself has been described by Barrister Joseph Tsapy as sun on a rainy day. Coupled with a stretch of one kilometre of road contract won from by Hon Jean Keutcha from Carrefour Auberge to Fire Lajou Bafoussam, Barrister Joseph Tsapy reminded his comrades that the said road company was driven in Yaoundé because of poor road execution. The 10 km of road to be graded by Hon. Jean Keutcha free was also said to be already earmarked to be executed with HIPC funds.

The SDF Bafoussam I Committee members were also drilled on the counter reaction of the Head of State’s message on the 31st December to the nation by the Second National Chairman, Joshua Osih. Copies of the counter address by the Second National Chairman were handed to ward chairs to keep their militants on the alert.

By Wambo Emmanuel.

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Customs to contribute FCFA 499 billion into the economy

The Director General of Customs, Minette Libom Li Likeng has expressed the determination of the customs department to meet up with the budgetary exigencies of the government by raising the sum of FCFA 499 billion for the 2010 fiscal year.

She was speaking last January 26, 2010 at the 101 Military Air Base in Yaoundé during the celebration of the 2010 edition of the International Customs Day observed under the theme "Customs and Enterprise: Improving Performance Through Partnership."

Customs Director General, Mrs Libom Li Likeng while stressing on the role of the Ethics and Governance Committee in her department, she enumerated a whole battery of measures put in place to attract investments in Cameroon. This refers mostly to the general and fair implementation of all attractive customs procedures including the customs regime for the promotion of attractive activities like the petroleum code, gas code, mining code, etc, the favourable regime of the investment code and charter, the procedure for capital goods, the customs regime for partnership agreements reserved for large-scale projects.

The commemoration of the day last January 26, 2010 comes after week long activities that were launched at the Sawa Hotel in Douala, Chief town of the Littoral region last January 18, 2010. For a week then, activities like health consultations, sports and leisure were carried out at the customs headquarters in Yaoundé.

Speaking in Douala during the launching ceremony, Minette Libom Li Likeng disclosed that the sector's strategies for this year seek to render more effective customs operations in the country. These, among others, include continuous application of measures undertaken to strengthen governance in the sector, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) which officially went operational last year and whose optimum performance is said to be a giant step in combating fraud in the Customs sector.

In his speech at the occasion to commemorate the 2010 edition of the world customs day in Cameroon the Minister Delegate in the Ministry of Finance, Titi Pierre challenged customs officials to work in synergy and exercise transparency in their operations in order to meet up with their 2010 goals the most challenging of which is pumping FCFA 499 billion into the state coffers in 2010.

The amount to be contributed by the customs department this year it should be noted has increased by 11 per cent from that of last year that stood at FCFA 469 billion.

NDI Eugene NDI

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BAPCCUL charts poverty alleviation measures

The president of the Bamenda Police Credit Union, Mr. Musa Shey Nfor, in double capacity as CAMCCUL president has announced innovative measures adapted to reduce poverty and improve on the lot of BAPCCUL members. He made the declaration on Saturday January 16, 2010 at the Bamenda Congress Hall during the Annual General Assembly of BAPCCUL.

Musa said the Bamenda branch apart from Sunday depositing services will provide possibilities for traders, taxi men and other members to get money on Sundays when ‘hard up’. He said BAPCCUL as part of CAMCCUL networks will create a conducive environment which shall not only favour the poor but also for those identified with the dilemma of the underprivileged in the poverty reduction scheme. Musa overwhelmed members with the announcement that rebates shall be given to members who borrow money and pay interest. He further disclosed that measures have been taken to enable ‘small’ truck pushers to obtain huge loans to build big houses and buy cars because they too deserve such ‘comfort’.

The General Assembly was presided over by the Divisional Officer for the Bamenda II Mr Guiakam Dzutchuyim Jacques. Over 1500 Members were in attendance. Marveled by the tenacity of the union, the D.O. lauded BAPCCUL for the meaningful services being rendered to members over the years thus improving on their living standards.

After audited reports, Members hailed officials for assiduity which has made them proud of the union even at International levels. Elections were conducted and Mr. Musa was re-elected president by acclamation. Mr. Ngwang Elvis was voted into the Board of Directors. Mrs. Fortingo Justine was re-elected into the Supervisory Committee while Mrs. Yengi Delphine was voted again into the Women’s Committee.

The re-elected president, Musa Shey Nfor, recalling that Bamenda Police Cooperative Credit Union is not only for police reminded members that with the confidence bestowed. On him the board and other committees, the members should continue to expect more from BAPCCUL as a source of reassurance. Musa hailed the spirit of togetherness and urged elected officials to work for the interest of the members.

By Chifu Edward

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Again: 419…

As more and more Cameroonians join the global-village on the internet, they’re also more and more targeted by cyber criminals. Receiving so-called ‘419’ mails. These mails leading to crimes through internet are named after a Nigerian law that fights these crimes.

Nigerians have the doubtful honor that their country’s name is used as a synonym for corruption and internet fraud. As major Nigerian crime organizations based in South-Africa, The Netherlands, U.K. and the U.S.A. are responsible for the most of the e-mails.

The criminals use the innocent’s lack of knowledge to trigger their greed. At The Vanguard we try to inform our public about these crimes. So each member of our society can make his or her own choice how to deal with the received ‘419’ emails.

Safety guides:

1

Never, never, never give your identity details by mail or through internet sites. No bank or any official institution will ever ask you to do that.

2

Do not open any attached files in mails received from persons you do not know. If the mail is from somebody you do know, but the way of writing (leaving your name out, different language etc etc.) makes you raise your eyebrow, you can bet on it your friend did not sent it. Somebody else using your friends name did. It mostly contains a virus. The best anti virus scanner: don't open strange files.

3

Use your common sense: nobody is going to sent you a lot of money. You did not win a lottery when you never took part of it. So always be on guard and ask yourself: what’s the catch? If things look too good to be true? It’s mostly not right!

If anybody gets victimized by these mails while being warned, it’s right to say they were to greedy. Hence the phrase ‘If you fool me once, shame on you. If you fool me twice, shame on me.’

Here follows another example:

"Dear customer!

Unfortunately we were not able to deliver the postal package which was sent on the 20th of February in time

because the addressee's address is incorrect.

Please print out the invoice copy attached and collect the package at our office.

United Parcel Service of America."

Or a mail like this, sent by web30103 @ signet.com.sg:

"£1,000,000Pounds has been awarded to you in the U.KPROMO.send to this office the following:
Names...........
Tel..............
Age............
Address..........
Occupation.........
Country.............
Email: claimsdesk101 @ live.co .uk"

By our international desk Auke VanderHoek

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Tadu Dairy Factory Launched

The Tadu Dairy factory that went operational months back was officially inaugurated recently by the Minister of Livestock H E Aboubakar Sarki. Speaking during the launching, the manager of the project Madam Shang Patu Jume recounted that the Tadu Dairy Cooperative Society project started on the 15th of November 1990, in collaboration with Lands O’lakes Inc. in the United States of America and cattle Breeders of the Banso Highlands of Cameroon, to function as a multi-purpose Co-operative that would provide its members with access to new breeds, improved production practices and modern value-adding technologies.

In the early mid nineties, the Tadu Cooperative worked in close partnership with Land O’lakes and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to develop a quality/quantity milk production, collection, processing and marketing programme. She said the preliminary fruit of the teamwork include the thriving training of TDS members at O’lakes Inc. in artificial insemination techniques and consequently, the launching of a robust TDCS Cattle cross-breeding programme.

The programme is said to have spread to some parts of the Bamenda highlands, Adamawa plateau and into the Mambila highlands of Nigeria. Tadu Dairy Women’s Group members also reaped from the O’lakes Inc. connections in proper milk procurement, storage and quality control practices.

“Today as you can see, it is thanks to the smallholder Dairy Development Project, that the Tadu Dairy Women’s group which function as an affiliate group of the Tadu Dairy Co-operative Society has evolved impressively, demonstrating the usefulness of their training's,” she said with satisfaction.

She said smallholders Dairy Development Project (SDDP) has facilitated the assembling of critical pieces of dairy development equipment and infrastructure such as range management appliances, water supply networks, electrical power supply lines, adequate cattle crossbreeding stations as well as adapted milk collection and transformation facilities, to name a few.

The success story, she went on, was made: “Possible by the tenacity of Tadu Cooperative members who have clearly understood the power of team work, insurmountable financial support of the HIPC programme through the smallholder Dairy Development Project and the resounding endorsement of the Ministry of Livestock, fisheries and Animal Industries”

“We are therefore greatly honoured by your presence here today, Your Excellency, to commission our dairy processing unit, and pray the Almighty to give you the fortitude to carry on your noble mission,” she concluded.

Also in attendance was the 3rd Deputy Mayor of Kumbo Council Jaff Njibring Shinuy who hailed the efforts made by women to reduce Rural poverty and give more meaning to womanhood. He said the project was first of its kind in the history of Kumbo Municipality: “We have never received the Minister of Livestock Fisheries and Animal Industries. If we are doing so today, it is a sign of good things coming our way; the year 2010 will be good. I want to use this opportunity to thank. Mr. Shang Lawrence an illustrious son of Bui Division and his team for bringing the Hon. Minister to us to see our efforts and problems in order to seek possible solutions”.

He said the inauguration of Tadu Dairy Cooperative Processing Unit, was a testimony of the economic metamorphoses of women into assets, a thing to celebrate. “We started getting echoes of yoghurt and other dairy products to be produced at Tadu a long time ago, and today the dream has come true, thanks to the relentless efforts of those concerned with the project.”

He said Bui Division is one of the leading areas in Cameroon in livestock production after Vina in Adamawa region and Donga Mantung Division. He then called on the population of Kumbo, the Fulanis in particular, to cooperate with the authorities of the Tadu Dairy Cooperative to sustain the processing unit.

Jaff Njibring intimated that Bui Administration has been very committed to settling of farmers/grazers problems as both grazers and farmers are two groups of people condemned to live together. He hailed the government for the economic assistance given to Bui Division.

“More than 80% of the population of Kumbo are farmers but today we are very proud to be inaugurating a processing industry and I believe it is the only well structured industry in the region”.

He also thanked the population of Tadu for embracing this project and, “I am calling on all and sundry to rally to support and give the co-operative the necessary co-operation needed for its growth”.

In reaction the Minister, Dr. Aboubaka Sarki, promised to, within the framework of the Smallholder Dairy Development Project, government’s continuous support to TDCS. He expressed appreciation to the farmers for transforming the twenty years dream into an immeasurable poverty alleviation program, adding that the success story of TDCS will go a long way to reduce the importation of milk products.

To Dr. Aboubaka Sarki, the processing has come to remedy the domestic demand of milk products by the population thus, improving on the health of people. He said for the processing unit to be sustainable, the government will continue to support the various components to dairy farming.

He disclosed that over 150 million FCFA was allocated for artificial insemination, over 130 million FCFA to develop water facilities, pasture improvement and the purchasing of equipment. For the collection of milk products and marketing, development strategies as well as developing commercialisation avenues, Dr. Aboubaka disclosed that over 177 million FCFA was spent.

Considering the fact that the sustainability of any vast poverty alleviation programme depends on the aptitude of its administration and various components, he added that over 96 million FCFA was spent for that purpose to empower grazers and members of TDCS while TDCS also constructed two classrooms at National Veterinary School Jakiri. In all, a total sum of 620 million was allocated to TDCS and more is expected to be spent in 2010 to set up storage facilities, construct ticks fishing points and empower grazers on artificial insemination.

Before handing a multi-purpose tractor to TDCS, he exhorted that facilities offered them by the government should be used as a weapon against poverty. He then concluded by appealing to stake-holders to put in more efforts contribute positively to the economic growth of the country as prescribed by the Head of State President Paul Biya.

By Chifu Edward