After decades of unnecessary fighting, it is becoming clear to people of Manyu Division that competition is the law of the jungle while complementarity is the law of civilization.  The Division’s women’s organization should be encouraged to embrace complementarity.

For a very long time, it has been challenging to have people of Manyu descent to work together because of bloated egos and the men who are supposed to take the lead on efforts at bringing much-needed development to the Division have been unable to get pass their unnecessary pride and differences.

Organization after Organization has been plagued by internecine fighting, causing misunderstanding and various factions to develop. And the various factions hardly deliver any good development results. Development is also about numbers. Those who have the numbers usually have a greater resource mobilization capacity.

After most fights, the various factions always seek to destroy each other, making it hard for any real reconciliation to take place.

It has always been a firm belief in Manyu that only the men can deliver great results, but this mistaken belief is gradually yielding to new ways of thinking as Manyu women organizations are springing up and the women are more determined than ever to bring about transformative change in the Division.

Today, there are three key women organizations which are seeking to engineer a paradigm shift, though the usual demons have already reared their ugly heads.

MOHWA, which has been in existence for a long time, is trying to find its feet after a very long bruising divorce. Its ranks have been diminished following the formation of EYUMEMA and NYENE MAWN.

Despite its reduced numbers, MOHWA remains a determined and necessary force which wants to bring its share of development projects to the Division.

Though there is still a lot of bitterness, which is normal when a divorce occurs, MOHWA members still hold that they can put smiles on the faces of some young Manyu girls who are struggling to find their way around the complicated and confusing maze known as life.

Internal fighting could be bad business for any organization but it could also be a huge stock-taking moment if leaders keep an open mind. MOHWA can still rise from its ashes if its leaders address those issues which have caused it to lose many of its members and this organization, which has stood the test of time, will continue to be a fixture on the Manyu development landscape if new ways replace old methods of doing business.

After a long bruising fight, EYUMEMA has seen the light of day. This brand new women’s group has ignited and rekindled hope in many Manyu people. Its sheer numbers will be a development asset if old demons do not take a seat at the table.

Many Manyu women across the world have been rushing to join the organization, hoping that the organization’s growing numbers will be transformed into huge development capital.

The United States has the largest EYUMEMA branch and there is every indication that things are headed in the right direction. Besides having delivered boreholes to the Division, EYUMEMA still has a huge and long pipeline of projects with the building of the preventive hospital’s technical and physical capacity being a top priority.

Manyu Division lost its key medical facility a few years ago in a fire whose origin has been controversial. Following this unfortunate situation, the preventive hospital in Mamfe has been serving as a full hospital though it lacks the proper technical capacity.

EYUMEMA sources have indicated that endowing the preventive hospital with some modern capacity is a key objective of the organization.

With branches in various towns in Cameroon, EYUMEMA is clearly stealing the show from MOHWA, with many women joining the organization without knowing why they are joining. Many seem to be under a spell. The noise from the USA seems to be music to their ears and they want to be part of an organization which is already displaying a deep sense of purpose.

The MOHWA fragmentation has not only ended with the creation of EYUMEMA. A bomb seemed to have fallen on MOHWA and that explosion also resulted in the creation of NYENE MAWN in Belgium.

Its creation might not have put smiles on many faces, especially for those who think that unity is strength. However, division is as old as man and instead of spending time and energy fighting old demons, NYENE MAWN members feel they could be counted among those organizations which are putting the Manyu girl child at the heart of their operations.

The more, the merrier goes the saying and NYENE MAWN is a welcome addition to the Manyu development landscape. The brand new organization is currently developing a sound management structure to ensure that demons of the past do not rear their ugly heads in this organization which sees complementarity as part of its development strategy.

Now that the fighting is over, it is time to take stock of things. Fighting is something any reasonable person should shun. But if it cannot be avoided, its lessons should at least be learned.

Today, Manyu needs lots of development projects and any organization which is capable of changing things for the people of that Division should be welcome. MOHWA, EYUMEMA and NYENE MAWN are all Manyu organizations and the people of Manyu should support their development aspirations and endeavors.

These organizations should understand that anger against a sister should never be the reason why there won’t ever be any collaboration.

The world is in constant movement and change is the only constant. As people of Manyu descent, we must embrace our organizations, support them in whatever they are doing, provided that they will bring much-needed development to our Division, and above all, encourage them to collaborate, where necessary.

The world is moving towards complementarity and competition clearly belongs to the past. Competition may only lead to a duplication of operations and such a situation might not be in the interest of our people.

Manyu looks forward to working with all its women’s groups and the men should donate generously to these groups as our women are pointing us in the right direction. Manyu is our land and we must develop it and make it a better place than we met it.

Dr. Joachim Arrey

This is a Cameroon Concord News Group Production.

Earlier this week, Norwegian police confirmed the arrest of a man on suspicion of incitement to commit crimes against humanity in Cameroon. AFP confirmed the man was Lucas Cho Ayaba, a Cameroonian separatist leader. His arrest could be a step toward justice for the victims of serious crimes in Cameroon’s embattled Anglophone regions.

Ayaba is the leader of the Ambazonia Governing Council, a major separatist group involved in the ongoing conflict in Cameroon’s Anglophone region. Ayaba is alleged to have coordinated its armed wing, the Ambazonia Defence Forces (ADF), remotely from Norway. The Ambazonia Governing Council’s aim is to carve out an independent state for Cameroon’s minority Anglophones. To accomplish this aim, the group punished anyone it perceived as collaborating with the government. It targeted civilians, kidnapped humanitarian workers, and killed perceived opponents while using intimidation and violence to keep children and their teachers out of school.

The prosecutor has indicated that the investigation is at an early phase, but given Ayaba is accused of inciting these crimes from Norway, prosecutors may have a number of grounds on which to pursue the case. It is the first time Norwegian judicial authorities have charged an individual for incitement to crimes against humanity.

As armed separatists like the ADF continue to clash with government forces, the welfare of civilians has become a secondary concern to the parties involved. Ayaba’s arrest is a warning to others implicated in grave crimes that the reign of impunity may be ending.

Separatists are not the only ones committing serious human rights abuses in the Anglophone regions. Serious crimes by government forces have been rife since the crisis began and security forces have also killed civilians, burned dozens of villages, and arbitrarily arrested and tortured hundreds of alleged armed separatists.

The Cameroonian government has the responsibility to ensure justice for the most serious crimes but has made scant progress in investigating, much less prosecuting, those responsible for grave offenses committed as part of the Anglophone crisis, particularly by Cameroon’s security forces.

While Ayaba’s arrest is to be welcomed, justice cannot be one-sided. All perpetrators of grave abuses, including government forces, should be held to account.

Culled from Human Rights Watch

The neglected eight-year war in Southern Cameroons and the urgent international action to end it

The ongoing mass killing of Southern Cameroonians by French Cameroon in the Federal Republic of Ambazonia, marked by systematic violence, widespread displacement, and the persecution of innocent civilians, continues to be met with disturbing silence and inaction from the international community.

The conflict which has claimed some thirty-two thousand lives, torn apart communities and displaced about 5 million people is a glaring example of a human rights crisis that demands urgent attention.

Despite a compelling body of evidence of genocide, crimes against humanity, and other atrocities by Biya’s armed forces ranging from extrajudicial killings of men women and children, to the destruction of villages, schools and churches used as military camps, raping of women, girls and children, looting of property by the French Cameroon invading military, global powers and international institutions have failed to respond with the seriousness the situation deserves.

This neglect has allowed the situation to deteriorate, deepening the suffering of the Ambazonian people and emboldening Paul Biya and his invading military sponsored by France which is responsible for the violence and human rights abuses.

The recent trend of arresting, abducting, and incarcerating Ambazonians in the Diaspora is not only a violation of their fundamental rights but also a misguided approach that will not resolve the crisis. These actions, aimed at silencing voices advocating peace, justice, and self-determination, only exacerbate tensions.

We, the leaders of Ambazonia, categorically state that arresting Ambazonian leaders abroad will not bring about peace. The international community must recognize that repression and intimidation will not end this conflict.

I have followed the ongoing general assembly meeting of the United Nations hoping that some world leaders would site what is going on in Ambazonia as one of the ongoing conflicts in the world today, strangely, none of them mentioned it. Some world leaders would cite Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Palestine and Sudan, but will never think of the conflict in Southern Cameroons.

President Biden had a great speech but omitted the conflict in Ambazonia even though interestingly he called on the UN to go back to their main objective of promoting and fighting for peace around the world. He also emphasized the force of people’s power.

The President of the United  Nations General Assembly, Philemon Yang, a born Ambazonian, on the other hand did not make mention of the genocide going on in Ambazonia which he could not resolve through  peaceful dialogue when he was head of government in Yaoundé. He is calling for a two-state solution for the conflict between Israel and Palestine. What a paradox! Ask Yang to leave the current UN Session and spend a week in his village, Oku, in Ambazonia. He will tell you, over his dead body because he has the blood of innocent Ambazonians on his hands.

What Ambazonia and the people in the region need is not more violence or punitive measures but genuine and meaningful discussions which address fully and definitively the root causes of the French Cameroon-Ambazonia armed conflict. The key to resolving this conflict lies in dialogue. We call upon the international community, especially key stakeholders such as the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union, and major world powers, to push for a peaceful resolution through negotiations without pre-conditions.

The International community should note that the genocide in Ambazonia will not be resolved by arresting, abducting or incarcerating Ambazonians.

The people of Ambazonia have the right to self-determination and to live free from fear and persecution. The international community’s continued indifference is unacceptable. It is time for the world to act decisively, to bring both sides to negotiate a peaceful and just resolution, and to address the root causes of the conflict. We shall not be intimidated; we are bold and resilient because self-determination is our basic human rights. We will continue to fight for our liberation. We will continue to fight for our inalienable right to govern ourselves in peace, justice and security.

We stand firm in our belief that the future of Ambazonia must be determined by the people of Ambazonia themselves and no one else, not by the unlawful detention of those seeking to voice the legitimate aspirations of the Ambazonian people.

 All evidence points to the fact that it is Biya and his civilian and military collaborators who ought to be in a dock. Ambazonia is a land founded on democracy and Justice.

The rule of law is the basic tenet in Ambazonia. Justice shall prevail!

The time for negotiations is now. Arrests and abductions will not stop our will and the will of a people who are determined to live in peace, dignity, and freedom. We urge the international community to stop turning a blind eye and take active steps towards peace in Ambazonia. I call on all comrades around the world to celebrate our Independence Day this year like never before. Let our voices be heard in Canada, Ground one, and Ground two and Ground zero, Rome, South Africa and the United States of America with the slogan, “No to the War in the Southern Cameroons and Yes to peaceful negotiations.”

There is an art to surviving disappointment, but you wouldn’t know it from consuming the arts and culture of the Twenties.

We seem to be hostages of an era of corrosive optimism which is allergic to complexity and intellect, and disappointment too.

The prophet Orwell warned us about this type of society and its dangerous simplicities.

In the political sphere, thoughtful critique and debate were once valued as markers of a healthy society. Now we are left with thin-skinned governments and a tendency towards sociopathic leadership all over the world.

Capitalist media owners have contributed by dropping standards for news, stranding us all in a weird space where any mention of real problems on the part of citizens is seen as an attack on government.

In the worst cases, criticism is framed by the powers that be as a form of treachery.

And yet, people still practise journalism in such an environment. What’s going on here?

I remember my first impression of real-life journalists; it was not very good. They’re nothing like the heroes in the movies, I thought, observing their sharp gazes and reticent tongues.

Why aren’t they out there saving the world with their flaming prose of social justice! What a grim bunch of cynics, I thought. I will never become like that, I thought.

I had no idea of what it takes to persevere in a profession that is utterly idealistic at its core. It turns out that journalists are a case study in how to cope with disappointment not only in one’s individual life— it’s a tough gig— but also in society as a whole.

Well. Journalists and Socialists, actually, and here I am aspiring to be one or possibly both when I grow up.

This past week I have been relying on what I have learned over time from the wisdom of journalists and the interminable motivation of modern-day socialists.

Comments made by my Head of State in response to the killing of the Chadema politician Ali Kibao during a celebration of the police were unexpected, bracing.

It was giving ‘Je suis l’etat.’ It was an unapologetic reminder that the state has the monopoly on the means of violence, and it will justify using it… against civilians.

It is now time to sit back, exhale and begin the process of embracing the massive disappointment of having invested support and belief in the current iteration of the government of Tanzania, only to discover that it was old ghosts in newly tailored Ujamaa kitenges. Old threats in new speeches. I know I am not alone at this crossroads.

The sharp gazes and reticent tongues of journalists now look like resilience to me. After all they are still doing this largely thankless job.

Veterans and old socialists have a stoic patience and deliciously dark sense of humour that quietly teaches.

This is what it looks like to survive the death of your hopes and dreams for your country. I don’t know why knowing this is therapeutic, but it is, so I am sharing it here.

There is an art to surviving disappointment. It consists of indomitable— even defiant — optimism and comes with a sharp gaze and reticent tongue.

Tomorrow — maybe next week or next year, it needs time— this too shall pass and hope will come again.

Culled from The East African

It was a balmy summer night in 2020, shortly after the lifting of Germany’s first COVID-19 lockdown, and Omar Diallo and two friends from his home country of Guinea wanted to celebrate Eid al-Adha, the Muslim festival of sacrifice.

“We were enjoying life, playing music, walking through the city at night — we just wanted to be together again and have a good time,” Diallo, 22, told The Associated Press in Erfurt, in the eastern state of Thuringia.

He was not prepared for how the day would end. Suddenly Diallo and his friends were confronted by three black-clad white men.

“They were shouting: ‘What do you want here, f-——- foreigners, get out’!” Diallo remembered.

“First there were three, then five, seven — they were surrounding us from all sides. We couldn’t run away, and then they started chasing us,” he said.

At some point Diallo managed to call the police, and when the officers finally arrived, the attackers ran away. One of his friends was beaten up so badly that he had to be hospitalized.

“I simply tried to survive,” Diallo said. “I hadn’t done anything wrong. It all happened only because of my skin color.”

Being Black in Germany has always meant exposure to racism, from everyday humiliations to deadly attacks. In eastern Germany, the risk can be even greater.

After World War II, West Germany became a democratic, diverse society but in East Germany, which was run by a communist dictatorship until the end of 1989, residents barely had any contact with people of different ethnicities and were not allowed to travel freely abroad.

Experts say that specifically in Thuringia, radical far-right forces have created an environment that’s hostile toward minorities, including Black people.

Now, with the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, Black Germans and African migrants like Diallo are growing increasingly concerned.

Thuringia, which has a population of 2.1 million,holds state elections on Sept. 1, and the fiercely anti-immigration AfD is leading the polls, on 30%.

In 2023, the NGO Ezra, which helps victims of far-right, racist and antisemitic violence, documented 85 racist attacks in Thuringia, down only slightly from 88 attacks in 2022, which Ezra described as “an all-time high of right-wing and racist violence” in the state.

“In recent years, an extreme right-wing movement has formed in Thuringia, which has contributed to a noticeable ideological radicalization of its followers. Politically, the Alternative for Germany party is the main beneficiary,” Ezra and a consortium of organizations tracking racism wrote in their annual report.

AfD’s Thuringia branch is particularly radical and was put under official surveillance by the domestic intelligence service four years ago as a “proven right-wing extremist” group.

“Authoritarian and populist forces, which are becoming very strong here now, harbor a great danger in Thuringia,” says Doreen Denstaedt, Thuringia’s minister for migration, justice and consumer protection.

Denstaedt, the daughter of a Black father from Tanzania and a white German mother, was born and grew up in Thuringia.

The 46-year-old member of the Green party said that growing up in Communist East Germany, she was “always the only Black child.” As a teenager, she was never allowed to go home on her own because of the risk of racist attacks, and she sometimes suffered racist slurs in her school.

“I actually experienced myself that people called me a foreigner, which really confused me at first, because I was born in Saalfeld” in Thuringia, Denstaedt said.

She fears that in the current political climate, racist narratives will become acceptable in the middle of society.

“My biggest concern is that people do not question (these prejudices), especially if they are not affected themselves,” she said.

It’s not exactly clear how many Black people live in Germany nowadays, as different ethnicities are not documented in official statistics, but estimates put the number of people of African descent at 1.27 million. More than 70% were born in Germany, according to Mediendienst Integration, which tracks migration issues in the country.

Germany’s history of racial discrimination begins long before the Nazis began excluding, deporting and ultimately murdering Black people in the 1930s and 1940s.

The German Empire held numerous colonies in Africa from 1884 until the end of World War I. These included territories in present-day Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Namibia, Cameroon, Togo and Ghana.

The German government has only recently started dealing with the injustices committed during that period. In 2021, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called on Germans to face the country’s cruel colonial past, and in 2023, he apologized for colonial-era killings in Tanzania over a century ago.

Daniel Egbe, a 58-year-old chemist from Cameroon who moved to Thuringia in 1994 to study, says he’s shocked how little Germans know about their colonial history. He says this ignorance may also factor into the unequal treatment of Black people.

“I’ve been teaching classes in school,” Egbe told the AP. “I tell them a bit about myself and especially the fact that Cameroon was a German colony. Many students don’t know anything about Africa or about the German past and it must be put on the map.”

Egbe, who took German citizenship in 2003, founded AMAH, an organization that helps university students and migrants from Africa when they experience discrimination in the city of Jena, in eastern Thuringia.

He’s worried about the rise of the AfD but has no intention of leaving.

“We won’t leave, we will do our part to change this society,” he said. “People are mostly afraid of what and who they don’t know. We have to change things through education.”

As for Diallo, the Guinean who was attacked in Erfurt four years ago, he also vowed to help improve the situation for Black people in Germany.

Even though the attack traumatized him, it also empowered him to fight for justice, he said. A year ago, he enrolled in university in Munich to study law, but he still visits Erfurt frequently, where he supports Youth without Borders, a network of young migrants.

“I don’t exactly know yet how I’m going to change Germany, but I know I will,” he said.

Culled from AP

Dear Assibong,

I have gone through your conglomeration of bunkum and from every indication, you are one of the few students my late father taught and whose sound English language skills did not have an impact on. I would suggest you go back to the English language lessons my father, a man noted for his great language skills, delivered to you. My dad should be unhappy today in Heaven after having read the mess you published.

Cameroon Concord News Group wishes it could say “rest in peace MOWAH”. But we of the Concord Group can only say, “may there be more peace for all Manyu women all over the world, now that thousands of them have retired the name MOWAH permanently”. EYUMEMA and NYENE MAWN have come to stay.

As Chairman and Editor-In-Chief of the Concord Group, I am, indeed, doing my family and me a huge disservice by glorifying your stupidity and madness by sending a reply to this new version of your old nonsense.

Your disjointed ideas and lack of lucidity in the narration of a story you know nothing about only makes you look like a true buffoon which should be used as a circus animal.

If anyone has been deceiving you that you are impressing anybody with this your piece of writing which belongs to a garbage bin, know that such a person does not love you.

You seem to be extolling the virtues of poverty, but to the best of my knowledge, poverty is only romantic in books. Your dad might have been popular in the land of the blind in those days, but today, ignorance and poverty cannot be condoned. Stop extolling poverty.

Let me lecture you on something. As the president of MOHWA, your sister Comfort Beyang jumped into the spotlight and when you embrace the spotlight, you open yourself up for criticism when you err on the side of manipulation and dictatorship. It was her stewardship as the MOHWA president that was called into question and not the poverty that has been stalking your family for decades.

If you were born into poverty, that is not your problem, but if you die in it, then you deserve a lot of blame. But this does not imply that you must rob others of their wealth just to become wealthy or engage in unorthodox sexual behavior to escape, even for a day, from the grip of poverty. You should know what I am talking about.

The last time I checked, the Catholic Church had not launched a complaint against my kid brother and the Catholic Church is a well established body with effective and efficient institutions designed to find out the truth.

I cannot remember anytime I was in the Mfoundi court and I never saw my mother crying on the streets of Yaoundé, a city she does not even know as you claim. When you listen to those stories, make sure you understand what you are being told. Don’t be selective in your understanding of events.

I have one piece of advice for you. Please go back to school and stop giving my late dad a bad name. Anybody who was my dad’s student knows how to write sound English. This your piece of nonsense speaks to how preposterous you were in school. Never tell anyone that my dad of blessed memory was your teacher. You have spoiled my dad’s day in Heaven with this piece of nonsense. I also hope Germans will also understand your own version of English as it is not of this world.

Yours truly

Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

In my next write up on Assibong, I will examine seriously the stories of him being a gay man who came back from Brazil and was trafficking in fake gold and made some money which he used to build a house at Rond Point in Douala. He couldn’t maintain the house and had to transform it into an auberge for evil men to come and have quickies.

As Manyu Division faces leadership issues, it is emerging that without a selfless and responsible leader, Manyu, a division struggling with development issues, will never make any giant strides forward if a young, dynamic and experienced leader does not emerge from the crowd of people waiting in the wings to lead the  most difficult political constituency in Cameroon.

While Manyu Division is endowed with many academically bright personalities, it is becoming obvious that academic brilliance alone will not take Manyus to the land of promise. Leadership is key and support for leaders is essential.

Senior political commentators both in Yaoundé and in the diaspora have opined that Manyu needs youthful leadership that is capable of pointing the Division in the right direction. Such leadership should be selfless, determined and audacious if the Division has to head in a different development direction.

Over the last several years, Manyu has not really had its fair share of appointments in government and this has adversely impacted the Division when it comes to development.

Manyu development issues have been compounded over the years by the devastating war of liberation of Southern Cameroons which has ruined many lives, leaving many children in rural Manyu without the education they need to face an uncertain future.

In that crowd of Manyu son and daughters ready to take a top government position to give Manyu a new lease on life is Victor Mengot, currently in charge of special duties at the presidency. As the fighting played out, Mengot did not fold his hands waiting for the government to address all the concerns. Though a victim of the fighting, following the razing of his home in his native Mbijong, Mengot sought peaceful solutions to the problem.

In his own way and in synergy with other Manyu elites, the Minister in charge of Special Duties at the Presidency expressed his opinion on how to address the crisis, sometimes leading peaceful efforts at addressing the problems which has made Southern Cameroons ungovernable, especially in his native Manyu Division.  He maintains that solutions to the crisis have to be sought from home – community after community.

“Systematically, we want to tackle the problem from the roots… each community should identify theirs who are taking part in the crisis and find a way to bring them back on the rails,” he said on state media.

He pointed out that a community-centered strategic plan of action had to include monitoring the activities of outlaws and secessionists as well as push through the virtues of dialogue and harmonious co-existence.

Mengot stressed that the government plan is geared towards bringing peace to our villages and communities. He furthered that Manyus know that the people who have been disturbing the peace are our children. “They have been kidnapping, burning houses and structures. Our communities are suffering; the economy of our region has deteriorated to the level where we don’t know how many years we will take to bring back the level it was in 2016.”

But Minister Victor Mengot’s demonstration of leadership did not only end with words. When the Mamfe District hospital was razed, Victor Mengot immediately mobilized the Manyu community in Cameroon and much money was raised to alleviate the pain of the suffering masses. He understood the importance of that hospital to the people of Manyu and behind the scenes; he called on other Manyu elites to join his fundraising efforts. 

That was a demonstration of leadership. Though imperfect, Mengot continues to do his best and his leadership needs help from the people of Manyu. Manyus should stand behind Mengot for him to continue displaying such leadership skills which can help give Manyu a shot in the arm.

Perfect people do not exist on earth and only seeing a man’s weaknesses does not bode well for a Division like Manyu whose politicians are already declining in strength and are gradually leaving the political arena due to age.

While other people may be jockeying in Yaoundé to jump into the spotlight, Manyus must understand that those who have the experience of working in government and providing leadership are usually the most appropriate to point the people in the right direction.

Manyu needs development. Its infrastructure is falling apart. The people are looking at their political elite to point them in the right direction. For now, Minister Victor Mengot has to play that role and the people of Manyu should stand by him in the interest of the Division. Seeking to contest his leadership only weakens the Division’s chances of having someone in a key position in government.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with editorial input from Dr. Joachim Arrey

Over the last few weeks, Manyu and its development issues have been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons and many people of Manyu descent have been asking if Manyu will ever know better days, especially as its divisional groupings such as MOHWA which are supposed to be development agencies have been collapsing. MOHWA had given the people of Manyu a lot of hope but in recent times, the organization has been caught up in scandals which have caused the organization to explode into multiple pieces with new organizations such as EYUMEMA and NYENE MAWN popping up. The Cameroon Concord News has been a committed spectator of the MOHWA drama and its Group Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai, has focused on MOHWA’s unfortunate downward spiral. To let the readers of Cameroon Concord News gain a better understanding of the issue, our staff man, Alain Agbor Ebot, reached out to Mr. Agbaw-Ebai who shed more light on those issues which have put MOHWA in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons and he had this to say.

Cameroon Concord News: Mr. Chairman, you are always passionate about Manyu development and you hold that only the people of Manyu can engineer their own development. How do you think such development could be brought about?

Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai: Thank you for granting me the opportunity to share my thoughts with our readers. I am used to asking questions but this time around, I am bound to answer questions from another journalist. As you may know, Manyu Division is blessed with fine intellectual and academic minds but despite the availability of these resources, the Division is not making giant strides forward in terms of development. In many parts of the world, educated human resources represent a huge development of assets but in Manyu Division, education has unfortunately become a huge liability which is hurting the Division in a big and bad way. It is hard for people of Manyu descent to actually pool their resources to achieve something meaningful in their division. It is one Division in Cameroon wherein almost everyone thinks he is more intelligent than the other and this makes it hard for our people to work together. This unfortunate situation has really gotten worse over the years as a bunch of Ph.D holders and those with traditional titles like Seseskou have become a bane on the Division. Having a title in Manyu Division unfortunately implies that the title holder is the most intelligent. This is not true and the people of Manyu must change this mindset if they have to engineer real development in their own part of the world. Groupings like EYUMEMA, NYENE MAWN, MOHWA and others must step up to the plate to play their development roles. They need selfless and unassuming leaders who can unite the people for development purposes.

Cameroon Concord News: This leads us to the issue of MOHWA which has been your focus over the last week. What is the issue with MOHWA?

Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai: MOHWA has been the hope of the people of Manyu for decades. When created some decades ago, it was to enable Manyu women to socialize and for the older women to share their wisdom with the younger ones. This made it possible for traditional wisdom to be preserved and used for a limited development purpose. But over the years, following the migration of many women of Manyu descent to many parts of the world, MOHWA had to go global and many people saw it as a key development instrument. Under previous leaderships, scandals were rare and the development function was executed smoothly. Unfortunately, this seamless operation cannot continue for too long as greed, manipulation and self-aggrandizement have taken centre stage. MOHWA’s current leadership has been involved in unholy and undemocratic ways of running an association and this has caused outrage among the people of Manyu. The current MOHWA president, Comfort Beyang Ojongmpot, has been accused of financial malfeasance, dictatorship and manipulation by some current and former MOHWA members who are totally disappointed with the way MOHWA is being run. Despite our attempts to get MOHWA, which has been diminished by multiple breakaways, to clear itself of these allegations, the MOHWA president and her surrogates, have demonstrated that they do not care about the disaster they have engineered for MOHWA. True leadership is selfless, attentive and responsive. From their behavior, it could be deduced that they are only concerned about the money that is being generated abroad and sent back home for them to manage and that governance means little or nothing to them. The formation of EYUMEMA and NYENE MAWN are great testimonies to the chaos playing out in MOHWA and, from every indication, the worst is yet to happen. Many MOHWA members have left the organization and they are talking. Those who hold that MOHWA can still be relevant are looking forward to the day the current leadership will yield to the enormous pressure that is on Comfort Beyang Ojongmpot who has fallen short of the people’s glorious expectations.

Cameroon Concord News: I have read some reactions from some people who hold that the Cameroon Concord News Group is doing someone’s bidding and that you, in particular, have been paid to run down the image of MOHWA and its president. What do you make of this?

Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai: Thanks indeed for this important question. As you know, journalism is not a business wherein journalists go to seek love. A journalist is a whistle-blower, a teacher, an informant and, in an organized system, he could be an undercover agent.  A journalist does not create stories, he reports events and ensures that the voiceless have a platform on which they can tell their stories. A good journalist should have great sources and it is his duty to protect those sources. If anybody says that I am being paid, then that person already acknowledges that I am a good writer and a journalist whose work is attracting readers and attention. People just don’t distribute money if they do not find your services useful.  I think that those who think I am getting paid for rendering such quality services should rather demonstrate their innocence by providing evidence which will make mincemeat of the allegations leveled against MOHWA and its president. The onus is on MOHWA and its president to demonstrate that all the allegations are unfounded. Leaving the issues unaddressed and chasing shadows will not, in any way, rebuild MOHWA’s shattered image. I am not doing anybody’s bidding. I am doing Manyu’s bidding. Things must be done differently in Manyu if that division has to make giant strides forward. 

 Cameroon Concord News: Some of your critics even say you are unemployed and that may be why you have the time to be writing.

Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai: My dear friend, ignorance is bliss for the stupid. I am running a media empire which keeps me busy. If journalism is not a job, what then is it? Do I need to be found in a nursing home taking care of old or mentally sick people for me to be considered a worker? The world has changed and many of our people are unfortunately not adjusting to the changing times. With technology, certain professionals do not need other people’s offices for them to do what they like. A translator, a technical writer, a journalist, an editor and many others do not need to be running around like neckless chicken to make a living. Having a strong and good pen these days can deliver to you the best possible life. I happen to be working for an organization which knows how to raise funds online and I would like to hail the Board Members of Cameroon Concord News Group, especially Board Chairman and majority shareholder, Dr. Joachim Arrey, whose ability to bring money to the organization I lead is mind-blowing. The Board of my organization has structured the organization in such a way that many advertisers get attracted to what we do and the quality of writing is exceptional. We have correspondents across Cameroon and sometimes we pay journalists in other parts of the world to cover events for us. We do sometimes pay sister organizations to get any information we find useful on their websites. During the Southern Cameroons Crisis, the Cameroon Concord News Group was the only organization which had correspondents in the two English-speaking regions of Cameroon and we brought news about the horrors taking place in Southern Cameroons to our audiences in real time. We were admired by many and those who think today that journalism is not a profession hailed us when we were criticizing the government of Cameroon for its atrocities on English-speaking Cameroonians. Those who are casting slurs on me and my organization are simply unaware of how we operate. If they can criticize the work I do, then it implies that they are reading what I am writing. Instead of disliking them for their insults, I think I should admire them for their insatiable quest for the knowledge I am sharing. They should know that each time they click on our website; they only make it possible for my organization to make more money.  I will not trade my job for anything else. Journalism is a lucrative venture and writing comes to me easily. I don’t need to be a nurse or a factory worker for me to earn money.

Cameroon Concord News: So, what is next?

Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai: We are going to continue with our coverage of Cameroonian organizations and we will continue to encourage those who are doing the right thing while exposing those who engage in irresponsible behavior. We have given MOHWA the opportunity to share its perspective with us, but all of its members who have been protesting are media-shy. Either they do not know how to draft their story or they do not have much to say, and such behavior is symptomatic of guilt. We have even sent messages to some of their objective and responsible members but they have not replied to our messages. Are they hiding anything? Next weekend, our correspondent in Belgium will be covering the launch of NYENE MAWN which may be that proverbial nail into MOHWA’s coffin and we will be bringing the stories to our readers in real time. We will also focus on MOHWA whose leaders have yet to come to terms with the fact that they are no longer relevant.  They have to do the right thing or they will end up with an empty shell on their hands as the bad press is diminishing their ranks.

Cameroon Concord News: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your time. Any last word?

Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai: Thank you once more for granting me this opportunity for me to share more insight into the MOHWA saga with our readers. As a journalist, I would like to point out that writers neither hate nor love people just because they are close to them. As journalists, we have a key role to play – exposing those things which retard progress in any society. Those who think I hate MOHWA and its president are mistaken. If they organize any major event today, I will send my writers there for them to cover the event free of charge. They need to be media-friendly and this implies doing the right thing. Once more, thank you!