If we don’t close ranks in Donga Mantung, we’ll still remain in the backyard—Mayor of Ndu

Nkambe, Cameroon—The SDF mayor of Ndu in the Donga Mantung Division of the Northwest Region, Mr Bunyui Emmanuel Nyugab has called on Donga Mantung politicians to close ranks and work for the development of the division irrespective of their political leanings. Besides, the SDF mayor has also condemned in strong terms the attitude of some politicians who spend time talking about their opponents than thinking on how the division can move forward-describing them as those without ideas. To Mr. Bunyui, those who spend their time talking about individuals are myopic in their thinking and parochial in outlook.

When our reporter Ndi Eugene Ndi caught up with the SDF mayor in Nkambe amidst celebrations marking President Biya’s 32 years in power on November 6, 2014, he first wanted to know what he thinks of Mr. Biya’s 32 years at the helm of Cameroon. Read on

Mayor Bunyui (R), talking to Ndi Eugene Ndi

News Watch--You are in Nkambe for the celebration of president Biya’s 32 years in power. What is your appraisal of Mr. Biya’s 32 years in power?

Mayor Bunyui--Well, it has been a mixed bag because they have the positive and the negative components. In 82, 84, there were a lot of expectations, the economies have changed significantly  and there has been increasing unemployment, there has been the idea that we thought corruption could be stopped and chasing of files could be stooped as well, but unfortunately it has not been. It requires a paradigm shift from individuals. I don’t want to call it a celebration, it is a commemoration, a reflection because Mr Biya, as head of state wants to see Cameroon emerge by 2035, but such emergence may not take place if there is no change in paradigm; change in paradigm means people must change attitudes because it is not just at the level of policy, it is the level of implementation, monitoring, evaluation and reevaluation and refocusing our activities. You can understand that Cameroon like most third world countries is blessed with resources, infact no African country is blessed with the resources we have, but we have a problem of human dynamism and changing situations. What I am simply saying is that Cameroon can emerge in 2035 on condition that you put your foot on the ground and say during this during this commemoration, my take on it is that the Biya regime has got to put things straight. First we have to go straight to declaration of assets, because when you talk corruption, how do you ascertain corruption. Somebody must be able to know what you have before you got into office. If you cannot ascertain what somebody had before getting in an office, you cannot talk about corruption. And Corruption is a reflection of poverty and so when there is generalize poverty, there is a problem. Secondly, we may talk about unemployment; when government decided to employ some 25.000 people, that was a good idea but you cannot employ 25.000 into the public service. A country with a bloated public service is an unproductive one. We need to see a shift from the public service into the private sector. Because the private sector is very productive, how can when government wants to employ 25.000 people and well over 250.000 people apply, it tells you there is a problem. So we must change our educational policy directly to techno-vocational in a bid to make people be job creators rather than job seekers. Anything short of that, we are definitely going to get into problems. So again I am saying that, this is a commemoration and reflection on what we should do to move forward.

News Watch--Lets come back to Donga Mantung, there is this tendency that whenever an opportunity is given to a politician of one party, no matter the venue and event, he or she goes straight into throwing insults on other political opponents. What is your take on that?

Mayor Bunyui (SDF) chatting with Ngala Gerard (CPDM)

Mayor Bunyui--That is immoral, infact we need to mature, we need to get out of it. What I simply mean here is that there is no CPDM road, there is no SDF water; development is development. And therefore we need to close ranks. We need to find out what others have been doing elsewhere to move to where they are. People have given us negative names, some say Donga Mantung means “donkeys and monkey”, we can move to “Doctors and Masters” by changing our perception of issues because when you get into a situation like this; I was just coming from Ndu, as mayor I was expecting to have an invitation from the CPDM in Ndu for this occasion, but I did not have, that is not correct.  Because I would be able to say what I think the party should be doing. When we talk about party it is a question of ideas not individuals; individuals come and go but parties can remain if they have a strong policy, well articulated and people buy the ideas because when we go for elections, we’re selling ideas, we’re not selling individuals. If I am not mayor tomorrow, somebody will be mayor, it depends on the ideas he sells. So I think that in donga Mantung, we should stop this insultive language. You know when you start being insultive, when you start being provocative; it means you don’t have ideas. When you have something upstairs, you talk ideas, you don’t talk people. When you talk individuals you are very myopic, you are parochial in your outlook. So I think that we should learn from what is happening elsewhere, to close ranks in Donga Mantung, if we don’t close ranks in Donga Mantung, we will still remain in the backyard, we will still be peripheral. That is why when there is an occasion like this; one stops around, it is to tell people that we can always close ranks.

News Watch--Thank you very much Lord Mayor.

Mayor Bunyui--Thank you also