Negligence: Senator Fontem Njifua Was Denied CFA 300.000 for Hospital Bill

 (NewsWatch Cameroon)--The late Questor of the Cameroon’s Upper House of parliament, Senator Fon Fontem Lucas Njifua died due to negligence by the house, NewsWatch has learnt.
The senate did not come to his assistance instantly when the late chief of Fontem reached the Yaoundé university teaching hospital and was billed on the spot CFA 300.000F over the malaise he suffered and died of, sources close to the late chief informed this NewsWatch.
But curiously, CFA 3Million was disbursed to ferry his corpse to Fontem same day by the senate, we were informed further.
We also gathered that Njifua did not get immediate medical care when he reached the hospital because the money was not at hand. Such bad practices are now common in many public hospitals in Cameroon - no money, no health. Many Cameroonians have died and many will continue to die because medics deny them even first aid due to lack of money at hand.
The “almighty” Bulu Secretary General of the senate did not bother to sign out money when requests came in for finances to rescue Lucas Njifua, a bureau member of the senate.
At the senate, it is said that Meva’a Meboutou is very reluctant to sign out money. A senator whose names we could not get at press time had to shed tears before he was accorded funds to be evacuated abroad for treatment; we learnt the senate is slogging to pay his hospital bills in the hospital abroad.
The lethargy in the disbursement of funds for medical evacuation is too common now in the Cameroon administration causing much damage. Unfortunately, the problem is not that the money is not available; it is just that someone is unwilling to disburse. Surprisingly Meva’a Meboutou was that same day quick to disburse CFA 3 Million F for Njifua’s corpse to be transported to Fontem for burial.
The homage at the senate for Njifua was a mockery. A bill submitted for the event was not completely paid. A small, unvarnished plywood coffin was ordered for a simulation since Njifua as chief was buried on the same day he died according to the tradition of the Bangwa people. To avoid disgrace, the coffin was never used.
This article was first published in NewsWatch N°008 of April 14, 2014