Akwaya Chiefs Urged to Back CPDM

Mamfe, Cameroon—In the build up to the 32^nd anniversary of President Biya’s accession to the supreme magistracy of the state, the Akwaya sub divisional chiefs conference under the aegis of its president, Dr  senator  Chief Anja Simon met in Akwaya from November 4-5, 2014 to chart a way forward for the area’s development.

Chief Anja, Akwaya Sub divisional chiefs conference president

Created in 1963, Akwaya which according to the traditional rulers is the oldest sub division in the country is made up of 99 villages with a population of over 85000 inhabitants. Yet, the sub division is still inaccessible from the divisional headquarters-Mamfe. Access to the cocoa, coffee, oil, and mangoes rich sub division is either through Wum on the Northwest region or Biajua in neighbouring Nigeria’s Cross river state.

While thanking the Head of state and government for work done already in the sub division, the chiefs pleaded that government should link Akwaya to the divisional headquarters by an all season road, electrify the sub division as a way of improving the living standards of the people as well as consider raising the sub division into a full fledge division.

Besides counting on government, the chiefs were implored to engage their people in community work. According to the president of the Akwaya sub divisional chiefs conference, “this is the time for all of us to use our minds to think of how to develop ourselves and our sub division before asking the government to intervene.” Chief Anja said. The traditional ruler further cautioned his colleagues to encourage education in their various chiefdoms so as to fit in the globalization trend. The senator also underscored the importance for his people to throw their weight behind the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, CPDM if they want to move forward.

Akwaya in the past few years has been the theatre of several inter-tribal wars. This, chief Anja said is partly due to administration which is far from the people. “If we were a full blown division, we would dispose of services that come with such and consequently would contain certain situations that often escalate into wars among our people,” Anja said. He added that neighbouring Nigeria often comes preying on Akwaya because they know the area is cut off from mainland Cameroon.

While lauding the government’s efforts to fight the deadly Ebola virus and Boko haram insurgents, Chief Anja reminded his colleagues to federate their forces and collaborate with government because they are auxiliaries to the administration. He also pleaded with them to ensure impartiality in the settlement of disputes.

By Ndi Eugene Ndi with field reports