In the analysis on Thursday, March 25, 2021 on the incident that occurred on the Bafoussam – Bamenda Highway in the night of Wednesday, March 24 breaking Thursday, March 25, I along the line brought in the issue of the Bamenda Ring Road Project that President Biya promised several years ago that he was going to “personally supervise” its construction. A promise that the President has till date not fulfilled.
Meanwhile in the heat of the moment of doing the piece. I erroneously wrote that President Biya made that promise to the people or population of the Northwest, then known as a province, during his official visit to Bamenda in 1991. Rather, Paul Biya made that promise during his first official visit to Bamenda as President of the Republic in 1983, after President Amadou Ahidjo decided for whatever reason to leave power, and handed him power as his constitutional successor on November 6, 1982. Worth recalling that before November 1982 Biya was the Prime Minister and that according to the Constitution then, if the President of the Republic decided to resign or leave power before the end of his mandate, the Prime Minister would succeed him.
A Prepared Promise
Meanwhile from all indications, the persistent failure by the Ahidjo Government to construct the Bamenda Ring Road Project, which was supposed to run from Bamenda through Ndop, Jakiri, Kumbo, Ndu, Nkambe, Wum, Bafut and back to Bamenda, was already a major unresolved problem haunting the regime, by the time Paul Biya took over as Head of State.
There is no doubt that in coming to Banenda on his maiden or first official visit to the then Northwest Province as Head of State, Biya knew that the issue of the Ring Road Project was certainly going to be raised, and that was why he had a prepared response for it. And the issue was raised in all the speeches that preceded that of the President.
In an address in English that sent the thousands of people who jammed the ceremonial ground and environ jumping and cheering in ecstasy, as it was the first time since reunification in 1961 that the people heard a Cameroon Head of State address them in the English language, President Biya promised the Northwest people or province, that he was going to “personally supervise the countruction of the Ring Road”. When this promise was made by the President, people in all the nooks and crannies of the Northwest exploded in joy. Near the Presbyterian Handicraft Shop at the Banenda Commercial Avenue, where as a young student I was in an excited crowd distance away from the ceremonial ground (Ground Stand), I saw Bamenda women come close to taking off their ‘wrapers’ to place on the ground for the “young and handsome President”who had assured the Northwest people that they would finally have their Ring Road.
As somebody who had spent a few years as a student at JMBC Ndu, I very much knew what it was like travelling on the Ring Road in the state in which it was, especially in the rainy season. The idea of going back to school in September to start a new academic year filled one with joy, but on the other hand the thought that one would have to travel on the very bad road from Bamenda though Ndop, Jakiri Kumbo and then to Ndu, was a real nightmare. The Wainamah Hill of all. My God!
Failure To Deliver On First Promise
Meanwhile it is worth stressing on the fact that the promise Biya made about the Ring Road Project, was his first promise to the people of the Northwest Region as President of the Republic. Nobody thus could have had any iota of doubt that the President would do everything to ensure that he fulfilled the promise.
But here we are in 2021, that is as many as 38 years later, and the simple question that should be coming from the Northwest people and their region is: “WHERE IS THE RING ROAD YOU PROMISED US, MR PRESIDENT?”
This is definitely a very serious issue. When the President of the Republic fails for over 30 years to deliver on the first major promise he made to the people of a region, how can one be surprise if the people tend not to trust him again?
Importance Of Ring Road To NW
The importance of the Bamenda Ring Road Project cannot be overemphasized, when it is considered that the road links as many as six of the seven Divisional Headquarters in the Northwest Region. That is also why the issue of the Ring Road Project concerns the people of the entire Northwest Region.
Also, as it is commonly asserted, where a road passes, development follows. So when a Government fails to link a locality with a road, that is a good road, she thus logically block development from going to the area.
Patches Of Construction Work
Meanwhile the Government is certain to refer to the Ring Road Project today as a project under execution, because some stretches, I prefer to say patches, of the
of project, have been constructed or handled. It is in fact ridiculous the way the Biya Government is going about the Ring Road Project that the President promised the Northwest population way back in 1983, that he was going to personally supervise its execution. The total number of kilometres of the patches of the Ring Road Project that have been executed so far is not known, but what is certain is that not much has been done.
Nothing for example has reportedly been done on the Ring Road from Kumbo (Bui Division) to Ndu (Donga and Mantung Division), to Nkambe (Donga and Mantung Division), to Wum (Menchum Division) and up to Bafut Mezam Division).
The pretext the Government uses today for a delay or a failure to execute any project in the Northwest Region, just like In the Southwest Region, is the issue of insecurity linked to the ongoing war between Government troops and separatist fighters. A result of the escalation of the Anglophone Crisis.
But it should be recalled that the Anglophone Crisis sparked off in late 2016, and even so only escalated in late 2017. But we are talking here of a Ring Road Construction Project that President Biya promised way back in 1983 to deliver, that is, 33 years before the start of the Anglophone Crisis.
The Babadjou – Bamenda Road Project
Meanwhile, following the collapse of a portion of the Babadjou – Bamenda Road in the night of Wednesday, March 24 breaking Thursday, March 25 ,which left hundreds of passengers stranded for several hours, the Minister of Public Works, Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi came out to blame the delay in the execution of the project on insecurity posed by separatist fighters. There is the song of how the French Construction Company, SATOM, that was initially awarded the contract, gave up the contract due to insecurity, and how work has now been given to Cameroonian Contractors. That is however true.
From Bafoussam – B’da To Babadjou – B’da Project
But what the Minister of Public Works, Minister Nganou Djoumessi, or the Government is not explaining to the people, is how what was initially a project to rehabilitate the Bafoussam – Bamanda Highway (National Road No. 11), which had in fact broken down so badly, was later instead reduced to a Babadjou – Bamenda Road Rehabilitation Project? And the response is that the project was reduced to what it is today, because from the look of things, the Government appeared to have prioritized the rehabilitation of the section of the Bafoussam – Bamenda Highway in the Francophone part of the country.
How can one explain the fact that instead of giving out a contract for the entire rehabilitation, project, the Bafoussam – Bamenda Highway which is not quite even a long distance, the Government rather first gave out a contract for the rehabilitation of the Bafoussam – Mbouda stretch of the road. That was called the first phase of the project, and that stretch of road (Bafoussam – Mbouda) was rehabilitated a number of years ago.
After that so-called first phase of the project, the Government was silent for sometime as recard the start of work on the second phase of the rehabilitation project of the Bafoussam – Banenda, which was normally supposed to be the Mbouda – Bamenda stretch of the road. But then the second phase of the road project that started in Mbouda, instead surprisingly ended at Babadjou, which is not far from Mbouda.
Worth noting that the current Minister of Public Works, Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi, who before headed another key ministry (Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development), hails from Babadjou Sub Sub – division. Also worth noting that Babadjou Sub-division in the West Region, shares boundary with Santa Sub-division in the Northwest Region.
The Story Of Seeking For Funds
So this was how what was initially supposed to be the Bafoussam – Bamenda Road Rehabilitation Project, got reduced to Babadjou – Bamenda Road Rehabilitation Project.
Worst still, at that point it suddenly became a problem for Government to find funds for the project. At one point the story was that the Government was to raise funds at the African Development Bank, ADB, to fund the project. Later it was that the fund was instead to come from the World Bank. Then later the issue of insecurity came up.
Whatever the case, what is certain is that if the Government had carried out the rehabilitation of the Bafoussam – Bamenda Road Project in a go as was normally supposed to be done, the Bafoussam – Bamenda Highway would have been rehabilitated before the Anglophone Crisis started and later got escalated.
But unfortunately when a project is in any of the two Anglophone Regions or a project concerns any of the two regions, there appears to be feet dragging on the part of the Government.
Look at the Bamenda Ring Road Project. Look at how long it took the Biya Government to construct the Kumba – Mamfe Road, which was even started by the Ahmadou Ahidjo Government. Look at the Limbe Deep Seaport Project. The Kribi Port Project which was conceived long after the Limbe Deep Seaport Project, has already been constructed, while that of Limbe remains on paper. What do you term this type of treatment?
By Joe Dinga Pefok
Source : Forum Libre N°125th
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