Councilors of the Bamenda III Sub divisional
Council have warned the administration of Mezam of an impending inter-tribal
conflict in Bamenda.
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| Bamenda III Council |
The councilors who spoke angrily in turns during a recent
council session expressed discontent over the disrespect of administrative
injunctions by villages in neigbouring municipalities thus affecting the administrative
boundaries of Bamenda III. The case in point the councilors raised was the
boundary between Nkwen and Bamendakwe villages in Bamenda I and Bamenda III sub
divisions respectively. The area which has of late constituted a standoff
between the Nkwen people and the Bamenda City Council is located along the
second entrance way into Bamenda town from up station fondly referred to as new
road.
The issue took over debates at the council
session when the Second Assistant Senior Divisional Officer for Mezam who
attended the municipal assemble on behalf of the SDO tried responded to several
worries raised by the municipal legislators on the said land and boundary.
Ambamba Yakubo while appealing for Nkwen and Bamendakwe people to be patient and
have confidence on the state on the matter told the councilors that files on
the matter were before the administration of Mezam with a proper solution which
will be fair for everyone being sorted. According to the administrator, “injunction
does not mean the administration is taking land. It is to avoid violent
conflict. Every party must respect an injunction order. The administration is
neutral and impartial. The administration is not to separate people. The
administration cannot take a decision that will separate people.”
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| Bamenda III Council |
This explanation however seemed not to have
gone down well with the Deputy Mayor for Bamenda III Koti Joseph who was quick
to tell the administrator that “we are respecters of the law and definitely
should not be taken for granted. Where there is an injunction order Bamenda III
respects it to the later.” He went on to urge the administration to use the law
and sanction those who disrespect the injunction order. The SDO however replied
stating that it was the judiciary that is responsible for issuing sanctions to
those who violet the order. He further recommended that councilors should value
the need for peaceful co-existence.
Senior Barrister-at-Law Abenego Nfon
challenged the Assistant SDO’s submission noting that to have people who violet
an injunction order punished for their crimes; a compliant must be filed to the
State Counsel by the SDO/DO for action to be taken. He thus called on the
administration to as a matter of extreme urgency write to the State Counsel for
action to be taken immediately.
Councilor Kaba Charles who is Bamenda III
Councilor on the disputed area who called himself a victim of circumstances
gave the subject a different twist when he told the session that he has been
taken severally to provide answers on the matter before the administration of
late something that has not happened since 2007 when he became councilor. While
warning of an impending intertribal conflict that can ensue from the dispute,
the Councilor regretted how the Bamenda City Council could proceed to issue building permit in such an area in dispute. He
cited the gathering of electoral data from the area for Bamenda III, the
issuance of long time land certificates to some Nkwen sons in the area and the
then Cooperative which was in Nkwen and questioned why suddenly the area can
automatically start bearing Bamendakwi names like Bangshie. The councilor was
also vexed by the fact that several administrators who have worked in Mezam
have given very little attention to the matter which is degenerating by the day
worst with the complicity of some bigwigs in town.
On the
building permit, the Secretary General to the Bamenda City Council noted that
they were issued based on the information on the application however adding
that since the start of the crisis, the issuance of the building permits have
been suspended.
Councilor
Forche Robert was also quick to sneak in another land dispute issue this time
between Nkwen and Bafut in Njibujang which also under dispute with an
injunction order. According to Councilor Robert the Bafut community is
currently exploiting the land and by every standard should be sanction. The
Assistant stayed mute on this after calling on the concerned parties to be calm
and patient as the administration examines the matter.
The
disrespect of the municipal order prohibiting the destruction of marshy land
with raffia bushes also came on focus with the Fon of Nkwen who took part in
the session regretting that he cannot longer re-enforce the decision because
many people now drag traditional institutions to court over attempts to protect
such lands and property. Councilor Toh Sylvester on his part blamed the
disrespect of traditional authorities on land matters on the 1974 land law
which gives individuals the right to land ownership.
While
Councilor Forche Robert questioned the position of the administration in the
face of such disrespect for constituted traditional authorities, Hon Fobi
Nchinda Simon who attended the session regretted the throwing out of a private
member bill by his parliamentary group intended to protect wet lands but
promised to talk to the Minister of Environment and Nature protection to make
sure the bill comes from government since it remains very important.
It is not
the first time land matters are taking center stage in the council session or
protest organized but finding a lasting solution to the matter still seems to
be a distance away.