DO Attempts Solution To Oku Radio Crisis

By Peter Adi Fonte

The Senior Divisional Officer of Bui, Daniel Panjouono, summoned a crisis meeting to reconcile the Oku people and the management Board of the Oku Rural Radio over a dispute to recruit a new station manager.

The meeting was held in the Elak Oku Subdivisional hospital recently.The Mayor of Elak Council, Jerome Ngum Njioh, underscored the importance of the radio towards the development of Oku.He regretted that the radio had been used to fan the flames of hatred and derision instead of uniting them.

The Mayor called for calm and dialogue as a means to solve the crisis.Panjouono, on his part, re-echoed the important role played by the radio to include the creation of awareness, sensitisation of the population as well as to inform educate and to bring about development.
He called for positive contributions and team work to help solve the problem amicably so that peace and order could reign in Oku.

The Chairman of the Oku Rural Radio Association, ORRA, John Njakoi Bah, said that in April, this year, a general assembly of ORRA urged the board to recruit a station manager.He said he set up a six-man jury which finally recruited one John Nchinda Ibrahima.

He said a certain Francis Ngokse, who was a member of the jury, disagreed with the rest of the jury on the results and wrote a protest letter to the DO of Oku.The DO, in turn, set another committee to look into the results and one Marcus Mbei Mngo was recruited against the will of the Board.

According to Njakoi, Nchinda was installed by the board of the radio, while the Mayor of Elak Council installed Mbei as station manager later on.The SDO, who listened to contributions from Fon Sintie II of Oku, DO Martin Gang Ambe and others, formed a nine-man committee headed by Thaddeus Fai Ndishangong.

The commission is to review the constitution of ORRA within two weeks and submit their report to the general assembly before meeting for deliberations.The ORRA general assembly was given one month to reorganise the association, within which period the activities of the radio will be supervised by Elak Council.

Panjouono called on the members of the ORRA to renew their membership with the association.He declared ORRA and the board of the radio illegal because their mandate expired in June this year.Mbei, he said, was acting illegally as the station manager.
According to him, his recruitment was not recognised by his employers, the Board of Directors of ORRA.

Those who had dragged others to court concerning the ORRA issue were advised to withdraw their cases and work for peace and order to return to Oku.