Former PLANTECAM Structures Are In Contention - Endeley

By Pegue Manga

Paramount Chief of Buea, SML Endeley has benignly told H.E. Neils Marquardt, US Ambassador to Cameroon, that the acquisition of the former Plantecam structures in Mutengene by the Cameroon Baptist Convention, CBC, was irregularly and corruptly done.

HRH Endeley, welcoming US Ambassador, Marquardt

Marquardt paid a courtesy call to the Chief on Tuesday, February 28, alongside members of the Centre for Disease Control, CDC, Cameroon. CDC has rented part of the structures from the CBC, to set up its offices and a research centre for HIV/AIDS prevention.

But Chief Endeley warned that the land and structures sold by the Endeley Ndemba-led Bakweri Cooperative Union of Farmers, BCUF Real Estate and Housing Cooperative Society, is in dispute. "The location of the CBC in this place is irregular. It was got corruptly and illegally. If we want to fight corruption, we have to forestall things like this," Endeley told Marquardt.

He disclosed that there is a government team investigating the transactions. "If you want land to build your office, we could give you. I am involved with the BCUF, but the way they handled this issue made it irregular. We cannot play with projects of this character," he stated.

Chief Endeley's declaration did not elicit any reaction from his guests.

Earlier, the CDC Country Director, Prucima Raghunaphan, said the CDC's HIV prevention and Research Station in Cameroon, is aimed at developing epidemiological and laboratory capacity to conduct HIV prevention research. Prucima said the CDC would develop the capacity to conduct HIV/AIDS research in the Southwest and Littoral areas of Cameroon.

So far, CDC has hired 15 local workers: nine technical and six support staff. The CDC Country Director said they were working towards recruiting more staffers and setting up a laboratory. He said they intend to be in Cameroon indefinitely, as long as there is peace.

Chief Endeley noted that CDC's plan is a lofty one. "Instead of people coming up with crazy ideas, we should look for ways to kill the virus," he said.

The Chief later delved into pleasantries about the Bakweri people. He said Bakweris do not have migratory tendencies. He said most Bakweris leaving abroad are willing to come back home.

"Oh yes, they want to drink their own water, eat their own food and we have very beautiful girls and handsome boys back home," he joked.

Chief Endeley defended Cameroon's human rights record. "Things have improved," he told the Ambassador. "Anybody who has been to Cameroon will testify that what they see in the country is different from what they tell them outside," the Chief said. He said Cameroon was very fortunate to have an Ambassador of Marquardt's nature.

The Ambassador remarked that, "When I watch and listen to you, I think your testimony is very convincing." The Ambassador wanted to know if the Chief sees himself as a politician. "I am a retired judge and a traditional ruler," Endeley answered.

The Ambassador also paid a courtesy call on Southwest Governor's Louis Eyeya Zanga. Eyeya told Marquardt that he feels very comfortable working with the people of the Province that produced the immediate past and current Prime Ministers.

Comments

[Grandstevo]

All this is bushit

[DaDiceman]

Thank you, Grandstevo....couldn't have summarised it better myself! You said it all, in one word.

[dango tumma]

this chief dem self, even as dem dee smell
shit, dem go soo soo deny.

why bakweri or most of our youths dem dee want only go abroad, if country bee better?
IF MAN NO FIT TALK TRUE, WHEN YEE DEY ALIFE
WHEN WIL HE?

[Texam]

I don't know what this corrupt Government of Inoni and Biya are doing when they locate institutions across the country. Results of the recently published DHS-III for Cameoorn show that the North west province is leading the chart in HIV infections with a prevalence rate of 8.7 %. Although it is followed by the South west with 8.6% it would have been strategic to locate the CDC, say in Bamenda. they are squeezing it in an old building where the chief is already fighting for long, something normal with the Bakweri people. When the Department of Medicine takes off in UB, where will it be located. Normally it should be around Buea in the building hosting CDC so research can be coordinated with faculty of health science. Come' on Inoni, you guys should be thinking and try to share. Don't be too self centered.
Texam

[franco]

dis froos chief yi get two side mop.Na traitor for CDC palaba .Na wetin bin dis big talk bout plantecam wen yi wan give cdc like dash for biya? froos man.

[Tainted Child]

Reading Endeley's exchange with "Yankee boy", made me cringed all over. Of all the outstanding deserving folks of Buea with something to say to a visiting dignitary, some klutz decided to drag a senile has-been to speak for us. If this is meant to be a joke, then I must have truly missed the punch line.

This is my one gripe with our country: the same old guard who were old back in the day, when I was child (read 35 years ago) are still calling the shots today. It is no wonder our nation is in perpetual stagnation. If the likes of Endeley are our best representatives, then you can extrapolate how easy it must have been to annex our lands, lock stock and barrell. The boy Marquardt must be wringing his hands with glee.

Pa Endeley stay home, Play with your grand children, write your memoirs, chill, let the next generation in. We got this!

[Ephange]

Please Can Someone translate this text for me? Biya's a mess!!!

Selon les journaux camerounais, l'actuelle campagne anti-corruption qui secoue le Cameroun pourrait gagner le milieu du sport camerounais, plus précisément la Fédération Camerounaise de Football (Fecafoot). L'actuel président de la Fecafoot, Iya Mohammed, ainsi que d'autres personnages influents de la Fédération (Jean-René Atangana Mballa et David Mayebi) auraient été entendus hier mardi.

C'est que le Cameroun, nation phare du football africain, quadruple champion d'Afrique, et champion olympique, ne dispose à ce jour d'aucun stade correct où on peut disputer une rencontre internationale de football. La dernière CAN organisée remonte à 1972 (autant dire une éternité!). Et surtout, l'argent généré par les participations à diverses compétitions a toujours été géré de façon opaque, (sponsoring puma, financement fifa...etc). Les prochains jours devraient permettre d'avoir un peu plus de clarté sur ce dossier.

Par ailleurs, Akono Zé, ex responsable de la redevance audiovisuelle à la CRTV, aurait été libéré après sa rocambolesque tentative de fuite à destination du Gabon avec deux mallettes pleines de billets. Les journaux locaux voient dans cette potentielle libération (si elle est effectivement confirmée) une indication tendant à montrer que l'ex-inamovible directeur de la CRTV, le professeur Gervais Mendo-Zé, ne serait pas visé par l'actuelle campagne malgré sa gestion pour le moins contestée (c'est un euphémisme!) de la télévision nationale...

[DaDiceman]

This so-called chief is a retired judge? Please, please, people tell me, how can anyone in the 21st century take Africans seriously when you hear self-important Africans like this "chief" spluttering out such gibberish. I would like to think he was drunk before this encounter, at least that would be an excuse for speaking rubbish.

And he was a judge? How did this man interpret the law? He is not only rude, but also a tribalistic bigot, and for clowns like these to be put before foreign dignitaries as the face of Cameroon beggars belief. It is not worth thinking what the foreign dignitaries go away thinking when they encounter a joker like this "chief".

[Molyko]

Heheeee!
The head of governemnt (Inoni) is a son of the soil.Beside, we are saying it with our own mouth that everything is OK and the human right record is excellent.Why should we complain to a foreigner about a small land issue.Is CDC not a SW thing? Is the GM not the son of the soil? Either tell the PM or the GM who are both sons of the soil that we don't want to give land anymore to CDC.As simple as that.
This is an inside problem.I mean a SW thing I don't understand why any complain should be made to an Americanos.

[rexon]

This chief is a hypocrite, He is fighting for land that belongs to his chiefdom and is not fighting for land and resources that has been colonised by la republique du cameroun. this is mere hypocrisy.

[Eddy]

hey CDC in this write up is not Cameroon Development Corporation, it is the Center for Disease Control(CDC) Cameroon branch, and the site in question is the former Plantecam Medicam building I suppose which was aquired by Cameroon Baptist Convention in Mutengene so Molyko take note as well as others. Just a point of correction before people go off tract on their reactions
Eddy

[Molyko]

Hi Eddy!
Got it buddy and I hope you are not offended with me for getting so out of track.

I got carried away by this cry (here and there) about land in the SW with the 'other CDC' (The one of Njalla Nkwan)

Once more,thanks for the correction.

[Riccardo]

EMOTIONS! EMOTIONS! EMOTIONS! EMOTIONS!

WE EASILY GET CARRIED OUT. WE TALK BEFORE WE THINK...
UNTIL WE LEARN HOW TO APPRECIATE THINKS, WE WILL LANGUISH IN POVERTY.
WE DO NOTHING BUT WE COMPLAIN...
THOSE WHO WORK HARD IN CAMEROON HAVE NO TIME TO COMPLAIN...
KEEP WAITING FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF CAMEROON TO SOLVE YOUR VILLAGE PROBLEMS.
IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN

Riccardo
CAADIM

[Molyko]

I see!
Cameroonians and their hypocricy.It has become an issue of identity wether we like it or not.This is one aspect that makes us true Cameroonians.How do they say it in French? (Hahaaa, some will say french is not the lingua franca of Cameroon.But what about English??)

[Njifenztbd(U.K)]

Absolute non-sense!I mean senseless.

[Njifenztbd(U.K)]

Absolute non-sense!I mean senseless.

[Fon Lawrence]

This is not the first time that this man is talking like a madman.He once said there is nothing existing like Anglophone and that he is a Bakweriphone.
May be old age has already set in and done a lot of damage to this man

[MutengeneMan]

The ambassador simply paid a courtesy visit to Chief Endeley in his capcity as PARAMOUNT CHIEF of Buea. Nothing wrong with that. That said, Chief Justice Endeley was one of the most reputable judges from Anglophone Cameroon. However, when the judge retired and became a CPDM-appointed chief, he went off the deep end.

Regarding the Plantecam, the issue is a real one; the Cameroon Baptist Mission colluded with an individual to illegally purchase the plantecam installations which belonged to the Bakweri Cooperative of Union Farmers (BCUF). That money, worth close to 100 million dollars did not go to the BCUF, but to the said individuals. In fact, one baptist official allegedly got a 20 million FCFA kickback from the deal.

Now the Baptist mission has leased part of the land and installations it doesn't own to the US Centers for Disease Controls - in effect illegally making money off the backs of poor Bakweri farmers.

Note that Plantecam never owned the land but simply leased it from the BCUF.

So the chief may be senile and a sellout, but the Plantecam issue is real. I am not Bakweri but I support his call to order.

[Molyko Nkwen.]

Who is this man really?
Oh, I see the issue now (maybe just a glimpse)

Ohhh,she beleives I am talking about SCNC.This agian brings me to the conclusion of who we are really.

Not just hypocricy but stupidity as well.

Now I understand why everybody is making fun of us.To the extend that we are also making fun of ourselves.What kind of dullness is it? Ohhhhh,I almost forgot.It is the hypocricy

hahahahahaaaa

[Ndiks]

GOBSHITE AND DICKHEAD RICARDO, do you know you are the number one EMOTIONAL AND REACTIONARY CALVE in this blog? Do you need to be told?You are suffering from Brain MOLLUSCUM CONTAGIOSUM.Seek for a help.I am afraid you may be a seroius consumer of Ganja and HEROIN.How do you react to the case put here by Ambazonians against you and your crazy camerounian coloplunders and ROBBER BARRONS playing hell in our territory?

[dango tumma]

its not only the plantecam land thats beeing
stolen from anglophones,the laws the rule land titles isnt even made and enforced
by anglophones, since the latter have no powers on their land, but the biya government, and his gang have completelly stolen thousand of hectars of land with false and dubbious land titles in victoria, mutengene, tiko, kumba, even in mamfe, today
to get a land title , the locals have to wait for authorisation from the yaounde (thiefs)

[DaDiceman]

"Chief Justice Endeley was one of the most reputable judges from Anglophone Cameroon," wrote MutengeneMan. If this tribalistic bigoted joker is truly "one of the most reputable judges from Anglophone Cameroon," may God bless Anglophone Cameroon! He might have been a judge, but the gibberish he is spluttering about in this article makes this man far from reputable.

[MutengeneMan]

Hello DaDiceman,

The human being is multidimensional, so a great teacher for example, might be a very wicked person. Chief Justice Endeley was a legend in his time and contributed greatly in promoting and protecting the "anglo-saxon" legal system in Cameroon that many talk about with nostalgia on this forum. That was another lifetime and under different circumstances. Chief Endeley has been retired for about 2 decades now and nothing today can take his LEGAL achievements away.

Now his tenure as a traditional ruler is another issue and the history is still recording his acts. His epitaph may read something like, "Here lies a great judge but a lousy chief, an excellent legal mind and a lousy politician".

That said, I find it hilarious that you would brandish a traditional ruler -any traditional ruler - as being "tribalistic". for God's sakes, his job is to protect the narrow ethnic interests of his ethnic constituents!!! Will we label chief Angwafor a tribalist when he speaks up to defend the interests of the people of Mankon? Of course not. Can it just be that the tribalist is the man throwing the "Dice"?????

Remember, man is multidimensional...

Mot'a Onguene

[nji]

Hi,
If Cameroon is fine why are the children of these politicians also living abroad?

[rexon]

Nji,
This question should really be addressed to ricardo and all his members of caadim.
bye

[DaDiceman]

Mot'a Onguene, you are absolutely entitled to adopt whoever you deem deserving to be a "legend" in your eyes. Bottom line is, one man's legend is another man's buffoon. A "legend" is ultimately in the eyes of the beholder.

I am afraid i do not share your view of this man as "a legend". Nevertheless, i am open for you to educate me about his legendary exploits. Can you, please, give me an example of one of his legendary exploits? Do you have any example of what he did to support your claim that he "contributed greatly in promoting and protecting the "anglo-saxon" legal system in Cameroon?"

And, yes, Angwafor and all tribal leaders are tribalistic bigots. I am not a fan on tribal politics, I think it does more to divide people than unite them. Yes, I know, I am in the minority, but that's my point of view. My personal opinion is that a country where a person from Bertoua feels at home in Bamenda, and a man from Tiko feels at home in Sangmelima, should be the goal we should all work towards. I strongly believe that every inch of Cameroon soil belongs to all Cameroonians, equitably. I find everything tribal leaders, like Endeley and Angwafor, stand for to be antagonistic to achieving this goal, as they spread their venom of bigotry in catering for their narrow personal and political interests.

[Emah]

Gentle men and Ladies.

Read CAREFULLY above and you will see how an AXE has been used on chief Endeley with inpunity. Some even question his legacy, some his chieftancy. But that is freedom of speech and the press.

This same freedom when others use it to defend what they believe in, we will ask the post for CENSORSHIP.

In this forum, our province of origin, division of Origin, political leanings already defines the type of judgement we get. If what has just been said about Honourable Chief Endeley,(which personally I consider insultive-my opinion) was extended to other tribes, then some people would have readily asked for the post to be closed down.

Throw a stone at me, if I say, "OTHER Chiefs" are more trabalistic than all SOUTH WEST chiefs put together.

My 5 frs

[DaDiceman]

Emah, there ain't no axes to throw at you, and you ain't gonna hear me calling for censorship on this forum. You are entitled to your opinion that, "OTHER Chiefs are more trabalistic than all SOUTH WEST chiefs put together." I am sure you have a valid reason for your beliefs. As far as I am concerned, I hold all chiefs with the same contempt, period. If you consider that as "using an axe" on one of these tribalistic bigots, tough!

[manga che]

DaDiceMan,

Let me step into the debate at this point and educate you. Common law (unlike civil law east of the Mungo) is based on precedence. Which means it builds on earlier rulings. Chief justice Endeley, helped shaped common law in Anglophone Cameroon thanks to his rulings on issues as diverse as divorce to property rights to criminal law. In his ruling he solidified the foundations of common law which is being eroded on a daily basis by civil law. This is a fact that any law student will tell you. So this is not about him being "my legend" but about the truth. Some 25 years ago, Chief Justice Endeley was led the group of Anglophone legal luminaries who called for a common criminal procedure law for Cameroon which was based largely on the key common law principles such as the presumption of innocence, the ability to get bail, etc., etc., The frogs found this so controversial that they put it in the storage for over 25 years only to brng it out last year for adoption. Even though they tried to "doctor" it as much as they could, the superb contributions of Endeley and his team some 25 years earlier could not be erased. Cameroon is better for it.

Yes that is the fine Anglo-saxon luminary whose work will be studied for decades to come by Southern Cameroons law students and legal practitioners alike. Now whether I think he is a sellout today or not is totally irrelevant. The English say "give the devil his due". This devil was once a good angel and I will always respect that.

If you want even more details; cases, quotes, etc, from his legal days, send me an email.

Remember, if we don't study our history, then we will never know what we are missing or destroying
MC

[DaDiceman]

Mr. Endeley, if he did the things you say he did, was doing his job - a job he was paid to do, and received a monthly cheque from the Cameroonian taxpayer to do, like millions of other Cameroonian civil servants. He did no more, and maybe no less, period.