Sequel To AES SONEL Crisis:Gov't Says SDO Did Not Kill Students

By Kini Nsom

Despite strong allegations that the Senior Divisional Officer, SDO, for Upper Nyong in the East Province, Sylvestre Essama, September 17, opened fire on demonstrators, protesting against electricity blackout in Abong Mbang, government has tacitly shirked responsibility for the death of two students.

In a press briefing in Yaounde on Tuesday, September 18, the Minister Delegate at the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, MINATD, Emmanuel Edou, rather blamed the killings on demonstrators, who he claimed, were violent in their protest against the absence of electricity in the area for several months.

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He said the death was the outcome of a violent uprising that also saw the burning of the SDO's office and his residence and violent attacks on the forces of law and order. Mr. Edou said 10 people were seriously injured. He said four of the victims, who were in very critical condition, are receiving treatment at the Yaounde University Teaching Hospital.

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The inhabitants of Abong Mbang vented their anger in demonstrations after suffering several months of frequent and prolonged power cuts. According to AES-SONEL authorities, the cuts were caused by a faulty power plant which has been worn out by age. They said they were engaged in arresting the situation with new installations that could re-establish the frequent flow of electricity.

But some inhabitants of Abong Mbang who spoke to The Post by phone on Wednesday, September 19, said AES-SONEL kept procrastinating as to when they were going to solve the problem while they lived the devastating effects of the power cuts.

Following pent up anger and frustration, The Post learnt, the Abong Mbang people lost their patience last Monday and went amok in street demonstrations. This led to violent clashes with gendarmes and anti-riot police. The demonstrators reportedly stormed public offices; chanting anti-government slogans.

Students reportedly joined them hurly burly as the demonstrations intensified. Sources said the SDO, apparently engulfed by panic, opened fire on the crowd that had come to present their grievances to him. The sources claim that it was at this time that violent bullets killed two male students from Government Technical High School, Lycee Technique, Abong Mbang.

Some people in the crowd claimed that they saw the SDO pull the trigger and unleashed the bullet at one of the students, 19-year-old Marcel Bertrand Mvogo Awono. The other victim, 20-year old Pongonzok Tchimpe, was later found lying dead in a pool of his own blood.

The SDO has refuted allegations that he opened fire. Another source that spoke to The Post by phone, said government should fully take responsibility for the death of the two students because they sent heavily armed troops to molest unarmed civilians that were only protesting for their rights to electricity.

During Tuesday's press briefing that was attended by the Minister of Communication, Jean Pierre Biyiti-Bi Essam, the Minister of Public Health, Andre Mama Fouda, and the Minister of Water Resources and Energy, Jean Bernard Sindeu, government expressed remorse about the killings.

Emmanuel Edou said a commission of inquiry was already at work and would be expected to present its findings after eight days. He rebuked the Abong Mbang inhabitants for using a violent method to express their grievances and equally called on those concerned, including AES-SONEL, to always listen to the grievances of the people so as to avert such regrettable situations.

Earlier, in another press briefing, the General Manager of AES-SONEL, Jean David Bile, extended a message of condolence to the bereaved family, stating that electricity has been re-installed in the area. He announced a number of technical measures taken to curb the problem of power cuts in the area, stating that a number of technical installations will be made.

Comments

[Ted]

News from Cameroon.

[etange]

GOD BLESS CAMEROON
A few weeks ago, the people of Abong Mbang largely voted for the CPDM government. These people could have voted their CPDM MPs out of government to express their grievance, but because of tribalism and unwilliness to push for change, they decided to maintain the status quo. Cameroon wil know no peace untill Cameroonians stand up and face the evil system in power. However, i admire the bravely of those young people who stood against the system, those 2 dead students have joined the ranks of matyrs. i have no doubt that cameroon will someday day applaud their actions. Why do we we even need SDO's and DO's, these were all colonial arrangements which ought to have ended with colonialism. I believe in a decentralized system of government, locals should be able to elect their leaders and these leaders wil surely be responsible. No elected mayor will shoot his people in a manner in which the SDO did. once again i say to the families of those fallen to be brave. The blood of these young men and those who have gone before will never be forgotten. I know history will surey count you all as Heroes who stood against oppression.

[Tita Mofaw]

May their soul rest in peace.The killings would probably have more impact if it was in the Southern province.

They should just make sure that when sending next they motions of support, they should ask the presidency not to send DOs with guns in their division.

[Ndi O]

As we can all see, the tumor is spreading to all angles. Time will tell. We need more of "motions of support." Let us chant "CPDM Oh Yeah", so as to get many more SDOs and DOs. What a cursed nation.