By Joe Dinga Pefok
At the press conference the National Chairman of the SDF, John Fru Ndi, granted in Douala on February 13, the Chair caught himself talking of Article 8.2 instead of Article 6 (2) of the 1996 Constitution.
Fru Ndi turned the error into a joke which sparked laughter. He recalled that earlier he had also made that same error in a radio interview. "You people should forgive me for this error.
The error is
simply because I am more used to Article 8.2." Article 8.2 is the
dreaded clause in the SDF Constitution, which is usually slammed
against militants said to be guilty of anti-party activities, which
means dismissal from the party.
Quacks Invade Medical Profession
Quacks seem to have invaded the medical profession particularly in Douala and the Littoral Province as a whole. This worry has been expressed by the Littoral Chapter of the National Order of Nurses and Para-Medical Staff.
At its 19th ordinary session recently, members of the Littoral Chapter of the National Order of Nurses and Para-Medical Staff adopted a resolution calling on the authorities concerned to step up the fight against illegal health centres and institutions, as well as weed out charlatans from the medical profession.
But an executive member of the association whom The Post contacted in Douala on February 14 expressed frustration that the authorities have not exerted any efforts either to crack down on the charlatans or close down illegal health centres.
The reluctance of the authorities is attributed to corruption since most of these illegal health centres are considered as their grazing grounds (chop farms). It would be recalled that one of the most scandalous cases which the Douala III DO uncovered following an incident where a patient was deformed after been given wrong drugs,
was that of a young man, who after being an electricity apprentice for a year, opened a health centre in the quarter and automatically got the title of "doctor". He was said to have become notorious for having free sex with desperate girls or women who approached him for abortion.
Hunting Ghost Workers At Douala Urban Council
A census of personnel, which started at the Douala Urban Council on February 6, is well underway. The Government Delegate to the Douala Urban Council, Dr. Fritz Ntone Ntone, who decided on the operation and duly informed the Wouri SDO, says it is meant to clear out 'ghost' and other irregular workers from the council. He said this was in line with the promise he had made on coming to office in 2006, to "clean the house."
Ntone Ntone said there are people allegedly passing around for workers of the Douala Urban Council, who earn salaries but do no work at the council. He said there are also reports of some workers at the council without clear job descriptions. And so disorder reigns; there is infighting and work is slowed down.
There are indications that after the census, there would be a redeployment of some of the genuine council workers. Meanwhile, some dependable sources at the council said some of the ghost workers, especially those whose situations are irregular got in when Rtd. Colonel Edouard Etonde Ekoto was Government Delegate.
Most of them are Douala youths whom Etonde reportedly brought
either for political, tribal, family or social reasons. Many of them
have no real work to do at the council, but they draw salaries at the
end of the month. It is said that some senior personnel of the council
reportedly took advantage of that reign of irregularity to slip in
their own persons or even fitted in names of non-existing workers on
the pay roll.
New Front Created In Douala
A front made up of some members of the civil society, political activists, syndicates as well as political parties has been created in Douala with the aim to fight against the planned constitutional amendment by the CPDM regime. The front has as Secretary General, Achille Kotto, a member of the civil society as well as a political activist.
It is difficult to say how far the front will go let alone stick together, considering what happened with similar groupings in the 90s. Whatever the case, the front has been making appeals to other political parties, especially the SDF to come on board.
But that does not seem likely, if one were to go by what the SDF National Chairman, John Fru Ndi, said at the February 13 press conference in Douala, when responding to a question as to if the party would join the front. Fru Ndi had said it was for the front to join hands with the SDF and not vice versa.
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