“Issues tilting towards ethics and morals downplay the technical quality of doctors’ work in Cameroon”

Dr. Kinge Thompson Njie

-Director of the Bamenda Regional Hospital

Dr. Kinge Thompson Njie recently at an event at Azam Hotel in Bamenda during a sumptuous event organised to celebrate his reception of the Medal of Cameroon Order of Valour.

The President of the Republic recognised you through the award of the medal of the Knight of Cameroon Order of Valour recently but we want to know the first steps of the person who has grown to become such a huge medical personality.

I have been a Medical Doctor since 1987. I am a medical Doctor specialized in Infectious diseases and I have been doing just what I think I have to do. Administratively I have headed the Regional Hospital in Limbe and now Bamenda for the past two and half years. Through the years I have been doing just what I think is normal for me to do. I have led a team of wonderful doctors and nurses who accepted to share the vision that I have for this hospital. Of course this vision is not my creation. It has been born from the instructions of the Honourable Minister of Public Health His Excellency Andre Mama Fouda who insists on quality Health Care. Within that context I have been able to come up with a Situational Analyses for this hospital and we have been working hand in hand not expecting that we will have this kind of recognition. It is a pleasant surprise and we were not expecting it. It has come and it is to tell everyone that when we concentrate just on what we have to do it is seen from afar and the recognition we have had is motivational to all of us and it should be with that kind of mind set that people must work.

 

Somebody like you who has touched the two key hospitals in English speaking Cameroon; that is the Limbe and the Bamenda Regional Hospitals is certainly in a position provide an expert opinion on the general quality of health services in Cameroon generally speaking and in English speaking Cameroon specifically.

There has been one issue coming on and on. Technically, doctors and nurses are doing their work in all hospitals in Cameroon. There are issues which are non-medical tilting towards ethics and morals which now down play the technical quality of work that the doctors and nurses are doing. Some of these issues are the lack of communication. Medical personnel do not communicate enough with patients and their relatives and do not even communicate enough within themselves. 

There are issues of non-respect of human rights, downplaying the dignity of patients and their relatives when they come to the hospitals and these are non-medical issues. These are responsible for almost 90% of the complains we get from hospitals. 

After the recent scandals we had from hospitals and the stand the Minister of Public Health have taken and all the instructions given down to all hospitals to be highly organised and to pay a lot of attention to issues like the quality of reception given to our patients I think a lot of things are going to change. When we encourage parent welfare, side by side with the good technical work that we are doing a lot is going to change for the better of all Cameroonians.

Entrance to the Bamenda Regional Hospital

How optimistic are you with the direction Cameroon is taking in the domain of health?

Cameroon is doing great. We are even spoilt. When you look at what the Cameroon Government is doing so that her citizens remain healthy, especially through Government hospitals and at the same time we are blaming the government for being organised to put in place a social security system which of course would have only come to give support and assistance to the Government. Consultation fees in all Government Hospitals have remained at FCFA 600. Tell me where else in the world do you have to see a doctor for a fee of just FCFA 600? I am not saying that we are not also having corrupt practices in these hospitals but a corrupt practice is a corrupt practice and the government has condemned all these practices.

 If any doctor or nurse is taking more than FCFA 600 for consultation especially when you have to see a General Practioner, then such should take that responsibility for it is not government’s responsibility. We are in the right direction but perhaps we are a little bit slow. I blame the government for spoiling us. In other places people are paying and when they pay, the social system is put in place. You always have two sides of the coin in every situation and decision. 

So perhaps this is the time that the government should be thinking of dropping off all the subsidies to Government Hospitals and looking in the direction of putting up a social security system where everybody pays and it will take care of bills in the different hospitals. I think we are doing well but it is always good to have a good look before you leap. I think this is the situation with Government. 

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N.W. Movers and shakers join Director of Bamenda Regional Hospital to celebrate knighthood

On Saturday June 18 2016, every road in Bamenda led to Azam Hotel as the movers and shakers of the North West Region converged in the Banquet Hall of this hotel on Bali Road to join Dr, Kingue Thompson, the director of the Bamenda Regional Hospital in celebrating his recent reception of the Knight of National Order of Valour during the May 20^th celebrations commemorating the National Day of Cameroon.

Dr. Kingue Thompson

Rev. Dr. Festus Asana, the Moderator Emeritus of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon in his capacity as the Chairman of the occasion said the recognition of Dr. Kingue by the President of the Republic of Cameroon to give him that honour of the Knight of the Order of Valour was a result of long years of hard work on the part of the Medical Doctor. Referring to the time when Dr. Kingue Thompson was the Director of the Limbe Regional Hospital, the Right Reverend Dr. Asana Festus said while visiting the Limbe Regional Hospital at the time he noted the stamp of a disciplined director. He mentioned among other things the neatness of the hospital, the precise labeling system and the general organisation of the hospital. This spirit of hard work and discipline he said had certainly been moved to the Bamenda Regional Hospital with the transfer of Dr. Kingue Thompson to the North West Region. 

The Secretary General at the North West Governor’s Office called on Dr. Kingue to double his efforts and accompany the Head of State President Paul Biya towards achieving his goal of emergence in 2035. He said the President of the Republic doesn’t necessarily chose only from among the bosses for the award of the medal of Knight for the Cameroon Order of Valour. The Director of the Bamenda Regional Hospital he said now belonged to a special class of Cameroonians valued for what they have put in.

Dr. Kingue Thompson on his part said he wished this medal was a cake that he could cut into bits and share to each and everyone present. He equally seized the opportunity to thank all the hospital workers who had collaborated with him to produce the results that had made it possible for him to receive such an award. He equally thanked all the religious whose prayers he said had contributed to the successful work at the Bamenda Regional Hospital. Thanking the contingent that had come up from Limbe, he went ahead to congratulate the media for the wonderful work they have been doing. 

HRH Chief Molive Mulungu Otto of Batoke

HRH Molive Mulungu Otto, Chief of Batoke and President of Limbe Chiefs’ Conference cum Public Relations Officer of Pan African Council of Traditional Authorities said “what I witnessed here today makes me feel proud for the Director of the Regional Hospital Bamenda Dr. Kingue Thompson. It shows that there are people we still have to rely on. What he has been doing was certainly being watched and I think the medal awarded to him by the Head of State is not a mistake. Dr. Kingue is somebody who has been working for quite a long time and in Limbe we saw how he changed the face of the Regional Hospital in Limbe. Now in Bamenda he is doing it so I think this is somebody who deserves an award. I seize this opportunity to tell my people that hard work pays and that those who are in services should do it in a dedicated manner so that they too may be awarded. I thank the Head of State through the Governor of the North West Region for choosing Dr. Kingue Thompson for such a prestigious award. That makes us the Fako people to feel proud.” 

 Equally present at the occasion were Makoge Ivo, the Inspector General at the NW Governor’s Office, the Attorney General of the Bamenda High Court, The Regional Delegate of Health for the North West Region, Colonel Agha Robinson, Commander of the 22^nd Infantry Battalion and the erstwhile Government Delegate to the Bamenda City Council Albert Nde amongst many other guests. 

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Mwelle Kunz Mbai, Principal, CCAS, Kumba

 
Can you please take us down history and tell us about the origins of this very important institution?

Mwelle Kunz Mbai, Principal,

Cameroon College of Arts and Science was created in 1973 as an essentially Second cycle school but it became necessary that a first cycle be created. This was done in 1982 making it a complete Lyce as the francophone calls it. It has been functioning like that. The first principal here was the Honourable Sona Elonge and thereafter we’ve had a series of principals who have taken care of the aesthetic and the pedagogic development of the school. I came to CCAS Kumba as principal in the year 2000 and I was here for five years that is from 2000 to 2005. Then I went over to Lyce Bilingue D’Application in Yaounde where I worked for two years and came back here. I have been in CCAS Kumba since then.

CCAS Kumba has gone through a tumultuous history with some ups and downs with regards to its position as a leading institution and the attention Government gives it.

Signs of heightened Security at the entrance to the school CCAS Kumba

Like a human being, CCAS Kumba has had its peak and low periods. These ups and downs range from infrastructure, lack of teachers, poor results and a few other things. But I think for quite some time now we have seen a lot of improvement especially in the results of CCAS Kumba. We have equally seen a good improvement in the staffing situation of CCAS Kumba. Here I want to pay tribute and give thanks to His Excellency Louis Bapes Bapes, the Minister of Secondary Education for not forgetting CCAS Kumba when ever need be. Again I think that there are still a lot of problems. Some people feel that when you are in the township, the teaching population is quite much but its not always the case. I was just trying to draw a list of my PTA Part time teachers and there are twenty five part time teachers already. The situation is not very okay. If it were, we will not be taking twenty five part time teachers. It terms of population, the school has evolved. When I used to be here in the year 2000, the population was not up to two thousand but today I want to tell you that last year we were about 4200.

And in terms of results…
 
Yes in terms of results it has evolved in a way that has made us proud. Our results in terms of the number of successful students that we have churned out is among the best in Cameroon. In terms of manpower production, I think we have no rival. I will give you an example. In the 2015 June session for the GCE Ordinary Level we put in 782 candidates and 425 passed giving us a percentage score of 54.35. I think there is no other school with that type of population succeeding. For the A Levels, we put in 919 candidates and 633 passed giving us a percentage pass of 68.88. Here again I will say with a lot of confidence that there is no other school which has sent out that number of successful students. In terms of quality and quantity our results were good.

Many will want to emulate your example. How did you turn things around because the CCAS you met wasn’t this good from the perspective of results..
 
The first thing is the way you manage your human resources. You can have the best of teachers but if you don’t manage them well they will not give you the necessary results. The way we collaborate is very important. We are each other’s keeper. We work in collaboration. In fact, we are a team. If you see students leaving other schools to come here, it is because they have heard may be from their friends that if you go to CCAS you will certainly make you’re A Levels because of the way we work here. These are some of the reasons why we make these results. There is a close follow up both of teachers and students and we try as much as possible to see that we have effective syllabus coverage through regular meetings and concertations. It is not easy but God has given us the energy, the stamina and the time to do all that.

What is your general appraisal of the way the secondary education family in the Southwest Region is run?

I think we work in perfect harmony with our Regional Delegation and the Divisional Delegations. They always make visits and there are always pedagogic inspectors coming around to see. Some of our teachers just left school and therefore need follow up reason why the visits of these inspectors are very useful. It’s not like they come here looking for faults. Each time they come, we have working sessions from which these teachers learn. We equally have what we call internal pedagogic inspection where the older teachers in the school try to supervise the younger ones and afterwards they call them for some workshops where we tell them their weaknesses and what they should do. We don’t leave these teachers in the first cycle but rather we give these young ones who have just come, a chance to teach in the second cycle. Gradually they become used to teaching in the second cycle so that in the event where an older teacher leaves there is somebody there to fit in their shoes.

What measures are being put in place to beef up security in such a huge institution like CCAS Kumba?
 
You will agree with me that to assure security is not easy. We have two metal detectors that are used at the gate. Before coming in each visitor drops their Identity Cards and indicate exactly who they have come to see and a description of the person you have come to see for us to be sure that you know the person you came to see. We have equally stepped up security by increasing the number of security guards we have on campus. They are doing a good job and we sometimes talk to the students and teachers on security issues. Strange faces are advised to be reported immediately to authorities and they are advised not to panic when they find themselves in such a situation. We have taken all the necessary measures to assure security in this school.

What is the nature of the relationship between this institution that you head and its ex-students association?
 
That is where you will be surprised. I have realized that the ex-students of CCAS Kumba don’t have an association and hardly come back to see how their school is functioning. To the best of my knowledge they don’t have one because I have not seen them come here. The only people who have tried to show some concern are the students in the University of Buea. They sometimes come here to share their experiences with their younger ones especially during holidays. Those in Polytechnics, in CCUS come here to prepare the younger ones for the competitive exams.

You certainly have a message for hierarchy and other educational stakeholders..
 
I am making a serious appeal to the ex-students of CCAS Kumba to think about their Alma-matter. We are here working and we think that they too have something to contribute to make this school succeed. To my students I call on them to be disciplined for when you have discipline all other things follow. Parents should understand that sending a child to school is not just enough. Paying the school fees is not enough. The children need text books and follow up from the parents. We are open to working and collaborating with parents. Unfortunately parents hardly come for meetings when they are called. Sometimes less than a hundred parents come for meetings in a school like ours with more than 4000 students. I seize this opportunity to thank hierarchy for what they have been doing in CCAS Kumba. This goes to the Divisional Delegate, the Regional Delegate and the Minister of Secondary Education. They always listen to our problems and are always there with a pat on our backs to push us forth.


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