President FADCA, Bamenda Chapter.
Mr Musi Vincent is the President of the Fanji Development and Cultural Association FADCA, Bamenda Chapter. In this interview he declares that the greatest desire of FADCA is to see that things return to normal once more in Bafanji. The crisis he intimated, has prevented FADCA from effectively functioning for a period of three years. He begins by delving into the origins of FADCA.
Excerpts
FADCA as it is called now, is the brainchild of Mr Peleke Mungi Vincent who deemed it necessary to bring people together with an intention of making his village to grow like he saw other villages developing around him in Kumba where he resided. This was in 1972 and it started as the Fanji Development Committee FDC. A group of people who thought in the same manner and who believed in the initiative came together. It gained momentum and was highly welcomed by the village.
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What were the major achievements of FDC?
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FDC did quite a lot for the village thanks to the open handedness of Pah Peleke who did not want to see people in the village suffer. With time, it metamorphosed into FDU, Fanji Development Union but there was still a name problem. It was really development oriented and went ahead to do a lot of work in the village. In 2001 Fon Ngwenfuni II thought that a more englobing structure should be put in place. That's how the name was changed to FADCA: Fanji Development and Cultural Association and the present National President is Nkweti Patrick who is based in Douala.
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It is obvious that FADCA was created to meet up with the Cultural and Development needs of Bafanji. How has it lived up to these expectations?
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Without the existence of this structure, Bafanji would have been lagging behind in many ways. FDC was able to structure the equipment at the health center. That was the aim of the founders. They wanted that there should be some kind of health facility in the village. So the founder went ahead, built it and handed it to the Prebytarian Church. That was in the domain of health so shortly after the creation of FADCA we took it upon ourselves the responsibility to lobby for the creation of Educational Infrastructures in Bafanji. We were lucky to be given a Government High school that very year. Afterwards we thought that there was the need for a Technical College. We lobbied again. In Cameroon you must lobby to get things done. This entails talking to key persons to get things done. We eventually got a Government Technical College. We did not stop there. We went ahead, lobbied and got a Government Secondary School to serve as a feeder school for the Government High School. At the level of Secondary Education we have three schools and we can’t begin to count the primary and Nursery Schools. FADCA has been very instrumental in all of this not only lobbying but also participating in the building. FADCA almost singlehandedly built the Government Technical College. However the government actually brought in lots of investment at GBHS where they built about seven classrooms. At the level of education we did quite much but we didn’t stop at that. Of course we had set objectives like Health, Education, Farm to Market Roads, but the next very important thing was drinking water. What we had which was provided by the CIAC System lasted only for a short time and collapsed. Water remains a priority. Unfortunately, the topography of Bafanji doesn’t favour what we call Water by Gravity and presently we are still looking for ways to solve the problem of water. Right now it remains a very serious challenge.
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What about Electricity?
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We took advantage of the Government's Rural Electrification Programme. As God would have it we convinced the Government and 80 million FCFA was made available for the Electrification of Bafanji.
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Who are some of those key personalities in Bafanji that have been pushing to see that most of these projects are realised?
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You've had people like Pah Mungi Peleke may his soul rest in peace who put in so much and at the time he was not even the President. Others who bought the idea include people like late Feko Vincent, late Tamba Patrick, Pah Fekeme, Mr. Pezumbiah Philip, Pah Peyechu Thaddeus, Mr Sungpewoh Williams, Mr Nkweti Patrick amongst others. These are people who have been at the forefront of the activities of FADCA as National Presidents. You have people like Pah Ngufor Peter though he has never been National President, he served at one time as Treasurer. He stands like a pillar around which every development initiative evolves. He has always been there for us and has constantly been behind our Development initiatives.
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Bafanji is in the Balikumbat Subdivision, an area which was particularly hit by the crisis. You people showed resilience and sailed through. How was this done?
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Apart from just being resilient, I will add determination, resoluteness and the forward looking nature of our people. I recall the Intertribal skirmishes of 1995 – 1998 during which Bafanji was almost wiped out. About 400 houses were burnt down. You would expect a people coming out of this to crumble but no. We kept on as it is traditional of us. We've stayed focused and thank God we are moving on.
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How are you people facing the challenge of school attendance in the crisis?
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It is regrettable, The schools are empty. You find children with their parents living in deplorable conditions in the neighbouring Division in the West Region looking for education. The three colleges are closed down and more than twenty primary schools are closed down. The teachers are threatened here and there and they are desperate because they can’t work. The situation was compounded by the COVID 19 Pandemic. We've been educating the villagers about it. Elders like Pah Ngufor Peter also stepped in with basic needs to help the villagers protect themselves from it like Face masks, Bucket taps, tablets of soap, Hand Sanitizers, Wash hand basins amongst other things. These things were distributed to the villagers and some were placed at strategic places throughout the village.
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Can you comfortably say that Bafanji has proven to be an example to emulate as far as participatory approach to development is concerned?
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You are very correct. Honestly what took place in 1972 with the creation of FDC, a self reliant development oriented platform was the first of its kind in the then Ndop Subdivision made up of 13 villages. So the idea of participatory approach to development in that Subdivision was brought in by Bafanji people. It is true that other villages picked up the idea and have even gone further than us. It is true that we have our own peculiar situation. Lots of people have benefited from it and we learn from each other. It is unfortunate that we have not remained at the forefront because of the man-made catastrophes that we went through.
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How is the collaboration between the older and the younger generation?
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We are lucky to have a young, talented, dynamic Fon. The Fon of Bafanji, Fon Ngwenfon II is a Magistrate by Profession. Recently he suggested that we should begin a nursery from where we can groom those who will take over the leadership of FADCA tomorrow and insisted on the fact that there should be a Youth Wing and of course two months ago we put in place the Youth wing of the Association. Transitions in the Association have always been smooth since they are guided by a laid down constitution. It is a three year term renewable once and therefore a President can’t put in more than six years in office. We have made it possible for that change to be smooth. In this way we constantly re-structure the Association by bringing in younger people. The new National President is a young 40 year old gentleman working with a Parastatal in Douala. His team is equally young and those of us who constitute the older generation are always behind them giving the necessary guidance. That movement from the old order to the new has always been in perfect order.
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What orientation do you think the Association should take this year 2021?
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2021 is obviously a very difficult year. With the crisis, FADCA at the National Level has not been functioning for three years. People are scared because Bafanji is the base and we can’t go to Bafanji freely because you never know what may happen to you. So if things were to come back to normal honestly speaking we will be ready to contribute as much as it is necessary to bring in Portable Water and to restructure and reconstruct our Community Hall which has been abandoned. Our vision is to get everything functioning again but this can only be possible if the crisis and the COVID 19 threats are removed.
Interviewed by Francis Ekongang Nzante.
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LES GENS DU CAMEROUN
CAMEROON PEOPLE MAGAZINE
Email: francoeko@gmail.com
Tel: +237696896001/ +237678401408/ +237671262198
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