THE RETURN OF THE VANQUISHED

They left together
Not like dogs with bended tails
But Roman soldiers returning from the battle field
Head and shoulders up
But we all knew
They had lost everything

Not just the battle
But the war.

Where was the leather buckler?
Where was the tray of quails?
Where was the log book from Enfield?
Where was the footman the Fon of Nso sent up?
What happened to the first crew?
What would they say in theior letter to Ealing?
They knew the result would be for the prime minister to rattle and ramble
But who cared? After all, this was war.

YOU`RE BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE

DON`T BARK UP THE WRONG TREE

He spelt it,

Yes.

But he did it the wrong way

He did it upside down

And inside out

I mean topsy-turvy

And you cal that correct spelling?

I mean, he simply blew it!

Thinking he was taking yet another cap to Fez

He thought nothing could hold sway

Despite that dreadful gown

He offered his concubine to atone for the humiliating bout

If I were you I would offer him no more ivory

He`s just looking for a cheap place to do his dumping!

THE KUMBA-MAMFE ROAD

THE KUMBA-MAMFE ROAD

Everything being equal, work on the long awaited Kumba-Mamfe road will take off in earnest in May of this year, which is in two months` time. This revelation follows the recent publication by the Minister of Public Works of tenders to bid results launched for the project.

If one were to go by the words of the minister, effective work would start on the 5^th of May 2014, to be precise. The job has been awarded to two Chinese construction firms: The China Communications Construction Company Ltd on the one hand, and the Jiangsu Provincial Transportation Engineering Company Ltd, on the other hand.

Chinese Communications will specifically execute the portion of the road that runs from Kumba to Nfaitock. This lot is subdivided into two parts, the first of which is Kumba-Kumbe/Bakundu, and the second Kumba-Bakundu-Nfaitock. That portion will cost 32.627bn. The second lot which is 46.88km long will be handled by Jiangsu Provincial. It covers the covers Nfaitock-Bachuo Akagbe stretch. Its realization will cost 22.041bn. This is a prolongation of the international Trans African highway that was designed to run from Bamenda in Cameroon to Enugu in Nigeria. The total cost for both phases of the road project stands at 54b CFA.

AFRICA`S BILLIONAIRE MEN AND WOMEN

AFRICA`S BILLIONAIRE MEN AND WOMEN

The US-based TIME Magazine has singled out four Africans as being the wealthiest on the continent. Among them are two men and two women.

Topping the charts is Nigeria`s businessman Aliko Dangote, a commodities trader whose wealth amounts to 20.2bn USD. Dangote is well known for his production of cement.  It is being speculated in Cameroon that if his plans to open a cement factory in the country materialize, then the price of the product will be drastically reduced for Cameroonians.

Next in line to Dangote is another Nigerian, this time a woman, named Folorunsho Alakija, whose fortune is said to amount to 7.3bn USD. Alakija heads the oil group known as Famfa Oil and is on record for holding some 20m USD in real estate in Britain.

Nathan Kirsh who comes from Swaziland, owns 3.6bn USD worth of assets, a figure which is said to exceed that of his country`s total wealth. Kirsh has specialized in real estate and distribution.

Mohammed Mansour is an Egyptian who has wealth worth USD2.3bn. He heads the Mansour Group which runs a supermarket chain and the McDonald`s franchises in Egypt.

THE QUESTION OF JOB CREATION IN CAMEROON

JOB CREATION IN CAMEROON

Some time ago, the government ruled that each year, the National Institute for Statistics would research, compile and publish relevant information in  what it termed the `Annual Inquiry into Enterprises`. The Institute has just made public the first of such studies.

The investigation was performed on a total of 700 Cameroonian enterprises and focused on output, profitability and job creation. Data used was from 2011, with the study being executed in the fourth quarter of 2012. The objective was to come up with structural indicators of the firms concerned, while using the data as the basis for future similar exercises as well as a stimulus for boosting industrial production in the country.

Researchers started off with a sample of 750 firms, 539 of which reported favorably and correctly to questionnaires. Of the sample, 64 per cent was from large enterprises, 31 per cent from medium-sized ones and 5 per cent from small-sized enterprises.

One finding was that the work force of the firms surveyed had risen from 386 263 in 2009 to 460 000 in 2011This represented  an increase of 73 737, in real terms, of new jobs created in the two years from 2009 to 2011. Also, according to the study, small-sized enterprises employed more woman than men, which was a difference of 35.6 per cent, while the large firms only recorded 21.1 per cent. Concerning performance, the VAT rate stood at 25 per cent in the primary sector, 36 per cent in industry and 28.7 per cent in commerce and services.

On the foreign market, only a negligible 3.1 per cent of Cameroonian firms in the study did receive any direct foreign ventures. On the other hand, the use of the computer as a means of communication increased on all fronts. Another rising indicator was that of internet being used in business transactions, with 96 per cent of large enterprises making full use of it as opposed to 86 per cent of medium-scale enterprises.

Concerning the environment, only two out of every ten businesses were found to recycle their waste products, whereas all of them produced waste matter. So what happened to the rest of it?

Surely, despite the instances of progress, a lot remains to be done in this sector.

FOOTNOTE

This story was first broadcast on FOUNDATION RADIO, FM 100, The Voice of the Voiceless, Mile 6, Ngomgham-Mankon, Bamenda, North West Region, Bamenda, on the 11^th of September 2013. The Radio is part of the USA-based Fomunyoh Foundation (TFF) whose CEO is Dr. Chris Fomunyoh.

EYEWITNESSES TO CORRUPTION

EYEWITNESSES TO CORRUPTION

Please, stand back

Step back and let the Parliamentarian pass

We elected him and he is our eyes and ears

He fought hard for this post

Remember how he made repeated trips to Yaounde?

The Central Committee first rejected and imposed

Pa Day Dey Go

I can`t begin to tell you who and who he saw, Personally

It was only when an opposition MP threatened to Reveal everything; to spill the beans

And leave nothing untold

That the Central Committee finally sat up

And rehabilitated him

But for how long?

I know the man

He will not keep quiet for long

He will talk

Sooner or later

And we`ll know who pocketed money for those projects

We will know why Akwankah was removed as Director

And replaced by Ndi

If you think it doesn`t matter

Then just wait and see

Are we not all here?