THE PAINFUL AND HUMILIATING ROAD TO MAMFE

Surely, among one of the oddest things we would have heard as the year 2013 draws to a close is that traveling to Mamfe for people living in places like Douala, Yaounde, Limbe, Tiko and Buea is not just a long nightmare but one that causes a lot of pain, anger and frustration. If it is such an arduous task for people traveling from the cities I have cited, then what more of Kumba which is in principle, just next door to Mamfe but which for now does not directly lead to Mamfe but necessitates the long haul to and through Bamenda. The oddity is that people journeying from these places to Mamfe are obliged to drive first to the North West in order to use the road that takes off from Bamenda and then passes through Bali, Batibo, Widikum, before entering Mamfe. True enough, it is a good road while the direct one from Kumba to Mamfe is so bad that it can be said to be impassable or even a curse. However, one cannot help asking the question as to whether the people of Manyu are really feeling the pinch because we do not seem to hear them cry. Yet the sad truth is that the big guns of the Division who live outside of it also do travel right up to Bamenda before returning down south to Mamfe. So what is the problem with the big shots of Manyu? Even if the government has been slow to act, what have the top people of the Division done to remedy the situation? Apparently, they have not even been seen to be trying to do something. Yet, right now and throughout Cameroon`s political history, Manyu Division appears to have got the lion`s share of top positions among the Divisions of the South West Region. Currently, there are two Manyu ministers working at the Presidency of the Republic: Peter Agbor Tabi who is Assistant Secretary General and Mengot Victor Arrey Nkongho who is Minister in Charge of Special Duties at the Presidency of the Republic. Apart from these, Manyu has had a plethora of other ministers including Egbe Tabi Emmanuel ,Jacob Ayuk Takem, Michael Kima Tabong, Jerome Obi Eta and Tanyi-Mbianyo Clarkson. But there is more to it because the same Manyu has had three provincial governors. It was once had a Vice President of the National Assembly. One can also not help wondering what these people tell the electorate when they go out to campaign for elections or to hold rallies within the ruling CPDM party. The party then looks like one which is ruling only the top brass of the division who have "comfortable" positions and not the ordinary citizen who are suffering on a daily basis. For now though, the general feeling among the common people of Manyu is that those at the top do not care one bit about them. As one trader in Mamfe put it, "Why should Yaounde care when those who wre the link between Yaounde and us do not even seem to be telling them the truth? In fact, the state of the Kumba-Mamfe road is a disgrace to every son and daughter of Manyu" The onus is now on the leaders of Manyu Division to initiate a saving action which others can support. One of these could be to organize fundraising events with a view to raising funds to open up the much shorter road from Kumba to Mamfe. Even so, the fundraising must not be limited to only sons and daughters of Manyu. People from other parts of the country and even the Diaspora should be allowed to chip in.That is when the world - and even the government of Cameroon - may at last realize that there was a problem somewhere.