Red flag, I think this article was written before or without prior knowledge of the shooting to dead of these 3 students.

Terrible indeed and my condolence to the bereaved families. This is an indication that things will never change except something drastic is done.

The Restless Crown: Coup d’Etat Psychoses in Yaoundé There has been a general restiveness in the ranks of the army and national security since the Minister-delegate at the presidency in charge of national defense began leading an inquiry on a project presumably involving a military putsch which has already led to the arrests of many senior officers. 1- Shots fired at Chantal Biya’s motorcade Friday November 3rd, 2007. In the neighborhood of quartier Tsinga in Yaoundé, a young man from the far-north province is shot to death by elements of the presidential guard. A most unusual occurrence. Chantal Biya’s convoy from the Yaoundé international airport had just passed through there. According to witnesses, the first lady had just been to welcome her Nigerian counterpart , Madame Tandja, when this young man decided to cross the street. Residents were quickly rounded-up by elements of the guard … Several days before, police sources from the Littoral tell us, instructions went out for the city of Douala to be searched from top to bottom by patrols from the police and the gendarmerie. All vehicles were closely searched into the wee hours of the morning. It was a search for transactions of large arms caches… As such, the nation has been in restive unease since the announcement by the national security of an alleged military coup plot less than a month ago. The national Security and foreign surveillance services, the presidential security, the intelligence community, etc., are on high-alert following this information “communicated” by the national defense services… In reality, we still don’t know much about this plot which, on the surface, resembles a widely cast net. It has already snagged– which is what makes this affair even more sensitive! – the called-up of some high-ranking and mid-ranking officers in the army, as well as some foreigners, who include Angélique Grasso, Jean-Jacques Luciani and Robert Dulas, reputedly close associates of the Director of the civil cabinet at the presidency, Jean-Baptiste Béléoken. Among other high-profile arrests are: Colonel Mahamat Boukar Satoume (former-collaborator to captain Guerandi Mbara in Nkongsamba), Colonel Samuel Koué, Head of the Mora battalion, lieutenant-colonel Douraï, Head of the light-infantry battalion at Maroua-Salak… Mid-level soldiers were also taken-in following the launching of this investigations which, according to Military security sources, began with a shipment of military equipment intercepted in Douala , supposedly destined to a list of people found listed in the note-book of an unspecified European who has also been called in. In all, a which-hunt operation. The Head of State Paul Biya, who was briefed about this “coup”, had ordered its immediate dismantling before his trip to Paris … 2- A plausible scenario: Broad Outlines In reality, the investigation has only begun. According to sources close to the officers under investigation, “A coup scenario which has prevailed would have to be reconstructed after the skepticism from the Head of State and of some authorities in the face of this affair”. Until now, it has been thought to involve a cast of characters around Captain Guérandi Mbara, a Toupouri officer celebrated for the dread he inspires in national defense circles. “Based on his past record”. And for good reason. He is one of the architects of the failed putsch of April 6th 1984 against the Biya regime. And, very much alive since his exile to Burkina Faso where he’s been engaged in academic pursuits, he is considered one of the well-springs of most matters dealing with national security. In the present scenario, two incongruities have, unfortunately, been introduced, which confuse the panoply: fabricated proofs have been introduced into the conspiracy(impossible) involving the vice-prime minister, the Minister of Justice, Keeper of the Seals, Amadou Ali, whose close associates have bee brought in and later released. A monumental error in the casting! Within the national security apparatus, its is an open secret that Amadou Ali is the man who “controls” Guerandi Mbara… It is not les true that, under the guise of a “reorientation” of the investigation, the noose has been tightened around certain Kirdi clans suspected of being close to the exiled [colonel] in Ouagadougou … On Wednesday last week, Luc Gnowa, director of the Cameroon Bible Alliance, was kidnapped by elements of the National Defense Secretariat (Sed). Actively interrogated on the affaire, he was subsequently transferred to the Littoral gendarmerie in Douala for “complementary investigation”. Discovered by his family at the beginning of last week, the theologian was urgently taken to the military hospital at the Douala garrison, last Thursday because he was tearing-up profusely, after going for 24 hours without urinating, because of an acute kidney problem. This Toupouri is reproached, a close friend to former minister Dakolé Daïssala, and was listed in the famous note-book which was seized early in the investigation. He’s also a close friend to Guerandi. Eventually, the two would have meet on the occasion of one of his frequent trips top West Africa where the sub-regional headquarters of the World Bible Alliance … He’s not the only Toupouri caught in the “dirty nets” of the investigation according to sources. Many thought of them to be have been freed, but colonels Samuel Koué of Mora and Douraï of Maroua Salak,as well as several other soldiers are still in the hole. Other Toupouri officers were subjects of warrantless searches, “inadmissible” (sic), at the residences. All have been reduced to silence. We have no news on others who were manhandled. “Doubtless because they are Toupouri like Guerandi ”, rage the elites who recall a scenario of scores-settling which goes back to the affair involving colonel Ernest Djomdi… “It is President Paul Biya’s strategy for weakening one of the most powerful fiefs les on the eve of the October 2011 deadline”, asserts a Toupouri leader from the Littoral, a close friend to the Director of the Bible Alliance. 3- Presidential Guard In fact, many other lines of investigation have been fruitlessly pursued. Information emerging from inside the presidency suggests that elements of the presidential Guard have been called-in in connection with the coup d’Etat investigation . Information is not confirmed. Significant sums of money, of uncertain provenance- are alleged to have been discovered in personal bank accounts, their destination or purpose is unknown. This time we thinks this, has to do with the preliminaries of the nebulous G11... which is one of the coup d’Etat scenarios in place inside the inner circles of power. At this moment in Yaoundé, there are at least three. At least one of them involves the Biya clan, presently involved in the investigation. It proposes a preventive strategy against the alternate possibility in which Paul Biya would “return power to the Northerners”. This would be “A dangerous development” for the Hawks. One political observer comments that, “Inside National Defense circles, all manipulation of information on the nature of the investigation underway is de thoroughly suicidal”. In short, all of this suggests a very storied hand-over of power for president Paul Biya… Par Jean Marc Soboth (Correspondance particulière)

Keep the spirit high and let nothing distract you.

Fon, The Fon of Bali might have made that first statement after the incident that took place on the 3rd of March 2007 when the Bawock people attacked and confiscated the Bali Voma instruments. In the proccess of getting back those Voma instruments, the Bawock cheif palace and some houses were partly destroyed and I am sure that is what the Fon of Bali meant in the first statement you quoted above. The incident of the 6th of March 2007 where the entire Bawock was set ablaze is what the Fon of Bali is talking about in your second quoted statement."No Bali man or myself told anybody to go and burn houses in Bawock. Bawock people decided to set their houses ablaze so as to ask for HIPIC funds."

Permit me quote Fon Theodore Nana Wanda of Bawock "If we have a problem, let no neighbouring village come in again. Let them allow the two of us to settle our problems and God will surely show us the way." Can somebody explain the meaning of the above statement.

" The Untold Story of the Bali-Bawock Crisis. The recent clashes between the Bawock people and Bali Nyonga in Bali Sub-Division of Mezam Division in the North West Province, is a good example of the consequences of elite short sightedness, stupid political intrigues, primitive alliances and very costly administrative blunders borne either out of corruption or sheer misuse of power. The Events of 6 December 2006 On the 14th of November 2006 the Chief of Bawock – a sub chief of the Bali Nyonga Fondom, had a secret meeting with the Fons of Barforchu (Mbu) and the Fon of Pinyin in the Pinyin Fon’s palace. The purpose of the meeting which probably was not the first of such nocturnal meetings, was to expand the Bawock enclave within Bali Nyonga so that the Bali lands that lie between Bawock and Baforchu and Bawock and Pinyin, would be recognized now as Bawock land. In that regard, Mantum – a Bali Nyonga village that lies between Bawock village and Baforchu was by this arrangement, to become an annexed territory to Bawock. In like manner, Kombela, Mudum, Mbeluh, Jangman and Koppin- Bali villages lying between Pinyin and Bawock to the south east of Bawock, were to be recognized by the tripartite as newly acquired territory carved out of Bali and annexed to Bawock. The aim seems to have been that, once the Bawock people get these territories from Bali, parts of them could then be offered to Pinyin and Baforchu. To put this into effect, there was need to plant boundary pillars between Bawock and Barforchu, and between Bawock and Pinyin - its newfound neighbours. Hence the letter from the tripartite - the Fons of Barforchu and Pinyin and the Chief of Bawock dated 14th November 2006, which was written at the Pinyin Fon’s palace addressed to the S D O of Mezam requesting him to assist them with the relevant technical services to plant boundary pillars between Bawock and these villages. With unprecedented speed, that had never been seen in the administrative machinery of this country especially as concerns land matters, the North West Administration swung to action. Instead of the SDO to whom the letter was written, the Secretary General in the Governors Office, Peter Tieh Nde, on the 24/11/2006, (barely ten days from the 14/11/2006), handed down a written instruction to the SDO of Mezam, requesting him to assist and encourage the illegal act. The SDO then instructed his 1st or 2nd Assistant to go down to the field and expand the land area of the Bawock village and fix boundaries between Bawock and its new neighbours, incorporating large Bali Nyonga territory and villages into the new and enlarged Bawock without the knowledge of either the Fon of Bali, or the Chiefs of those Bali Villages that were now to become part of Bawock. With the kind of over-zealousness that can only be interpreted as the result of corruption, the 2nd Assistant SDO ran to his office on Sunday 3/12/2006, sat on the typewriter himself and crudely typed a letter inviting the land grabbers from Pinyin, Baforchu and Bawock to meet on Bali land and share it on the 6/12/2006. He stamped the letter upside down and stamped the name of the 1st Assistant instead of his own name stamp either as a result of panick for the wrong he was doing or in order to blackmail the 1st Assistant SDO. On the 6th of December 2006, just three weeks after the ill-fated letter from the Pinyin tripartite meeting, the Mezam Administration was already on the field to fix new boundaries between Bawock in Bali and Bali Nyonga neighbours. Of Course, as would be expected, unfortunately not by the short sighted administrators, a terrible disaster would have occurred had it not been for the humane intervention of the Fon of Bali who only came to the spot later, on hearing that there was a team led by the 2nd Assistant SDO of Mezam about to put boundary pillars or boundary “signboards” in his land and that the Fons of Pinyin and Baforchu were already on the scene together with the Chief of Bawock. Petitions from the Fon of Bali to the NW Administration to rethink these illegal actions and to quickly diffuse the tension that was mounting because of this act fell on deaf ears. Instead, from the 6th of December 2006, the Chief of Bawock has constantly and almost on a daily basis, been spreading false alarm about the burning of houses in his palace, or the false attack of his people by Mantum Villagers or the burning of GSS Bawock, or the harvesting of their crops, etc, etc. which rumours and claims have been verified in each case to be false. All these falsehood and deliberate attempts to misguide the administration, are well known by the Mezam SDO but he chooses to align with a liar of the type of the Chief of Bawock against Bali Nyonga who by all standards are the victims not the aggressors as is now being given to the public to believe. The Events of 3rd March 2007 On Saturday, 3rd March 2007, the Bali Nyonga traditional juju “The Voma” that comes out once a year at the onset of the rainy season to bless the farm lands, was on its routine outing. On its way back from Mantum Village, (one of the Bali villages that the Bawock had wanted to annex with the connivance of the administrative officials in Bamenda), the Bawock people led by a certain Limen Peter attacked the juju as it passed on the highway (a road that passes through Bawock), seized the sacred juju bag and burnt it, asking the juju bearers to go and tell the Fon of Bali to come and collect it himself. This was nothing short of a declaration of war by the Bawock on Bali Nyonga – a war that did not take place because of the restraint of the Bali by their Fon. The Mezam Administration tacitly encouraged the Bawock people to go ahead to provoke Bali so that they could find an excuse to crack down on Bali, seize the land and hand it to Bawock, Baforchu and Pinyin for what price only the North West Administration and that of Mezam in particular, can tell. This outright complicity or blunder by the administration of Mezam Division, was what encouraged the Bawock people to set fire on the Bali Palace in the early hours of Tuesday 6th March 2007. The Mezam SDO for some strange reason echoed and re-echoed the version of the Fon of Bawock that, the Bali juju strayed into Bawock and was heading to the Bawock palace. The role that Limen and the gang of Bawock people played in igniting the current crisis has been sidelined by the Administration. This gave the Bawock, people a false belief that their actions are right and can be used to send Bali people back to “Nigeria” where according to him, they came from. It must be understood that the Sacred Juju has powers to wreck perennial mystical havoc on who ever touches it or destroys it that has not been “blown with a special bird!’ And the consequences extend to their unborn generations. A special cleansing must be made on such a person or persons before the curse is removed! Monday 5th March 2007. On Monday 5th of March 2007, the Chief of Bawock assembled the Bawock people in Bawock- Bali and together with Limen George, Limen Peter, Sabo Ivo and the other so called elites of Bawock who have been stupidly fanning hatred of Bali by Bawock, and in that meeting when many Bawock people expressed their desire to live in peace with the Bali people who after all have done them nothing wrong, these peace lovers were each fined to pay a goat to the chief of Bawock. In that meeting, every Bawock man, woman or child was ordered by the Chief of Bawock to pack out of the village before dawn on Tuesday 6th March 2007 because according to him, the Bali people “were going to burn down the village on Tuesday the 6th March 2007, and massacre Bawock people.” This was an incredulous claim which begs for very important questions as to the motive of the Chief of Bawock and his advisers- Limen George, Sabo Ivo, Limen Peter and others. If they had such information that the Bali people were going to burn down their village, why did they not inform the Administration to send troops to protect them but instead chose to move the entire village to the Governors office in Bamenda? Was it to whip public sympathy by crying wolf when there was none? Was this exodus designed to pre-empt the likely consequences of what the Chief of Bawock was planning to do that fateful night? ie the burning down of the palace of the Fon of Bali? Concrete information filtering out of Bawock circles are that on that Monday 5th of March 2007, the retreating Bawock people set fire on most of their houses in order that when they shall have burnt down the Bali palace, the burning in Bawock would be easily attributed to the Bali people as a retaliation and they could then use it to make the administration crack down on Bali in Bawock interest. This was a most wicked and diabolic plot, not only against the Bali people who at all times were being restrained from action by their reasonable Fon, but was even worse so against the ordinary Bawock innocent inhabitant who was being used by the misguided elites and childishly and recklessly ambitious chief for inordinate quest for power and prominence. It is to be noted that the burning down of the Bawock village was done by the Bawock people as a ploy to tarnish the image of the Bali so as to whip public sentiments in favour of Bawock. The Bali people have exercised the greatest restraint in this matter despite the excessive provocations and several “declarations of war” by the Bawock people aided by the Mezam Administration, and the Fons of Pinyin and Baforchu! Bali Nyonga has impeccable evidence to prove these, even in the face of vault face lies and the intoxication of public opinion by the Mezam SDO and his Bawock criminals of friends. The SDO for Mezam has a lot of questions to answer to his hierarchy. By his blunders or outright personal inefficiencies or some other yet to be investigated motive, he is causing too much social upheavals for this regime. The Babanki problem is still fresh in the minds of people and Jules Marcelin Njanga’s role in the burning of the former Fon of Babanki is well known. If his mission to Mezam was to reawaken tension and tribal uprisings in this part of the country, he should know that the people will not wait for him to annihilate them. There is a limit to the amount of injustice that a people can bear! Jules Marcelin should stop using Bawock people to harass innocent Bali youths, arresting them, torturing them, and refusing them from receiving medical attention because these children were NOT the ones that burnt down Bawock. The Village was burnt down by the Bawock people themselves led by their chief and the Limens and the Sabos. They are the ones to be arrested. They even threatened death to those of their villagers who saw some of them setting fire on their own houses should they reveal what they saw. This is a horrible act of wickedness! 6th March 2007. Early Morning 6th March 2007, between 4 am and 4.30 am, the palace of the Fon of Bali was set on fire by some Bawock people who sped away in a white Toyota car. They flung a petrol bomb onto the top of the holy shrine attached to the palace (the Chum) built in 1889 and in which all the ancestral sacred apparatus and everything sacred at the palace is kept. This was the apex of provocation but the Fon in his wisdom advised that if the Bali people gave in to the Bawock invitation to war, no soul would remain alive in Bawock. For this reason he pleaded with the angry population to allow the administration to handle the situation. As usual, the people listened to their Fon and did not give in to the Bawock declaration of war. The SDO of Mezam and the DO for Bali together with the forces of law and order were invited to the Bali Palace that morning and they saw the efforts of the Fon of Bali in restraining the population. If they were honest, they would bear witness to this fact and speak for the Fon of Bali. Within the day on that 6th March, news reached Bali that Bawock village was raised to the grown by fire. As mentioned above, this fire had been set by Bawock people themselves as a prelude to their attempt to burn down the Bali Palace. It must be noted that throughout that night of the 5th giving to the 6th, Bawock villagers were moving out on a mass exodus on the orders of their chief, Nana Wanda III . The Role of Achidi Achu It is common talk by Limen George, Limen Peter and Sabo Ivo, everywhere that Achidi Achu is very strongly supporting their fon and advising him on how to seize more land from Bali Nyonga and share it with Baforchu. They claim that it is Achidi Achu who organized the Bawock/Baforchu/ Pinyin alliance (MBU-PIN-WOCK) . It is these same Bawock elites that say that Nyiat Njifenji has been working hard with Achidi Achu to lobby for the support of government to achieve this design and that although they are out of government they still call the shots in decision making as CPDM big wigs and former PM. When Bali people heard these rantings, they ignored them but the recent events and the behaviour of the Mezam administration seems to lend credence to Limen’s and Sabo’s claims that they are being engineered by Achidi Achu and Nyiat Njifenji. If it is true that this is the role being played by someone whom the Bali people regard (now erroneously) as a preacher of peace, then this is most unfortunate for the North West in particular and Cameroon in general. If the Central Committee relies on someone who goes around preaching “peace” but instigating violence and civil strife, for selfish tribal gains, then it is clear that President Biya is being deceived and being stabbed at the back by people he ought to trust! We want that these claims by the Bawock about the roles of Achidi Achu and Nyiat Njifenji in this crisis and perhaps in other crises in the NW Province, be thoroughly and honestly investigated and if it is found to be true, Achidi Achu should be seriously sanctioned. It is alleged that Achidi Achu is also behind the Pinyin/Menka Chieftaincy problems! What a “peace preacher!” The Way Forward The people of Bali are aware that the vast majority of the Bawock ordinary villagers are ignorant of what their Chief and his misguided advisers are scheming for. For the sake of these innocent villagers who can testify that they have no problem with the Bali man, the Bali people have an open door policy and will do everything necessary to have them live in peace and freedom on the land Fonyonga II gave their fathers. But firstly, the government should set up a commission of enquiry to thoroughly investigate the causes and sequence of events that have led to this crisis. We would suggest that to build confidence in that commission, the Bali people should nominate two of its members and the Bawock people should also nominate two of its members while the churches nominate one member, the Bar Council nominates one member and the government appoints the rest of the members from among judicial authorities and administrative authorities. Their mission should be to give an accurate account of the genesis of the problems between Bawock and Bali in order to determine the causes of the problem and apportion blame so as to seek a lasting solution. What the administration is doing now is trying to solve the problem from its effects rather than from its causes or roots. It must be noted that it is not in all cases that the purported victim of a situation like this is the real victim. In this Bali /Bawock problem, the real victim is the Bali people who are being made to look like the aggressors. The real aggressors are the BAWOCK people led by their chief! The truth will be known soon and everyone will be taken aback!"

"The Untold Story of the Bali-Bawock Crisis. The recent clashes between the Bawock people and Bali Nyonga in Bali Sub-Division of Mezam Division in the North West Province, is a good example of the consequences of elite short sightedness, stupid political intrigues, primitive alliances and very costly administrative blunders borne either out of corruption or sheer misuse of power. The Events of 6 December 2006 On the 14th of November 2006 the Chief of Bawock – a sub chief of the Bali Nyonga Fondom, had a secret meeting with the Fons of Barforchu (Mbu) and the Fon of Pinyin in the Pinyin Fon’s palace. The purpose of the meeting which probably was not the first of such nocturnal meetings, was to expand the Bawock enclave within Bali Nyonga so that the Bali lands that lie between Bawock and Baforchu and Bawock and Pinyin, would be recognized now as Bawock land. In that regard, Mantum – a Bali Nyonga village that lies between Bawock village and Baforchu was by this arrangement, to become an annexed territory to Bawock. In like manner, Kombela, Mudum, Mbeluh, Jangman and Koppin- Bali villages lying between Pinyin and Bawock to the south east of Bawock, were to be recognized by the tripartite as newly acquired territory carved out of Bali and annexed to Bawock. The aim seems to have been that, once the Bawock people get these territories from Bali, parts of them could then be offered to Pinyin and Baforchu. To put this into effect, there was need to plant boundary pillars between Bawock and Barforchu, and between Bawock and Pinyin - its newfound neighbours. Hence the letter from the tripartite - the Fons of Barforchu and Pinyin and the Chief of Bawock dated 14th November 2006, which was written at the Pinyin Fon’s palace addressed to the S D O of Mezam requesting him to assist them with the relevant technical services to plant boundary pillars between Bawock and these villages. With unprecedented speed, that had never been seen in the administrative machinery of this country especially as concerns land matters, the North West Administration swung to action. Instead of the SDO to whom the letter was written, the Secretary General in the Governors Office, Peter Tieh Nde, on the 24/11/2006, (barely ten days from the 14/11/2006), handed down a written instruction to the SDO of Mezam, requesting him to assist and encourage the illegal act. The SDO then instructed his 1st or 2nd Assistant to go down to the field and expand the land area of the Bawock village and fix boundaries between Bawock and its new neighbours, incorporating large Bali Nyonga territory and villages into the new and enlarged Bawock without the knowledge of either the Fon of Bali, or the Chiefs of those Bali Villages that were now to become part of Bawock. With the kind of over-zealousness that can only be interpreted as the result of corruption, the 2nd Assistant SDO ran to his office on Sunday 3/12/2006, sat on the typewriter himself and crudely typed a letter inviting the land grabbers from Pinyin, Baforchu and Bawock to meet on Bali land and share it on the 6/12/2006. He stamped the letter upside down and stamped the name stamp of the 1st Assistant instead of his own name stamp either as a result of panick for the wrong he was doing or in order to blackmail the 1st Assistant SDO. On the 6th of December 2006, just three weeks after the ill-fated letter from the Pinyin tripartite meeting, the Mezam Administration was already on the field to fix new boundaries between Bawock in Bali and Bali Nyonga neighbours. Of Course, as would be expected, unfortunately not by the short sighted administrators, a terrible disaster would have occurred had it not been for the humane intervention of the Fon of Bali who only came to the spot later, on hearing that there was a team led by the 2nd Assistant SDO of Mezam about to put boundary pillars or boundary “signboards” in his land and that the Fons of Pinyin and Baforchu were already on the scene together with the Chief of Bawock. Petitions from the Fon of Bali to the NW Administration to rethink these illegal actions and to quickly diffuse the tension that was mounting because of this act fell on deaf ears. Instead, from the 6th of December 2006, the Chief of Bawock has constantly and almost on a daily basis, been spreading false alarm about the burning of houses in his palace, or the false attack of his people by Mantum Villagers or the burning of GSS Bawock, or the harvesting of their crops, etc, etc. which rumours and claims have been verified in each case to be false. All these falsehood and deliberate attempts to misguide the administration, are well known by the Mezam SDO but he chooses to align with a liar of the type of the Chief of Bawock against Bali Nyonga who by all standards are the victims not the aggressors as is now being given to the public to believe. The Events of 3rd March 2007 On Saturday, 3rd March 2007, the Bali Nyonga traditional juju “The Voma” that comes out once a year at the onset of the rainy season to bless the farm lands, was on its routine outing. On its way back from Mantum Village, (one of the Bali villages that the Bawock had wanted to annex with the connivance of the administrative officials in Bamenda), the Bawock people led by a certain Limen Peter attacked the juju as it passed on the highway (a road that passes through Bawock), seized the sacred juju bag and burnt it, asking the juju bearers to go and tell the Fon of Bali to come and collect it himself. This was nothing short of a declaration of war by the Bawock on Bali Nyonga – a war that did not take place because of the restraint of the Bali by their Fon. The Mezam Administration tacitly encouraged the Bawock people to go ahead to provoke Bali so that they could find an excuse to crack down on Bali, seize the land and hand it to Bawock, Baforchu and Pinyin for what price only the North West Administration and that of Mezam in particular, can tell. This outright complicity or blunder by the administration of Mezam Division, was what encouraged the Bawock people to set fire on the Bali Palace in the early hours of Tuesday 6th March 2007. The Mezam SDO for some strange reason echoed and re-echoed the version of the Fon of Bawock that, the Bali juju strayed into Bawock and was heading to the Bawock palace. The role that Limen and the gang of Bawock people played in igniting the current crisis has been sidelined by the Administration. This gave the Bawock, people a false belief that their actions are right and can be used to send Bali people back to “Nigeria” where according to him, they came from. It must be understood that the Sacred Juju has powers to wreck perennial mystical havoc on who ever touches it or destroys it that has not been “blown with a special bird!’ And the consequences extend to their unborn generations. A special cleansing must be made on such a person or persons before the curse is removed! Monday 5th March 2007. On Monday 5th of March 2007, the Chief of Bawock assembled the Bawock people in Bawock- Bali and together with Limen George, Limen Peter, Sabo Ivo and the other so called elites of Bawock who have been stupidly fanning hatred of Bali by Bawock, and in that meeting when many Bawock people expressed their desire to live in peace with the Bali people who after all have done them nothing wrong, these peace lovers were each fined to pay a goat to the chief of Bawock. In that meeting, every Bawock man, woman or child was ordered by the Chief of Bawock to pack out of the village before dawn on Tuesday 6th March 2007 because according to him, the Bali people “were going to burn down the village on Tuesday the 6th March 2007, and massacre Bawock people.” This was an incredulous claim which begs for very important questions as to the motive of the Chief of Bawock and his advisers- Limen George, Sabo Ivo, Limen Peter and others. If they had such information that the Bali people were going to burn down their village, why did they not inform the Administration to send troops to protect them but instead chose to move the entire village to the Governors office in Bamenda? Was it to whip public sympathy by crying wolf when there was none? Was this exodus designed to pre-empt the likely consequences of what the Chief of Bawock was planning to do that fateful night? ie the burning down of the palace of the Fon of Bali? Concrete information filtering out of Bawock circles are that on that Monday 5th of March 2007, the retreating Bawock people set fire on most of their houses in order that when they shall have burnt down the Bali palace, the burning in Bawock would be easily attributed to the Bali people as a retaliation and they could then use it to make the administration crack down on Bali in Bawock interest. This was a most wicked and diabolic plot, not only against the Bali people who at all times were being restrained from action by their reasonable Fon, but was even worse so against the ordinary Bawock innocent inhabitant who was being used by the misguided elites and childishly and recklessly ambitious chief for inordinate quest for power and prominence. It is to be noted that the burning down of the Bawock village was done by the Bawock people as a ploy to tarnish the image of the Bali so as to whip public sentiments in favour of Bawock. The Bali people have exercised the greatest restraint in this matter despite the excessive provocations and several “declarations of war” by the Bawock people aided by the Mezam Administration, and the Fons of Pinyin and Baforchu! Bali Nyonga has impeccable evidence to prove these, even in the face of vault face lies and the intoxication of public opinion by the Mezam SDO and his Bawock criminals of friends. The SDO for Mezam has a lot of questions to answer to his hierarchy. By his blunders or outright personal inefficiencies or some other yet to be investigated motive, he is causing too much social upheavals for this regime. The Babanki problem is still fresh in the minds of people and Jules Marcelin Njanga’s role in the burning of the former Fon of Babanki is well known. If his mission to Mezam was to reawaken tension and tribal uprisings in this part of the country, he should know that the people will not wait for him to annihilate them. There is a limit to the amount of injustice that a people can bear! Jules Marcelin should stop using Bawock people to harass innocent Bali youths, arresting them, torturing them, and refusing them from receiving medical attention because these children were NOT the ones that burnt down Bawock. The Village was burnt down by the Bawock people themselves led by their chief and the Limens and the Sabos. They are the ones to be arrested. They even threatened death to those of their villagers who saw some of them setting fire on their own houses should they reveal what they saw. This is a horrible act of wickedness! 6th March 2007. Early Morning 6th March 2007, between 4 am and 4.30 am, the palace of the Fon of Bali was set on fire by some Bawock people who sped away in a white Toyota car. They flung a petrol bomb onto the top of the holy shrine attached to the palace (the Chum) built in 1889 and in which all the ancestral sacred apparatus and everything sacred at the palace is kept. This was the apex of provocation but the Fon in his wisdom advised that if the Bali people gave in to the Bawock invitation to war, no soul would remain alive in Bawock. For this reason he pleaded with the angry population to allow the administration to handle the situation. As usual, the people listened to their Fon and did not give in to the Bawock declaration of war. The SDO of Mezam and the DO for Bali together with the forces of law and order were invited to the Bali Palace that morning and they saw the efforts of the Fon of Bali in restraining the population. If they were honest, they would bear witness to this fact and speak for the Fon of Bali. Within the day on that 6th March, news reached Bali that Bawock village was raised to the grown by fire. As mentioned above, this fire had been set by Bawock people themselves as a prelude to their attempt to burn down the Bali Palace. It must be noted that throughout that night of the 5th giving to the 6th, Bawock villagers were moving out on a mass exodus on the orders of their chief, Nana Wanda III . The Role of Achidi Achu It is common talk by Limen George, Limen Peter and Sabo Ivo, everywhere that Achidi Achu is very strongly supporting their fon and advising him on how to seize more land from Bali Nyonga and share it with Baforchu. They claim that it is Achidi Achu who organized the Bawock/Baforchu/ Pinyin alliance (MBU-PIN-WOCK) . It is these same Bawock elites that say that Nyiat Njifenji has been working hard with Achidi Achu to lobby for the support of government to achieve this design and that although they are out of government they still call the shots in decision making as CPDM big wigs and former PM. When Bali people heard these rantings, they ignored them but the recent events and the behaviour of the Mezam administration seems to lend credence to Limen’s and Sabo’s claims that they are being engineered by Achidi Achu and Nyiat Njifenji. If it is true that this is the role being played by someone whom the Bali people regard (now erroneously) as a preacher of peace, then this is most unfortunate for the North West in particular and Cameroon in general. If the Central Committee relies on someone who goes around preaching “peace” but instigating violence and civil strife, for selfish tribal gains, then it is clear that President Biya is being deceived and being stabbed at the back by people he ought to trust! We want that these claims by the Bawock about the roles of Achidi Achu and Nyiat Njifenji in this crisis and perhaps in other crises in the NW Province, be thoroughly and honestly investigated and if it is found to be true, Achidi Achu should be seriously sanctioned. It is alleged that Achidi Achu is also behind the Pinyin/Menka Chieftaincy problems! What a “peace preacher!” The Way Forward The people of Bali are aware that the vast majority of the Bawock ordinary villagers are ignorant of what their Chief and his misguided advisers are scheming for. For the sake of these innocent villagers who can testify that they have no problem with the Bali man, the Bali people have an open door policy and will do everything necessary to have them live in peace and freedom on the land Fonyonga II gave their fathers. But firstly, the government should set up a commission of enquiry to thoroughly investigate the causes and sequence of events that have led to this crisis. We would suggest that to build confidence in that commission, the Bali people should nominate two of its members and the Bawock people should also nominate two of its members while the churches nominate one member, the Bar Council nominates one member and the government appoints the rest of the members from among judicial authorities and administrative authorities. Their mission should be to give an accurate account of the genesis of the problems between Bawock and Bali in order to determine the causes of the problem and apportion blame so as to seek a lasting solution. What the administration is doing now is trying to solve the problem from its effects rather than from its causes or roots. It must be noted that it is not in all cases that the purported victim of a situation like this is the real victim. In this Bali /Bawock problem, the real victim is the Bali people who are being made to look like the aggressors. The real aggressors are the BAWOCK people led by their chief! The truth will be known soon and everyone will be taken aback!"

BALI/BAWOCK CRISIS THE BALI BAWOCK SAGA: MACHINATIONS GALORE AND SUBTERFUGE UNPARALLELED THE NAKED TRUTH BEHIND THE ARSON INTRODUCTION: There is more to the Bali-Bawock crisis than meets the naked eye. The sight of human habitations razed to the ground or burnt to ashes, of food and cash crops completely destroyed, and of domestic animals hacked out of wantonness and left to die in slow pain – such gory pictures shock the sensibilities of all decent and civilized people. Consequently, these latter have no choice but to shout out condemnation against such atavism and to cry out that all the culprits of such genocidal acts be brought to book. Nevertheless, let us also agree that in these days of the New Criminal Procedure Code, all persons presumed guilty must necessarily be allowed to say their say. Even though this new dispensation is Anglo-Saxon, may we borrow the French expression “le droit de reponse” to aptly describe the legal situation mentioned above. In the wake of the incendiary reports published in the various press organs, presenting the Bali Nyongas as motiveless marauders, and in the midst of the storming and the raving, it might be necessary to throw a dispassionate eye on the vicissitudes of this sweet-bitter one century old relationship. This historico-analytica l exclusive purposes to do just that, in the hope that it may lay bare remote and immediate causes, with their ramifications, and so give the outsiders that most Cameroonians are a little bit of the inside perspective. In order to lay claim to some veracity and objectivity, the main historical source cited herein is the famous Oxford anthropologist cum-historian, E.M. Chilver, who researched and wrote extensively on the History of the Grassfields. Of course other sources and administrative decrees are also cited. HISTORICAL MOVEMENTS, HISTORIC DECISIONS AND REMOTE CAUSES. E. M. Chilver, in an article entitled “A Bamileke Community in Bali-Nyonga: A Note on the Bawok”, published in African Studies of 23 November, 1964, and other sources consulted, note inter-alia: 1. That “Bali-Nyonga … chiefdom in the Bamenda Prefecture of West Cameroon was founded in the mid-Nineteenth Century by Nyonpasi, or Fonyonga I, the chief of one section of a Chamba-led confederation of raiders of Southern Adamawa origin (not Nigerian, as has been said in papers recently). Two other sources situate this between 1856(when the Bali Nyongas first reached the area today called the North West Province) and 1873 (when they acquired their present site by conquest). 2. That the first Bamileke migrants to join the Bali Nyongas at their present site were the Batis, whom they had first met in 1835, and who came this time from Bansoa in 1904. They stayed with the Bali Nyongas till 1911 when they decided to migrate again to “their present location in the Nun (Noun) Valley near Bagam. 3. That the “smaller contingent … of Bawock (or Bahouok)” came in the wake of the Batis, sometime around “1906 or 07.” They were led by Nana Ntukam and were fleeing from “the hostility of the chief of Bangangte … “Limen and Njonji of Bawock origin acknowledge and quote this in one of their scholarly publications. 4. That when the Batis were going back to the now Western province, they took with them the Bawok leader “as … hostage.” Most of this latter’s followers remained behind, in the land vacated by the Batis, and their leader escaped and rejoined them, “possibly in 1912 with the assistance of the Basel Mission outpost at Bagam.” 5. That the “Bawock community, settled on the south-eastern outskirts of Bali (was) locally known as Bako, or carvers, and their chief … as Fokabo. Only after 1953 did the then Bawock Chief, Ntanke I, begin passing by the title “fengga fang of Bawock. 6. That during the 1953 Nigerian (eastern region) census, returns showed that there were only “180 taxable males of Bako-French origin” within the “modern Bali local government and customary court area as an electoral ward and”, not as a separate entity. 7. That as time went on, the Bawock, with their distinguishably Bamileke traits, began agitating for autonomy. This has, in not-so-recent times, pushed the administration to sue for peace. On the 15th January, 1975 and on the 21st October, 1975, D.O. Oben Peter Ashu and S. D. O Alexander Ngomba Motanga, held meetings, which culminated in Administrative Decisions No 24/PD/DMX of 29th October, 1975 normalising relations between the two parties. Article 6 of this decision stated that the “Fon of Bali is the Paramount Chief of Bali District with the Chief of Bawock as his second in command” Recent council statistics from Bali put Bawock the 8th most populous community within Bali, with a population of 5.341 inhabitants, while the most populated (Jingong2) has 9351 inhabitants. Being the lone francophone community in a mainly Anglophone dispensation, the administration had in mind to protect their rights by making their chief second in command. 8. That the Government, in Order No 36/A/MINAT/DOT of 19th January 1982 created the 2nd Class Chiefdom of Bawock, with a population of 1.880 inhabitants attached to the 1st Class Chiefdom of Bali-Nyonga, with the insinuation that the Chief of Bawock should pay allegiance to the Fon of Bali. 9. That Order No 019/CAB/PM of 01/02/1981 and Joint Order No 0070/MINAT/MINFI of 24/02/1984 created the 1st Class Fondom of the entire Bali Sub-division, with a population of 26.825 inhabitants, and spelt out that the Fon has the duty to instill harmony in all aspects in the entire Sub-division. 10. That much of the Bawock agitation stemmed from the fact that they did not want the Balis to continue using the Bali Nyonga ancestral shrine of “Ntsi Sufu”. Constant skirmishes and calculated Bawock petitions led to a temporary injunction order, Reference No. 294/PO/DMZ of 24/09/1975, suspending activities at the shrine. The situation was normalized one month after with the decision (already quoted) of 29/10/1975. This permitted the Bali Nyonga to continue performing their Lela Culture Libation at the traditional shrine unperturbed till 1986 when other Bawock petitions that called on the administration to co-erce the Balis into discontinuing their rituals at the said shrine. At this time, the D.O of Bali Sub-division solved the problem by convening the disputants and referring them to earlier agreements and decision. Since this petition had alluded to a boundary dispute, the D.O. referred to a Decree No 78/322 of 03/08/1979, which dearly stated that creating or modifying existing village boundaries was not within the ambit of the D.Os competence. 11. That even today, Bawock is still situated within and surrounded by Bali villages. This is why the recent attempt to plant boundary beacons between Bawock, Mbu and Pinyin met with stiff resistance from the Bali communities situated between Bawock on the one hand and Mbu and Pinyin on the other. IMMEDIATE CAUSES Recently, the Fons of Baforchu and Pinyin, together with the Chief of Bawock met at the Pinyin Fon’s Palace and addressed a letter, dated 14/11/2006 to the S.D.O for Mezam. These parties were requesting the administration to assist… through the provision of appropriate technicians and experts in land boundary matters in the successful and peaceful installation of boundary pillars between the village of Bawock in the Bali Sub-division and the villages of Mbu and Pinyin in the Santa Sub-division. “The administration programmed the exercise for Wednesday the 6th December 2006 at 9:00a.m, but letter with reference No. 00/L/E29/PS/ A2 was addressed by the 2nd Assistant Prefect of Mezam to the Fon of Bali only on the 03/12/2006. Despite efforts made by high level Bali traditional authorities, headed by the Fon, to meet and discuss with the Governor and his concerned collaborators, the Mezam administration moved to the field with uncharacteristic promptitude, barely three weeks, after the Fons and Chief addressed their memo. Given that the Bali villages of Mantum, Gola, Kumbela, Kumchu, Mbelu, Jangman and Kopin are found between Bawock on the one hand and Mbu and Pinyin on the other, the Balis interpreted the administration’ s move as a deliberate and insidious move to carve out portions of Bali land to expand Bawock village, without as much as consulting the Bali villagers in the buffer zone. They could not fathom this so they descended on Mantum, where the exercise was to take place, and frustrated the scheme. It was as if the administration, by this misguided action, was consciously preparing the ingredients of an explosion, which ultimately came to pass. Then on the 03rd of March, 2007, the “Voma” traditional cult, the Bali version of the Kwifor/Kwifon, on its way back from Mantum and other Bali lands after propitiatory rites before the planting season, was savaged and desecrated by retired Police Officer Limen Peter and his cohorts, despite entreaties from the Rev. Pastor of the Bawock Presbyterian Church. The Fon of Bali took all this provocation in his stride, seeking only to multiply avenues for discussion with the administration (yet receiving the cold shoulder in most cases). However, the youths saw this as a declaration of war and so descended on Bawock, on a rampage. An uneasy lull descended on the locality – just for a while. On the 05th March, 2007, the whole of Bali was inexplicably and without warning plunged into primeval darkness. Worthy of note is the fact that the Chief of A.E.S – SONEL operations and installations is Chief Quoinon Nana Theodore of Bawock. Then the following day, 06/03/2007, most residents of Bawock were seen at about 2:30a.m, flocking out of their village, barely two hours before the Bali Palace conservatory for traditional insignia, antiquities, historical documents and hides and skins of rare animals, collected over several decades, went into flames. Thousand answered the traditional gong call and turned up to put out the fire, which went out only after almost everything had been consumed. Suspicion immediately fell on the people of Bawock and so irate and uncontrollable youths, feeling that their anger was justified, descended on the empty village and wrecked the havoc we have all been made to see. THE ROLE OF THE ADMINISTRATION It is all too evident in this Bali-Bawock crisis, that the administration, by commission and omission, has fanned its flames. It condoned the conspiratorial plan of three traditional rulers with no known boundaries and speedily (should we say gleefully?) went ahead to embark on a flawed boundary demarcation scheme. Then its long ubiquitous arms neither reached out to snuff out the spark, nor douse the initial flame nor even fight the conflagration. Many, persons, clergy and laity, made desperate but futile calls to somnolent, apparently unconcerned administrators. Then when the flames had consumed everything, our administrators came alive with characteristic brutality, swooping on whole Bali populations for scape-goats. One question is begging to be asked: does a people – oriented administration work hard at crises resolution, a priori, or does encourage conflicts, wait and go, a posteriori, for a harvest of culprits? The answer, as is popularly said, is blowing in Cameroon’s fickle winds. THE ROLE OF THE PRESS The press has done its best to cover the saga on the field, to bring to readers, listeners and tele-viewers, gory and sorry accounts of havoc unparalleled, unleashed by apparently senseless, motiveless, marauding Bali warriors. It has also gone a long way to make appeals that all guilty Bali people be brought to book. Furthermore, it has done a lot to present the Bawocks as victims par excellence, as a peace-loving community, whose only desire is to live in peace, co-exist with its neighbours, but who are being persecuted by blood thirsty Bali dogs of obsolete war. It has granted especially the Chief of Bawock interviews in which the latter has provocatively and abusively called the Fon of Bali all sorts of names, and in which he has styled the Balis as “Nigerians”, in typical Mbombo Njoya style. Yes, the press has done everything except bring to the public Bali’s own version of the facts, even if those facts might not justify the destruction. If the press is to cling to some vestige of objectivity, then it should always bring to the public wholesome perspectives in all stories and scoops they carry. Yes, the press should always do all in its power to present both sides of a story – get the Bawock Chief’s version but also patiently listen to the Bali Fon’s own version. Truth can never be one-sided, and even when it comes for the underdog, it still has to be scrupulously probed because in this age of dialogue, it is the weaker parties that foment conflict and try to curry support or whip up sentiments. That is apparently what the Chief of Bawock is doing in vociferous manner, when he keeps on saying that the Balis want to drive them out of their (Bawock) land because they are from the Western Province, because they are Francophones. What classic irony, given the plight and complaints of the Anglophones in the macro set-up! THE WAY FORWARD The Bali-Nyongas and the Bawocks are condemned by an accident of time or by fate to continue living together, especially given the fact that Bawock is located inside Bali and share as all its boundaries only with Bali. In the years of yore, the Balis welcomed the Bawocks, like they did many other migrants: the Bamoums, the Tikers of the North West, the Widikums, the Ngembas etc. As such, Bali Nyonga grew up to become a large, heterogeneous group, with various communities living together and solving their problems and crises together, their own way. Nobody contests the right of any group of persons to belong where they are. Nobody also contests their right to have a place they call home. Yet nobody in his right frame of mind will condone any crooked and insidious machinations, aimed at subverting established power and bringing about chaos, even if the highest administrative authorities of the land gave their blessing to such schemes. The Bawocks and the Balis must stop mouthing invectives at each other and go on living together, as fate has ordained they should. And to crown it all, they must always come together to discuss common issues affecting them with respect and cordiality. They cannot avoid this, because any highhanded or cosmetic administrative solutions will only exaccerbate an already highly volatile situation. DETAIL IN THE ENQUIRER NEWSPAPER FOKUM PIVAGA EMMANUEL EDITOR/PUBLISHER 9859076

BALI/BAWOCK CRISIS THE BALI BAWOCK SAGA: MACHINATIONS GALORE AND SUBTERFUGE UNPARALLELED THE NAKED TRUTH BEHIND THE ARSON INTRODUCTION: There is more to the Bali-Bawock crisis than meets the naked eye. The sight of human habitations razed to the ground or burnt to ashes, of food and cash crops completely destroyed, and of domestic animals hacked out of wantonness and left to die in slow pain – such gory pictures shock the sensibilities of all decent and civilized people. Consequently, these latter have no choice but to shout out condemnation against such atavism and to cry out that all the culprits of such genocidal acts be brought to book. Nevertheless, let us also agree that in these days of the New Criminal Procedure Code, all persons presumed guilty must necessarily be allowed to say their say. Even though this new dispensation is Anglo-Saxon, may we borrow the French expression “le droit de reponse” to aptly describe the legal situation mentioned above. In the wake of the incendiary reports published in the various press organs, presenting the Bali Nyongas as motiveless marauders, and in the midst of the storming and the raving, it might be necessary to throw a dispassionate eye on the vicissitudes of this sweet-bitter one century old relationship. This historico-analytica l exclusive purposes to do just that, in the hope that it may lay bare remote and immediate causes, with their ramifications, and so give the outsiders that most Cameroonians are a little bit of the inside perspective. In order to lay claim to some veracity and objectivity, the main historical source cited herein is the famous Oxford anthropologist cum-historian, E.M. Chilver, who researched and wrote extensively on the History of the Grassfields. Of course other sources and administrative decrees are also cited. HISTORICAL MOVEMENTS, HISTORIC DECISIONS AND REMOTE CAUSES. E. M. Chilver, in an article entitled “A Bamileke Community in Bali-Nyonga: A Note on the Bawok”, published in African Studies of 23 November, 1964, and other sources consulted, note inter-alia: 1. That “Bali-Nyonga … chiefdom in the Bamenda Prefecture of West Cameroon was founded in the mid-Nineteenth Century by Nyonpasi, or Fonyonga I, the chief of one section of a Chamba-led confederation of raiders of Southern Adamawa origin (not Nigerian, as has been said in papers recently). Two other sources situate this between 1856(when the Bali Nyongas first reached the area today called the North West Province) and 1873 (when they acquired their present site by conquest). 2. That the first Bamileke migrants to join the Bali Nyongas at their present site were the Batis, whom they had first met in 1835, and who came this time from Bansoa in 1904. They stayed with the Bali Nyongas till 1911 when they decided to migrate again to “their present location in the Nun (Noun) Valley near Bagam. 3. That the “smaller contingent … of Bawock (or Bahouok)” came in the wake of the Batis, sometime around “1906 or 07.” They were led by Nana Ntukam and were fleeing from “the hostility of the chief of Bangangte … “Limen and Njonji of Bawock origin acknowledge and quote this in one of their scholarly publications. 4. That when the Batis were going back to the now Western province, they took with them the Bawok leader “as … hostage.” Most of this latter’s followers remained behind, in the land vacated by the Batis, and their leader escaped and rejoined them, “possibly in 1912 with the assistance of the Basel Mission outpost at Bagam.” 5. That the “Bawock community, settled on the south-eastern outskirts of Bali (was) locally known as Bako, or carvers, and their chief … as Fokabo. Only after 1953 did the then Bawock Chief, Ntanke I, begin passing by the title “fengga fang of Bawock. 6. That during the 1953 Nigerian (eastern region) census, returns showed that there were only “180 taxable males of Bako-French origin” within the “modern Bali local government and customary court area as an electoral ward and”, not as a separate entity. 7. That as time went on, the Bawock, with their distinguishably Bamileke traits, began agitating for autonomy. This has, in not-so-recent times, pushed the administration to sue for peace. On the 15th January, 1975 and on the 21st October, 1975, D.O. Oben Peter Ashu and S. D. O Alexander Ngomba Motanga, held meetings, which culminated in Administrative Decisions No 24/PD/DMX of 29th October, 1975 normalising relations between the two parties. Article 6 of this decision stated that the “Fon of Bali is the Paramount Chief of Bali District with the Chief of Bawock as his second in command” Recent council statistics from Bali put Bawock the 8th most populous community within Bali, with a population of 5.341 inhabitants, while the most populated (Jingong2) has 9351 inhabitants. Being the lone francophone community in a mainly Anglophone dispensation, the administration had in mind to protect their rights by making their chief second in command. 8. That the Government, in Order No 36/A/MINAT/DOT of 19th January 1982 created the 2nd Class Chiefdom of Bawock, with a population of 1.880 inhabitants attached to the 1st Class Chiefdom of Bali-Nyonga, with the insinuation that the Chief of Bawock should pay allegiance to the Fon of Bali. 9. That Order No 019/CAB/PM of 01/02/1981 and Joint Order No 0070/MINAT/MINFI of 24/02/1984 created the 1st Class Fondom of the entire Bali Sub-division, with a population of 26.825 inhabitants, and spelt out that the Fon has the duty to instill harmony in all aspects in the entire Sub-division. 10. That much of the Bawock agitation stemmed from the fact that they did not want the Balis to continue using the Bali Nyonga ancestral shrine of “Ntsi Sufu”. Constant skirmishes and calculated Bawock petitions led to a temporary injunction order, Reference No. 294/PO/DMZ of 24/09/1975, suspending activities at the shrine. The situation was normalized one month after with the decision (already quoted) of 29/10/1975. This permitted the Bali Nyonga to continue performing their Lela Culture Libation at the traditional shrine unperturbed till 1986 when other Bawock petitions that called on the administration to co-erce the Balis into discontinuing their rituals at the said shrine. At this time, the D.O of Bali Sub-division solved the problem by convening the disputants and referring them to earlier agreements and decision. Since this petition had alluded to a boundary dispute, the D.O. referred to a Decree No 78/322 of 03/08/1979, which dearly stated that creating or modifying existing village boundaries was not within the ambit of the D.Os competence. 11. That even today, Bawock is still situated within and surrounded by Bali villages. This is why the recent attempt to plant boundary beacons between Bawock, Mbu and Pinyin met with stiff resistance from the Bali communities situated between Bawock on the one hand and Mbu and Pinyin on the other. IMMEDIATE CAUSES Recently, the Fons of Baforchu and Pinyin, together with the Chief of Bawock met at the Pinyin Fon’s Palace and addressed a letter, dated 14/11/2006 to the S.D.O for Mezam. These parties were requesting the administration to assist… through the provision of appropriate technicians and experts in land boundary matters in the successful and peaceful installation of boundary pillars between the village of Bawock in the Bali Sub-division and the villages of Mbu and Pinyin in the Santa Sub-division. “The administration programmed the exercise for Wednesday the 6th December 2006 at 9:00a.m, but letter with reference No. 00/L/E29/PS/ A2 was addressed by the 2nd Assistant Prefect of Mezam to the Fon of Bali only on the 03/12/2006. Despite efforts made by high level Bali traditional authorities, headed by the Fon, to meet and discuss with the Governor and his concerned collaborators, the Mezam administration moved to the field with uncharacteristic promptitude, barely three weeks, after the Fons and Chief addressed their memo. Given that the Bali villages of Mantum, Gola, Kumbela, Kumchu, Mbelu, Jangman and Kopin are found between Bawock on the one hand and Mbu and Pinyin on the other, the Balis interpreted the administration’ s move as a deliberate and insidious move to carve out portions of Bali land to expand Bawock village, without as much as consulting the Bali villagers in the buffer zone. They could not fathom this so they descended on Mantum, where the exercise was to take place, and frustrated the scheme. It was as if the administration, by this misguided action, was consciously preparing the ingredients of an explosion, which ultimately came to pass. Then on the 03rd of March, 2007, the “Voma” traditional cult, the Bali version of the Kwifor/Kwifon, on its way back from Mantum and other Bali lands after propitiatory rites before the planting season, was savaged and desecrated by retired Police Officer Limen Peter and his cohorts, despite entreaties from the Rev. Pastor of the Bawock Presbyterian Church. The Fon of Bali took all this provocation in his stride, seeking only to multiply avenues for discussion with the administration (yet receiving the cold shoulder in most cases). However, the youths saw this as a declaration of war and so descended on Bawock, on a rampage. An uneasy lull descended on the locality – just for a while. On the 05th March, 2007, the whole of Bali was inexplicably and without warning plunged into primeval darkness. Worthy of note is the fact that the Chief of A.E.S – SONEL operations and installations is Chief Quoinon Nana Theodore of Bawock. Then the following day, 06/03/2007, most residents of Bawock were seen at about 2:30a.m, flocking out of their village, barely two hours before the Bali Palace conservatory for traditional insignia, antiquities, historical documents and hides and skins of rare animals, collected over several decades, went into flames. Thousand answered the traditional gong call and turned up to put out the fire, which went out only after almost everything had been consumed. Suspicion immediately fell on the people of Bawock and so irate and uncontrollable youths, feeling that their anger was justified, descended on the empty village and wrecked the havoc we have all been made to see. THE ROLE OF THE ADMINISTRATION It is all too evident in this Bali-Bawock crisis, that the administration, by commission and omission, has fanned its flames. It condoned the conspiratorial plan of three traditional rulers with no known boundaries and speedily (should we say gleefully?) went ahead to embark on a flawed boundary demarcation scheme. Then its long ubiquitous arms neither reached out to snuff out the spark, nor douse the initial flame nor even fight the conflagration. Many, persons, clergy and laity, made desperate but futile calls to somnolent, apparently unconcerned administrators. Then when the flames had consumed everything, our administrators came alive with characteristic brutality, swooping on whole Bali populations for scape-goats. One question is begging to be asked: does a people – oriented administration work hard at crises resolution, a priori, or does encourage conflicts, wait and go, a posteriori, for a harvest of culprits? The answer, as is popularly said, is blowing in Cameroon’s fickle winds. THE ROLE OF THE PRESS The press has done its best to cover the saga on the field, to bring to readers, listeners and tele-viewers, gory and sorry accounts of havoc unparalleled, unleashed by apparently senseless, motiveless, marauding Bali warriors. It has also gone a long way to make appeals that all guilty Bali people be brought to book. Furthermore, it has done a lot to present the Bawocks as victims par excellence, as a peace-loving community, whose only desire is to live in peace, co-exist with its neighbours, but who are being persecuted by blood thirsty Bali dogs of obsolete war. It has granted especially the Chief of Bawock interviews in which the latter has provocatively and abusively called the Fon of Bali all sorts of names, and in which he has styled the Balis as “Nigerians”, in typical Mbombo Njoya style. Yes, the press has done everything except bring to the public Bali’s own version of the facts, even if those facts might not justify the destruction. If the press is to cling to some vestige of objectivity, then it should always bring to the public wholesome perspectives in all stories and scoops they carry. Yes, the press should always do all in its power to present both sides of a story – get the Bawock Chief’s version but also patiently listen to the Bali Fon’s own version. Truth can never be one-sided, and even when it comes for the underdog, it still has to be scrupulously probed because in this age of dialogue, it is the weaker parties that foment conflict and try to curry support or whip up sentiments. That is apparently what the Chief of Bawock is doing in vociferous manner, when he keeps on saying that the Balis want to drive them out of their (Bawock) land because they are from the Western Province, because they are Francophones. What classic irony, given the plight and complaints of the Anglophones in the macro set-up! THE WAY FORWARD The Bali-Nyongas and the Bawocks are condemned by an accident of time or by fate to continue living together, especially given the fact that Bawock is located inside Bali and share as all its boundaries only with Bali. In the years of yore, the Balis welcomed the Bawocks, like they did many other migrants: the Bamoums, the Tikers of the North West, the Widikums, the Ngembas etc. As such, Bali Nyonga grew up to become a large, heterogeneous group, with various communities living together and solving their problems and crises together, their own way. Nobody contests the right of any group of persons to belong where they are. Nobody also contests their right to have a place they call home. Yet nobody in his right frame of mind will condone any crooked and insidious machinations, aimed at subverting established power and bringing about chaos, even if the highest administrative authorities of the land gave their blessing to such schemes. The Bawocks and the Balis must stop mouthing invectives at each other and go on living together, as fate has ordained they should. And to crown it all, they must always come together to discuss common issues affecting them with respect and cordiality. They cannot avoid this, because any highhanded or cosmetic administrative solutions will only exaccerbate an already highly volatile situation. DETAIL IN THE ENQUIRER NEWSPAPER FOKUM PIVAGA EMMANUEL EDITOR/PUBLISHER 9859076

Had the Bawock plans/conspiracy succeeded, we could have been talking amongst other things of CPC Bawock and no longer CPC Bali. This is part of what the Bawock people are fighting to gain and the Bali people fighting to preserved. CPC Bali is located on one of the disputed territories between Bawock and Bali.

Watesih, Thanks for the wise counseling, I have always respected your opinion. This should be my very last comment on this issue and I will continue to sympathize with my fellow Bawock brothers and sisters. They are the products of the errors of the past and present and this ugly incidence should represent a scar on the conscience of the NW administration who conceived and nurtured the whole drama.(The promised of a Bawock sub division mapping out Bali land). I understand how those who are directly affected by this incidence are feeling. However, this should not be the time to get unnecessarily excited or to be ranting and throwing insults here and there. With "learned" people like Brooks,Danny boy, Che sunday,my good friend Rexon etc, this incidence will repeat itself(God forbid!) if the Bawock people decide to return and resettle in Bali.

This write-up is from a forum of which I am a member. "Dear Reader, It is important that we look closely at the press conferences of Chief Nana to the media. It is pivotal to respond accordingly to some of his pronouncements in order to separate truth from falsehood. The land which the Bawock people now occupy in Bali is part and parcel Bali Land . Bali people have lived on this land side by side their Bawock brothers and sisters for generations in peace. Farmed side by side each other and intermarried for generations, schooled together established close kinship with each other. For Chief Nana to issue such a statement is very undeserving of a leader. This smacks of a very dangerous leader. Just how autonomous is Bawock from Bali ? This is one of the questions that needs to be answered. Let us look at Bawock proper in order to understand the meaning of autonomy now being claimed by Chief Nana. First of all I want to give the Chief credit for at least acknowledging that the strip of land now called Bawock was given to his people by the Fon of Bali. Now on this very strip as earlier mentioned Bali people live side by side the Bawock people from the Ta Ntungwens to the Fommbohs, to the Tita Fonchams, the Tita Todmias and so forth. The road which the Fon of Bawock is claiming as his sovereign territory is a Public thoroughfare that runs from Ntanfoang through Nsti-Njoh to Ntan Bakoh. At Ntan Bakoh, it vears to the right towards the Chief’s compound to link NjemChep, Kumchu and Njammbet and onward to Pinyin. The other heads straight to Mantum a Bali village and onward to Mbuh to Santa. How then can Chief Nana claim Sovereign rights over a public road? The Voma has used this route since time immemorial and has never hurt anyone. It is a yearly event which takes place in march from sunrise to sundown to bless all the farming communities and the land in preparation for the new Planting season. It is a very important religious event for the Bali people. The ceremony requires that the land observe silence for that day only out of 365 days in a year for this to be successfully completed. For someone to go out and pick a fight with the priests of the Voma, seizing their “Ndung” and setting it ablaze is like going to a church during Eucharist, seizing the chalice from the priests’ hand and burning it. This will render any adherent to that Faith mad. I am not saying that we should condone what transpired in Bawock. I want people to understand the gravity of the situation and make sure we from now on exercise tolerance in the way we treat each others Religious practices. The Voma is the highest Religious Institution in Bali . It only comes out once a year in March as earlier explained and generally will last the whole day and go back to its shrine at Dola at about 5:00 P.M. No one messes with the Voma. No One. I want to take this moment to respond to some of the misinformation and unfortunate propaganda that Chief Nana is spreading in the media. It is simply unbelievable for me to read and respond to some of these calumnies. Here is Chief Nana in his own words; "Fon Doh Ganyonga III is a thorn in the flesh of the Bawock people. He claims that Bawock is his ancestral land. But the Bawock Fondom is an autonomous entity, gazetted in 1961’’. This statement rings hollow. Since the chief himself acknowledges that the piece of Land was given to his ancestors by the Fon of Bali. What he is not telling you is that he has decided unilaterally to extend the Land he was given to incorporate several Bali Villages including Mantum, Njambat, Kufom and part of Behsen. How is he doing this? By false representation and in collution with some Senior Administrative Officials to demarcate Boundaries between Bawock and Mbuh on the one hand and Bawock and Pinyin on the other. The so called Bawock territory never existed beyond Nsti Gola to the East and Nchu Sam to the west. That Land is still Bali Land since it makes up the larger and indivisible Bali-Nyonga Paramount Fondom. We are witnessing a situation where a generous and benevolent gesture has turned into an avaricious land graft. “The Bawocks migrated from the West Province , and the people of Bali gave them that piece of land to settle. The people of Bali Nyonga have since then nursed a permanent ambition to conquer us. They have successfully done so with other neighbouring villages.” .What a moment of epiphany. Some on this forum have argued the right of the Bali-Nyonga people to reign in Chief Nana and his supporters. I will advise you to just look around you at the amount of misinformation being perpetrated against the Bali people who offered shelter to their brothers and sisters the Bawock people in time of need. If land was not an important part of a people’s patrimony, one should not have the Bakweri Land council locked in a bitter struggle with the Cameroon Development Corporation for the return of land appropriated by the Germans for the sake of creating the agro conglomerate. Since Chief Nana in a moment of clarity found it fit to acknowledge that the land was given to him by the Fon of Bali, it is therefore a moot point to claim sovereignty on a piece of property that he never owned. How much more to try by devious means to extend his reach to graft more property from his host. It is simply an insult to the Bali people for the Chief now to claim more Land than was given to him by the people of Bali . This is what I want people to actually understand. The people of Bali are farmers and Mantum, Behsen, Njambat, Kufom has great arable land and all these land lying on the outer limits of Bawock makes them an easy prey to an avaricious and egoistic Chief. I am not sure this plot to carve out Bali Land and incorporate it into a promised Bawock Sub-Division will ever materialize. Chief, the Bali people are not a hostile people. If they were, they would never have extended a hand of friendship and friendliness to your people. If you read the history of the grassfield with and open mind, with no hidden agenda you will discern that the Bali people since they entered and occupied their current home has fought with their neighbors in self defense and has never actually gone out and waged war un-provoked. They have on a number of occasions been forced to fight with their neighbors to defend their land. Enough material exist on this already and it is beyond the subject matter. “On Saturday 3rd March, he ordered his Voma masquerade to dance across my territory-an act tantamount to declaration of war.” There can be no territory within a Bali . Bali is made up of several villages each with a sub-chief or Chief. Chief Nana is just one of them. Amongst these sub-Chiefs and chiefs are the likes of Nfor-mantum, Nfor Bossa, Nfor Mbufung, Fofuleng, Nfor Jaman, Fomusoh, Nfor Ngiam, Nfor Kundem, Nfor Mbelluh and a host of others. All these chiefs are those who followed or later joined the Balis during their migration to their current home. Chief nana is just one of the chiefs or as it is called in Bali “Fonteh(s)”. The road he claims as his territory is a public thoroughfare that links Bali to farms and other neighboring villages as earlier explained. The Voma has the right to use this road and they have used the same route year in year out for generations without a single incident until Chief Nana came to power. I want to believe the chief when he claims to be the victim here. The real victims of this foolishness are the hundreds of people rendered homeless and sons and daughters of Bali and bawock who are out here on the net arguing back and forth over the actions of a very very misguided chief. “And to concretize their objectives, they set fire on an insignificant portion of their inner palace on Tuesday 6th, accused the Bawocks and raided the entire village, pulled down our houses, destroyed crops, slaughtered animals and made thousands flee their homes.” This is very sensational and a flat out lie and to come from a chief is simply pathetic. No son and daughter of Bali will attempt such an act. That building that was set ablaze is sacred to the Bali people and only a lunatic will have the temerity to set it ablaze. I believe the intention was to set the Bali palace ablaze by arsonists from Bawock, but failed because of the timely intervention of Bali people to stamp out the blaze. Let truth be told. Let chief Nana tell the truth to his people. Let the people know why after more than fifty years of peaceful existence you have decided to plunge all of us into this mess. Mantum has never been and will never be your territory. Behsen will not be a quarter in Bawock, same with Njambat and Kufom as well as Gola. No one claim sovereignty over a road network. There is no reason for the Fon of Bali to hold a publicly televised debate with you. That can only happen amongst equals. You are a sub-chief in Bali-Nyonga. Please understand that. If you are a man of peace honor all the overtures that Fon Doh Ganyonga has offered you and put an end to this madness. This is pure Grand-standing. You know the truth and the elders around you know the truth. Listen to the elders as well as the cry of your people. Friendships and kinships are being destroyed by your singular actions. If you want our sympathy, you have succeeded you have it. If you want the world to sympathize with you, all the sympathy is yours Chief. However, know that the world is also watching you".

Fon, The road you are talking about passes through Gola/Mantum which are all quarters occupied by Bali indigents. There is no way a Bawock man would sneak out of Bali without trespassing either two or three Bali quarters. Beside being emotional I am rational. In as much as I condemn this terrible crime committed against the Bawock people and sympatizes with them, I will not hesitate to point out the role played by the Bawock people themselves and the administration. The Bali people reacted in thesame manner any other village could have responded had they been in thesame situation.

Dear forumist, Can someone forward to me the contact address of this young lady who had to breast feed her bady with prohibited breast milk as a result of the on going crisis. The above picture is really pathetic and my heart goes out to these desperate and homeless Bawock people. It is worth pointing out that there is only one accessible motorable road from Bawock to Bamenda and that road passes through the heart of Bali(Ntanfoang), it is therefore wrong for people to hold the view that Bali was out to vandalized Bawock. Bawock people carefully packed their things and left passing through the watchful eyes of the Bali people. Brooks, Beside being a fon, Ganyonga'a is a lecturer and a Ph.D holder. He is an intellectual for that matter and will never mastermind talkless of orchestrating such an act. Those who destroyed Bawock never took permission from the Fon. Your people were misled by chief Nana and the administration notably the SDO for mezam who is a Bamilke man. Can you explain to this forum why nobody was arrested during the December 6th 2006 incident when the SDO for mezam, the chief of Bawock and some delegates from town survey were chased away by the Bali people from the disputed territory and a Gerdamme jeep damaged. Can you explain to this forum why the government has been silent on the ongoing crises?. The answer is simple....They know the gospel truth and they are guilty for having misled the Bawock people.

Kumbaboy, You quoted some interesting legal maxims in your last write up and I will equally want to remind you that he who comes to equity must come with clean hands. The Bawock people together with their allies(some corrupt members of the administration) are aware of this and will never initiate any legal action. They could have succeeded had the Bali people not been wise enough. Some have suggested that the Bali people could have seek legal remedy may I ask on what ground?.

I find this statement from the above article very misleading and I think that is where the Bawock people and some of us on this forum get it all wrong. "Bawock Fon's wife, Henriette Nkwamo, told The Post that on the evening of Saturday, March 3, at about 5 pm, they were informed that some nine men of the Bali "Ngumba" that was heading to Mantum quarter decided to divert and enter the Bawock Palace without authorisation." The question I keep asking myself is...how do you trespass one's village(in this case Bawock) to get to a quarter(Mantum) in your own village?. Is Bawock a village in Bali village? If Bawock is a village how comes Matum is a quarter of Bali?. Bali and Bawock has lived side by side as brothers and sisters for decades and it would be wrong for us to take side when incident like this occur. I am totally against the use of force in resolving dispute and my heart goes out to these homeless Bawock people who are the products of the errors of their leader and some few elites.However, it is worth pointing out here that all attempts by the Bali people to settle this matter amicably failed. The Bawock people together with their Santa/Pinyin agents and with the help of the administration were misled into beleiving that the Bali people will give in easily to their demands. Some are quick to brandish the Bali Nyonga people as barbarians, illitrates, uncivilized etc. If the Bali people had such negative qualities Bawock could have been burying their love ones as well. While condemning the act of arson perpetrated against the Bawock people, we should equally give the Bali man credits here for having exercise enough restraint thereby avoiding human casualties. We all know what happened in Balikumbat and Babanki. We are all living witnesses to what the most civilized nations on earth are doing to the Iraqis. Please don't give a dog a bad name because you want to hang it. NB: The Bawock man has never constructed a befitting structure nor has any valuable investment in Bawock. They lived in mud bricks houses in Bawock while owning mansions and multi million investment ventures in Bafoussam, Douala, Yaounde etc. That is why it took the Bali people 30 minutes to ground-zeroed the entire Bawock.

I got this clarification on the Bali/Bawock conflict from a forum of which I am a member. "There is a little twist to the story reported recently in Bali. The Bawocks like the Bassa were from East Cameroon, specifically from the Western Province. The Balis like the Bakweris welcomed them when they arrived. They settled and lived in Bali much like the Bassa did in Fako. The Balis have traditionally welcomed people from other villages in Bamenda. Other settlers integrated with the Balis to create what is today a strong and powerful Bali Nyonga Kingdom in the grass field of Southern Cameroon. The Bawock did not integrate. They maintained their language and culture even though they all spoke Bali very fluently. For a very long time, most considered them Balis. During the 1952 Bali/Tazhwirikum (Widikum) War, they joined forces with the Bali Nyonga to fight the allied Tazhwirikum armies of Mankon, Pinyin, Akum, Mbei, Bafochu, Meta, Chomba, Mbatu, and Nso'ngwa. It is very ironical that today they are taking shelter in the same villages they fought against during the Big War in 1952. In my native language, this was war is referred to as "Ma Ntso" or "Ma felam" which means "The Big War or The Mother of Wars." A few more days, the allied forces could have taken over the Bali Palace. It took several regiments of the the Nigerian army to break up the war. A war endemnity of 152 Pounds sterling was levied against the allied forces for starting the war. The Balis used the money very wisely on a water project in their village. Within the last 30 years, the Bawocks began agitating for separation from the Bali Kingdom. They wanted to create a kingdom of Bawock within the Kingdom of Bali. This is the root cause of the problem in Bali. Creating a kingdom within Bali meant taking away part of what is consired Bali land. The Balis naturally did not like this. If they wanted a sub chief within the confines of Bali Nyonga, that would not have been a problem. However, they wanted complete autonomy. If they do not integrate, they will be booted out of Bali, short and simple". Please you can visit this link(simply copy and paste at google and enter search) http://www.benfondong.org and watch a video coverage of part of the proud Bali Nyongha culture the Bawock people thought they could messed with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZrK_kOk8Lw&mode=related&search=

I guess many probably missed this very important eulogy from Evitus A Agbor. "HERBERT NGANJO ENDELEY - THE EPITOME OF SHEER ARROGANCE ARROGANTLY CONFRONTS THE INEVITABLE Arrogant and supernatural. Disdainful in speech rooted in a feeling of superiority complex. Oft heralded as the selected one, or Prince. Considered the most enlightened of the people engulfed by CDC, or their landlord. Zoologist and former Registrar of the University of Buea. A glaring example of what an administrator should not be, reduced to the deplorable and ignominious status of a refugee in a female student's room in November 1995 as he became an obtrusive and uninvited guest andcook. Dorothy Njeuma's alter ego, the thorn in people’s flesh. One of the disciples of sexual abuse of female students by university lecturers, who never hesitated to prostitute his talents and use his official position to defend such indefensible acts. A staunch advocate of the North West – South West divide, who later became an obvious and visible threat to the North Westerners who came to the University of Bea for a noble and decent academic mission, and likened bullets to stones in the last strike that involved the students of the University of Buea. You can choose whatever word(s)/phrase(s) to describe a man whose person and personality ushered students into every realm of life, asking the most bizarre questions and introducing speculations why the very first Registrar of an Anglo-Saxon University would not father the academic children entrusted in his hands with compassion, ethical principles, but would rather admit and administer based on tribal lines, would encourage lecturers to engage in carnal gratification by exploiting female students sexually, be the source of mental anguish to those who came to an intellectual village called Buea. The question now is have the sheep really lost a shepherd? Herby, as he was popularly known, is now sitting face to face with God, answering some of those questions we tried to answer, and as he does that, I reflect on his administration. Hi All, Scientific theories applicable to inorganic objects, (un)fortunately, do apply to mortals. One of such is the principle of gravity. In fact, if Isaac Newton did not use the apple to develop and demonstrate the principle of gravity, he would certainly have used the fortune of human beings, for the pages of history dictate authoritatively that any descendant of Adam and Eve who has gone up has ultimately come down. Only the Lord Jesus Christ has not obeyed this natural law, but the Apostles’ Credo recited mostly by Catholics, and the Book of Revelations do tell us that He will certainly come down some day which we all await joyfully. When that happens, the Lord Jesus Christ too would have respected the law of gravity. The prolegomena above seems to be a superficial and metaphorical reflection and depiction of a man who thought that being born to the Endeley's family made him a “super man,” as he perceived himself as extraterrestrial. This may sound absurd to those who saw him in decent suits, knew him as a gentleman with an imposing handsomeness and unique complexion, eloquent and reticent. Yet, those of us who trod our feet on the soils of that academic jungle called the University of Buea are living witnesses of how Dorothy Njeuma and Herby ran the institution like their boys' quarters, engaging in unmitigated and downright arrogance even to those who saw the sun before them, and treating students like insignificant and unfortunate pests given the privilege to know them. Yes, Herby once remarked blatantly and without remorse that he was not proud being a registrar of a university where registration fee is just 50.000 FCFA and no tuition paid... And I wonder if at the dawn of a new era in his life, the alumni of such an institution he was never proud to lead will want to sorrowfully, yet humbly and honorably bid him adieu as he commences the journey to his final resting place. In 2004, I made an application to University of Georgia Law School, and the only issue I had was language proficiency. The Director of Graduate Studies told me that unless I could provide evidence that English is the language of instruction at the University of Buea, I would be required to take the TOEFL. After numerous calls, the Director decided to engage in some search to know a few things about the University of Buea. After a thorough search in all internet search engines proved futile, she gave me a call and asked if I had the contact number of the Registrar of the University of Buea. She just wanted the Registrar to tell her that English is the language of instruction at the University of Buea. I gave her the contact number. She made a three way call, and succeeded in getting to Herby. She introduced herself, her position and why she was calling. Sincerely, Herby responded that she should write a letter to him, and she responded that it was okay for Herby to answer the question via the telephone. Herby arrogantly dismissed her on the phone, and hung up. The Director was astonished, first for the arrogance, secondly, why a Registrar of a University would not be cooperative with other university authorities to see how his graduates will progress in the academic career, and even with such arrogance, the University lacked a decent and attractive website with the contact email and information of its officials. This is just one of the numerous scary, bitter, traumatizing sagas about some of the overzealous Bakwerians the regime has intoxicated with untamed and unrestrained power in Cameroon, brining pain and sorrow to families rather than joy and hope. A veritable cornucopia of students have been victimized by Herby’s arrogance, callousness, obduracy, highhandedness and high-headedness. The trauma of his unprofessionalism and superiority complex remain some of the maledictions imposed on us by Late Herby, especially as he took sides in making some female students the philanderer’s quarry. And his second-hand, dilapidated, kerosene-managed car was rendered extinct by one of his own concubines in the November 1995 University strike. For twelve years as Registrar of the University of Buea, the entire academic and administrative families of this prestigious institution were caught in a tenacious grip of academic terrorism, that caused professors and students to slip into intellectual paralysis, and he was never there to give them a jumpstart. For more than a decade, the University could not develop a website, and an administrator nurtured in the western world was in a better position to understand the importance of this to the image and marketability of the University of Buea. During his regime, issuance of transcripts became stupefied and cumbersome by the numerous secretaries and servants to consult and influence before the application could be processed. During his reign as Registrar of the University of Buea, the University of Buea had in its record a man with an imposing body build, who will unleash Bruce-Lee caliber punches at anyone irrespective of qualifications. During his reign, some fortunate students were admitted to degrees without completion of prescribed University examinations, just because they are of the same clan. During his era, the University of Buea became the center of national controversy and regional politics, drawing imaginary lines between the settlers and the sons of the soil. Yesterday, the sons of the soil were the lords, but today, they are the laughables, and we mock scornfully at them because they have decided to ignore the evanescent nature of life. And as the other power mongers continue to wield power, it is time for them to begin reflecting on how transient and hollow this life is. The Book of Ecclesiastes tells us that we all come and go like the birds that obey the seasons...and that the positions we die for, the wealth we accumulate, the pleasures we treasure most, and the power we obtain, retain, abuse and refuse to share with others, will all vanish like mist before a dawn. I resist the temptation of judging him, but I must tell it is as it is, for the great and wondrous masterpiece of humanity consists of living life with a purpose. Every blessed day, we are reminded of simple and basic truths. The death of Herby confirms one thing: that death is the universal denominator of all mankind. It is the greatest neutralizer/equalizer. It is free of prejudice, for it hates and loves all equally. It kisses the rich, and never feels uncomfortable to get romantic with the poor. It fans the oppressor, and oft frowns with the oppressed. It identifies the beautiful, but does not avoid the ugly. It looks for the sick, but does not shy from the healthy. It respects the learned, but does not cheat the illiterate. It is meant for all. It befriends the terrorist, but does not estrange the peacemaker. It plays foul with the guilty, yet, it seeks the innocent. That is death....and Herby is now at the dawn of a new era. A strong and wonderful congregation awaits him, and we wish him well. Avitus A. Agbor"

Akoson and Watesih, I am highly honoured to be remembered during this period of stock taking/reflections by you both. It gives me the impression that my little contributions on this forum were read. Gentlemen I thank you both and haven had the opportunity to exchange ideas with intellectuals like you both not leaving out great and inspiring minds like Rexon, Vito, Ndiks, SJ, Vally Bessong, Massamoyo, samleyin, Neba Funiba,Najella,Mbu B., DaDiceman, Kumbaboy, langhai, Ma Mary, SJ, Klemenceau, MukiStonehall, Tayong, Atangha, M. Nje, Feli,Tita Mofaw etc etc, I can only say let the new year be a time for us to reconcile our differences so that we can put up a united front to fight our common enemy. See you all next year.

Feli, Lets be serious here for a moment....was going to the Government to solicite for financial assistance to evacuate late Ma Rose abroad for medical treatement a matter of last resort or an opportunity to make use of public funds designated for such emergencies?. A single phone call within the hierarchy of the SDF could have been enough for the money needed for Ma Rose's evacuation. Fru Ndi could have shouldered his family responsibilities single handedly or with the help of friends and relatives. Mbah Ndam's advice was constitutionally right but politically wrong.I can only conclude like Rexon, that act was a political blunder.

Vally, Because I posted a message carrying the name of Atekwana doesn't mean I am Atekwana. If you have been having problems with posting on this forum which is common at times, you should channel your querrel to the post editors and stop making childish allegations. What effect does your contributions have that will warrant somebody to block them or could it be that you were disgracing Ben Muna with those trash and he decided to ask the post to put an eye on you. Vally, I met you on this forum and have been reading most of your posting not because they make any sense but because you have a right to your opinion. Your case is of great interest to me and maybe many others.Like many Cameroonians, you supported Ngwasiri and Ben Muna whole heartedly and it is embarrassing that you can't even explain to this forum why you stand behind them even when they are confessing and asking for forgiveness.

Can somebody corroborate this; "Beloved Netmates: Exactly one and a half hours ago, a MIRACLE happened at SDF National Chairman's residence. Honourable Professor Clement Foty Ngwasiri accompanied by his wife and a Pentacostal Pastor came in. Their mission? Apologize to and ask for the forgivenness of the National Chairman for what he Ngwasiri has done to him, SDF and the Cameroonians. Proof? Find here attached letters written to the Courts withdrawing all cases against the SDF by him After brief presentations in true reconciliation spirit by both he, his pastor and the National Chairman, Prayers were said by the Pastor and conluded by the National Chairman. While depending on the LORD Almighty God to water this seed, I personally ask all to also pray. More next time. Atekwana"

It is really annoying seeing educated people making silly comments. The way I see it, Fru Ndi has done all that which a reasonable politician can do taking into consideration the political terrain. Fru Ndi and the SDF are on the right path and are using the appropriate channels to put forward their grievances. The responsibility to bring down the Biya's regime lies on us individually or collectively and not Fru Ndi. If Fru Ndi and the SDF decides to boycott all the elections,if they decide to go on hunger strike or boycott work or prevent their children from going to school in protest against the corrupt Biya's regime that would not change a thing. Fru Ndi and the SDF are using the right strategies as a mature political party to put forward their grievances.It is worth pointing out that SDF is not a rebel group but a recognized political party that has guide lines. We should blame ourselves for being so divided rather than blaming Fru Ndi or the SDF or the SCNC. On a more serious note, if some of you are so impatient and has given up hope that the SDF or SCNC cannot effect change in Cameroon why not plot for the assasination of Biya?. Afterall John F.Kennedy was shot and killed by an individual. Your name can go down in history.