By Wifah Jennyhans Nde
Prime Minister Philemon Yang has embarked on another trip to the North West Region over the weekend a day after one of his cabinet minister; Andre Mama Fouda, minister of public health left that part of country to launch work on the construction of the University of Bamenda referral teaching hospital. An event which did not witness the usual ritual of ‘laying of the foundation stone’.
This trip by Yang marks at least the seventh time he is taking an official visit to the North West in seven months not to launch construction works or leisure but to appease his brothers and sisters from his region of origin to give room for peace and let the regime whose government he heads to be seen as winning.
Sources say the PM’s visit this time around is to counter calls for boycott of the National Day on May 20 this year championed by mostly Anglophone activists in the Diaspora. The relevance of the PM’s visit cannot be overemphasized given that previous calls for ghost towns and boycotts have proven to be very effective in that part of the country. In his capacity as the leader of the permanent regional delegation of the ruling CPDM party for the North West, he is expected to rally militants massively to turn out for the august event come what may.
He began with a meeting with officials of the party from the seven divisions that make up the North West, ministers of North West origin, Senators, MPs, Mayors, Traditional rulers and other local officials of the party within the North West region. The ultimate goal for Mr Yang’s visit to the North West this time is to at least ensure CPDM militants of the region turn out massively on the National Day come May 20 in Bamenda despite calls for a boycott.
Philomen Yang has, in the recent past, been the major firefighter for the Biya government since the start of the Anglophone crisis which is its seventh month now. He was the first to convene a meeting in Bamenda, November last year to dialogue with Anglophone lawyers and teachers’ representatives when at the same time his cabinet ministers; Lorent Esso, Fame Ndongo, Issa Tchiroma, Ernest Ngalle Bibehe and Yusuf Hadija were holding a press conference in Yaounde to denounce the existence of an Anglophone problem in Cameroon.
He was a victim of November 8, 2016 saga in Bamenda when he and his party officials including the Secretary General, Jean Kwete attempted to organize a party rally in Bamenda. The ‘rally’ which was scheduled to hold at the commercial avenue finally ended up in the confines of Ayaba Hotel amidst heavy military presence after some youths protested against the rally. The protest turned violent leaving at least 2 deaths and excessive militarization of that city, Bamenda has still not recovered from that chaos till date.
PM Yang had recently also organized and spearheaded a regional tour across the seven divisions in the North West to convince parents to send their children back to school between March 6 and 10, 2017 but met with rather a more disgruntled public against the regime, posing questions which the PM could hardly attempt answers to. The tour ended in futility as till date schools still remain closed.
The fate of his visit to the region and meetings with party officials this time is yet to be known as May 20 this year shall tell. Pundits strongly worry if it can bear any fruits as lawyers were recently defiant to calls by the Bar council president to return to court on May 2, 2017, calls for ghost towns operations seem to remain an oath between the people of North West and whoever is calling for them. Government’s indecision to heed to the people’s call to liberate all those who have been arrested in connection to the Anglophone crisis which has grounded most schools in the two Anglophone regions for over six months now, leaves a dark cloud in the sky.