By Sah Terence Animbom
As the March 12, 2023 senatorial elections approach, incumbent senators who lack any track record of active community engagement may have it really tough convincing councillors for re-election into the upper house of assembly.
In the North West region, incumbent SDF senators are left at the mercy of CPDM councillors who now control 33out of 34 councils in the North West since the 2020 twin municipal and legislative elections.
To gain favour from the opposition party, SDF senators must have touched their hearts immensely with really impactful community engagement and development initiatives. While some SDF incumbent senators have been very present in the media with some aid to the community, persons like Kinyang George seem to have been more focused on carrying out humanitarian and development activities away from the critical eye of the media.
The SUN Newspaper has been working on presenting the balance sheet of some incumbent senators both of the CPDM and SDF as they seek another mandate. Talking to incumbent senator Kinyang George, he assured The SUN that he has been actively involved in the social and development lives of his people, standing by them in their times of need and empowering families and youths from his constituency.
Asked how he could prove such claims of active community engagement that do not seem to have been covered by any mainstream media houses in Cameroon, he presented a series of verifiable receipts, attestations and letters of financial engagement across multiple strata of society.
To Senator Kinyang George, high media presence is a good way of being noticed but also does not necessarily mean you are doing all that the media reports you are doing. “I am concerned about accountability to the persons whose mandate I represent. I expect them to be the ones saying whether I did all that I say I did or not.” Kinyang said.
“You have at your disposal letters of appreciation with clear amounts I contributed mentioned, meaning that I can’t lie about it to anyone and that the people who received cannot be accused of receiving more or less from me. This to me is the kind of accountability that I want to continue to foster in my community. I have spent several millions on development, youth empowerment and educational programs. The letters of appreciation, receipts and attestations you at your disposal are not exhaustive but are just a proof of some of the active work I have been doing both before becoming senator and when I was made senator.” He added.
The SUN was able to verify that Senator Kinyang George through his Kinyang and Co Law firm and senate office have given educational scholarships to over 20 students in a professional school in Douala amounting to the tune of FCFA 7,000,000 as well as payment of fees to some IDPs in a primary school in Douala to the tune of FCFA 1,000,000.
He also donated some health equipment to the Nkor and Nkum Health Centers in Bui division. There is a huge rural electrification project currently going on in Noni to which he contributed FCFA 29,000,000. He has also been reaching out to the rest of Bui Division by supporting projects from the Nso Development Association and sponsoring IDPs from all sub divisions in the Bui.