By TALLA AGHAA CHRISTOPHER
Konye, chief town of Konye Sub Division in Meme Division South West Region will on Thursday, October 24, 2019 welcome its new Divisional Officer, DO, in a ceremony to be presided at by Meme Senior Divisional Officer, Chamberlin Ntou’ou Ndong. According to a Presidential Decree signed on October 7, 2019, appointing new Divisional Officers to some administrative units in Cameroon, Attah Moses Ndep was appointed DO for Konye to take over from Ekolle Blessed Epimba.
Konye as at the eve of the installation is a cause for concern. Three years into the Anglophone crisis, the once vibrant town with its rich agricultural potentials is begging for government attention. Apart from the deserted town, almost all government structures and houses have been affected by the armed conflict. The only functioning office is that of the Council that fortunately hosts the National Gendarmerie Brigade of Konye. The Konye Farmers Cooperative building that used to host the D.O’s office is reported to have been razed to the ground by alleged separatist fighters, the residence of the DO vandalised, the new building of the DO’s office along the road leading to Dikome Bafaw has been abandoned in the bush, the access to the main ceremonial ground hosting the beautiful grandstand at the Government Primary School Konye has simply been transformed into a forest. The structures hosting the Konye District hospital has dilapidated and needs a complete rehabilitation. The first modern Konye Council business Center was razed to the ground by suspected ‘amba boys’. The population of Konye Center have relocated to the bushes and hardly come to the main town, for fear of the unknown, as others remain internally displaced.
As the new DO takes command this Thursday October 24, 2019, what is on every lip in Konye Sub Division is ‘Where will the DO be installed when the ceremonial ground is in the bush? Will the DO actually operate in Konye taking into consideration that the Meme SDO’s office is hosting the functionaries of the Konye DO and where will the new DO be living considering that DO’s residence remains and eyesore since it was vandalised few years back’.