By DANIELA NEBA NGUM
The Meme Chiefs’ Conference that was scheduled to hold on December 6, 2017 in Kumba has been postponed till further notice due to the fact that the chiefs couldn’t obtain an authorization from the administrative officials.
The ceremony that was convened by the President of the Meme Chiefs Conference, Nfon V.E Mukete displaced chiefs from all the nooks and crannies of the division who were later left stranded.
According to the Vice President the Meme Chiefs Conference, Chief Akama Elango, the conclave was meant to elect their new executive to govern the affairs of the conference.
Chief Akama Elango he narrated that “our meeting was supposed to hold in Kumba I but we were informed that the Kumba City Council Hall has been booked already. As a result we were forced to change the venue to a school hall in Kumba III Sub-Division. We applied for an authorization from the D.O of Kumba III on Monday but he was not on sit for the whole day. On Tuesday, we took the application to go to the Senior Divisional Officer, who is the supervisory authority. The SDO was, unfortunately, at a security meeting and couldn’t attend to us but gave us a verbal authorization the following morning but we decided to postpone the meeting until we have a written authorization.”
The Paramount Ruler of the Bafaws and Chief of Kumba, Nfon V.E. Mukete noted that administration is written and not verbal and given the prevailing situation in the Anglophone regions of the country, it will be unwise to hold a meeting with only a verbal approval.
He called on traditional rulers to be loyal to the authorities of the state and ensure that their chiefdoms are peaceful despite the situation in the country.
However, some of the traditional rulers who opted for anonymity expressed their disappointment with the administration to The SUN. They decried the treatment they have been receiving from the administration since the start of the Anglophone crisis.
“We have been given powers to govern our communities and help the administration and the military. How are we expected to do that if we cannot get a simple authorization to hold a meeting”, a fuming chief told The SUN.
The chiefs regretted that the failed meeting could have helped them to come up with peace measures for their communities during this crisis period.
However, some of the chiefs heaped a good chunk of the blame at the doorsteps of the executive of the Meme Chiefs’ Conference whom they faulted for not procuring an authorization first before convening the meeting.