By DOH JAMES SONKEY
Minister of State for Higher Education and Chancellor of Academic Orders, Prof Jacques Fame Ndongo has declared that all is set for the official launch of academic activities on the Sangmelima campus of the Congo-Cameroon interstate university in October 2019. He made the declaration last July 12, 2019 in the conference hall of his ministry in Yaounde while chairing the first session of the National Steering Committee of the Congo-Cameroon Inter-State University Implementation Project attended by Congolese Ambassador to Cameroon, H.E Valentin Ollessongo.
Minister of State Fame Ndongo explained that “the Congo-Cameroon interstate university jointly installed in Ouesso (Northern Congo) and Sangmelima (South Cameroon) was created by a convention signed on December 12, 2012 by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Republic of Congo and the Minister of External Relations of the Republic of Cameroon. The motivation underlying this creation is to develop cooperation between our two countries in higher education and to create a pole of technological excellence in the sub-region and to strengthen the integration between our two peoples.”
He added that “considering the need for the valorisation of the potential resulting from the equatorial forest of Central Africa that the two neighbouring countries share, the main mission of the interstate university is to promote the progress of knowledge and development in the fields of agriculture, forestry, environmental protection and information and communication technologies.”
While expressing gratitude to the government of Cameroon for putting in much effort to kick-start the initiative described as dear to the two Heads of State; President Paul Biya of Cameroon and President Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo, the Ambassador Valentin Ollessongo expressed optimism that once operational, the interstate university will be leader in the sub region.
The 15 members Committee created by Decree No 2018/4821/CAB/PM of June 5, 2018 is placed under the chairmanship of Minister of State for Higher Education, Prof Jacques Fame Ndongo.