By Moma Sandrine
On Thursday May 9th when the Prime Minister and head of government Chief Dr. Joseph Dion Ngute arrived the North West Region (NWR), some women drawn from different socio-economic backgrounds staged a walk in the town of Bamenda, demanding for the return of peace in the two English speaking regions of the country.
The women marched from the commercial avenue, to the food market and then to Ayaba hotel where they awaited the arrival of the Prime Minister. As they marched past the streets of Bamenda, they were singing songs of woe, saying they were tired of the sufferings that the crisis has brought about. According to them, the ongoing crisis has taken a toll on them as they have lost their husbands, brothers, sisters and children. To this effect, they called on the Prime Minister to listen to their cry and channel their problems to the appropriate quarters.
“There is pain everyday; we don’t sleep. There are incessant killings everyday; we think that as women, we have to do our own part of the job by coming out to cry to tell the powers that be that they should try to put an end to this. We intend to tell the Prime Minister that as women, we bear the cross. He must have known by now that we have gone against natural phenomenon in our society where we as women have been burying our children, husbands. It doesn’t matter. If a military man is killed it’s a woman’s husband, if an amba boy is killed it’s a woman’s son. We are coming out as mothers to cry for peace and nothing but peace”, one of the women leaders lamented.
The women who couldn’t help but cry carry placards bearing messages such as “we cry for our children, we cry for our future”, “we long for justice, security and sustainable peace”, “women are an integral part of the nation, inclusive dialogue is the ultimate goal”, “war destroys, it does not build”, “conflict is inevitable but violence is a choice”, “our voices too count, end hostilities and let’s talk”.
When Prime Minister, Dion Ngute finally got to Ayaba hotel, he was touched by the wailing of the women and he told them that the head of state had sent him with a message of peace. He furthered that there is no need for anyone to go into the bushes, that the president of the Republic is ready to dialogue with them and even provide them with jobs for those in the bushes. After calming the women down, he later held a closed door meeting with the women who aired out their worries to him. After the meeting, one of the women leaders, Sali Mbumyen expressed their satisfaction after the Prime Minister had given them a listening ear “The most important thing that we had is that the Prime Minister listened to the grass-root women and they aired out their need and we are praying that there be an understanding in the conversation that they had”.
Some women left the meeting feeling very fulfilled for haven aired their minds to the Prime Minister. They hope therefore that their cry won’t be for nothing but will cause the government to take measures in solving the crisis.