The Minister Delegate at the Presidency of the Republic in charge of Supreme Stata Audit Office, Mbah Acha Rose Fomundam has urged Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from the North West and South West regions settled in Garoua to be ambassadors of peace and living together, which she says is so dear to the President of the Republic, Paul Biya.
Minister Mbah Acha was addressing IDPs from the conflict-plagued English-speaking regions at the conference room of the North Regional Governor’s Office in French-speaking town of Garoua on Tuesday, February 18. An elite of the North West Region, Mbah Acha met and communed with IDPs from her native Region settled in Garoua on the sidelines of an official working visit to North Region.
A violent conflict between Anglophone armed separatists and government troops has killed more than 6,500 people in the North West and South West regions with about 700,000 others uprooted from their homes since violence escalated in 2017.
A good number of Northwesterners who have been affected by the armed conflict in the English speaking regions of the country have settled in the North Region with towns of Garoua and Guider hosting a majority of them, according to local authorities.
“Cameroonians should feel at home anywhere in the country, and here in Garoua you are at home,” Minister Mbah Acha told her English-speaking brothers and sisters. “Thank you for always promoting peace and social cohesion. To deserve the hospitality of the people of Garoua,” she said.
Situation back home stabilising
While urging them to be ambassadors of peace and living together in their host communities, Mbah Acha encouraged her brothers and sisters from the North West Region to “get involved in community life, register to vote,” she said.
Presidential elections will be organised in the country in October this year with municipal and legislative elections scheduled next year. Cameroonians of voting age; that is 20 years old and above who are duly registered will take part in both votes.
Minister Mbah Acha noted that the situation back home is stabilising and gradually returning to normal. To illustrate this return to normalcy, she recounted her recent visit to Mbengwi in the Momo Division of the North West Region to hand some donations and support to women’s and youth groups.
“I was greeted by a huge crowd,” she said. “People came out in droves to express their desire for a return to calm. It was the first time that a public event had been held in Mbengwi since the crisis erupted… which just goes to show that this crisis will soon be a thing of the past,” the chief watchwoman of the management of the country’s public funds explained.
Though acknowledging that they are already well integrated into their host communities in Garoua, Mbah Acha said thanks to the Head of State, peace has returned to the North West and South West Regions.
“I therefore invite those who want to return to their villages to do so… I know that you are already well integrated here in Garoua. The local populations have opened their doors to you. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them,” Mbah Acha who the audience affectionately called “our mother” said.
And as indeed a mother, Minister Mbah Acha did not come empty-handed. She donated foodstuffs and other basic necessities to the IDPs.
First published in NewsWatch newspaper No 201 of Wednesday, February 26, 2025.
