Balungeli Confiance Ebune: NW, SW Reconstruction Plan Steering Committee Chair.

In an interview on Cameroon Radio Television, CRTV’s bi-monthly programme, Inside the Presidency, Ebune Confiance, who is also Director of Cabinet at the Prime Minister’s office, said the Head of State’s reconstruction vision, implemented amidst security challenges, is being copied elsewhere. 

The PPRD-NW/SW Steering Committee urged the population of the two crisis-hit regions to embrace peace, own projects for development to follow. 

Excerpts.

To begin with, what is the job definition of the Director of Cabinet at the Prime Minister’s Office?

I manage the cabinet of the Prime Minister, Head of Government. I receive the instructions that the Prime Minister gives me. In general note, I ensure that everything is set for the Prime Minister to perform his republican duties. I manage his agenda, appointments and do a good number of other things. 

We’ve just watched a report concerning all that the President of the Republic has done for the South West and North West Regions within the context of the reconstruction plan. There is this quotation ‘development is impossible in times of conflict’. What would you say to that? 

Well, I will instead re-coin it that “there is no development without peace”. But going back to that phrase, President Paul Biya, with his visionary leadership, has proven beyond reasonable doubt that we can develop in areas that have difficulties. As you well know, the origin of this plan was when the President of the Republic convened the Major National Dialogue in 2019. The plan was an offshoot of the many other recommendations of the Major National Dialogue. One of the major recommendations had to do with re-constructing the North West and South West Regions. I can also mention that a similar plan has been put in place for the Far North Region. These plans came at a time when many thought or believed in the phrase you just mentioned- that it was not going to possible reconstructing when there are security challenges. Thank God a good number of our partners believed in the vision of the Head of State. Of course, we cannot say you must wait until the crisis or war comes to an end before you reconstruct. 

People need the schools, hospitals and basic infrastructure. They need water, electricity. It was on the basis of these that the Head of State, through his visionary leadership, came up with the reconstruction plan. You can bear with me that this vision of the Head of State is being copied elsewhere. 

Are you saying conclusively that we cannot say development cannot take place in a conflict situation?

As far as human lives on this earth are concerned, we need development, come rain, come shine.

You have been to the field, to the South West Region first and then the North West Region. What has this plan been able to do? Let’s begin with the South West Region.

Effectively, the inception of this plan has culminated in three major pillars. That is recovery, reconstruction and development. It had to be the priority of government and falls within the National Development Strategy document of the country. The first phase had to do with recovery. The recovery phase had to do with social cohesion, rehabilitation of basic infrastructure and revitalising our local economy.

I want us to take each of them one after the other. So when you say social cohesion, what do you mean in concrete terms?

During the crisis, major fabrics of the society were destroyed in the North West and South West Regions. Living together was a major setback; so we had to bring back dignity to the lives of our people in the North West and South West Regions. Bringing back dignity, respect for one another, building peace mechanisms, coming out with peace mediators, supporting socio-cultural activities and so on are just to bring back that bond that used to exist in our communities in the two English-speaking Regions. It was a confidence-building mechanism and a good number of projects have been realised in the North West and South West Regions.

In the South West Region, we have been able to support youth start-ups, we have supported many socio-cultural activities in terms of cultures and sporting activities. You know those are the kind of things that used to harness our people together. The reconstruction plan has also been able to support peace mediators. They have been able to train about 60 peace mediators who are working on the field. The result as to what we have today could also be partly because of their contributions. 

Now, over to the North West Region, what has been achieved on the ground?

As I mentioned earlier, under this recovery phase, similar to what has been achieved in the South West Region, we were very impressed when we went down to the North West Region as well. The plan has effectively achieved a lot.

You went to which localities?

We went to Nkwen, Bamendankwe; we combed through the entire Mezam Division and we were very impressed by the realisations within the context of this plan. More importantly was the enthusiasm of the population. In fact, they were so happy and sent back gratitude to the Head of State, indicating that a friend in need is a friend indeed. 

Concretely speaking, what would you itemise with regards to the projects that have been carried out in the North West Region, especially in the localities you visited recently? 

So far on our spreadsheet, we have about 215 projects that have been carried out within the context of the plan in the South West and North West Regions. These include about 19 or 20 water points, about 20 health facilities, 25 schools, about five bridges, 800 lost documents produced and about 60 insider mediators. The plan has also supported about 12 sociocultural activities, 15 community centres build, close to 2,500 farmers supported and about 40 greenhouses also rehabilitated or constructed, about 50 stores rehabilitated, over 120 youth start-ups, and 50 cooperatives supported. In a nutshell, I had to go through all of these, to be sure that what was on the document reflected what I saw on the field. 

For the cases of school rehabilitation, apart from government schools, were there also conventional or mission schools that were rehabilitated?

Effectively, the plan worked with some major stakeholders like councils, religious associations and public institutions. They were the major stakeholders that the plan worked with. Here, we are talking about religious bodies. Effectively, we visited some of these structures. One of the things that really touched us was how they were using local materials to build better. You know the plan relies on the principle of build better.

What does that slogan, building better, mean? Does it mean that if somebody was living in a one bedroom house that has been destroyed, you now build a two- bedroom house? 

Under the recovery phase, we are talking of community projects, not individual projects for now. We are talking of schools being destroyed. You can see for yourself that with the Catholic School at Bamenda Town, the population themselves confessed that the structure they have today is better than what was there before. So, if you follow the interviews of Archbishop Nkea, he mentioned that it is like they are in Europe. That is the concept of building better. 

We realised that in the North West or South West Region, whatever you are carrying out as rehabilitation works take place in areas that can be considered as green zones. Not so much has been done in areas that are considered as red zones with a high level of insecurity. Yet, you said at the beginning that development can still take place in a conflict situation. How will you reconcile that? 

Yes, you know very well that human nature generally is based on progression and planning. These plans started from somewhere. The Prime Minister instructed us to go down to the field to see for ourselves and give a new orientation to this plan. I think within what you call red zones, we still have green zones in those areas. What the people need in a nutshell is development. You have to eat everyday, even if you are at war. 

So, what have been the major challenges that you have faced all along? 

Our first major challenge has to do with the acceptance of this plan by the population. This is because they were being derailed by some who deceived them not to accept the facilities being built. 

Meanwhile, those guys were enjoying similar facilities in their comfort zones elsewhere. It took us sometimes to make these people know that the Head of State thinks of them and believes in peace. 

When we went down to the field, we saw the number of requests coming from the population. People are in dire need of development. They are in dire need of these basic infrastructure and facilities which were destroyed. I think the plan is a reality. And, the plan, as you will very well know, is a special offer by the Head of State to contribute to serve as a peace-building mechanism. His offer for those carrying arms to drop them and come back to join in nation-building still stands. This peace offer still remains. 

You talked about the population that is not aware and so on. There is confusion as some people do not understand which projects are being carried out by the reconstruction plan and which are being carried out by their local councils?

I think the population should appropriate this reconstruction plan and take ownership of it. I told you earlier that at inception, one of the major difficulties had to do with the population accepting it. Today, that is history. Everywhere we went to, the population appropriated the plan. And a lot of sensitisation has been done with regards to who did what. That is why I brought back gratitude from these same population to the Head of State. 

When you talked about challenges, you mentioned only the case of the acceptance of the population. Beyond that, what other difficulties are you meeting on the ground? 

Another difficulty is accessibility, especially to some of those remote areas. You know the road network is a major concern. And it remains a problem. But again, within the context of the development plan, I think those worries will be taken into consideration when we enter the next phase of the plan and other development projects. I even highlighted this issue when I went to the North West Region. A few months before, it was difficult to access the North West Region through the Babadjou road. But today, the constructions are going on and they are already putting tar on the road. We should give peace a chance for development to come in because some of those construction works would have been realised long ago, but for the children carrying arms and fighting against development. 

All what you are doing should cost a whopping sum of money. So, where does the money come from to sponsor all these projects that are being carried out now?

When the Head of State put this plan in place, an amount of about over 89 billion FCFA was earmarked to carry it out. The Head of State put in place an initial sum of 8.9 billion FCFA, which is 10 percent of the initial amount. As I said earlier, this notwithstanding, there are various projects within the context of the Public Investment Budget. We also looked for partners and it is an opportunity to thank some of those partners who believed in this project, more especially our Japanese friends. They came in to support the project. So far, they have put in close to 2.5 billion FCFA to support this project. We also want to thank some donors like some public and private companies, which also supported the project. We want to mention SABC, not for publicity, GICAM and many others who are knocking at the doors of the reconstruction plan with funding. 

Recently, the Head of State instructed the Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, to sign an agreement with the Islamic Development Bank, to the tune of close to 21 billion FCFA to support this project. I bet you, many other well-wishers have seen the success of this plan and not long from now they will join us to reconstruct the North West and South West Regions. We have had a lot of promises, but we are waiting for them to materialise. Many of them have given their words and we trust they would keep to them. 

Apparently, some are not matching their words with action, Mr Chairman. What is the problem? 

They made promises and we are still waiting for them to fulfil those promises. Some of them made them openly. I think we will wait for them to fulfil their promises. We don’t think there is any problem. Maybe they wanted to see whether this plan will really mature. Today, I think the realisations speak for themselves. That is why we are reminding them to redeem their pledges. 

You talked about the population, how involved is the population? How is the population involved probably in the conception, execution and use of whatever facilities you have been able to put in place? 

The population is involved at the level of conception and execution. It is a bottom top approach. As a said earlier, before the conception of these projects, teams were sent down to the field to find out the needs of the population. In terms of recovery, areas where structures were destroyed have all been put down in a logbook. We have a steering committee where the local representatives of these populations take part in decision-making in terms of which projects could be done. And again, when I went down to the North West Region, I saw that local materials were being used in building one of the educational facilities. It really impressed us because not only was this structure built better, but built at a cost that is very attractive using local materials. That again showcases the involvement of the local population in this whole project. 

We are in an era of decentralisation where power is being transferred from the centre to the peripheries, especially in the North West and South West Regions. Many people are saying, were it not better for all of these reconstructions to be retroceded at the level of the councils because of the principle of subsidiarity? What is your take on that?

As I mentioned earlier, there is a steering committee and most of these local stakeholders are part and parcel of the committee. In fact, they play a very major role. Also, development agencies like the South West Development Authority, SOWEDA, and the North West Development Authority, MIDENO, play a major role in this committee. It is the kind of composition for everyone to put hands on deck to ensure that this programme is realised. 

You are from the South West Region and you know the North West Region too as you worked there before. Looking at the situation on the ground, if your mission is suddenly cut short, do you think that based on what you have done, you will authoritatively say that the people are faring better than they were before this project started? 

Yes! I come from the South West Region and l worked in the North West Region. Let me take one example of the North West Region and maybe you could judge from there. I used to be the Divisional Officer, DO of Bamenda III Subdivision in Nkwen. One of the major concerns while I was was there had to do with water, the provision of pipe-borne water. It was a similar situation even in Bamenda I. Today, it is one of the projects we visited and the people were very happy that for once, they have pipe-borne water. 

I also visited one of the projects in Santa. It had to do with the Women Empowerment Centre. One onlooker noticed that we were all taking pictures. From his reading of the project, he said any disappointment could be a blessing in disguise.

What exactly did he mean by that?

In other words, he was just going back to the principle of building better. No such centre ever existed there but from the images, you could see that it is very modern and serving as a multipurpose center with halls, sports facilities among others. The people are very happy. 

Each project has three components. The first is recovery, then reconstruction and development. You are now on the first; recovery. On a scale of one to 10, how will you rate the work done so far?

Maybe as the Chairman of the Steering Committee, I will not want to delve into rating because you are better placed to rate us. But I will say we are satisfied with what we saw, because the end result was to satisfy the population. If we are having the feedback from the population, that they are very happy and are asking for more, it means they are very satisfied. 

That is the first component. Now, how soon will it go through?

We are still on the first pillar of the first component of this plan which has to do with recovery.

Recovering all that has been lost?

Yes. Recovery, especially on community facilities. This has to last for three years. It was contracted to be manned by United Nations Development Programme, UNDP.

The second phase has to run for five years and the third pillar will run for 10 years. So, it is a composite plan, which has been well structured with time. 

We have the problem of contracts. How were the contracts of these projects awarded?

For the recovery phase, our operating partners are the UNDP. They are in charge of the award of the contracts and procurements to fully follow UNDP standards, which you know very well are international standards. 

The Major National Dialogue was organised to find solutions and end the conflict in the North West and South West Regions. A number of recommendations were made and one was the reconstruction and development of the North West and South West Regions. But beyond what is being done now, have you been thinking of other ideas that can be useful on the table to help bring peace quicker or sooner?

My mandate had to do with the reconstruction and development, which have their own contributions to bringing back peace. As I mentioned earlier, this is being treated by the Head of State, just like the many other things he has done. I mean, he started with the Major National Dialogue and before the Major National Dialogue, there were so many other things that the Head of State put in place to make sure that peace returns to the North West and South West Regions. I think gradually, things are getting better. It will not be that problematic for peace to return. It is a gradual process and the responses are very positive. 

What you are saying is that the situation is improving. But there are people from these two Regions who don’t agree with this view. According to them, this is a view held by those in Yaounde, in government and those in power. Do you agree with this assessment? 

No! They are free to have that as their opinion, but the fact is clear. We are not saying that we have come back to the position where we were before. But we are saying things have greatly improved and there are visible signs. There is no politics in this. It’s not Yaounde. It’s not whoever. It is true that there are some remote areas where there are banditry and so on. Even if we go to where we were before 2017, we cannot say we have eradicated crime. As long as human nature lives on this earth, crime will always be there. So, most of the atrocities being committed in some remote areas in our two Regions could be attributed more to crime and criminality. 

President Paul Biya initiated this plan to bring the North West and the South West Regions out of their previous predicaments into a better way of life. Now, you are in charge. What assurances are you giving the Head of State that his energy and the money he has pumped into this project, would not be in vain? 

Definitely, beyond any assurance I will give, I think the control mechanisms have been put in place and are there. I have gone down to the field, I have seen, I have reported to the Prime Minister, Head of Government and I think I convinced him with the report. He is the initiator and the owner of the project. 

So, at the end of these three years, all of us will be smiling?

Why not? Some are already smiling. Those who have benefitted from the project are already smiling. I think we should join them in smiling. At the end, we will have a bigger smile. 

I want to believe you. Cameroonians will have to believe you for that smile. Your last words Sir?

As I said earlier, I was so humbled to have gone on this mission and more humbled that I had to carry back the gratitude of the population to the Head of State for the realisations. I was a messenger sent down and I came back very satisfied. 

I wish once more to seize this opportunity to call on our brothers and sisters; because we are from the South West or North West Region, that the time has come and they should yield. Once more, I want to reiterate the call of the Head of State, for those still in the bushes to drop their arms and join in nation-building. 

Carrying guns will take them nowhere. Carrying guns will not put food on their table. It is unfortunate that they are using these arms against their parents, children, brothers and sisters. It is just of no use what they are doing. A few of them are still in the bushes but a good number of them have yielded to the call of the Head of State, have dropped their arms and joined the DDR centres. Some of the DDR centres built in the South West and North West Regions are very modern. Beyond them coming there, they have other trainings that they are going to go through. I think they should seize this opportunity to give peace a chance and join in the development and peace-building process of our Regions.

Let me also use this opportunity to say that all would be done within reach and with the available means to make sure reconstruction is carried out everywhere that has been destroyed. They should join and accompany this plan to bring back development in our two Regions. 

It was a pleasure having you!

Thank you very much. It was also my pleasure to be invited again to present this presidential plan. Thank you very much.