Kumba City Council: Councillors rubbish SW independent conciliator’s report of poor management.

The councillors who are members of the decision-making arm of the Kumba City Council, voiced their worries in separate interviews granted prying reporters in Kumba, Tuesday May 7.

According to the councillors, the report of the South West Public Independent Conciliator is grossly misleading, supposedly motivated politically and not consistent with the reality on the ground. 

The South West Public Independent Conciliator, Telelen Dorothy Atabong Epse Motaze, it should be recalled, had in her on the state of relations between citizens and Regional and Council Services for 2023, indicted the Kumba City Council of what a newspaper report recently qualified as ‘disastrous’ management. 

The PIC report detailed that “relations between the Kumba City Council, service users and inhabitants were perceived to be unhealthy, characterised by recriminations and expressions of disappointment from a majority of the local population over what they consider as the non-delivery of various important services”.

Senior councillors rubbish report 

Reacting to the report of the South West Public Independent Conciliator, some senior councillors of the Kumba City Council said it does reflect what is on the ground in terms of management of the council. 

According to Senior Councillor Chief Ndome Samuel, he was irked by the report which has been carried by some media organs.

Chief Ndome, who doubles as traditional ruler of Kake II Bokoko village in Kumba I Subdivision, said the report is nothing short of “character assassination”.

He said the report totally “ruins efforts made by the Kumba City Mayor to give the town of Kumba a facelift”.

“We all see exactly what he is doing. His activities are attracting many international bodies to Kumba to see how to develop Kumba and make it become one of the best cities in the country,” Chief Ndome said. 

Zooming further on what he considers the positive report card of the City Mayor, Chief Ndome cited projects including roads, markets and series of other projects.

“Everything is visible and so, whatever statements are being made against him are false and should be considered as null and void,” he stated emphatically. 

For his part, another senior councillor, Nnoko Zonny, described the report of the Public Independent Conciliator and media reports as handiworks of detractors of the City Mayor. 

“These are his detractors, people who hate him; people who don’t want him to be in Kumba,” Nnoko, who doubles as notable of Kumba stated.

Nnoko used the opportunity to send a grim message to all those throwing banana peelings on the path of the Kumba City Mayor and trying to drag his efforts in mud.

“He [City Mayor] is fixing our town. I am a Bafaw and this is our town. Anybody who continues to do such nonsense, we know what to do to them,” he warned.

Speaking further, the senior councillor pointed accusing fingers at Yaounde-based politicians of Kumba and Meme origin.

“These politicians in Yaounde who are insinuating all these things to mess him up will fail,” he stated, adding that his detractors should work to take power through the ballot box and not through smear campaigns. 

“The population of the Bafaw and Kumba are behind him [City Mayor] for all the good things he is doing for us. Rumours of him awarding contracts to himself are all lies,” Nnoko added. 

Also speaking on the issue, senior councillor, Atungu Henry Tabot, described the Public Independent Conciliator as being a politician, instead of playing the role of an ombudsman.

“Everybody in Kumba is appreciating the work of the City Mayor. I am surprised that the Independent Conciliator is saying the City Mayor is not a man of the people,” he said.

While rubbishing the report of the Public Independent Conciliator, Atungu called on Doubting Thomases to visit Kumba and see for themselves the series of development projects that have been engaged by the City Mayor to the benefit of the population. 

He cited ongoing works to construct a new Kumba City Council chambers, pavement works on several streets and grading of roads among others.

He also qualified the report of the Independent Conciliator as attempts by those eyeing the City Council to bring down the City Mayor. 

“We are not happy to see the image of the City Mayor being brought down only because they want to challenge him tomorrow, it is not correct. Everybody in Kumba is seeing the work he is doing,” 

Revisiting City Council 2023 records 

The Kumba City Council, it should be said, last March 28, held a session which was dedicated to the examination and adoption of the 2023 administrative and management accounts of the council. 

Meme SDO, Ntou’ou Ndong Chamberlin, had during the session commended strides made by the City Council in terms of revenue collection while urging the City Mayor to name and shame revenue collectors who still put funds into private pockets. 

The Kumba City Mayor, Gregory Mewanu, had presented the state of affairs of the council while saluting councillors for their maturity in handling the business of the council.

The City Mayor had said for the last three and half years spent in office, he and his executive have made enormous efforts to push the development agenda of Kumba.

He cited the rehabilitation of roads, tarring of 5.5km stretch of roads in Kumba II Subdivision, through the PEDVIE project funded by the World Bank, building of low-cost housing, the implementation of the Labour Intensive Approach, HIMO, project to reduce flooding in the city of Kumba.

On the financial situation of the Council for the 2023 financial year, Mewanu had detailed that of the 8 billion FCFA voted as budget, the sum of 2,067,628.458 FCFA was effectively collected while 1,664,763.596 FCFA was spent, with a carryover of 402,864,862 FCFA into the 2024 budget. 

The general realisation rate, he stated, stood at 25%. The City Mayor, on behalf of the councillors, took the commitment not to relent their efforts in the drive to bring development to the City of Kumba.