For sustaining cooperation’s brand: CDC General Manager clinches Best Agro-Industry Promoter Award.

The award night took place July 25, at the Yaounde Hilton Hotel. The award night was held under the distinguished patronage of the Minister of Communication. It was attended by top government officials, members of the diplomatic corps, political, religious, civil society and traditional authorities, among others.

The award jury was led by Barrister Akere Muna (President), Senator Ekoko Mukete Ekoko IV (Secretary), Esther Omam (Member) and Kristian Ngah Christian (CENPA President).

Franklin Ngoni Njie won the Best Agro-Industry Promoter Award for “his strong-willed leadership in sustaining the brand of the Cameroon Development Cooperation, CDC, revitalising its plantations and upholding its legacy”.

It should be noted that Franklin Ngoni Njie has not been leaving any stone unturned in putting the CDC back on its feet, after having been hard-hit by the crisis in the North West and South West Regions. He has also been working tooth and nail to maintain CDC as the leading agro-industrial company in the country. 

Despite CDC having been hit by the crisis, Franklin Ngoni Njie and his collaborators have maintained their efforts in keeping the corporation’s operations running. 

“Recognition emphasises strong will of CDC work force”

Speaking to The Guardian Post about his award, Franklin Ngoni Njie, said: “First, we are quite humbled by this very big recognition and we are glad because the CDC, everybody knows, has been very seriously threatened during the past couple of years as a result of the impact of the socio-political crisis. But this recognition further emphasises on the strong will of the workforce of CDC, that has stood against the tides when, by every indication, it was clear that CDC was about ceasing to exist. What has been proven with time is that CDC is a good example of what we can call resilience”. 

He added that CDC holds the key as far as the sociopolitical crisis in the North West and South West Regions is concerned.

"If you want to mitigate the negative impact of the crisis on the population, it is through CDC,” he added.

“If you go through CDC, you will touch many people who have been seriously affected by the crisis. CDC impacts positively on the livelihood of thousands of people, be they part of CDC or out of CDC,” the General Manager noted.

He added that: “If you just take the road network that CDC maintains, that helps thousands of rural communities and farmers to be able to take their farm produce to the markets through thousands of kilometres of roads that are maintained by CDC”. He also disclosed that CDC is also improving the health of communities by offering healthcare services.

“If you look at healthcare, CDC is offering means like provision of basic healthcare in certain communities like Mukonje, Illoani, Boa. These areas have been deprived of that basic facility. So, there is every reason and every need for CDC to come back and play the role it has always played; the strong player in the socio-economic fabric of our areas of operation,” he added.

Hails CENPA for initiative

The CDC General Manager also went ahead to, “on behalf of thousands of workers of CDC, thank CENPA for this recognition; we really appreciate it”. 

“The next thing I want to express is congratulations for this endeavour to the association for doing what they are doing, for recognising what is positive. It is a tradition we don’t really have in our country, but I think this is a very good step forward. My prayer is that let it be that this has come to stay and let CENPA move from this level next year to a higher one and the years to come to even higher levels,” he stated.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue N0:3187 of Friday August 02, 2024