UB welcomes over 12,000 freshmen, VC justifies new fee payment method.

Exactly 12,457 students were admitted including 7,900 females and 4,557 males. 

The Faculty of Social and Management Sciences maintains its position as the faculty with the highest number of students, with 3,588, followed by the Faculty of Science with 3,021.

The Faculty of Laws and Political Science has 1,559 students; the Advanced School of Translation and Interpretation 82; the Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine 492; Faculty of Arts 557; Faculty of Education 545; Faculty of Engineering and Technology 776; Faculty of Health Sciences 444; and the College of Technology 513. 

The Higher Technical Teachers’ Training College of the University of Buea in Kumba has 538 students while and the Higher Teachers’ Training College Buea has 342.

In his address to the students, the Vice Chancellor, Prof Horace Ngomo Manga, urged them to embrace technology and all the opportunities provided by the digital world. He said the University of Buea will ensure a conducive environment where students can thrive.

To ensure students have basic knowledge and understanding of the use of Information and Communication Technology tools, a course dubbed ICT 100 has been introduced to ensure students across all the establishments of the institution have those basic skills. 

“…the world is evolving rapidly and UB students cannot afford to lag behind because our campus has well-equipped digital facilities ready to enhance learning,” Prof Ngomo said.

Commenting on the challenges faced by students to pay fees in the face of long queues and delays, he reassured students that the institution has taken measures to fix the delays in the payment of fees at the bank, to ensure integrity in the system. 

He said the move to the bank was informed by the desire by the institution to have the full amount budgeted from the fees. “We do not want infiltrators because at times people come to disturb others,” he said.

Prof Ngomo said classes are moving on smoothly in the institution because they have already adopted to the crisis in the region. He said the university has continued to launch and introduce new programmes to meet the ever-increasing demands of the job market in Cameroon and globally. He pointed at the programme in transport and logistics with over 700 students registered this year. 

Addressing students during the matriculation, the keynote speaker, Dr Enga Kameni, said the University of Buea provided the matriculating students the best opportunity to improve the story of their communities, families and for themselves despite their backgrounds.

Given that the world today is a knowledge economy, he encouraged them to continue learning and to commit to excellence despite the challenges. In this light, Dr Kameni encouraged the students that there is hope if they work hard despite the despair and despondency.

He enjoined the students to anchor their future on hope, hard work and discipline; three principles that will take them to places they never imagined. Furthermore, he launched a special prize award to run for the next ten years, honouring the best graduating male and female students in the Faculty of Law.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3636 of Tuesday November 25, 2025