“Waste is Wealth Part IX” ; 2023 World Clean Up Day Celebrated in Cameroon Beyond Measure ü New Dimensional Approach to Plastic Waste Management and Recycling Showcased on the Occasion in Bamenda Cameroon

ü  Pa Thom from ESU Bamenda I Sub-Division, owner of a Waste Plastic Assembly Point, Mends Broken Plastic for house whole use, packaging, storage of grains, oil and flower pots,

ü  Paradise on Earth uses Plastic Bottles for Internal and external decoration,

-uses Abandoned Plastic tiers for Back wall refilling, building of cheap and affordable embankment, staircase or steps,  the growing of vegetables, medicinal plants and flowers

ü  Mayor Tubah Council, Tanjong Martin, owner of training school for plastic waste management and recycling

-is currently operating a molding center to produce pavement bricks out of raw plastic and plastic containers

-he is working on a GREEN Council Action plan for the restoration and conservation of Forests reserves in the Municipality,

-and has plans to setup a ware house for Plastic waste storage and packaging for production and marketing

2023 World cleanup day Saturday September 16th in Bamenda Cameroon was plan filled, exceptionally unique and colorful as the teams of Land Media Actors from Cameroon Climate Journalism Network (CCJN) jointly commemorate the day with parties who have for years unarguably proven to be heroes and champions against plastic pollution, waste management and recycling.

The parties in their respective ways on the occasion showcased the selfless works they have been carrying out, offering to humanity and nature out of passion and compassion.

To them, it is in the process of cleaning the environment and making it habitable that they had to go extra miles to redefine the practice of not only getting rid of waste but to make use of for cheap and affordable construction, for organic farming above all to earn a living.

Blasting Plastic pollution for a “Clean and a Healthy Waste Free Planet “was the theme of this year’s celebration and parties on this day in history in Cameroon celebrated five great plastic HEROES and figures for their legendary works and actions against plastic pollution to name; Agem Thomas Ewi, Nogning Armelle (Community Creative Center), Benjamine Dong Dahndah (Fanta Bengy Arts Center) Aatanga Martin Tabifor (Paradise on Earth) and Tanjong Martin M. Mayor Tubah Councils.

Pa Thom the Popular Bamenda I Plastic collector assembles broken buckets, bowls and dishes which he mends and brings back to use, some used as trash cans, others as flower jars and nursing pots.  At another location this same Pa has an area where he packs plastic containers of all type, used breakables bottles which he cleans, redirects to the market for the bottling of oil, storage and nursing of seeds.

Armelle of community creative arts a climate activist does in fashion design most especially the North West out fits and for years she has been making use of plastics to produce designed shoes for women, their hand bags purse and even bits or bangles.

Atanga of Paradise on earth is another environmentalist who for years has spent a better half of his life redefining the ways of the Bamenda Man on the foot path of making use of waste and natural resources around to beautify the environment. He is into landscaping and conservation using plastic containers and abandoned vehicle tiers.  

Fanta Bengy of Bengy Arts  and craft gallery is another household name in the country when it comes to plastic arts, paintings and design. His stylish outfits mostly made out of plastic speak volume of the said plastic hero. His works are mostly tailored toward educating the mass on the importance of proper waste management and recycling.

Tanjong Martin is the Mayor of Tubah Council who has for years exceptionally opened the eyes of most Cameroonian authorities and Councils to start seeing the major roles their institutions should play in fighting garbage while cleaning the environment. In the course of keeping his municipality clean, he taught of managing plastic waste and recycling them by opening a waste management and recycling center which is today producing in yard and outdoor pavement decoration bricks out of plastics.

As we report, he owns a waste management and recycling center which is opened to train other council workers on plastic waste managing. Making gains out of plastic waste management, the Mayor has plans to start building some infrastructures in his municipality using plastics. He has plans to setup a storage ware house for plastics waste and packaging for molding.  

Briefly put the five plastic Heroes of the year 2023 recognized on the occasion of World Cleanup day in Cameroon remain a model to the community as their selfless actions and efforts towards cleaning the environment is contributing to answer the general call of nature globally.

Coming back to the occasion proper, it was about clearing the waste assembling habitat, site visit, certificate awards, mass media coverage and pictures.

Still on the occasion, parties seized the opportunity to send a strong message to the community asking population to join hands with them to fight plastic waste pollution which is a common enemy to our health, life and environment.

Climate Editorial and our Special Edition of the Climate Bulletin Ahead of 2023 World Clean Up Day “Waste is Wealth Part 8”

 

✓Cameroon Climate Journalism Network (CCJN) Project in Contest at 2023 Social Shifters Challenge Incubator program Gains Certification

The project in contest is on Climate awareness and education which goes beyond normal communication to diversified campaigns.

Climate Demand Action (CDA) and actions must be mitigating and multidimensional using information communication technology at all levels.

Times are changing and the world is evolving at a frequency that only well harnessed and enhanced innovative ideas will help humanity to sustain the challenging days ahead.

On this occasions of the weekly sessions of the incubator program, CCJN looks up to social Shifters Challenge just as the World is Looking up to its 2023 innovation challenge program to bring social change through great innovative works an ideas.

“Why have we seen so many recent coups across West and Central Africa?” Dr. Christopher Fumonyoh of the National Democratic

 

Response Courtesy NPR

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The deposed president of the Central African nation of Gabon is speaking out in a video from what appears to be house arrest.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT ALI BONGO ONDIMBA: I don't know what's going on, so I'm calling you to make noise, to make noise, to make noise really.

MARTIN: It's a dramatic turn of events for Ali Bongo, who was declared the winner of Gabon's disputed presidential election. This is hours before the military ousted him in favor of the head of the presidential guard. This is Africa's eighth coup since 2020. And we wondered if there is a through line here, so we called Christopher Fomunyoh. He's a senior associate for Africa at the National Democratic Institute. It's an organization dedicated to supporting and strengthening democracies worldwide. Good morning. Thanks for joining us.

CHRISTOPHER FOMUNYOH: Thanks for having me, Michel.

MARTIN: Do we really consider Gabon a democracy? I mean, yes, it was civilian led, albeit by the same family, you know, for decades now. But even having said that, are you surprised by what happened?

FOMUNYOH: I'm surprised and, to a large extent, pretty disappointed because in the last two or three decades, we've seen incremental progress in trying to consolidate democracy in many countries across Africa. And in the past three years, we've seen a lot of backsliding that's culminated in the military coups to which you referred. And Gabon just happens to be one more case of a country that was making some progress, albeit faulting (ph) progress. But that is now being taken over by the military.

MARTIN: So you've called this backsliding. Do you have a theory about why this and why now?

FOMUNYOH: Obviously, every country context is different, stands out. But there are three main traits that are beginning to come through in the coups that we've seen thus far. In the countries in the Sahel - such as Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger Republic - the pretext used by the military has been the inability of civilian-led governments to fight violent extremism in those countries. In the coastal countries - such as Gabon and Guinea, Conakry, before that - the pretext used by the military was bad governance and issues, controversies around elections or constitutionalism and term limits. And then we have a third trait that's come out of countries such as Chad and Sudan, where it's just the old-style thinking that only the military can guarantee stability in those countries. So we're going to have to tease these theories out, but they do differ from country to country.

MARTIN: It's hard to assess such things. But did you have a sense that there is alarm about this among, you know, civilians who would like to see their countries move toward more stable governance and more stable democratic governance?

FOMUNYOH: Yes, indeed. There is some surprise because when you look at studies done on Africans' attachment to democracy by organizations such as Afrobarometer that measure public opinion across the continent, an overwhelming majority of Africans aspire to living in democratic societies. So the desire, the demand for democracy is there. At the same time, some of these populations are very disappointed by the poor performance of civilian, democratically elected leaders. So you have a bunch of - a sizable chunk of the population that feels squeezed in between poorly performing civilian leaders and unprofessional militaries that use any protest they can find to then find themselves at the helm of power or in statehouses.

MARTIN: And very briefly - it's such a complex question for such a short amount of time. But is there a role for foreign governments to play here? Or could they do more harm than good by intervening?

FOMUNYOH: No, I think there's a role because Africa is part of the globe and these things don't happen in isolation, and also because the world has become such a global village. And things that happen even in places that are geographically distant from the United States end up affecting us one way or the other. And it's important that military coups that undercut the principles of democracy that are one of the underpinnings of U.S. foreign policy should draw everyone's attention, because ultimately, people are going to determine their partnerships with the United States based on the commitment that the United States has to foster these democratic principles.

MARTIN: Thank you so much. That's Christopher Fomunyoh of the National Democratic Institute. Thank you so much for sharing these insights with us.

FOMUNYOH: Thanks for having me

 

Back to Schools Campaign in Crisis Hit Regions of Anglophone Cameroon (BASCA) Enters Full Gear; ✓Nkum DO Leads Crusade in Bui ✓Cause the clearing and Cleaning of School premises

 

✓Open Talks with School Heads, Staff Representative and Community Heads

✓Opens Registration for Pupil and Students

✓Hits hard on Absenteeism and Run away teachers

✓Ban Community Schools

✓Assures the security of Parents and their children to and from schools

This was in an open hearing for effective back to school come together convened by the DO of Nkum Sub-Division on Friday the 1^st of September 2023 at the DOs conference hall.

As a matter of fact DO Mulutakwe Elvis have been doing a lot of ground work to ensure peace and stability in this Restive part of the Region and Division to ease effective school resumption.

Through open talks, campaigns and counseling of school heads and teachers.

On his command and strict supervision, abandoned schools infested by bush were cleared opened in preparation of school resumption on Monday the 4^th of September 2023.

This 2023/2024 school year in Nkum comes with fresh hope as classes will regain their normal place as there is some ascertain degree of calm and security.

Against all these backdrop and statistics plus the engagement of the community, there is certainty that schools will effectively pick up and kick off all over Nkum next week.

On these positive notes and observations the DO who is the guarantor of peace, order and security of the people convened an open concertation meeting with school heads, education stakeholders, the Council, community heads and traditional authorities, to preach, map out and oversee effective school resumption in Nkum.

In the meeting which saw massive turn out, an indication that basically every body is tired of school lockdown, they worked on a five point agenda, the clearing and Cleaning of schools, registration of pupils and students, provisions of school didactic materials, the building of teacher’s moral and security in and major school areas.

The DO on the occasion ceased the opportunity to send words of warning to clandestine school operators and promised closing said institutions.

According to DO Mulutakwe, months of grace have passed and there is nothing like security challenge will stop effective school resumption in Nkum.

Saying all depends on the will and the firm commitment of teachers, the parents and the community.

Hear the DO to the press, immediately after, “I take full and total commitment to guarantee the security of my teachers, Pupils and students from home to school and back” . Saying so and counting on the join commitment and agreement taken with his education stakeholders.

All things being equal, from the look of things and from this Reporter’s observation effective school resumption will see the day of done this academic or school year in Nkum.

 

Senator Prof. Mrs Neba Ndosiri Brigette from Mezam Puts Smiles on the Faces of 50 Student, 250 Pupils, Relief Families Three Days to School Reopening in Cameroon

That was on Friday at the Bamenda I Council hall on the 1^st of September 2023 in a crowd pulling ceremony with mission to educate a girl child for the empowerment of a whole nation.

The advent of the Anglophone crisis since October 2016 has since brought stagnation to school activities in this part of the country and only motivational push factors can bring back education to normalcy or on rail.

That alone have made it incumbent on many elites who feels for children’s fundamental rights to education grossly violated in this part of the country to be protected.

Which is why Prof. a woman, a mother for that matter joined the crusade to ditch out cash prizes in millions and school packages to students and pupils who exceptionally performed well in both class and public exams in Mezam last academic year.

Speaking at the occasion after many other speakers, the host shared her childhood experience and how she came to become a Professor thanks to education. Reasons why her first outing as a Senator was to empower and impact lives academically.

She also used the singular opportunity to join her voice to all other living forces in the Region to call on parents wherever they are in the crisis hit Regions of Anglophone Cameroon to send their children to school come Monday the 4^th of September 2023.

The government officials present, speaking on behalf of the state lauded Madame Senator’s Initiatives. Calling on others to join the campaign for a fruitful school year 2023/2024.

On that special note, part of the fees of over 400 students and pupils were subsidized and school packages offered. What made news up the hill top station of Bamenda, Cameroon.