Excitement is giving way to impatience as NW waits eternally for Biya

Written by Johnson G. Samba

Monday, 17 May 2010 17:22

BAMENDA—Its been six months since the promise was made yet no one knows for sure when President Paul Biya will make his trip to Bamenda.

The date has shifted from vaguely sometime before 20 May, to precisely on 16 May and now to maybe in June or July or even October or why not November.

“Let no one give you a date. No one knows,” says a security operative based here, who says he has received “conflicting” briefings on when to expect the president over the past several months.

This should not be surprising. Secrecy is one of President Paul Biya’s greatest strengths.

No one ever knows for sure when he would be appointing a new government or sending a law to parliament or making a trip abroad. Usually, the date comes at short notice, even to those directly concerned with making sure things work.

Diplomats have learned to be ready at all times when they ask to meet with the president, because they can be called up any moment: after a week, after two weeks or even never.

Now, this is what is expected of the Bamenda trip, says the operative who has orders to “be ready for anything”.
Problem is, the people of North West are getting fed up with staying in the dark and are losing enthusiasm.

The prospect of the president’s coming is less and less exciting every day, says Lucas Ngwa, 19, a bricklayer who says he has been waiting for the opportunity to see Mr Biya since November.

“You get up hoping to here an announcement and then nothing comes.” When that happens over and over, he explains, you give up.

It is a feeling shared by many in the city.

“My children used to ask me everyday when the president was coming. They do not ask again. I [guess] they are tired,” says Grace Ndikum, a roadside restaurateur.

The president announced the trip to mark 50 years of the Cameroon military since November 2009 and again on 31 December 2009.

“We think it is going to be a great momment for our town,” says township taxi driver Adamou. “But since we do not know when it is coming it seems very distant.”

The progress of works going on around town is the only clue many are relying on. A 10 May deadline has come and passed and the digging is still on.