Gervais Bindzi, making the difference at U.S. Cameroon Embassy

We do criticize the Cameroon government of  his royal majesty fon Paul Biya and we certainly have a lot of reasons to. Of those many reasons, one of the most nightmare Cameroonian citizens confront as a daily reality, is at the points of service delivery at the levels of ministries, embassies etc. Paid officials treat citizens rudely and subject them to bribing to render services they are paid to render. This has traumatized our citizens at most encounters in accessing services that are their rights as citizens and for which they have paid taxes for.

The history of simple services delivery for simple requests such as visas or other travel documents from the Cameroon Embassy in Washington has been one that some people may not believe if they did not directly experience some of the treatments Cameroonians are subjected to by the staff or personnel of the embassy. I remember when a Cameroonian had to stay at the embassy and push down the doors in anger when for months he was not attended to. Working for any agency of  the Cameroonian government has always been one of total unaccountability to the public and being paid for doing no work as long as you are in the good books of the political power holders, your advancements, promotions and appointment are secured. Getting a public service job in Cameroon is just fighting your way through money bribes or sex bribes to be recruited. The rest is just showing up and having your name on the payroll. In fact there are many who are on the payroll, live outside the country, do no work for the public service but still get the salaries flowing. You can always know them when you see people rushing to go to Cameroon when there is a rumor of an audit in the public service, to clean out ghost workers on the government payroll.

Even in the midst of all these abuses, incompetence and stealing, there are always some exceptions. Yes even in Cameroon there are a very tiny minority of people who joined the public service with a passion to serve the nation and the public, With a focus to work, serve and get things done. With the patriotic spirit of uplifting the image of their country. I remember seeing myself walking into the municipal building in Yaoundé to congratulate the people there for keeping the place looking so clean, with constant maintenance. 

We are privileged to have a young Consular Officer, Mr GERVAIS BINDZI, who seemed to have joined the public service to serve his country and people. Since Mr BINDZI came to the embassy in Washington,  the quality of delivery of services at the consular services have improved for the better 1000 percent. For those who travel, you most have noticed the difference. All you have to do is follow the instructions on the website and the form, provide every document asked for, mail it and you are guaranteed to receive your documents back within seven days.

This improvement has been on for about two years and the consular officer has proven himself to be a man who truly loves serving his country and people, and doing so with offering the best of himself with love and dedication. I know some of you may have personal stories of your recent experiences with the consular services but I can tell you, my experiences for some about two years now are great. I pray to God to give Cameroon many more public servants like Gervais BINDZI.

We do criticize the abuses of our collective trust by public servants and we should and must, but we should also do so with honesty rid of empty demagoguery. We should also uplift and reward those who serve the public consciously, doing their best even with a culture and policy of impunity to corrupt practices. Recognizing them through open praise and acceptance can be a significant token of appreciation and encouragement. Mine is just a little red feather placed on the hat of a man who is giving true meaning and the true significance to public service. My dear brother BINDZI keep being the public servant you are.

Now I know we have been so beaten, abused and betrayed by the Biya’s “come no go” administration that it is difficult for us to see any good from anyone associated with the man’s government. I know we have lost all hope of anything good coming out from anything or anyone associated with Mr Paul Biya. Can you blame us? Just look at what the man has done to our collective psyche and national pride. But as we all know, God works in mysterious ways,  in ways we cannot understand as mere humans. So even in the devil’s temple, God can plant Saints of the heavenly kingdom  to do His work and people like Gervais BINDZI are the heavenly saints planted in the Paul Biya’s devilish kingdom.

Even with the efforts and improvements of the service delivery at the consular office, there are people who still get themselves into the hole of frustration and this is because some of us fail to follow basic directions,  we fail to do our part of the work. We wait to the last minute to the time we schedule to travel to engage the visa request process. It is irresponsible for us to send our documents to the embassy less than seven days to two weeks of our scheduled travel day. We cannot put avoidable pressure on the consular officer and expect him to serve us on our terms. Plan ahead of time. Give the consular officer at least one week from the day you plan to travel and make sure you follow the directions on the form when sending in your documents. Please make it easy for Mr BINDZI to continue serving our community,  nation and people well.