Don’t rule us with your gun, villagers tell Chief

The Secretary General, SG, of the Traditional Council of Bwassa, a village in Buea Subdivision, Southwest Region, has exhorted their newly enthroned Chief to lead the village with humanness and not use his military gun to enforce his rule.

“Use your military skills and not your gun to rule us. We believe that, just like your father who was also a military man but ruled his subjects successfully, you are going to do same,” the SG stated.

Mervin Linonge was speaking in Bwassa on October 31, during the commissioning of His Royal Highness, Chief John Ewome Eko, as a 3rd Class Chief of Bwassa. The installation ceremony was presided at by the Divisional Officer, DO, of Buea, Paul Wokam Kouam.

Linonge said the enthronement of their Chief was timely, given that the village is yearning for more development projects to be carried out in the area. As such, he said, the task of the new Chief will be to lobby Government for more development projects.

Through the DO, the SG of the Bwassa Traditional Council thanked the Government for the development strides made in the area, but said the lack of roads, hospital, a secondary school (preferably a technical school) and unemployment, remain a headache to the community.

He appealed to DO to forward proposals to the Government for the construction of the Bokwango- Bwassa-Mapanja-Mukanda and Karata stretch of road. The road, Linonge believes, if constructed, will greatly decongest the highway, especially as Cameroon prepares to host the 2016 and 2019 African Cup of Nations.

DO Wokam Kouam advised him not to transform Bwassa village into a military base. “Remember that you don’t rule a village as you give military commands to your military personnel,” Wokam cautioned.

The DO beseeched the Chief to settle disputes among his subjects, fight against cohabitation (marriages without legal documents), excessive alcohol and marijuana consumption, stray animals [especially dogs that spread rabies] and to assist Government in the maintenance of law and order.

Wokam Kouam assured the Chief that Government would protect him against assaults and defamation if he shows proof of courage, determination and the respect of a strict code of ethics.

The Chief, on his part, promised to rule his people with humility and the respect of human rights.