Namanga Ngongi Has Ideas to Move Buea and Cameroon Forward!

"If chosen to be mayor of Buea I cannot refuse"

Dr Amos Namanga Ngongi, former Deputy Executive Director, World Food Program Dr Amos Namanga Ngongi, former Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Program and currently member of the United Nations' Performance Management Board, has expressed his readiness to continue serving the nation back home even as Mayor of Buea. Dr Ngongi, who dutifully served the United Nations for 19 years in various capacities and retired in 2003 while in Democratic Republic of Congo as the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, says if chosen to be Buea Mayor "I can't refuse" Dr Ngongi also talks about his political party, development in the Southwest province, embezzlement of public funds, the Inoni-led Government and more in the following interview with Recorder Editor, Christopher Ambe Shu.

Doctor, you are well known at the international level but little known back home. Could you introduce yourself to our readers?

I am Dr Namanga Ngongi, a Cameroonian, born here in Buea .I have had the privilege of spending a lot of my life out of the country. Of course I am better known outside than in Cameroon. I returned to Cameroon three years ago .And now I am involved in my own community affairs.

What were you doing out ?

I was out of the country for about 23 years, of which I spent four and a half years in the Cameroon Embassy in Rome, as Cameroon's representative to the food organizations in Rome. There were the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the World Food Program, International Fund for Agricultural Deveopment.And at that time there was something called the World Food Council. I was responsible for duties with the organizations at the time. After four and the half years in the embassy I joined the World Food Program as head of the East and Southern Africa Bureau. It was really a bad time to join. Ethiopia was going through a serous famine and I had the responsibility of trying to put all the resources together to respond to programs that were required in the field. Then, I went on to other responsilities in the World Food Program and ended up as Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Program.   I spent a total of nineteen years in the UN System (17 years in the World Food Program directly and two years in the Congo; that is when I was sent there as the special representative of the UN Secretary –General in the Democratic Republic of Congo (2001 to 2003).It is from there that I retired from the United Nations, having reached, I would say, the peak of my career under the Secretary General of the United Nations

What kind of doctor are you?

I am a doctor in agronomy. I have a PhD from Cornel University in agronomy, mostly in crop physiology. But most of the things I have done in my life are not directly related to agronomy. That is the good thing of going to school that you develop your brain and attain the capacity to do many things not just one.

You are on retirement with the wealth of knowledge. How are you spending your time now?

I am reasonably busy. I retired by choice. I could have stayed to continue working but I said in life one has to set aside a few years if you have the choice to do other things that you like to do personally. I am retired and at home, in my village, in Buea. I am with my family. I keep my self busy in my little farm, which I am still developing to plant oil palms, which ,I hope, will one day be developed in to a reasonable farm.. I have also had the privilege of being appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations (the former) as member of the Performance Management Board of the United Nations, created as part of his reform process of the United Nations. He created the board to see that senior directors and managers of the United Nations were fulfilling their own part of the mandate. I am the only external member of that board and from time to time I go to New York to participate in meetings of the board. From time to time I also do some missions for the World Food Program and other organs of the United Nations.

From your presentation, you should be a very rich man?

Rich is relative. If it is a billionaire, I am not .But I can say that I and my family are comfortable. I am not a businessman; I have been a civil servant most of my life. I am a reasonably comfortable person.

You come from Buea.With all this wealth of knowledge, how are the people from this area benefiting from you? Are you applying the experiences you so far gathered to develop this historical town?

So far I take part in seminars. The last one I attended was organized at CEFAM Buea, by the parliamentary coordinator for Southwest for HIV/ AIDS. It was coordinated by Hon Ayuk Arrey .I participated and shared my knowledge. Not long ago, I was in Yaoundé for a conference on food security, which was organized by the Cameroon Academy of Sciences with all the African academies of sciences- including the US Academy of Sciences which supported it. One of the prominent presenters there was Professor Vincent Titanji, who is now Vice-chancellor of University of Buea. I keep myself busy. I am a member of Southwest Elite Association, SWELA and presented a paper at the recent SWELA meeting in Limbe.I have been participating in my village meetings and we are trying to form our village development committee. Hopefully that will see the light of the day early this year .And as a farmer people learn from what I am doing in the community where I have my farm and I visit my neighbors' farms to encourage them

Are you a member of any political party in Cameroon?

I think Cameroon has the beauty of having many political parties. That gives a wonderful choice to every Cameoonian.No Cameroonian should be isolated from politics because he does not have a political party to support. Being outside I could not manifest my own direct interest in partisan politics for a very long .As an international civil servant it would have been against rules. But, at least, now I am free to show my colours.And anybody in Buea who has seen me move around has seen that I have gone to many meetings and manifestations of CPDM.I have been taking active part in the CPDM subsection meetings .I attended the last joint conference here and the anniversary of President Biya.I have been moving around taking part in the party's activities. And If I take part in the CPDM activities then I am a member of that party

Why the choice of CPDM? Is it because it is the ruling party?

Not necessarily. You join politics because of the possibility to bring about change. You don't join politics because of the fanfare. I am sure that of the 210 political parties a lot of them are just family parties. I hear that some members of families get together and form political parties. If you want a change you should be in a party that has the possibility and capability to bring about such a change. It is not just for the beauty of making speeches in public. The CPDM has the advantage because it came as a transformation and modernization of the CNU of which I was a member. I have seen the progression of political thinking over the last 40 years .It has moved from a centralized system to a level that is highly decentralized and people are now able to bring out their own aspirations and send then to the centre. And we also have the benefit, I would say, of a president who has evolved with time to a point today where most of what looking for the in 1990's political struggles have been attained or in the process of being attained. It is not because the party is power. Ideologically, I feel more comfortable with the CPDM.

In Buea, infighting is said to be characteristic of the local CPDM.Some opinion talks of a dangerously cold war between the Section president and Buea Mayor. Are you aware of such problem?

When I read the newspapers I get a little bit amused, because I live near the section president and I have not seen any fighting going on between the mayor and the section president! May be there are individual political or preferential differences .That is very normal in any political system. There should be a policy paper supported by everybody.

In the CPDM, we have a position-that of bringing unity, progress and democracy to the country. The fact that some people have different aspirations does not mean they are fighting. So when I read in newspapers that some people are fighting others, it is more of an amusement because politics is more an exercise of sharing ideas and building alliances and constituencies so to be able to bring about change not fighting.

If I understand you well, are saying the CPDM in Buea is united ?

United in the purpose to retain power? I say yes. But if it is that the individuals are all singing from the same song book of who will occupy which position I don't think .It is now time for positioning and people are trying to position themselves. And, of course, in democracy that should be accepted-that people try to position themselves. But it should not be at the detriment of the party! Positioning should not bring such incompatibilities that when the time comes they will not be able to pull their forces together to achieve their common objectives.

I don't know whether you have heard this. Your name is increasingly being mentioned as the person CPDM militants want to be Mayor of Buea should your party wins next municipal election here. If that proposal is made to you will you accept it?

I have heard it .It has also been written in some newspapers and also discussed in STV. And a few people have proposed that to me. I live in Buea and a citizen of the place.   I am a Cameroonian. If there is a possibility to serve my own community and serve it well I am ready to do it. But as you know the mayorship is not a popular election. For the mayorship you have to be councilor first. First it depends on the people of my ward. If they want me to go to the council, of course, I will do it with great pleasure and honor and if my fellow councilors chose me to be mayor I can't refuse! You started by saying that, I have traveled widely and done a lot of things all over the world and gained a lot of experience . But there is one fine line in the Bible which asks, "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but suffer the loss of his own soul?" Not only your private soul but I think it is also the soul of your community; that you have worked in the international community you should be able to serve your own people. It would be ridiculous to tell you that, if the opportunity came I would say no. But it is the decision f the party; it is the decision of the ward and the electorate. I think people should stop their individual propaganda.. Public opinion is fine, but I think we should realize it is more of a political party, a structure that puts together a team of people to win that election and run the council.

Consider that you are elected mayor of Buea, what would be your priority projects ?

Buea is the first capital of Cameroon. So it has legitimate claims to attract Cameroonians and foreigners to come and see where Cameroon started. Every place in the world has its own advantages.Buea is not an industrial city and may not be that for a long time. But Buea is blessed by nature to have a wonderful climate and wonderful opportunities for tourism. If Buea were made attractive it would attract a lot of people who would be ready to come and spend their money here. If they spend money here they would be creating employment, and Buea would be a better place than it is today.

Secondly, Buea is blessed to have a university with at least ten thousand students -young and dynamic people. We can build a partnership-let me say between the community and the student population and the institutions and structures which keep them busy. I grew up here as little child and I went to this Buea town market. I am now getting old, and seeing the same market. In many years back-probably it was better organized. It can not be like that. Every Tuesday and Saturday, there is an eye sore in Great Soppo as people crisscross the boulevard to do their shopping. Is that really befitting of a place which was the first capital of Cameroon? There are places in Buea which could be better planned where you could have access roads. There are things to do. It is not just a thing for the mayor. The mayor is a leader, a manager of a city .But truly, the problems are beyond just a mayor, a council. We have to work with the administration...to change this town. We have the capacity to do so. Let us not tag it as the sole responsibility of just one individual. One should be able to build a coalition of forces from the private sector, from the government, from the student population and from the council.

What is your assessment of socio-economic development of the Southwest province?

It could have been better. Everybody, I think, would accept that it could have been better. There are many areas which have very difficult access today which were slightly better in years past. There was almost a period of near disinvestment in the province. Hopefully that period is over. I can now see the beginning of many investments in the province. For many years it was only SONARA.Today you have Chantier Naval, etc which are serving as great opportunities. The province could be developed better not necessarily by government. The province has produced many leaders in different positions in the country for many years. I mean we should all have been able to use also our positions in the various institutions where we were to bring about changes in this province. I think we should also learn to work together as a province. I said this in the recent SWELA conference which I attended. We see other provinces as moving faster than the southwest because they work together better than we are. If we can't join forces we can't move forward. No matter what percentage the Southwest produces, the national resources are limited. You need a certain coalition of forces here to be able to attract some of these resources to enhance development in the province.   

How do you feel when you hear that government ministers who have embezzled state funds?

I feel very ashamed -because when I was in Rome a very senior official said at least Cameroon has created a world record; that it was better to be champion in one thing! And we were champions in corruption. At least in the last several years now there is an attempt to address the issue, and especially so in the last two to three years. The arrest of a few billionaires is not the solution. It moves the whole process forward but it is not the solution. The solution is to create a spirit of accountability in the country and the minds of people. There should be audit systems which are functional and credible and which should make their findings public. The laws are there but they are not yet properly implemented.First, we should arrest some of these people who have actually stolen.Second, we should put in place systems which make sure that we Cameroonians who are not angels are controlled. If that is done I am sure corruption will not be completely eliminated but it can be significantly reduced so that poor farmers and petty traders who pay taxes would actually see their efforts being used to support the wellbeing of Cameroonians

I can't end this interview without your assessment of the Inoni-led Gvernment.Do you think it is actually realizing President Paul Biya's Greater Achievements slogan?

Let us put things in perspective. The overriding goal of the government so far has been to put in place institutions that would take advantage from the achievement of HIPC completion point. That is the main focus, because if the international door community does not have confidence in the country, we are only likely to have problem s with them in the future and the advantages we are going to get will be lost.Secondly, I see that a lot of emphasis has now been placed on social infrastructure; that a lot of visits from ministers in charge of the social structure are taking place. They are going to various parts of the country to ensure that their institutions function, that structures are put in place for them to function. Thirdly, I think that the opening up to greater transparency in the administration and the electoral system is in process .Hopefully, the new electoral body will be put in place and the population will have greater confidence in the process. If things are improved you can only have greater social cohesion. I can't say all is perfect. I listened to the President's speech and read it in newspapers; it is difficult to find faults with his statements. What we all look forward is for these intentions to be translated into actions. But from one year to the other people expect that all those action s would have taken place before the next speech. That is not possible because those are policies laid out will be put in place for the next five to tan years. If you are going to improve the energy sector in Cameroon, it can't be done in one year. If you are going to improve the electoral process it can't take place in one year. Things have to be seen in perspective over time rather than being seen as static- that it should be done from one day to the other. But I give the Government good marks for the efforts so far made. And I can only encourage them to continue in that line. Good enough we have a prime minister who has been long in the system, understands the system, knows where the key players are; who knows where the buttons to be pushed for progress are found. I think the prime minister is using his knowledge well for the good of the country.  Courtesy: Christopher Ambe Shu,The Recorder

Comments

[sam]

the man himself is looking for an opportunity to embezzle his own part of the national fund.
nothing good can come out of this present CPDM party.

[nji]

i am disappointed with the views of someone who has worked in the west for so long like Mr. Ngongi and still sees little or no fault in our gov't. What else does he need in life if with all that he has amassed he cannot still stand up for the well being of his people but seeking cheap votes for his personal goal such as popularity. i don't buy the idea he retired by choice. it is a shame to Africa.