Hard Nuts Interim Buea Mayor Must Crack

By Ndimuh B. Shancho

The Interim Mayor of Buea Council, Dr Efande John Lyonga, appointed, Wednesday October 30, 2019, by Fako SDO, Emmanuel Engamba Ledoux, to replace Late Ekema Patrick, has some hard nuts he must crack and crack well between now and December 30, when a new mayor will be elected, according to the law.

 One of the first and seemingly most perennial nuts people want to see the season teacher and educational administrator crack, beginning today Monday, November 4, is contending the traditional ghost town instituted in the crisis-hit North West and South West regions by members of the outlawed Cameroon Anglophone Civil Society consortium in 2016 and later intensified  by separatist leaders.

Eyes are widely opened to see the strategy, Dr. Efande, described by many as quiet and humble, will use to contend with ghost town.  Minds too are wondering if he will follow in the widely criticised steps of his predecessor, late Mayor Ekema, who initially started by procuring 20 taxis to fight the ghost town phenomenon, later went on rampage sealing/breaking into shops and ransacking kiosks that “respected ghost town”, puncturing taxis that didn’t ply on ghost town days, impounding taxis and coercing owners to work on Mondays, etc.,  or will simply lie low like his counterparts of other municipalities within the two English speaking regions.

Another critical issue, which many anxiously wait to see Mayor Efande’s action and or reaction on is the ban of commercial bikes within the Municipality last September 2018 by late Mayor Ekema due to “high-level insecurity perpetrated mostly by bike riders”. Though acclaimed by some, hundreds of youths who depended on biking for their livelihood and had pleaded on municipal and administrative authorities revert the ban to no avail, and several inhabitants who now hire tricycles and taxis at exorbitant prices to enter the quarters or better still carry heavy luggage on their head, remain hopeful with the coming of the new mayor.

Besides these and others, Buea inhabitants also look forward to seeing the difference Dr. Efande’s reign will make in the management of wastes, which are more or less becoming roadside decorative apparatus, balancing of the water crisis equation, rehabilitation of road infrastructure and markets within the municipality.

With the desire to be elected as Mayor by December 30, 2019, in consonance with Section 70   of 2004/018 Law of 22 July 2004 to lay down the rules applicable to councils, everything being equal, the first concern of the Interim Mayor will definitely be to maintain his position at the help of the Buea Council. He will thus, want to gain the confidence of the Councilors  for a possible election as the Mayor.

Also, with the possibility of municipal elections in February, 2020, the new Mayor will certainly want to win the confidence of the population so he can be voted to take on a full mandate. This will, however, depend on how he governs the Municipality and the decisions and actions he will take in line with handling the ghost town phenomenon, ban on commercial bikes, waste management challenge, water crisis, security challenges, rehabilitation of road and markets amongst others between now and February 2020.

Mayor Efande John Lyonga, hitherto serving as the Second Deputy Mayor in Charge of Works at the Buea Council, is a seasoned teacher and educational administration with a Ph.D. in the field of education from the University of Buea since July 2016.