“…we hatched and executed plans to frustrate the move of SDF Members of Parliament to stage a march [December 5] from the Molyko Omnisport Stadium to the Governor’s Office, which would have provoked untold consequences for the State.”
These were the words of the Mayor of Buea, Patrick Ekema Esunge, as he beamed with delight, while presenting his achievements to the Councillors and the SDO for Fako, Zang III, on June 16, at the ordinary session of the Buea Council.
Mayor Ekema was speaking in reference to the SDF Chairman and party barons who planned to march in Buea in solidarity with the ongoing teachers’ and lawyers’strike on December 5 2016 .
“This occasioned the Members of Parliament belonging to the SDF party to programme a march in Buea in support of the Common Law Lawyers’ and Anglophone Teachers’ cause. It is for this reason that we hatched and executed plan to frustrate the move of SDF Members of Parliament…” he averred.
“In this vein, we circumvented the SDF lawmakers at the Parliamentarian Flats Hotel, compelling their plan to culminate in an inconsequential rally at the esplanade of the stadium, after lengthy negotiations with the regional administration,” he boasted.
The action referred to by the Mayor, had fell short of resulting in a bloodbath as angry youths who had gathered at the Stadium waiting for the SDF MPs came out to battle with Mayor Ekema’s sponsored group.
The explosive situation only relaxed when some SDF MPs rushed down and convinced the charging crowd to calm down. The crowed then took a U-turn back to the Molyko Omnisport stadium where the rally held.
When the sponsored “one and indivisible protesters” showed up at the rally ground in Molyko with placards to disrupt the SDF rally,they were met by an irate crowd of youths that seized and destroyed the placards. The fight resulted in the Mayor’s group running for their lives into the quarters.
Mayor Ekema’s Version Of UB Strike Paint Students ‘Black’
Talking about the November 28, 2016 students protest at the University of Buea, the Mayor averred that students “went on rampage on account of an alleged instituted late registration fee of FCFA 10,000, as well as the non-payment of presidential grants.”
He said: “The students and other vandals crossed the Rubicon and proceeded to exact violence on individuals and their properties off campus.”
This, he said, while taking credit for leading an apology march to Governor Okalia’s office, to secure the release of the hundreds of students that were arrested.
In his 32-page long speech, Mayor Ekema did not mention the carnage meted on students, as well as the rape of a female student by soldiers or the breaking of students hostels doors by the troops.
He, however, claimed that the soldiers were prompted by the students.
Mayor Ekema also took credit for organising meetings with taxi drivers and bike riders unions, during which he squashed their determination to join the strike. Releasing impounded bikes and taxi cabs, he said, were also measures taken in an attempt bait them and minimise the effects of the strike in Buea.
The Post Newspaper
There are some fascinating points in time in this article however I don’t know if I see all of them center to heart. There’s some validity however I will take hold opinion till I look into it further. Good article , thanks and we wish more! Added to FeedBurner as well