Bickering over location of HTTTC Kumba rages on

Some bigwigs of the Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement, CPDM, in the Southwest Region and officials of the University of Buea, UB, are reportedly bickering over who should determine the permanent site for the Higher Technical Teachers' Training College, HTTTC kumba.

The bickering resurfaced recently when the commission in charge of choosing the site met in Kumba, but the meeting rounded off with some commission members refusing to partake in the refreshment offered by Senator Nfon VE Mukete.

The Post gathered that the commission’s work ended in a stalemate on whether to chose a location on the outskirts of Kosala in Kumba II Subdivision where Nfon Mukete has opted to offer hundreds of hectares of land, or in Kumba III, where the people of Mukonje are also ready to give out large expanses of land to host the institution.

While some members of the commission are backing the Kosala option, coupled with the supposed stationing of an army camp there, others have rejected the choice, on grounds that the neighbourhood is not conducive, given its past history of banditry and other forms of violence.

The Mukonje offer, on the other hand, is said to be losing grounds, given the recent land dispute that erupted between Mukonje and Malende. The Divisional Officer, DO, of Kumba III, Gilbert Guibai Baldena, is reported to have reminded the commission members of the supposed conflict hanging over Mukonje and Malende.

Information filtering from the commission holds that UB Vice Chancellor, Nalova Lyonga, has opted for the Mukonje offer, while Senator Mukete is reportedly bent on Kosala to host the institution. Dr. Nalova Lyonga is said to have been among the commission members who boycotted the Kumba palace lunch offered by Nfon Mukete.

Despite the allegations, the commission, which The Post learnt, is working on an FCFA 30 million budget to decide on a campus for the institution, is yet to make any official statement.

The commission comprises of the Meme administration, Mayors of Kumba II and III, Nfon Mukete, officials from the Ministry of Higher Education and UB. In a press briefing on March 12, 2014, Nalova Lyonga had maintained that all challenges inherent in every beginning would be braved to enable the Head of States’ gift properly nursed.