Buea Councillors boycott Chief Molinge’s thanksgiving

Councillors of the Buea Council and members of the political class in Buea boycotted a ceremony organised by Chief Molinge Ikome David of Upper Muea to thank God for healing mercies.

But for Councillor Hannah Etonde Mbua who doubles as WCPDM Section president for Fako III (Buea) who attended the ceremony April 11, all others failed to honour Molinge’s invite.

After years of ill health, the second class chief of upper Muea, joined by family, population and friends thanked God for restoring his health in a thanksgiving service.

Molinge during the service narrated a chain of calamities that could have befallen him, but for the love of God for him and his family.

Quizzed on why councillors of the Buea Council among others in Buea did not attend the ceremony, Chief Molinge said he invited all of them with the exception of the Governor.

He said he feels they might have been invited to the closing ceremony of the Limbe Festival of Arts and Culture, which to him will be a genuine excuse if they were going for official duties.

He however wondered why Buea Council was not represented at the ceremony, especially when he headed the CPDM Council List during the 2013 municipal elections.

A session resolution by councillors of the Buea Council had on December 23 last year, dismissed Chief Molinge and Thompson Kinge as Councilors.

The motion was proposed by Chief Njombe Njoke Johnson on grounds that the duo were absent from three consecutive sessions of the council without forwarding a proxy.

Molinge insists that he remains an active councillor of the Buea Council. He justified that only ill health prevents him from attending not only council meetings but also other related meetings which he often sends the chairman of the traditional council to attend on his behalf.

Molinge says he will only accept his dismissal when he receives a document from the Fako Senior Divisional Officer to that effect.

Despite wild rumours that his relationship with Chief Peter Musenja of Lower Muea had soared, Chief Molinge said, “my colleague of lower Muea has never been my enemy.”

However, the chief said they might have had differences that were caused by outsiders. But Chief Musenja’s presence at the Molinge thanksgiving was testimony of the cordiality existing between both traditional rulers.