Buea elites press for more land surrender

Internal and external elites of Wokoko Village in Buea Subdivision, Southwest Region under the umbrella of the Wokoko Village Community, Cultural and Development Association, WODCCUDA, have appealed to the Government to cede land for the development of the village.

Through the WODCCUDA President, Samuel Mafany Mbua, the elites reminded the Government of her 1973 promise to compensate the Wokoko locals, after acquiring their land for the construction of the then Girls Technical College Molyko, an institution that is presently hosting Government Technical High School Molyko.

According to the elites, Government failed to compensate their parents for the destruction of their crops. It was only in 2005, the elites went on, that Government allocated land to Wokoko indigenes at Bulu. But this land, the locals said, was not commensurate to the population.

However, with a population of over 10,000 people, the Wokoko locals said, they are in dire need of land to carry out their development projects. They were speaking in Buea on Saturday, July 27, during the installation of the executive members of WODCCUDA.

Aside from the land problem, the locals equally raised the issue of unemployment, which they said, is adversely affecting the youths of the village. Then, the epileptic water supply in the village was another worrying problem.

According to Samuel Mafany, there are only two public taps in the village and the two taps are grossly inadequate to meet the water needs of over 10,000 people. He pleaded with the Buea Council to look into the water problem.

Presiding over the installation ceremony, the Divisional Officer, DO, for Buea, Paul Wokam Kouam, urged the new WODCCUDA executive to embark on development projects that will impact the lives of the people.

Wokam cautioned the elites to guard against acts that could jeopardise the cultural, linguistic and ethnic diversity of the country, saying that, it is this diversity that makes Cameroon unique. “Wokoko village is fast becoming a metropolis in Cameroon and for national integration to become a reality, we must learn to live together,” Wokam stated.

For his part, the Mayor of Buea, Patrick Ekema Esunge said the Buea Council is aware of the unemployment problems faced by the youth of Wokoko village, but cannot employ everybody.

He said Wokoko Village is one of the villages that will benefit more from the 2014 Council projects such as; the construction of a road behind the village to decongest the town, refurbishment of Government Schools Ndongo and Bokwai and the extension of the water scheme to the village.