Hon. Monjowa Lifaka emerges as “Shining star”

All’s well that ends well. This was the remark of an informed observer, when The Median sought to know his impressions after the curtains were pulled down on the 8-day 60th CPA Conference that took place in Yaounde, from 2 to 10 October 2014.

“I saw smiles on the faces of most of the delegates, especially the foreign delegates, as they left the Yaounde conference centre on Friday 10 October. It was as if they wished the conference had stayed longer so that their sojourn in Cameroon could be prolonged,” the observer said.

The same impressions were expressed by the president of the organising committee of the conference, Hon. Emilia Monjowa Lifaka, in her preliminary remarks at a press conference on Wednesday. The press conference was preceded by an evaluation meeting at the glace Palace also presided by Hon. Lifaka.

Answering to a question from the press as to what she considered well done and not well done in the organization of the event, the “Iron lady” from Buea in Fako division, who is also the Vice President of the National Assembly, said “it is difficult for me as president of the organizing committee to evaluate myself.

I cannot be in my own case. But from what the delegates to the conference said, I can say with conviction that we did a wonderful job.”

As for what she considered as not well done in the organization, Hon. Lifaka answered using an anecdote: “if you set out to do something and you are sure that 90% of it was well done, you will certainly not bother about the 10% that you may not have done well,” she said, insinuating that the organizing committee was satisfied with their work.

Hon. Lifaka said that if the organizing committee is satisfied with the work done, it was even more so for the delegates to the conference, who addressed a letter to her after the conference and referred to them as “shinning stars”.

However, when Hon. Lifaka was also asked to disclose how much was spent to assure such a wonderful hosting, she elected to play the diplomat. She said it was too early for her to be able to say with exactitude how much was spent for the hosting. She said the evaluation team was still collecting all the information on expenditure. “And besides, some sub-committees notably the sub-committees in charge of lodging and communication have not yet submitted their final reports,” she explained.

Yet, though Hon. Monjowa Lifaka elected to keep the budget of the conference close to her chest, The Median gathered on good authority that a proposed budget of 2.7 billion FCFA was submitted to the government for consideration, and that despite the fact that the Prime Minister had no misgivings about the budget, the Finance Minister, Alamine Ousonane Mey, evoked liquidity constraints at the state treasury and so he disbursed slightly over half of the amount that is, about 1.7 billion FCFA.

This finding only vindicated those who argued that the conference was “too costly and ill-timed” especially when one considers the budget for the war on Boko Haram; the rehabilitation of fleeing Nigerian and CAR refugees in North Cameroon, the Ebola scare and the floods in the North.

When The Median confronted Hon. Monjowa Lifaka with these reservations she explained that when Cameroon was designated to host the conference way back in 2011 there was neither Boko Haram nor the Ebola scare in Cameroon. Besides, Hon. Lifaka says the conference was important and expedient because it has helped to debunk allegations by some foreign press that Cameroon was not a safe destination for tourists and other visitors because of Boko Haram.

“You saw that the delegates visited other towns in Cameroon (Limbe, Kribi, Edea, Douala, etc without any problems. You the journalists should do your job of telling the world that Cameroon is peaceful, hospitable and safe,” Hon. Monjowa Lifaka said, hailing the press for the wonderful coverage of the conference and the positive image they painted of the country throughout the period of the conference.

As for President Paul Biya’s opening remarks in French which provoked a vast amount of discussion and debate in both public and private milieu, Hon. Lifaka said she was surprised at the way Cameroonians got themselves worked up over the issue.

“Before the delegates came to Cameroon, they were informed well in advance that Cameroon was a bilingual country, with English and French as official languages. We had also made them to know that Cameroonian citizens are free to use any of the two languages anytime anywhere. So, the delegates had no problem with President Biya’s address in French,” Hon. Lifaka said, noting that some of the delegates even said that the French language added some spicing to the event and gave it a special Cameroonian touch.

But if President Biya’s address in French was a subject of massive debates in many circles in the country, the rare show of solidarity and team spirit demonstrated by SDF MPs, who accepted to work in concert with their CPDM counterparts to ensure a good hosting of the event, was considered suspect.

Many said they were intrigued that for once the SDF MPs did not complain about “wasteful spending” of tax payers money especially on an event whose direct benefits to the country were not immediately evident and visible.

Many wondered why SDF MPs who have almost always walked out whenever important laws are voted in the National Assembly, including especially the adoption of the state budget, so easily acquiesced and endorsed the “budgetivorous” CPA conference project.

A commentator joked that “no body will see sugar and prefer salt”? He said that SDF parliamentarians have since demonstrated to Cameroonians that their primary objective in parliament is to partake in the sharing of the national “gombo”, and not to make laws; “that is why they will always seat in the Finance committee and sign out their sitting allowances only to walk out of the hemicycle when the budget is about to be voted. Who is fooling who?” the commentator wondered aloud, regretting that President Biya has succeeded to impoverish the opposition to the extent that each time he brandishes some few francs to them they run towards him like chickens would run towards a man spraying corn.