Human Rights Commission Chairman decries delays in Head Office construction

In spite of the allocation of a piece of land and funds, the project is yet to take off.

The Chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms (NCHRF), Dr Chemuta Divine Banda is all tears to think that the goodwill of the Head of State and the Head of Government allocating the structure funds and a parcel of State land for the construction of the commission’s head office is being trampled upon. He echoed the regret yesterday May 13, 2014 in Yaounde as he opened the 16th ordinary session of the NCHRF.

Dr Divine Banda did not mince words when he told Commission members and anybody who cared to hear that if the project to construct the head office was yet to take off as was instructed by the Head of Government, it was because of the non-issuance of a building permit. Before letting the cat out of the bag, Dr Divine Banda insisted on the fact that “doing good is good and if one cannot do good, he/she should not harm others.”

Meanwhile, some challenging human rights situations have come to the fore, with human rights defenders increasingly complaining of harassment. Rights Commission Chair also regretted the fact that illegal detention and its attendant ill is still persisting.

“Security concerns around the borders with several persons being taken hostage by unidentified groups in some parts of the country remain worrisome,” Chemuta said. There is a spill over into Cameroon of inter-ethnic clashes in Nigeria as well as the influx of refugees from the Central African Republic and the Human Rights Chair regrets their lack of adequate finances to take them to some of the troubled areas.

The NCHRF seeks to extend its tentacles to the Far North Region this year. A visit to the Douala prisons was undertaken early this year with focus on the right to fair trial.

By Victorine Biy Nfor