Nfon Mukete
Senator Nfon V.E Mukete, paramount ruler of the Bafaws and President of the Southwest Chiefs Conference, SWECC, has harnessed support from his peers in the Region for President Biya and the vision he incarnates for Cameroon.
Sitting in an extraordinary Executive Council meeting of SWECC in Kumba on February 12, 2016, the Southwest traditional rulers announced that they will always support actions taken by the Biya Government to develop the Southwest Region and the nation as a whole. In a key statement at the meeting, Senator Mukete declared that the Southwest Region remains one of the contributors to the building of republican institutions.
Mukete said in the 1990s when things were seemingly falling apart as a result of the clamour for multiparty politics, SWECC played a major role that contributed to the drawing up of the 1996 constitution.
The SWECC President said till date, the chiefs of the Region have not changed their stand. He further said that as holders of public authority and transmission channels between the population and Government, they have not been indifferent to the plight and perception of their people.
According to the eldest member of Senate, for the sake of continuous peace, unity and stability, the Chiefs of the Southwest Region made known their unconditional stand for a united and indivisible Cameroonian nation under President Paul Biya.
Mukete said their advocacy on sensitive issues such as the use of the nation’s two official languages; French and English, the bicultural heritage of the State and development, has been carried out on the bases of appeal to the powers-that-be.
He said the message of the Chiefs to their subjects, at all times, has been to avoid being confronted. “As custodians of traditions handed to us by our ancestors, and auxiliaries of the administration within our chiefdoms, even before these authorities were instituted, we do remind the State authorities not to forget so soon that we are, and, have always been, inseparable partners in nation building.
They cannot do without the royal fathers who we are. Neither can we, in the present context of coexistence, also do without the administrative authorities. We are interdependent in a win-win partnership,” Mukete stated.
In terms of development, Mukete said the Southwest Region must recognise its benefits in terms of major projects under the Biya regime.
Regarding the use of human resources from the Region in his successive Governments and the sharing of major projects in the domains of road construction, health, agriculture, sports and education, Mukete said their prospects for more remains positive. At the end of the meeting, the Chiefs issued a seven-point declaration, top among which called on Biya to stand for the 2018 election.
The declaration, signed by the 21 Chiefs present at the meeting, also hailed President Biya for assigning their sons and daughters to positions of responsibility, appreciated ongoing projects, and appealed to him to launch other projects.
The Chiefs also hailed the First Lady in her humanitarian activities and reiterated their stand for a united and indivisible Cameroon.
