UY1: 4 orthopedic surgeons expelled for indiscipline

The four student doctors on specialization have not only petitioned the Prime Minister, but they have also dragged Prof. Fame Ndongo to the administrative court for abuse of authority and wrongful dismissal.

Four medical doctors specializing in orthopedic surgery and traumatic medicine at the University of Yaounde I have been dismissed from the school and barred from studying in any medical school in Cameroon for a period of two years. The students in their third and fourth years of specialization were charged with indiscipline and refusal to respect the texts regulating medical studies in Cameroon.

The four victims of Prof. Fame Ndongo’s uncompromising pen include Doctors Nyekel Raphaela, Nana Theophile, Tsanga Bessala Cyprien and Bengono Obi Jean Luc.

Two of the dismissed doctors on specialization - Nyekel Raphaela and Nana Theophile are senior officers (Majors) in the Cameroon army. The two soldiers were in their third year of specialization and were expected to graduate next academic year.

Two other orthopedic surgery and traumatology residents were also slammed serious warnings for the same reasons, The Median can confirm.

Prof. Jacques Fame Ndongo signed the decision dismissing the four students on 10 May 2016. In the release announcing the sanctions Fame Ndongo said the students were expelled upon the proposal of the Rector of the University of Yaounde I, Prof. Maurice Sosso.

The four dismissed students and the two that received warnings, were sanctioned after they faced the discipline committee of the University to answer charges of indiscipline and disrespect for instructions of the school hierarchy.

However, all the students have denied the charges brought against them. They told The Median that the cause of their dismissal was far-fetched and more complex than what the MINESUP pointed out in his decision.

“We are collateral victims of an on-going war of ego among senior lecturers of the Faculty of Medicine of the UNI-YAO I,” said one of the dismissed students whose identity we cannot reveal here.

The Median gathered for instance that the head of the department of orthopedic surgery and traumatic medicine, Prof. Bayebeck and the Rector of the UNI-Yao 1, Prof. Maurice Sosso, (a prof. of surgery), have not been in talking terms, ever since the former dragged the latter to court for allegedly misappropriating his academic work. Prof. Bayebeck is a former student and protégé of Prof. Maurice Sosso, we learned.

But it emerged that ever since Prof. Bayebeck became a full professor and decided to fly by his own wings, he has fallen out of favour with his erstwhile “parrain,” Prof. Maurice Sosso. Because of Prof. Bayebeck’s volte-face, his former mentor, Prof. Maurice Sosso who rose to the position of rector of the Uni-Yao I, has made sure Bayebeck knows no peace; The rector tends to block every initiative by Prof. Bayebeck.

The Median gathered that the rector had on one occasion promised to close the orthopedic surgery department of the faculty of medicine, on grounds that the head of the department, Prof. Bayebek is heady, unruly and unwilling to submit himself to his authority.

With these personality conflicts on campus, therefore, the students say their specialization studies have been anything but smooth and harmonious.

It is for this and other reasons that the students have not only petitioned the PM but have also dragged Fame Ndongo and the Rector of the UNI-Yao I to court for abuse of authority and wrongful dismissal. At the time of going to press on Saturday, we could not get the MINESUP or the Rector to comment.

Also, some of the students we contacted, refused to talk to us for fear that they run the risk of being frustrated the more by the cabal of lecturers who have teamed up against Prof. Bayebeck.

The Median gathered that barring pressure from above, Prof. Bayebeck, who is of Bassa extraction, has refused to militate in the ruling CPDM party, He rather militates in the opposition UPC party, where he is the SG of one of the party’s factions.