MPs at the National Assembly
Besides interacting with colleagues, MPs also discussed issues raised by the House Speaker during the opening plenary and meeting ministers to lobby for projects.
The restaurant and lobby of the “Hotel des Députés” which hosts Members of Parliament during sessions in Yaounde was unusually scanty in the early morning of Saturday, June 4, 2016.
At about 10 am, a handful of MPs could be seen taking breakfast. Cameroon Tribune gathered that most MPs were in Mamfe for the obsequies of the Deputy Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic, Prof. Peter Agbor Tabi.
Sharing a table in one corner of the restaurant, three CPDM MPs from the South West Region were deep into a conversation. Besides the grief they shared on the passing away of Prof. Peter Agbor Tabi and their unavoidable absence in Mamfe, they also discussed world issues such as the death of Muhammad Ali and current US Presidential elections primaries in the Republican and Democratic parties.
“We are evaluating the impact the outcome might have on Africa and Cameroon,” explained Hon. Njume Peter Ambang of the Ndian Constituency. After breakfast, he retired to his room to reflect on the opening speech delivered by the House Speaker, Hon. Cavaye Yeguie Djibril, notably the need for MPs to take initiative.
The day before, Hon. Njume had started consulting Climate Change experts in some ministries to particularly find out what the Ministry of Water Resources and Energy was doing to enable Cameroon catch up with the rest of the world in the domain of energy.
Hon. Arthur Lisinge Ekeke of the Buea Urban Constituency also retired to his room after breakfast to put notes together so as to sort out files to be used during meetings with some cabinet ministers to lobby for more projects for his constituency.
“The ailing situation of the national air carrier, CamairCo, raised by the Speaker, also worries me. I will go through the documentation I have to see what contributions I can make during parliamentary work,” he told Cameroon Tribune.
On his part, Hon. Ngalle Daniel Etongo from Bamusso in the Bakassi Peninsula said he was up as early as 4 am to meditate and pray for peace in the country. He was full of satisfaction that several investment projects had been completed in his constituency after the Minister of Public Contracts gave the go-ahead for the projects to be awarded by mutual agreement.
While he will continue lobbying, he hailed the ongoing indigenisation project under which a fishermen’s settlement will be built in Bamusso after the completion of the first of such projects in Isangele. His evening was spent visiting relatives to savour some traditional dishes peculiar to his native Bamusso.
