New political party launched in Yaounde

A new political party known as “Belief in Cameroon” was Tuesday, October 28 launched in Yaounde.

According to its founder, Bernard Njonga, the party, better known by its French acronym as CRAC, intends to stir an agricultural revolution that will get Cameroon out of its current economic doldrums.

Addressing the press during the launching ceremony, Njonga, who was formerly a civil society activist, said it was Government’s poor agricultural policies that pushed him to join politics. He said Cameroon is a country with enormous agricultural potentials that have been mismanaged.

Njonga said corruption has bedevilled the agricultural sector in such a way that any time funds are allocated for rural development, Government officials embezzle them without blinking. Njonga, who resigned recently as President of the Citizens’ Association for the Defence of Collective Interest, ACDIC, said his party will use agriculture to create wealth and develop other areas like health, education, land development and infrastructure.

“Empowering domestic agriculture and breeding to inevitably conquer the local markets, is undoubtedly good for consumers. We have a good base, not only to address regional and international markets, but also to boost processing and industrialisation.”

He argued that investing heavily and creating wealth through crop and livestock production is a good chance that money will flow into the pockets of many Cameroonians. Such a situation, he went on, will enable citizens to participate actively in solving problems of health, education and many others.

He stated that it was incumbent on CRAC to hinge its manifesto on agriculture.

He said Cameroon needs only well researched and strategic policies to make agriculture a wealth-generating sector. He recalled that in 2003, Cameroon imported 23,000 tons of frozen chicken while observing that the campaign ACDIC carried out led to the ban on frozen imports in 2006.

The local poultry, which was in agony took off with the generation of 11,000 jobs in the poultry production, consulting marketing and other openings with small and medium size enterprises.

According to Njonga, CRAC does not belief that Cameroon can emerge when its people are still malnourished.

“If we empower domestic agriculture and livestock production, we would flood the local markets and be able to, not only benefit from the regional and international markets, but also boost the national industry base. Processing our products locally promotes the creation of small and medium size enterprises that will warrant the supply of electricity to the villages and create jobs,” he stated. Going by him, it is inconceivable that Cameroonians should be hungry in the midst of plenty.

He said all the major countries in the world like the USA, UK and China are primarily agricultural powers.”

To Njonga, CRAC’s agricultural project puts the producer at the heart of production dynamics. While defining who a member of the CRAC party is, he said he or she must be one that contributes and participates in the construction of Cameroon in such a way that money will flow into the hands of many and not only into a few. He said CRAC will never distribute cartons of wine, bags of rice and bank notes in search of votes.

CRAC, he went on, believes in the enormous knowledge, know-how and expertise of farmers, as well as, in the vast human resources in Cameroon.

Njonga said his party believes in an independent justice system that does not favour the rich at the expense of the poor. He averred that his party is advocating meritocracy, professionalism, virtues management, the value of women and respect for public property.