Ekema, Mbella Moki war escalates

Erstwhile Mayor of Buea Council, Mbella Moki Charles denounced accusations leveled against him by his successor, Patrick Ekema Esungi, that he failed to solve the water crisis of Buea.

Mbella spoke to The Journal by phone after Patrick Ekema made the accusation about him on CRTV’s Cameroon Calling program, March 1.

On the show, Ekema charged Mbella of sloppiness in offering a lasting solution to the water crisis. He said Mbella could have used his position as board member of the Cameroon Water Utilities Corporation, CAMWATER, to bring help to the town.

Water supply in Buea it should be noted, has persistently remained inadequate; forcing most inhabitants to sometimes live without water for a week.

In an attempt to elaborate on measures put in place by his administration to address the situation in Buea, Ekema said the failure of the past management of the council to provide lasting solutions to the water problem has made issues difficult for them.

He stated that even the special water scheme that was set up prior to the reunification celebrations has been a total failure.

“As far as the water situation is concerned, my predecessor is a board member of CAMWATER and being a board member of CAMWATER and Mayor at the same time, I doubt the kind of arguments he may have put forward to protect the interest of the community.”

For this reason, the council has come up with an alternative to relieve the population. We are working on an MoU with a Chinese drilling company to construct boreholes at certain places in the town.

Water shortage at the hospital is terrible, that is why at the council, we decided that one of the bore holes should be constructed there.

“If the state invested FCA 4 billion to supply water to this municipality, I think everybody in Buea could have been talking about access to portable water.

Can you imagine people travelling 10km to fetch drinking water?” Ekema lamented.

When Mbella Moki responded, he described Ekema’s arguments as child’s talk. “Don’t you realize that I am not interested in having exchanges with him (Ekema Patrick)?

However, pressed further to know if he wouldn’t comment even on the allegations, Mbella then stated; “One should live above certain things,” before diverting the conversation.

Still responding to questions on 'Cameroon Calling', Ekema Patrick said his council is currently going through tough times as long accumulated council debts inherited from his predecessors pose a huge burden on the council. He said the council is paying accrued bills that dates from 1996.

“Our current mandate looks a little bit punitive. People may wonder why punitive. But it is punitive because all accrued bills owed by the council either to utility companies, taxation department or CNPS and others that were accumulated over a period of ten years and above are now resurfacing and all the bills are now on us.

Even bills from contractors are on us. Last year we settled close to FCFA 50 million which were bills owed contractors.”

In spite of his complains, Ekema is said to be living an ostentatious lifestyle funded by the Council that he says is heavily in debt. He is accused of always moving with a huge delegation of staff each time he’s on a mission and their bills are paid with council funds.

A local newspaper recently criticized him, calling him a ‘Gun-happy Buea mayor.” The paper accuses him of terrorising residents with a gun that he carries about all the time.