News and Updates
At Bafut Council Pre-budgetary session: Councils Praise Mayor for Giant Projects Earmark for 2025
Councillors of the Bafut Council have praised Mayor Ngwakongoh Lawrence to the acquisition of loans from FEICOM for the construction of two giant bridges over River Mbee and Mezam within that will safe lives upon completion. The appreciation came on Wednesday, December 11, 2024, during the Council’s Pre-budgetary session chaired by the Mayor.
“Those are the deliberations we need to hear. I want to thank the Mayor and his team. Congratulations on the good deliberations and I will sign. Let’s live like one”, said Councilor Mbonefor Kenedey
Top on the deliberations annual is an annual leave plant for the Council’s executives, capacity workshop for council workers with focus on program Budgeting, Mounting and maturing of projects, filling and electric archiving, the Elaboration of waste management, plus Sourcing on project financing. Another deliberations that will be on the agenda during the session will be the adoption of housing for the municipal treasurer amongst others.
While closing the session, Mayor Ngwakongoh Lawrence appreciated the councilors for the mature ways during the deliberations and unite all for the betterment of Bafut Community.
By Neba Jerome Ambe
Bafut Council budget orientation and launching of clean community award 2025
Bafut Council budget orientation and launching of clean community award 2025
At Budget Orientation debate: Bafut Council launches clean city contest, presents priority projects for 2025
At Budget Orientation debate: Bafut Council launches clean city contest, presents priority projects for 2025
Village committee chairpersons in Bafut have presented their priority projects for 2025.
The presentations from the village committees ranged from water extension, opening of farm to market roads, construction of bridges, extension of electricity, hospitals, schools amongst others, took place on Wednesday 4th December 2024.
Projects which the Mayor greatly saluted but emphasized that the priority projects can only be realised within the means of the council.
Means which the Mayor noted has greatly dwindled because of the Anglophone crisis.
“Bafut has more than Nine markets but they’re not functional. Rents and market tolls are not paid. The situation is even critical because the council cannot collect the taxes on the sand that is dug in lower Bafut. This has greatly hampered the performance of the council.
“In this meeting, I called on the village and neighbourhood committees to work in tandem with the council to ensure that we can generate our own revenue and carryout our own projects without depending on the state.” Mayor Ngwakongoh Lawrence said.
The Mayor of Bafut also presented to the village committees the projects that were executed in the course of 2024.
While identifying the projects in their various communities, some of the representatives complained about lack of projects while others decried the poor execution of some projects.
In response, the Mayor said projects are allocated to communities where it can easily be executed. He however remarked that with the coming of the village and neighbourhood committees, project execution across Bafut will be possible.
A proposal for the rotation of projects across all villages in Bafut for a period of three years, following the program budget was adopted.
In presenting some of the projects already approved from some Ministries, Mayor Ngwakongoh Lawrence listed the projects to comprise of a bridge over River Mezam linking Tingoh, Nchoho and Okwala villages in lower Bafut and another bridge over River Mbee.
“These Rivers have swallowed enough sons and daughters of Bafut and it is of utmost priority to the population.” Mayor Ngwakongoh remarked.
The 2024 Budget Orientation Debate of the Bafut Council also saw the launching of the 2025 Clean City contest by Forkou Andelys, Divisional Officer of Bafut.
“The clean city contest is a laudable initiative and falls squarely in line with the program of UN Habitat” Forkou Andelys said.
The villages will be judged on their cleanliness around public places including schools, markets, playgrounds, road junctions, stand taps, hospital and health centers, community halls, roads, streams and rivers.
The village and neighbourhood committee chairpersons left the event with renewed perspectives on making the council area a beautiful place to live-in.
Bamenda, Capital of the North West Region will host the 2025 edition of World Habitat Day.
MoU for the promotion and Development of the Tourism potential of Bafut signed between the World Centre of Excellence Destination (CED)
MoU for the promotion and Development of the Tourism potential of Bafut was signed between the World Centre of Excellence Destination (CED) represented by its Director, Pro. Dr. Francois Bedard and the Bafut Council, represented by, Mayor Ngwakongoh Lawrence.
Mayor Ngwakongoh Lawrance has been awarded as the best dynamic Mayor to Canada during a conference on the Learning Mission on Tourism and Local Development that opened its doors in Lac Megantic.
Mayors and development actors are part of the Cameroonian delegation led by Jean Solaire Kuete, General Director of Universal Business and Tour.
The event in MATDEL Canada began on April 1 and ended on April 20, 2024, organized by the UBT Agency in partnership with the World Center of Excellence for Destinations, the institutional support of the Ministry of Tourism and Leisure, and the sponsorship of the MRC du Granit (Quebec-Canada).
At the end of the 20-day events, an MoU for the promotion and Development of the Tourism potential of Bafut was signed between the World Centre of Excellence Destination (CED), represented by its Director, Pro. Dr. Francois Bedard and the Bafut Council, represented by, Ngwakongoh Lawrence.
Bafut Councillors validate 2023 Administrative and Management account, donate to people living with disabilities
Bafut Councillors validate 2023 Administrative and Management account, donate to people living with disabilities
27-seven councillors out of the 35 Councillors of the Bafut council have voted and confirmed the 2023 Administrative and Management accounts of the Bafut. This was done Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Council Hall with a percentage realized of 49.2 from the initial budget balanced in revenue and expenditure at the sum of 1,180,000,000 francs. In the course of the execution, a supplementary budget of 30,971 was added as brought forward for the previous year. The actual realization for the 2023 financial year stood at 580, 836, 459 francs CFA according to Mayor Ngwakongoh Lawrence due to the socio-political crisis that has hindered the collection of indirect council taxes towards the development of the municipality. However, the Mayor is optimistic that this financial year will improve revenue collection due to the assurance from the Senior Divisional Officer of Mezam
“We have had a discussion with the administration of Mezam and together with the DO, we are poised to collect the taxes this year.” The mayor said. Even though revenue collection is a challenge in Bafut municipality, the council realized a total of 13 projects sponsored by the Public Investment Budget (PIB). The projects include the construction of classrooms, health centres, bridges, open farm-to-market roads, construction of solar-powered boreholes and the construction of a city tower and green space amongst others.
While tasking the councillors to work hand in hand with the population to realize the project earmark for 2024, Mayor Ngwakongoh Lawrence requested through the divisional officer of Bafut to raise the municipality to a full division. He explains that with a surface area of 450 square meters and a population of over 180 thousand inhabitants for effective implementation of the decentralization process in the subdivision which will be subdivided into four zones carrying respective sub-divisions.
Through its inclusiveness in the domain of agriculture, the Agric committee distributed maize improvement seeds to all associations of people living with disabilities and women in Bafut. Councillors all returned home smiling as they were all handed improved maize seeds. Mayor Ngwakongoh Lawrence said the move is to continue fighting food insecurity within the Municipality. “On behalf of people living with disabilities in Bafut, I want to thank the council through the Mayor for this yearly donation of maize seeds. We will always ask for more. We can plant, weed, and harvest but cannot carry back home from the farms. If we can have tracks which will be able to transport the product to the houses, we will be grateful”, said Mr. Ambe Richard Kande, president of people living with disabilities.
According to the divisional officer of Bafut…who saluted the councillors for a fruitful and sincere deliberation as per the laws says. He assured them that those not paying tax in Bafut will do it now henceforth. “We have been instructed to accompany council workers in the collection of taxes, and dues that have to come to the council. Don’t be surprised if you see them in the field and tell those who have not been paying should do so else, they will be treated accordingly”, said the D.O
A total of six deliberations were put for councillors to deliberate and adopt with the first being a free civil status document, another to authorize the mayor to source funds to construct houses to rent out, build bridges in Lower Bafut and construct another bridge over the Mbee river with other delibrations that were approved.
A SUMMARY PRESENTATION OF THE BAFUT COUNCIL WASTE MANAGEMENT PLAN
A SUMMARY PRESENTATION OF THE BAFUT COUNCIL WASTE MANAGEMENT PLAN
As defined by Law No 96/12 of 5th August 1996, Waste shall be any residue from a production, processing or utilization process; any substance or material produced or, more generally, any movable and immovable good abandoned or intended to be abandoned.
The Bafut municipality which was in the past almost void of garbage, and could be classed as one of the cleanest cities in the North West Region has in recent years been plagued with the situation of poor waste management. With urbanization and rapid growth in population, compounded by increasing urban functions, the volume of waste generated a day in the municipality and most especially in the urban area is enormous. Major road junctions /streets of the municipality are characterized by uncontrolled garbage disposal. Streets are littered with waste that is haphazardly scattered and surroundings of public places are generally dirty and smelly.
Bafut urban is a hub of many functions including commercial, garages, carpentry, educational, health, residential etc. Waste is generated from these activities ranging from plastic wrappings/bottles, iron, food waste etc, which are either biodegradable or non-biodegradable.
Due to the lack of a waste management plan by the council, the population consciously/unconsciously dump waste carelessly in the environment. The only form of waste management by households is backyard dumping. The uncontrolled disposal of waste has led to some adverse effects like contamination of water bodies, the breeding of harmful insects and rodents, pollution of the atmosphere and the outbreak of diseases. Such was the case of Lower Bafut which was plagued by cholera less than a decade ago. Malaria and typhoid cases are constantly being registered in most of the health institutions found in the municipality.
In view of the ongoing, there is need to put in place a proper waste management plan to check the damages caused by poor waste management in the municipality. Backed by the devolution of power on Environment and Management of Natural Resources in section 157 of the General Code of Regional and local authorities, with emphasis on the cleaning of streets, roads and council public areas; the Bafut council needs to put up measures to maintain a clean environment for the good of her population. A council WMP is key to resolving this disturbing situation of poor waste treatment in the municipality.
A Municipal WMP is a written record (Document) of what must be done to achieve the goals the council has set for managing municipal waste. The purpose of this plan is to describe the management procedures of the waste generated within a Municipality. The Bafut council has developed it to ensure waste is reduced, reused, recycled and managed in a rational and sustainable manner wherever possible.
Major highlights in this document include; the general introduction which is an understanding of the concept of a WMP and the problem of waste management in the municipality. The legal and institutional framework presents the laws on waste management, what gives the council the mandate to manage municipal waste. A view of the Bafut municipality, carving out the zones greatly affected that needs attention is equally projected. This is followed by the categorisation of waste, problems associated with waste generated and an analysis of the environmental and social risks associated with poor waste disposal. The technics involved in managing waste in the landfill marks the main solution to the issue at hand. The entire process cannot be accomplished without the involvement of stakeholders who are equally mentioned in the plan. The bill of quantities which has the description of items and their costing concludes the major segments of the document.
We therefore present for adoption by the deliberative organ, the Bafut Council Waste Management Plan.