CI-NEWS

I want people to remember that the 10th Legislature with Hon Ngala Gerard brought an immeasurable im

2020-03-26

No: 478

I want people to remember that the 10th Legislature with Hon Ngala Gerard brought an immeasurable impact to this country – Hon. Ngala Gerard, MP for Donga Mantung Central.

Ngala Gerard is definitely one of those seen as a creation of the Anglophone crisis. Vilified for braving lockdowns to organize CPDM meetings in his constituency and slammed for challenging the counterproductive school boycott mantra of Anglophone separatists, the Douala-based rising businessman, also referred to as Ta Nformi of the Mbum land, remained uncompromising in his quest for power and fame. He multiplied acts of defiance against the Ambaboys and grandstanding during political meetings which turned him into something of a phenomenon. That is why when Hon Cyprien Awudu Mbaya threw in the towel, Ngala Gerard, who had already carved out a niche for himself, easily swept to victory after being endorsed for parliament by the ruling CPDM. Now ensconced as MP with immunity, the youthful and dynamic politician is bent on seeing the Anglophone crisis fixed through dialoguing with his brothers to bring them out of the bushes so that the North West and South West regions battered by the crisis could be reconstructed.

In this interview granted to Ebenezer Winnyawoko Motale and Ayi Mbile on Cameroon Calling of Sunday, March 22, 2020 the Young Turk begins by saying how he feels being referred to as Honourable. Excerpts:

I feel very satisfied, first of all for having been elected as a Member of Parliament for Donga Mantung Central, and secondly as a sign of gratitude to my political party, the CPDM, that invested me, and also as a sign of recognition to my constituents who saw in me a person worthy to represent them in the august house. So I have those three feelings and I am very happy.

Some people say you are a successful business person. Why did you leave business and other stuff and got interested in politics?

Thank you very much for the compliment Mr. Motale. Yes, I am a businessman and I strive every day to ensure that I put food on the tables of more than 300 workers. My company was created about 10 years ago and we have a work force of more than 250 permanent workers. I have not included the temporary workers. Each day I strive that these folks put food on their table, because they have to feed their families. But that is not enough for me, because I am a young man who always goes for the best, so I believe we could do better. This business permitted me to assist my community as an individual and with the confederation of elite who are always ready to come on board to join me to help the community.

It is worth noting here that our community is where there is a lot of poverty, where you hardly find people with basic amenities, talk less of jobs. So we came up with this confederation of elite to help the people in difficulties. But that too was not enough. We thought it wise that with the support they have been giving us, based on what we have been doing to them, running for Parliament would have their total support. That is what pushed me to run for the legislative election, knowing that I could count on them to give me their votes to represent them. So that it what pushed me a businessman to join politics, knowing that I will continue to do things for them, not only from my pocket, but will be able to pass bills that will affect them positively and ameliorate their living conditions. We know the difficulties faced by our communities and through Parliament, we can get them going.

Honourable you have just presented the reasons why you were elected in Donga Mantung Central to represent the people. We know replacing a political colossus like Cyprian Awudu Mbaya is not a trifling matter. What is it that actually got you the votes of the people?

Well, people keep talking of replacing Hon Awudu Mbaya as if it is an issue. He ran against me in 2013 and won the elections for his 4th mandate in Parliament, although I won the Nkambe council. But then Hon Awudu Mbaya is a senior citizen, statesman, a father to me, somebody I respect so much. It may interest you to know that since I came to Yaounde for the Session of Right, I have met Hon Awudu three times, and on those three occasions he has presented me to his former colleagues who are still in Parliament as the person who has replaced him. He is still acting the role of a father, indicating that although I replaced him from a different political party, we are not enemies. We are friends because we are working for a common goal which is our country and our constituency. These are the things that he has been doing to me. But then I stood unchallenged because he did not go in for the elections. Though I stood unchallenged, my people still came out massively to vote for me because they think they owe me a lot, and the only way to pay me back was to come out massively and vote in the elections. Nkambe Central had about 17500 votes, which gave a score of more than 70% which was unprecedented in the two English speaking regions of Cameroon. The population said they had a son, and not only a son who can represent them, but also somebody they trusted, so why would they not come out and vote massively so that he could represent them legitimately.

Hon Ngala Gerard, now that you are in Parliament to represent these people who love you so much, how prepared are you to defend their interest?

Well, I can assure that what I have seen in Parliament, coupled with the reception given to us by old members, the little doubts that I had have been cleared off. I can say that coming to Parliament I was about 7/10 prepared but with the Parliamentary Open days, what I saw and went through, I can now say I am 10/10 prepared. I am ready to present the worries of my constituents to Parliament and ensure that we get laws, bills that will take this country forward and ameliorate the conditions of my fellow constituents, and to make sure that we advance the democracy of this country as prescribed by the Head of State. As you will remember, the President of the Republic said the democracy of this country is on the move. So I want to make sure that I, Hon Ngala Gerard from Donga Mantung Central contribute my own quota and play my own role, so that those coming behind us should know that we played a major role in advancing the democracy of this country. We want the country to be better than we met it. We want the country to be better so that people of Donga Mantung can feel that they sent the right person to Parliament to represent them. We want that the country should move to the right direction and that peace should return to the North West and South West Regions. As I said before, we want those two regions to be developed, we want their issues to be addressed. The Head of State has started addressing those issues that we know of, but some are still pending. But how do we implement the pending ones in a violent environment? That is why I keep talking to my brothers with tears in my eyes, and on my knees to come out of the bushes and see what has been given to us. There are recommendations we made through the Major National Dialogue that are good and the Prime Minister is open to implementing them. He is a good PM and has received us the youths. He has received me more than 10 times in his office in less than a year to listen to our worries. And we did table the recommendations from the Major National Dialogue so that he could put them in front of the Head of State. And the Head of State has started implementing some that went through Parliament, though others are still pending. We want the environment to be conducive so that the remaining ones can be passed through Parliament so that we get the conditions in the North West and South West ameliorated, and get the Special Status properly executed. We have only one country to defend, only one country to present its positive image. We don’t want Cameroon to carry a negative image because of the two English speaking Regions. We have a diverse culture, we are bilingual and that should be a plus to this country and not a minus. I want our brothers to understand that we can do a lot by being together. Those are the things that we will be doing to make sure that we get the best for this country. I have been given a chance as a young man by the Head of State, because you have to be invested by your party, to be in Parliament. Many MPs today are youths, and the majority of the 167 now in the National Assembly are new comers, meaning they want to give the opportunity to the youths to build the country.

Taking care of the concerns and needs of your constituents is normal. What do you actually want to achieve in Parliament and leave as a legacy?

I told you I am from the Donga Mantung Central Constituency and I want to improve on the living conditions of my people to feel my impact. But it doesn’t end there. I am a Parliamentarian for the entire nation, so those laws that we will pass will not only affect the people of Donga Mantung Central but the whole nation. That is why I said we are ready to fight for the betterment of this country by putting in place laws that stand the test of time, by making sure that the bi-jural nature of this country is respected, by ensuring that the bilingual nature of this country is respected, by making sure that the cultural diversity of this country is respected, so that we can live in diversity. These are the major issues that were tabled from the Major National Dialogue through the Prime Minister to the Head of State. I want to make sure that people would remember that the 10th Legislature with Hon Ngala Gerard brought an immeasurable impact to this country.

Taking care of your constituents is understandable. But right now we have a big problem on our hands. The Prime Minister read 13 measures on how to take care of this problem on the corona virus. What did you make of the Prime Minister’s measures?

First of all I want to salute the efforts of the Head of State through the Prime Minister. The PM held an inter-ministerial meeting on Wednesday where he came out with those 13 points. He shut down our borders except for some countries like Chad that is landlocked and depends on Cameroon. However, while shutting down those borders room was given for the bringing in of cargoes and things like medication and food items highly needed by the population, so that we do not suffer from the shutdown. The actions of the Minister of Public Health have been timely and important. The most important thing is for Cameroonians to follow those measures and they should know that the measures are not for granted. Because if you have two people infected, by the end of the day those two may contaminate more than ten other people. If we take seriously the recommendations from the Prime Minister and the Minister of Public Health, we will be safe. I followed a tweet from the Minister of Public Health this morning and he was worried that Cameroonians are not scrupulously following the prescriptions he has given to curb the spread of the virus. I applaud the measures taken by the PM and it is for us Cameroonians to follow those measures. Corona virus is a reality, there is no time to joke and the time for action is now.

Hon, you are young and that is one of the qualities that brought you to the National Assembly. As you speak there are a lot of young people, not only from the North West, but all over the country who are listening to you. Many are unemployed, many who are struggling in life and many who have succeeded, but we are concerned with those who are struggling and would want to be like you. A successful businessman and now MP, what do you tell them, those who are aspiring to be like you?

Thank you Ayi. It is worth noting that being a successful businessman today, my father wasn’t a rich man and my mother was a mere housewife. If I could make it in business, then other young people can make it. If I could make it to Parliament being the son of a farmer and house wife who did not go to school, but could sell their coffee, cocoa and farm produce to pay our school fees in Sacred Heart College and Starlight College, then other youths can make it. The only advice I can give to them is that they should believe in themselves. They should set goals, work hard and remain humble, stay law-abiding and be prayerful. Because nowadays, youths tend to give up so easily. You do not get easy money nowadays. You need to work hard, remain resilient and never give up. I never give up. I have a work force in place but I believe that I can double that work force in the next two years. Somebody will say it is impossible, but I believe in myself and in two years I can give you the balance sheet. I told them the other day that I am the son of a farmer and a house wife but my business has permitted me to recruit more than 250 permanent workers and more than 600 temporary workers. I happen to be an MP today, but if you look at my background you would have said it could not be possible.

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I want people to remember that the 10th Legislature with Hon Ngala Gerard brought an immeasurable im