CI-NEWS

Cameroonian fails to get ASECNA top job!

2020-10-06

No: 537

Cameroonian fails to get ASECNA top job!

Cameroon’s diplomacy suffered a setback when its candidate for the post of DG of the Agency for Aerial Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA) , Engelbert Zoa, failed to grab the top job. It was the Nigerien, Mohamed Moussa, who was re-elected, dashing the hopes for Central Africa to get the job that has long eluded the region.

The Nigerien polled 10 out of the 18 votes to get a second mandate.

The election came on the sidelines of the 66^th session of ASECNA that held in the Senegalese capital of Dakar from 14-15 September. Moussa retained the top job after serious negotiations that held behind closed doors.

The failure of the Cameroonian to win appeared to have been a bitter pill to swallow that all government-run media outlets maintained sealed lips on the results. Zoa who has held very strategic positions at ASECNA went into the race as frontrunner, giving his 33 years of experience in the field of aviation, but ended up getting just three votes. Other contenders were the Mauritanian, Hassena Ould Ely(3 votes), and the Central African, Théodore Jousso (2 votes).

With effect from January 2021, the Nigerien has another four years at the helm of the organization. The Communauté des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (CEDEAO), played a crucial role in pushing the candidacy of Moussa through, even if he was not such a good manager during his first term.

ASECNA has for the last 20 years been headed by West Africans. The posts of Board Chair and Treasurer General are held by Frenchmen.

ASECNA came into existence on December 12, 1959 in Saint Louis, Senegal.

The organisation has 18 member states, 17of which are African countries. They are Bénin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Sénégal, Tchad, Togo, Comoros Island and France.

Mbella Mbella highlights virtues of MND at UN GA

It was finally Cameroon’s external relations minister, Lejeune Mbella Mbella who spoke on behalf of President Paul Biya at the UN yesterday, quite against the demands of protocol. A pre-recorded speech by the Cameroonian leader is said to have been rejected, forcing Mbella Mbella to deliver Biya’s address himself.

has called on the United Nations to assist in the fight against terrorism.

In his address at the 75th UN General Assembly, the minister higlighted the virtues of the Major National Dialogue and called on the UN to assist Cameroon fight against terrorism.

Hoghlighting the challenges faced by government, he said Cameroon “… has endeavored to make progress towards poverty eradication, towards the promotion of the rule of law and towards improvement in the quality of education.”

Like in other low income nations, he said the road is still long.

Reiterating Cameroon’s role as a troop contributor to UN peace keeping operations, Minister Lejeune noted that the engagement has been ongoing for decades today.

He also recognised the need to guarantee food security as a top priority for the state.

“… In this spirit my country has adopted a national poverty reduction strategy. These are efforts that have been undertaken by my country Cameroon and yet these efforts have been stalled by the atrocities perpetrated by the Boko Haram sect in the northern part of our country,” said minister Lejeune.

He added that “… These difficulties are compounded by a sociopolitical crisis in our North West and South West regions. In those regions, armed gangs terrorise the population.”

In its effort to maintain peace and order, he explained that the state was employing population-friendly measures.

“The initiatives of the government are geared towards protecting the people there and restoring normal living conditions in the areas concerned. These initiatives have become to bear fruit,” he stated.

The minister of external relations in his presentation dwelled on human rights and the rule of law, tenets he noted the state is doing all it can to uphold. Regarding the Anglophone crisis, he added that “… We have embraced consultation and concertation and we have successfully organised a wide ranging national dialogue exercise to inter-alia address root causes of crisis in the North West and South West regions with the aim of delivering on suitable solutions.”

These exchanges he went on, led to the adoption of a law on decentralization, “… a law which inter alia grants special status to the North West and South West regions and provides for implementation of a recovery and development plan for these regions.”

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Cameroonian fails to get ASECNA top job!