DIKOME BALUE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (DIDECO) AT A CROSSROAD:

                      Transformational changes for a better DIDECO

 

By Jackson W. Nanje

Educational background and character of Chief Cyril Asuh Sakwe                            

Dikome Balue is arguably the largest village in the South West Region and possibly, Cameroon. The village has a Second-Class Chief designation. HRH Cyril Asuh Sakwe is the chosen leader of Dikome Balue and he is the Paramount ruler of the twenty-seven (27) villages that constitute the Balue Tribe. Chief Sakwe attended St. Joseph College Sasse, where he graduated in 1978 and he later graduated from Cameroon College of Arts and Science, Kumba in 1980. He proceeded to attend the prestigious Yaounde University where he received a Bachelor’s of Arts degree with honors in 1983.

Chief Asuh Sakwe (now retired) worked for the government for over forty (40) years. He started his career shortly after he left the university and later was transferred as the divisional boss of Tourism in Ndian and Banghem for many years before his retirement a couple of years ago. His thoughtfulness and intelligence were key contributory factors in his selection to become the new chief to replace Chief Augustine Bokwe. For those not aware of the removal of Chief Bokwe and the eventual replacement by Chief Asuh Sakwe, DIDECO was instrumental in the entire process. It will be indeed foolhardy for DIDECO to want to engage in another removal process. The government who’s the final arbiter in this process is not going to have any of this foolishness from the Dikome Balue people any time soon, again.

The Dikome Balue and the Balue people should be rest assured that in HRH Asuh Sakwe, they’re blessed with a Chief whose thoughtfulness and intelligence afford him the credibility to arrive at thoughtful decisions without haste but decisions that come after considerable consultation. He has the characteristics that Americans admire in their leaders: they don’t care for whims and they prefer leaders who are assertive and resolute in their decision-making. Such characteristics are what’s in full display in the current showdown between DIDECO and the Chief.

Recently, for some(a) reason(s) unbeknownst to many Dikome Balue people, the President, now former, announced that he and his executive committee members resigned from their functions as leaders of the organization. They however scheduled elections for the new executive committee of DIDECO to be held on March 11, 2023. The Chief, who’s the Chairman, serving also as the adviser to52 the executive bureau of DIDECO thought that they gave up their scheduling powers to organize elections too after tendering their resignation. It is said in the great book that, when you relinquish powers, you therefore forfeit your rights and ability to govern. He has been quite assertive and dared anyone take him for a whim. After the unfortunate debacle we had with Chief Bokwe, it took the Dikome Balue people quite some time to search and finally selected their new chief. New criteria were put in place that the new chief must have and Chief Sakwe checked all of them. The Dikome Balue people Selected the chief whom they are seemingly trying to undermine and destroy today.

And, since the constitution is being used as a tool which proponents on the other side are claiming that the Chief violated by taking over control of DIDECO elections, permit me to use that same constitutional argument against them as well. The resigning National Executive had been in power for thirteen (13) years, that is, seven (7) years beyond their mandate. Article 18.1.1 of our National DIDECO constitution states that, “all elective posts shall be held for the duration of three years renewable.” This out-going executive occupied their various positions in violation of the constitution for seven (7) more years, illegally. It therefore implies that since they were there beyond their required mandate, they were therefore squatting and that’s illegal. The Chief has not violated the constitution than they have.

                   Surrounding villages are profiting from our continuous disunity......

What held us together in the past were our sheer numbers, intelligence and the ability to work on projects together. But today, those numbers have become “the foolish majority” and our intelligence is what a friend of mine likened to, “a Dikome Balue man is gifted with an eloquence that does not give blessings to development.” We talk too much and do very little. We have to return to those days that we used our hands more than our mouths. Even though I am confident that none of the surrounding Balue villages pose a threat to mighty Dikome Balue, personalities in government who see Dikome Balue as a threat, may use our fragmented politics to our disadvantage and this should worry us. So, for good measures, it is about time we picked up ourselves and rally behind our chief to deliver for Dikome Balue village. After the elections, the General Assembly should select the best and brightest minds, to review the DIDECO constitution and include provisions that have been worrying us. A strong DIDECO just as a strong and erudite Chief is very important for Dikome Balue progress. Our unity must pose a threat to our neighbors but our disunity is a recipe for disaster and we can't afford the latter.

       A return to our village and government-organized school……

 

We have too many vices stacked against us and what we do not need now is this internecine fighting which has characterized our being of recent. Many indigenes in various villages in Ndian division resolved to reside within their respective villages during this Anglophone crisis and have opted to return their pupils and students back to government-organized schools but we, the Dikome Balue people, continue to sow seeds of discord, by preventing our indigenes from returning to our beloved village of birth and to equally prevent our children to return to the organized schooling. The Community School route that some have taken is not sustainable. We should therefore rally behind the chief for this to happen. A strong and dynamic DIDECO, which is a force for development, to enable the implementation of projects is for now desirable.

When a 15-man DIDECO personnel met with the Prime Minister and Head of Government early last year, the PM announced that he has given the Minster of Territorial Administration the go-ahead to sign the document crowning Chief Cyril Asuh Sakwe as the next chief of Dikome Balue replacing Chief Augustine Bokwe. That document is yet to be signed and it therefore implies that the Chief is yet to receive monthly financial subvention from the government. The Dikome Balue people must provide the chief monthly allowance for his movement and entertainment of visitors. The people of Dikome Balue must do this because there’s no other way the chief can finance the Palace. As the Constitution Review Committee of DIDECO shall be meeting to review the constitution this must be a major inclusion into the document. This resolves the unnecessary bickering about the chief being an un-chiefly chief without remuneration yet we expect him to do his job efficient. Things don’t work this way!

I will admonish the new DIDECO executive committee to create a new WhatsApp group for only registered members like we have in North America. This will enable us to easily identify those who have paid their development fee into the organization coffers. Take for example several members in the All About Dikome group are merely noise-makers who do contribute financially to all things Dikome. This registered group shall be updated yearly by Presidents of each branch who shall be moderators or their designee.