Members of the Bamenda Butchers’ Association have accused the national chairman of the Social Democratic Front, SDF, John Fru Ndi of running a butchery in his Ntarinkon residence without the consent of neither the association nor the Mezam divisional delegation for livestock, fisheries and animal husbandry.

In a press briefing at the association’s secretariat on Wednesday October 8, the president of the Bamenda Butchers’ Association, Anye George Gashu disclosed that since he came to the helm of the butchers’ association, he has struggled to ensure that there is order in the meat sector in Bamenda and Mezam as a whole.

“We ensured that any cow brought into the butchery must be identified to check cow theft and also for proper inspection by the veterinary officers. Now Fru Ndi has taken upon himself to open a butchery inside his compound and a sales point behind Commercial Avenue. It will now be difficult for us to identify the cows before they are slaughtered,” the butchers’ representative bemoaned.

To buttress the point, Anye said Fru Ndi is operating illegally because he has not registered as a member of the Bamenda Butchers’ Association. He told reporters also that the Mezam livestock delegate has also confirmed his delegation is not aware of Fru Ndi’s private slaughter house.

In the mean time, Fru Ndi’s fate in relation to the ‘illegal’ slaughter house will come under focus when Bamenda butchers and meat sellers meet during an enlarged extra-ordinary meeting at Ideal Park Hotel on Sunday October 12.

“We will press to know whether the SDF chairman is now a butcher. We want to know why he is using his powers to open an illegal butchery and why he has not registered as a member of our association,” Anye vowed.

He called on the delegates of livestock, health and commerce to do something, else the meat sector will collapse in Bamenda given that people like Fru Ndi have invaded the sector without any authorization and without the consent of the butchers’ association.

Anye George said his association has employed over 300 youths in the sector and has succeeded to reduce cow theft in Bamenda because all cows brought for slaughtering are thoroughly identified.