The paramount ruler of the Bafaws and eldest member of the Cameroon Senate, Nfon Victor Mukete publicly stood up against Chantal Biya’s envoy, Alexis Ndjolo for addressing predominantly English speaking primary school pupils in Kumba in French.

The drama unfolded at the Kumba municipal grandstand, during the launching of a social vaccination programme spearheaded by the First Lady, Chantal Biya.

While Alexis Ndjolo, Director of the Chantal Biya Reference Center, was presenting his report in French, Nfon Mukete got up from his seat, confronted South West Governor and threatened to leave the ceremonial ground.

“How can you people invite young people here, many who are still children in primary school in Kumba; which is an Anglophone stronghold and you are still speaking in French which many people do not understand? This is mockery in a bilingual country like Cameroon. Mr. Governor, I am leaving if you don’t do something and fast,” Nfon Mukete was heard fuming.

The governor was obliged to order one of his interpreters to take over the presentation and do it in English. He asked some of his subordinates to sweet-talk Nfon Mukete who was already leaving the tribune.

The protest against the neglect of English language is not the first to be staged by the Senator. He has been a strong critic of the national bilingual daily, Cameroon Tribune, for always carrying their main stories in French in almost all its editions.

He has on many occasions faulted the newspaper for publishing tenders for contracts exclusively in French, to the disadvantage of Cameroonians of English expression, especially those of the North West and South West Regions.

In his last outing during the official launching of his book, ‘My Odessy,’ at the Yaounde Conference Center, Nfon Mukete decried the abuse of the English language, stating that Anglophones are suffering from the situation. He had called on the powers that be to quickly do something before Cameroon becomes a monolingual country.

Much earlier, in his welcome address, the Government Delegate to the Kumba City Council, Victor Ngoh Nkelle likened the First Lady to Virgin Mary in the Bible. Without explaining how, he claimed that just as Mary took care of baby Jesus till he grew up, that is how the first lady is taking care of people in the South West Region.

He thanked the Head of State and wife on behalf of the population of Kumba for their constant support and interest they have been showing to the people of Kumba. He cited the Kumba-Mamfe road project, the already operational HTTTC Kumba as some of the nice things given to the people of the South West.

Ngoh thanked the First Lady for choosing Kumba to host the launching of the sensitization campaign and training of the education community on the fight against sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS.

For her part, Rose Mbah Njaji, Coordinator of the social vaccine program and Coordinator of the First Lady’s activities in the Ministry of Basic Education, said the social vaccine caravan has been in Monatele, Bangate, Bamenda, Bafoussam, Yokuduma, Limbe and Kumba.

The social vaccine was launched alongside a multimedia center put in place in collaboration with the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication.

The ceremony which was presided at by the Governor of the South West region also had in attendance senators, parliamentarians, mayors, judicial authorities, secretary general in the ministry of post and telecommunication, amongst others.