Ensuring the wellbeing of old people in the country is a major preoccupation of government. It is in this light that a protocol agreement was signed between the Ministry of Social Affairs and the NGO, Living Alternatives for the Ageing (LAFTA) on January 15, 2014 in Yaounde.

The protocol agreement comes on the heels of the laying of the foundation stone for the pilot project for construction of the first multipurpose centre in Bamenda by the Minister of Social Affairs, Catherine Bakang Mbock, on January 19, 2013. After verification of the level of work, the minister went ahead to sign the protocol agreement with the aim of facilitating the completion of the project.

During the agreement the Ministry of Social Affairs donated FCFA 1 million as contribution to the LAFTA project which has as objective to improve the living conditions of old people in the country. The multipurpose centre will provide old people with an environment and an adapted programme which will enable them share their rich experiences.

The promoter and founder of LAFTA, Elizabeth Makwang Mofor, said the agreement shows the importance the Ministry of Social Affairs attaches to old people as well as the total adhesion of all private organisations, government, national and international to social work and the policy of solidarity defined by the Head of State. The LAFTA project will construct multipurpose centres in all the ten regions of the country. The centres will also extend to the divisions and then to the CEMAC zone and West Africa.

Drawing from the example of her old mother, Elizabeth Makwang Mofor said the project is to show more gratitude to old people because more and more old people are abandoned. "We need to assist these people and make them feel that they are part of the society and that they are loved," she said. It is her wish to complete the project within a short period of time in order to give joy and comfort to people of the third age group including her mother.