Boa Mbongo Natives: Beggars on Golden Stools

Fate has been reluctant to smile on the people of Boa Mbongo in Bamusso Sub-Division, Ndian Division, Southwest Region. Blessed with a member of parliament, a mayor, and huge stocks of timber and fish, rich vegetation and other resources some communities would trade their lives for, the people of Boa Mbongo still fare like beggars on golden stools.

     By Patience Toge

In June, as the torrential tropical rains set in, our reporter ventured to the land squashed in the mangrove creeks and bewitched by scarcity amidst plenty. Friends of hardship and poverty, the people of Boa Mbongo, a small village in Boa chiefdom, languish smilingly at their lack of good roads, no farm-to-markets roads, no potable water, no toilets and many more life’s deficits.

The cycle of poverty and hardship never ends for the Boa Mbongo people, laments Molua Michael Etongo, an elite and a community consultant on forest management working with the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) Boa Plain project.

“Because of lack of potable water and proper hygiene conditions, these people are constantly sick, and as such, the little money they make, is used up on medical bills,” Molua Etongo told The Green Vision.

Education remains a dim dream as most of the children drop out of school to assist their parents on the farms, and teachers posted to this area come to school once in a blue moon. Most of the people here are farmers/fishermen and since canoe is the only means of transport, children abandon school in order to transport produce to canoe landings. These produce are also ferried by canoe to the Bamusso main market.

Sometimes when the river is too high, the produce get spoiled as the canoes cannot transport them to the market. But before the Boa Mbongo people can get their produce to the markets, they have to trek long distances to go to their farms and harvest their crops, then trek again for hours with head loads to the canoe landings or the market. Time and again, long distances and bad roads overcome these villagers and they abandon their treasures to rot along the footpaths.

Dark World

It is a totally dark world in Boa Mbongo when night falls. With no modern taps, a bottle of mineral water from neighbouring Nigeria costs 800 francs cfa. The villagers are contented with water supplied by rainfall and streams which they also use as toilets. Rain water is collected and kept in open gallons for later consumption. The water gallons are also home for swarms of flies and regiments of mosquitoes that need to be stirred from their slumber before the villagers can use the water.

    Cut Off By Mobile Phones

Although there is no electricity supply in Boa Mbongo, but for the Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC) that owns a generator, and a few businessmen who run stand-by generators, the Boa Mbongo villagers possess mobile phones. The cell phones are seldom used because of lack of network. The Boa Mbongo people are nonetheless consoled by the Nigerian Naira and Cameroon’s franc cfa which they use interchangeably. Illegal logging is another succor as there is little law enforcement. Much of the illicit timber is smuggled to Nigeria without qualms.
In the absence of any meaningful development, the Boa Mbongo natives may someday transform their beggar’s stool into a productive tool. The UN Agency for Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), through its mangrove conservation project, has been collecting data on the socio-economic and ecological condition of the people, in order to propose lasting solutions to the community’s plights.

Dr. Jean Hude Ekindi Moudingo, Technical Coordinator of the Cameroon Mangrove Conservation Project (GCP/CMR/030/GFF), told The Green Vision that the data collected, include the socio-economic life of the people, education, health, ecological system and the difficulties these people face in fulfilling their livelihoods.

“We are trying to expose to the world the plight of the [Boa Mbongo] people so that help can be brought to them,” said Dr. Ekindi Moudingo. He added, “We pump money into the community through sensitization and seminars to educate them on how to better their lifestyles.”

Dr. Moudingo admits that the journey hasn’t been an easy one. For one, if you don’t have a good vehicle you cannot reach here. Secondly, the people working in these parts come to work occasionally. Thus, planning of meetings with the villagers is very difficult. Then there is the issue of poor mobile telephone network which makes communication very difficult. Nonetheless, Dr. Moudingo said if all the stakeholders come together more can be achieved to create greater awareness with regards to the plight of the Boa Mbongo people and lasting solutions provided.