Bamenda City Mayor at a promotional sale in 2020
Inhabitants of Bamenda who are caught between two crises, the Anglophone crisis and the rising food crisis in the city cry for a return to Monday sales.
Few months after his installation in 2020, the City Mayor of Bamenda engaged the sale of foodstuffs at reduced prices. A litre of vegetable oil which today sells at 1700 Frs was sold at 500 frs. A kilogram of meat which today sells at 2500 Frs was sold at 1000 Frs.
Basic food stuff and even detergents like soap were sold at half the price. Measures the city Mayor said was aimed at fighting hunger and poverty in the city of Bamenda.
From the Bamenda Main Market, Nkwen Market and Bamendakwe Markets, long cues could be seen of people wanting to purchase these items.
This move though seen by others as a way to fight against the ghost town that has crippled Mondays in Bamenda since 2017, served largely as a relief to families with little purchasing power.
In one of such sales, the City Mayor, Paul Achombong called on the Elite and business tycoons in the North West to come together and alleviate poverty from households.
This especially as internally Displaced Persons are on a rise in the North West Regional capital of Bamenda.
Paul Achombong, the man Bamenda looks onto
The selling of goods of basic necessity at reduced prices by the City Mayor, came to replace the promotional sale of goods in Bamenda by the agency known as MIRAP. As the five year old Anglophone crisis hit the city of Bamenda, such sales have come to a stop.
Russian invasion of Ukraine has left a global inflation with the prices of wheat products like bread hitting a record high. This has had a corresponding increase in food prices especially vegetable oil and rice. A staple in Bamenda.
This writer now asks where is the Bamenda City Mayor with promotional sales? Is this not the time to rally the elite and help the needy population better survive?
The Bamenda City Council is still to make an official statement as to how households who depend on the minimum salary in Cameroon at 36000 Frs can better survive with items selling at almost double their prices.
This writer believes the council can make hay while the sun shines by dipping its hands into their coffers and making life once more enjoyable in Bamenda.
At the installation of the newly appointed Commanders of the 5th Joint Military Region and the 5th Gendamerie Region, the City Mayor dreamt of a Bamenda that one can do business all night long without the prevailing insecurity. Maybe it is time to dream again of a Bamenda without hunger. A Bamenda without rising food prices. As it was known in the past, Bamenda was home because of the lower cost of living.
By
Ndi Tsembom Elvis
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