The government of La Republique du Cameroun (LRC) has coordinated the burning into ashes, a total of 3,247 copies of the “Moving On, Student’s Book II,” a textbook recently revised with Ambazonian symbols added.

Jean Ernest Masséna Ngallé Bibehé, LRC Minister of Secondary education, coordinated the destruction of the textbooks, belonging to the Cosmos Educational. The textbooks that carried the Ambazonian National Anthem and flag, were withdrawn from the market across the country and set on fire recently in Yaounde. Estimated loss from the destruction exercise stand at ten thousand US dollars, according to an official of Cosmos Bookshop.

The act, according to an inventory conducted and followed by the destruction of the textbooks, issued by a Yaounde-based law firm and endorsed by Barrister Jeanne d’Arc Ngo Bakang, was in line with instructions dished out by the Minister of Secondary Education, Jean Ernest Masséna Ngallé Bibehé.

Disclosing that her law firm was contacted on behalf of Cosmos Educational Press Ltd by Tsafack Ngueabou Galeswinthe, who is in charge of Human Resources at the Yaounde Regional Office, Ngo Bakang revisited the Ministerial Order No 104/17/CRP/MINESEC/IGE.

Going by that order, the Minister of Secondary Education had informed the education community that the textbook titled: “Moving On, Student’s Book II,” used to teach English language in Form Two, has been withdrawn from the official programme following an inconvenient insertion of Ambazonian symbols in a revised edition of the said book.

“That an inventory of all the copies of the books ‘Moving On, Student’s Book II’ must be conducted and destroyed by the publishing house,” Ngo Bakang stated.

Quoting Tsafack Ngueabou, the Barrister stated that to preserve the interest of Cosmos Educational Press Ltd, her services were requested. She was then transported to the venue where the counting followed by the destruction of the banned textbook was carried out.

Ngo Bakang added that she was acting in accordance with Article 1 of decree No 79/448 of 5th November 1979 modified and completed by decree No 85/238 of 22nd February 1985 fixing and regulating the functions of bailiffs.

She observed that, while at the warehouse of the company where the copies of the textbooks ‘Moving On, Student’s Book II” was assembled, some employees, notably Njukang, Peter Meh, Frankline Chengaleh, Elvis Nkengasong, Valerie Njinkeng, Richard Ekembah and John Njuafue; charged with the destruction of the books, were on standby.

She said apart from the 3,247 copies of the books arranged and transported to the destruction site, 20 copies were conserved by Cosmos Educational Press Ltd as proof.

It should be noted that some 15 Southern Cameroonians (including an employee of the British embassy in Yaounde), were in November 2017, charged with connection to blackmail the territorial integrity of LRC by conspiring to revise a book and inserting unknown symbols. It is unclear if the suspects are still in detention. However, all the textbooks were withdrawn from public, private and confessional schools last year.

By Lucas Muma,

Managing Editor – BaretaNews