One of the high moments of Women’s Day celebrations in Buea, headquarters of the South West Region, was when the Regional Hospital Director was sighted leading his female staff in the march past at Bongo Square.
Dr Martin Mokake, a level-headed and award-winning surgeon, was dressed in a blue senator wear sewn with the Regional Hospital’s fabric.
Around his neck hanged the 2024 Women’s Day fabric as he matched in solidarity with his female colleagues.
The 38-year-old medical doctor could not hide his elation in celebrating women as he received a thunderous cheer from spectators at the grandstand.
He was one of the very few men who participated in the Women’s Day parade in Buea, which was dominated by over 5,000 women from various sectors of society.
This year’s International Women’s Day was themed, “Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress.”
Although the slogan emphasizes economic empowerment of women, the need for men and women to work together could not be overemphasized.
Earlier in his speech at the occasion, Governor of the South West, Bernard Okalia Bilai, asserted that men and women must share a mutual collaboration based on trust and tolerance for either of them to progress.
“… Of course we are together because the men need the women to be complete and the women need the men to be complete. I’m saying that there must be a relationship of mutual, understanding, trust and tolerance in each for either man, or the woman to progress and succeed in life,” said Governor Okalia Bilai.
Among staff of the Buea Regional Hospital, men and women appear to be working in great solidarity.
Female workers of the hospital, some dressed in the medical doctor attire, turned out on their dozens for the march past that was headed by the hospital director.
The female nurses marched with a patient on a stretcher as a demonstration of how they attend to patients in emergency situations.
Meanwhile, women from various government Ministries which are represented in Buea marched in their numbers as well.
Ministerial delegations that are headed by female regional delegates – such as the Ministry of Secondary Education, Social Affairs, Basic Education, Women’s Empowerment – had spectacular displays with the Delegates leading the march past.
Female uniformed officers also caught the attention of many and received loud cheers from the population as they marched past the grandstand.
Female police officers, military women and women working with the justice department were among the women who stood out during the parade.
Unlike in Bamenda and probably in other parts of the country, the Women’s Day march past in Buea was void of any placards voicing out the problems of women or making any political demands from the government.
The only placards that featured in the parade came from the non-governmental organisation Reach Out, whose women carried messages of peace and non-violence as they marched through Bongo Square.
Women from some Christian denominations, like Christ Embassy, also carried God-centered messages on placards.
Other women carried peace plants and waved them as they marched past. This was particular with women from the Office of the Public Independent Conciliator of the South West Region.
The peace plants symbolized their yearn for peace in Region troubled by a seven-year armed conflict.
