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By David Atangana
Life has increasingly become difficult for the people of Balue Land owing to man made and natural calamities that have befallen them.
The agrarian community is faced with the negative impact of the raging armed separatist conflict in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions and persistent landslides.
Balue Land is one of densely populated Clans in Ndian Division of the South West Region of the Republic of Cameroon. Found around the Rump hills, the clan is made up of not less than 27 villages.
Amplifying the cries of the Balue people, a clergy with the Presbyterian church in Cameroon serving the locality, paints a gloomy picture of what nature has placed for the community.
“Almost all of the Balue land is totally enclaved. There are virtually foot paths linking one village settlement to another through very swift running rivers and streams, hills and valleys”said Rev. Elangwe Namaya, Pastor of
P. C. Ikiliwindi-Central Congregation.
“Balue Land is at the heart of the Equatorial Forest. The rainfall is almost for eight (8)months during the course of the year”, the clergy man revealed adding that, “During the rainy season it is not strange to hear that villages have been swept off by the fast running streams and rivers many often emptying their contents in Rivers Meme and Ndian”
Farmers loose most of their crops due to landslides as a result of rainy season, a situation that is likely to put the community under threats of famine .
“Every rainy season many of our sons and daughters often lose large portion of their farms to persistent landslides” Rev Elangwe explained further adding that “this year 2022 has been particularly devastating for Balue land. There are indeed wild cries and consternations to how life will ever be for the Balue People whose only dependence is agriculture”.
While nature continues to torment the Balue people, the armed separatists conflict ravaging the Anglophone regions of the country,is not making things any better for Balue Land.
The conflict has plunged the locality to near zero with no access road.Little bridges and roads constructed by the community have all been destroyed leaving them at the mercy of hardship.
“The existing roads were the efforts of our Balue Land over the almost four past decades. At the present with the ongoing socio-political crisis all the “earth roads” that ever existed are totally a nightmare. The few Motor Bikes that ever plied the roads into the hinterlands is a foregone issue.” ,the clergy lamented.
“The few community bridges that were constructed years back are today nonexistent. Balue land is crying and makes this clarion call to whoever can come and alleviate the people of the painful yearly experiences” he sounded.
Locals say,the area is hard hit as nothing is functioning .
“I can say this is the worst areas to visit now ,because all the little roads in the villages now are been use by Amba Fighters ,which most at times are unsafe for villagers”,a villager told MMI
She adds that,”no Schools are functioning”
The Balue Women Association,BWA and Balue Youths Association,BYA , have reportedly joined voices crying to those who have heard their cries to come to their rescue.
According to report, the community is in dire need of infrastructural development.
The community that survives on agriculture has no roads,no commodity market,no financial houses and many others.
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