The good, the bad , the ugly of Ekema Patrick’s tenure as mayor of Buea

How the fallen mayor of Buea lived with people in his municipality and other Cameroonians home and abroad can be measured through social media reactions following his death Sunday October 27th 2019 in Douala;

Many have been expressing regrets and good memories of his role in maintaining peace and order in Buea. Since Ekema Patrick Esunge became mayor of Buea municipality in 2013, some social media users say Buea has had a new look.

As the mayor of Buea council, he championed the transfer of the “Soppo market” to a permanent site at Molyko quarter, a relocation of the market that has encouraged economic activities.

On how to stamp out Monday traditional ghost towns in Buea, the fallen Mayor used diverse strategies that have so far yielded some changes. Ekema Patrick Esunge purchased and distributed petrol to taxi drivers to encourage them work on ghost town days to boost the economy of Buea municipality. Though this did not harvest positive results in the greater part of Buea, some neighbourhoods like “Clerks Quaters”, “Buea Town” and “Bokwango” have been witnessing increasing activities on Mondays thanks to the mayor.

Some social media users have been sympathising with the family of the administrator while praying for the peaceful repose of his soul.

Despite this, some social media publications on Facebook,WhatsApp, Twitter and other social media handles, by some Cameroonians express satisfaction following the demise of mayor Ekema Patrick.

“A common mayor wanted that people should respect him as a god. He may have like an arrogant live but no body is above death”, read a Facebook comment by a denizen of Buea we prefer not to name here for security reasons. To him, Ekema Patrick Esunge as a mayor brought untold misery to the people of Buea through his arrogance.

He quotes the arbitrary sealing of business centres and shops by Mayor Ekema. To him, the mayor fanned the tension in Buea municipality in his quest to forcefully stop Monday traditional ghost towns instituted by restoration forces.

Other derogatory statements against the mayor have flooded WhatsApp fora in Cameroon.

“The mayor was a tyrant and they usually die abruptly “.

“The mayor was disturbing a lot, let him die”.

“Ekema moved around with many military men as body guards. Why did they not protect him from death?”, some of the statements read.

On what explains the words of mockery as concerns the death of Ekema Patrick Esunge, sources have indicated that the mayor piled enemies along his path for fame and power.

At the level of politics, he has fell out with many militants of his Cameroon People Democratic Movement CPDM. As a mayor, many accused him of making life a living hell for them in his process of management.

As Mayor Ekema Patrick Esunge quits the scene, the people of Buea look forward for a mayor that will pilot the affairs of the municipality better than he did.

Mimi Mefo Mefo.