By Abongwa Fozo
This was during a two-day constituent assembly in Bamenda convened with the assistance of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) from the 28 to 29 of January, 2025. WASH, which stands for Water Sanitation and Hygiene remains a major challenge for governments and communities around the world and needs urgent addressing particularly in the case of the Northwest Region with several failed water projects.
Opening the assembly, Mr.Akia Fonketi Emmanuel, Regional Delegate of Water Resources and Energy for the North West called for the stakeholders who are all expert in the sector to sought out a permanent solution to the WASH crisis in the region.
The assembly aimed to, above all, create awareness on the need and challenges to ensure sustainability of water supply in the Northwest Region, work on the articles of association and by-laws that will govern the activities of the platform and to register members into the platform as well as hold elections into the executive positions that would run the platform for a transition period before a permanent bureau is elected.
Mr. Afah Benedict Abengang, representing the Regional Delegate for Water Resources and Energy called for WASH cluster members to work in synergy to ensure better sustainability of water projects in the region. He warned members that after the setting up of the platform “I don’t want to hear a situation that a water project is constructed today and in the next year it’s not functional”
“In our 2025 strategy, NRC has WASH governance as a key priority, learning from all the failures globally” said Mr. Afunwi Denis, WASH Shelter Project Manager and the Acting Head of Bureau for NRC Bamenda Office.
The idea of the platform according to Mr Afunwi came Following years of participating and constructing many water points and systems which failed. NRC he continued realized that the normal water management committees are not working so it is better to bring all stake holders and experts in the region to work in a platform leading to today’s constituent assembly.
Tayong Andrew, Director of Boka Engineering and consultant to NRC said many organisations, councils, parastals and governments invest so much in constructing water infrastructures “and at the end of the day people don’t have the water they need to drink… in terms quality and quantity”
Mr. Tayong identified management and technical issues as the core of the problem, adding this could be due to the design, construction and maintenance, management dynamics like maintenance, repairs and human and financial resources.
The WASH Governance Platform is the ideal place to address these challenges. The transitional bureau headed by COMINSUD intends to get into action as soon as possible.
Mr. Fon Nsoh Director of COMINSUD that is chair of the transitional platform is quite clear in their mission. “a water governance platform is not a political institution. It’s a technical structure, and for the case of the water governance platform that we have established here, the key focus should be how to support initiatives that will contribute in sustainability of water supply systems and sanitation facilities” he said, adding “It’s not only about sustainability of water supply systems, but it’s about how to make our region very green and with enough water all across the years.”
Members at the assembly adopted the platform’s articles of association, put in place an executive bureau of eight organisations to set the ground work for a transitional period up to October 2026. The Bureau will be led by COMINSUD as chair, Finder’s Group Initiative (GPI) as vice chair and Society Initiative for Rural Development (SIRDEP) as Financial Secretary.
Some of the major resolutions adopted included a registration fee of 100,000 per member (organisations), yearly dues of 25,000 frs, the executive to designate an operations officer to run the daily affairs, open a bank account, organise a Northwest water govenance finance conference, work with MINEE and the Northwest Regional Assembly to obtain the legal status of the platform amongst others.
Over 25 associations and NGOs and technical and support partners like the ministry of Water Resources and Energy (MINEE), Public Health, Agriculture, Decentralization and local Development and para-statals like MIDENO, CDENO, RCVDP, and some media organisations took part in the deliberations.
.
