Brasseries Du Cameroun turns Junction leading from Kumbo to Shisong into a podium

By Bernard M. KONG
The importance attached to the road leading to Shisong, a village, 3.5 km away from Kumbo town in the North West Province of Cameroon can not be over emphasized to anyone in the province and the republic at large. Efforts have been made both by the Sisters of the Tertiary order of Saint Francis of Assisi (TSSF) and the Kumbo Urban Council to have the road

constructed to no avail. Actually, a series of Novembers have come and past with the inhabitants expecting that work will begin on the road as promises were made but nothing has happened yet. The indigents still hope that in the nearest future some attention will be given the road.
For those who do not know where and what I am writing about; St. Elisabeth General Hospital, one of the most renounce medical institutions in the republic is in Shisong. Patients come from all over the republic and other neighboring countries for treatment here. For some time now, the construction of a Cardiac Complex which will serve the whole of central Africa is going on in Shisong.
On April 19 2007, Brasseries Du Cameroun, the biggest beer company in the republic turned the junction leading to Shisong into a podium. The road was blocked with Lorries containing tons of beer and prices and with tents providing shade for people who gathered at the advert. Drivers of cars bringing patients and care takers as well as those tracing their ways to their various homes in and out of Shisong had to smuggle through clandestine paths to trace the road to their various destinations. Unfortunately for the poor citizens, the path to favour them led through the small food market at Squares-Kumbo which would not go through because two cars met and there was not enough space to bypass. When I caught sight of this uncivilized scene, I asked my self if the civil authority of the Kumbo Municipality were aware of what was going on. Normally for an occasion of this nature to take place, civil authorities must be contacted and an authorization obtained. Other occasions of this nature have been organized in Kumbo at the municipal stadium and other parts of the town meant for such shows. How for God sake can one block the way leading to the hospital just because we want to advertise beer?