Is Sun Power the Solution to Manyu Energy Crisis?

Solar Street Light NEPAD, Africa’s development blueprint calls for countries in sub-sahara Africa to boost access to cheaper and reliable energy in order to achieve the desired social and economic prosperity for their nations. It is estimated that in some African countries, fewer than 5% have access to electricity with the figure falling to less than 2% in rural areas where the majority live.
Indeed, Africa posses some of the world’s largest watercourses –hydro potentials as well as worlds’ largest oil, coal and gas reserves. In order to move forward, African nations must find cheaper power sources to ensure sustainability and minimize environmental hazards. Experts believe that solar power, clean and renewable is the way forward for energy consumption in Africa.

Solar Technology

The sun is free, priceless and inexhaustible. Solar technology therefore converts the sun’s radiation directly into electricity with no pollution or harm to the environment. Solar panels generate enough power to run appliances such as televisions, radios, stoves, water pumps and produce light for households. Basically, the solar panel itself is a battery charger. When exposed to sunlight it produces direct current (DC).
The solar charge controller regulates the amount of energy that the panels put into the battery. Once the battery is fully charged it opens the circuit to prevent damaged caused by overcharging. After using some of the stored energy, it automatically closes the circuit and starts to recharge the battery during sunlight hours. Solar panels are rated in watts. For example, a 12 volt 15 watt panel averages about 15 watts per hour of sunlight. Multiple panels can be wired together in most cases. Another component used with solar panel is the inverter. It converts 12 volt DC energy in the battery to standard 220 AC voltages found in homes in Africa. Finally, batteries used in Solar systems must be deep cycle types. A standard car battery will be damaged quickly. The two common types of batteries used in Solar are sealed lead acid deep cycle and standard marine.

Case study – Ethiopian and Zimbabwe villages

According to BBC news, two years after the installation of a solar power project funded by international aid groups, villagers in northern Ethiopia now say the sun’s energy has turned their lives around. Rema, 150 miles north of Addis Ababa is home to Ethiopia’s largest solar project with every house in the village powered by solar lighting systems amounting to over 2100 homes. Village roofs are dotted with solar panels and one panel provides power for four lamps as well as energy for radios and tape players. Villagers now don’t have to struggle with smoke from wood or other biomass such as crop waste dominant fuel for cooking. Gas lamps are now something of the past, kids can do their homework and local businesses have seen an increase in night time activities. As in Ethiopia, some numerous villages in Zimbabwe turned to solar power in the 1990’s, a project supported by UNDP through the global environment facility (GEF). This project installed 9000 solar power systems throughout the country in a bid to improve living standards and curtail land degradations.

Bringing Sun Power to Rural Manyu:

Solar projects like those implemented in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe villages did not happen by some divine intervention. These projects were developed, initiated and forwarded to international organizations by stakeholders of those areas. By this we mean the indigenes and there lies the challenge and task in front of groups like MECA USA , MEDWC and development minded Manyuans.

Despite substantial amounts of money invested in the energy sector, only a minority of Manyu rural households are able to enjoy modern services provided by electricity. The majorities of people in our villages have no grid based electricity, and will not receive nor use it in their lifetime. In most of our villages, solar will make sense because households do not consume much electricity, at least initially. Village household usage is limited to a few lamps (2-3), a radio and or TV equivalent to 30-50 KWh per month. These services can easily be provided by low cost solar systems. Better access to electricity would definitely make a big difference to the quality of life in rural Manyu.

Solar panels mounted on the roof of a Village house.Although our people sometimes consume conventional modern energy, they do so in small amounts and pay dearly. Imagine dry cell batteries, they provide electricity but expensive. A candle or kerosene wick lamp does give light but a house will need much more to obtain same amount of light emitted by a single 40 watt incandescent lamp or 12 w compact fluorescent. Those who use candles and kerosene limit themselves to using enough light points to walk around the house. Hence the rural Manyu man has limited access to energy because of cost and accessibility. The levels of service our rural households enjoy now are only barely distinguished from that of medieval Europe. The Manyu rural household will never obtain a level of service, and improvement in social and economic conditions comparable to urban dwellers unless they get access to electricity - other than wood, dry cell batteries and biomass.

Future action:

For decades, kerosene lamps and sore eyes are the routine for children in Manyu villages to study and do their home work. Imagine painful eyes and headaches from fumes, not to mention the long term health impact of mothers cooking with firewood and inhaling smoke. How about impact on life span, aging and not living long enough to see their children grow? The Manyu land is blessed with plenty sunlight all year round. We can tap into this free and clean energy source to light up our remote and isolated villages that will never be linked to the national electricity grid. It can be done one house and one village at a time.

We owe it to our people, for economic prosperity and better living to explore the solar option. Bringing solar energy to a Manyu village is now conceivable than ever before. The average price of a one watt panel including electronics runs $7-$10 or 3500cfa - 5000CFA. With $500, we can light up a village hall.

Energy Crisis in Mamfe: Who is to blame?

High tension power line - Mamfe through Bamenda
For many years, the population of Mamfe town in particular, and Manyu in general has been plagued by constant power disruptions due to inadequate electricity supply from the power company. The economy of Mamfe, and Manyu division continues to suffer from frequent power cuts, thus retarding economic growth and social development. In many occasions, prolonged shut-offs have lasted several weeks, bringing commerce to a total halt. The population is often left helpless and exasperated as electric households appliances falter, night time attacks and burglaries increase. Some businesses have managed to operate for a few hours a day with the help of generators but the high price of fuel makes it cost prohibitive to run these machines for a prolonged period. It is safe to say, the common man can barely understand why Manyu continues to suffer blackouts despite privitization.

Electric Meter - the bills keep coming: After privatization, AES/SONEL promised a grande scheme to ease access, and improve the quality of electricity service by increasing power production capacity in the country. If any improvements have been done by AES, it has not filtered to Manyu. The question therefore is where do we go from here? Is there an alternative plan? Maybe, just continue to wait for the management of AES/SONEL to someday remember - equal treatment of all its customers is paramount to success. It is true energy business is about technology, rehabilitating dams, developing power plants but it is also about operations and good customer relationship. For one thing, electricity is a utility that tends to spur economic development and where there is monopoly customers suffer.

Is Sun Power therefore the solution to Manyu’s energy crisis? We will discuss this topic in our next write up.

Rural Development Projects in Manyu: Focus on Manyu Rural Radio.

Vehicle for spreading information to our community

Rural development in Manyu Division can best be described as having a retarded growth. This is because since independence and re-unification, the cry of the Manyu man and woman has been that their division has been neglected by government. By this they have often referred to their poor road infrastructure.


In spite of this cry of the Manyu citizens, it requires only a cursory look at the division to arrive at the conclusion that if government has indeed neglected Manyu Division, the teeming population of Manyu for nearly four decades neglected their division themselves.


Manyu is blessed with highly educated intellectuals, vast forest resources, a big river running through the length and breadth of the land, a big population with a high literacy rate, and to name but a few, a large capitalist oriented market as a neighbor. Nigeria, a country which up till date gulps a big share of Manyu’s forest and agricultural resources and so likely to pump billions in currency into the economy of Manyu, if commercial interchanges had been properly arranged all these years.


Before the Manyu radio project came up, (around 1996) when the administration got wind of it and stepped in to endure its materialization), no project had ever been introduced which engulfed the active participation of the entire division’s population and which was significant and challenging enough to test the collective will of the people, asses their readiness to sacrifice or evoke their patriotism for the division native to them.


What people had been engaged in and not even successfully all these years had been individual self subsistent farming with little attention paid to the need to develop even those food – crop farms to the dimension of a serious economic venture. For those who owned cash crop farms, their ambitions before the eighties did not rise to a high commercial level either. Nobody thought of developing the fishing industry despite the vast water resources and to date, there are still traders who travel hundreds of kilometers to buy fishery products and sell in Manyu Division.

Groups such as Common Initiative Groups (CIGs) have existed in our neighbor North West Province for over two decades. Their activities have created a flourishing rural development spree that has given birth to extensive dairy products, cottage industries, communal rice, potatoes, animal husbandry ventures and even arts and crafts works, while in Manyu CIGs are still a novelty. It is only today that people’s eyes are opening to the existence of loaned and grants from international bodies for agricultural development.


ENTER VOICE OF MANYU (V.O.M.)


With the rash of CIGs, NGOs and co-operatives in Manyu came the one project that could help galvanize all the fledging macro and micro groupings into a veritable development oriented entities – the Manyu Rural Radio project.

Typical Community Radio Studio in Rural Africa

The radio station better known as the Voice of Manyu (V.O.M.) is a gift from La Francophonie, spearheaded by Canada. It was installed in September 1997 and hit Cameroon’s airwaves for the first time on September 20, 1997. For the equipment to come to Manyu, it was mandatory for the people of Manyu to build the station. At the level of the division, as a result of the absence of a well co-ordinate body that could mobilize the population for much needed development, the administration had to step in before even the construction work could be effected. A loan of 3 million FCFA was contracted from a local Manyu co-operative bank, Solidarity Savings and Loans (SSL) and a levy of 200 FRS, per person was imposed on the population.


As usual, if construction depended only on contributions from the population, the project could have failed. A substantial amount to build the structure came from Manyu’s external elite, MECA branches of Yaoundé, Douala, Limbe, USA and Europe; but by far what clinched the job were the contributions of Mr. Johnson Agborsangaya (late) who not only lent blocks, iron rods and other materials but worked physically day and night (with a chantier lamp) for two weeks to raise the building from foundation to completion. Other Manyu businessmen like Mr. Isaac Enowkpa (late) lent building materials and also supervised work. Mokoko and some others are still being owed. The Kembong community worked hardest, one might say, perhaps because the station is situated in their village. They also supplied zinc.

Modern Community Radio Studio

So it can be seen that for a Division – wide project to succeed in Manyu, some individuals must be ready to sacrifice. There is no gainsaying the fact that staff who have voluntarily given their best since 1997 without remuneration to speak of, now need to be looked after, as the success of any project lies in the people who work there.


The station itself needs furnishing, painting, a fence, toilets and repairs of equipment. V.O.M. has become symbol of Manyu solidarity. Let us keep it alive.

Radio Station Antenna - needed for Voice of Manyu

Addendum by Simon Etta:

When MEDWC USA last visited the station in December 2008, it was still alive but limping. The radio house relocated from Kembong a few years ago when the main transmitter got bad, and the signal could barely reach most of the listeners beyond 8 km. It is currently operating in the Mamfe town hall occupying two small offices.

Management has also changed hands with Cyprian Agbor - pioneer Manager retiring. Voice of Manyu is badly in need of modern equipment to operate effectively – transmitters, microphones, DVD players, tape recorders, mixers, just to name a few. There is also a need to construct a 50M antenna to help with better signal penetration across the division. The previous 30 m antenna was damaged by thunderstorm.

Whereas similar community radio stations are functioning well in other parts of the country, V.O.M has been a dismal failure. The lack of communication throughout the vast region of Manyu is a major barrier to sustainable development. The vision for a community radio is to spread information to our community whether related to education, health, agriculture, women or children's rights.

Once again, we are challenged to build a community spirit and learn how to work as a group/team. We are reminded that human life in common is only made possible when a majority comes together. As we seek achievements for ourselves, we must not forget that prosperity and progress calls for community development. It is time we rescue VOM from life support and rebuild it as a community effort for the young generation.



This story was originally published by AGBOR Cyprian Agbor - Pioneer station Manager for Voice of Manyu (V.O.M).

MEDWC (USA) Kicks off Akwaya - 2010 Fundraising:

These young Akwaya girls need your help:



Akwaya, the divisional headquarters of Akwaya sub-division is known as an under-developed enclave municipality. Basic infrastructures such as electricity, water and health centers are lacking in the area. The development of Akwaya in economic and social terms is further hampered by lack of earth roads despite the region having 99 villages and by far the largest sub-division in Manyu. Lately, there has been an earth road project from the South heading North. It has been reported the project is currently half way completed and in future will ultimately disenclave Akwaya as we know it today.

Although there are a few secondary and high schools in the subdivision as well as health centers, they still lack modern facilities. The development challenges of Akwaya are therefore many and urgent. They will certainly not be solved overnight but something must be done in the short term. With no infrastructure, how do families generate income activities, produce and market food crops or improve the quality of life of impoverished children? There is a growing need to promote long term sustainable economic development to break families out of the cycle of diseases and poverty. Children need educational opportunities to reduce illiteracy and develop their God given potentials for greater economic independence and sustainability. It has also been recorded that girls in some particular Akwaya tribes such as the Olitis, Yves, Assumbos and Becheves tend to get married too early. This practice deprives the girl child of an opportunity to attend school, achieve an education and be able to make informed life decisions due to lack of awareness.


Fundraising Kickoff for Akwaya 2010 in Burstonsville, Maryland USA


Within this backdrop of challenging development issues, the Manyu Economic and Development World conference (MEDWC) USA, kicked off its 2010 Akwaya fundraising campaign in Burtonsville, Maryland on Sunday July 5, 2009. The event took place at the residence of Mr. /Mrs. Cletus Ayuk former President of MECA Washington with a goal of raising $20,000. The occasion was presided by MEDWC USA Coordinator Sesekou Dr. David Tambe from Dallas Texas. Sesekou Tambe announced the Akwaya economic conference will be taking place in April 2010 on a soon to be established date and called on all sons and daughters of Akwaya in the Diaspora to help lift the sub division from neglect and under development. He additionally appealed to Manyu elements the world over to donate generously towards the success of Akwaya 2010 and help put a smile on the face of a young Akwaya boy or girl in need of an education or medicine.

In keeping with the mission of MEDWC, the Akwaya conference follows the footsteps of Mamfe Central in 2003, Tinto 2005 and Eyumojock 2008. It is geared towards putting Akwaya subdivision on the economic development map of Manyu and highlighting the enormous potentials existing in the area.


Akwaya village women - backbone of the family:


Akwaya 2010 will be the first event of such Magnitude in the history of the subdivision to promote grass root development, bring elites and interested stakeholders together to take stock and develop a road map for economic prosperity and empowerment of the Akwaya people. In brief remarks, Sesekou David Tambe summed up the mission of MEDWC and hence Akwaya 2010 conference as a means to empower the Manyu people by encouraging and facilitating the creation of small business and hence jobs, promoting investments and business initiatives, alleviating poverty by promoting sustainable grass root self reliant development. For Akwaya 2010, MEDWC aims to improve the health care delivery system by providing medical assistance to local clinics, conducting a major health fair with free medications and increasing awareness on issues such as HIV/AIDS, female genital mutilation and empowerment of the girl child. The conference will promote education with assistance to schools in the form of financial aid and modern technology equipment. This will encourage students and teachers to work hard in producing citizens with self confidence, capable of tackling rapid scientific and technological changes of the 21st century. As a short term project delivery, the conference will also assist schools and local clinics with generators to address sustainable energy crisis.


MEDWC Short term accomplishments:

In less than six years, the Manyu Economic Development Conference (MEDWC USA), has raised over 20 million CFA in contributions and provided financial assistance to well over 250 Manyu students in Secondary and high schools. As short term projects, electrical generators and modern computers with software have been donated to local government offices, hospital/ health centers and schools to assist with lack of energy as well as improve educational standards. With the support of Manyu medical professionals, health fairs are conducted during conferences providing free medication and consultation to women, children and the elderly. The Manyu participatory development fund (MAPADEF) was initiated in Tinto during the (2005) conference. Mapadef is tasked with building partnerships and creating access to resources. In 2006 after its official launching by H.E. Hilman Egbe, Mapadef raised approximately 21 million CFA. Some of the funds raised have been allocated to projects within the four subdivisions. One such project was assistance rendered Mamfe rural council to repair the roof of the town hall after a devastating thunder storm. Another extension of MEDWC is the Manyu government action committee (MGAC) created in 2008 at Eyumojock. MGAC serves the role of a supervisory watchdog team for all state funded projects within Manyu division through contractors or otherwise and to ensure such funds are fully utilized for the intended projects.



Donations for Akwaya 2010 are currently being accepted and can be mailed to:



MEDWC USA
P.O. Box 865002
Plano, Tx. 75086
Email: Davetambe@yahoo.com

For more information about MEDWC activities, visit http://www.medwc.org/

Peter Agbor-Tabi - Minister, Deputy Secretary General at the Presidency:

Professor Agbortabi listens to speakers at the 2008 Eyumojock Conference.
Born in February 1951 in Mamfe, South West Province, the new Minister, Deputy Secretary General at the Presidency, is an Associate Professor who among others obtained a Ph.D in International Studies, University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA in 1982 and a Fulbright Scholar in Residence-Spellman College, Atlanta, GA, USA between September 1983 and May 1984.



Peter Agbor-Tabi has held several positions in the administration including post of Deputy Director of the International Relations Institute of Cameroon (IRIC), Director of IRIC, Chancellor, University of Yaoundé, Rector, University of Yaoundé, Minister of Higher Education and Pro-Chancellor, University of Buea. At the moment of his present appointment, he was Head of Department International Economics and the Board Chairman of the University of Yaoundé II. He is member of the Central Committee of the CPDM.

Relatives and friends came spontaneously to greet the news of his appointment almost a few minutes after it was released. The celebration was calm and disciplined for reasons one could imagine. After 12 years off government, it was almost becoming clear; he had been "forgotten". But the Head of State in his usual style dismissed such hypothesis by bringing him back and even closer to himself.



Peter Agbor-Tabi himself in his reaction immediately after the appointment stated inter alia how grateful he is to be remembered 12 years after. "I am grateful but it is a very difficult moment and I do promise that I will use all my energy to assist the Head of State and the Prime Minister, Head of Government to achieve the goals and the policies of the President", he said. In this light, he promised to work diligently with everything the President assigns him, with the belief that his role is to assist the President to succeed in his mission.








Contributed by Lukong Pius Nyuylime. http://allafrica.com/stories/200907010361.html

Professor Agbortabi recognised for contributions towards Manyu Development by Manyu Development club (MDC):

The association that has embarked on development projects in Manyu such as the donation of laboratory equipment to Eyoumojock Hospital, organisation of orientation seminars for Manyu youths in the university and donation of sport equipment to Government High School Tinto etc, recognised the Professor recently.

As an innovation this year the association decided to launch the man of the year award for members and for an outstanding personality from their community. The club whose entry qualification is at least a first degree and being employed, in recognising the contributions of one of theirs, selected Prof Agbor Tabi as Man of the Year 2008 for his relentless services to Manyu people.

He was singled out for having opened a farm and built a hotel in Manfe and has helped many young people get jobs. To the MDC, their model understood the impact of developing human resources and did everything for his people.

Agbor Tabi was handed the award at his residence in Yaoundé on January 17, during a colourful ceremony spiced by choral singing and the Manyu traditional dance. Agbor Tabi, while addressing his guests, said he was impressed and surprised to be chosen as Man of the Year. "I tried to invest in Mamfe and in young people to grow, not for compensation.

But if from my quiet corner I have been recognised it is an encouragement for people to be development oriented," he said. Acknowledging that development is not the sole preserve of government, he maintained that the MDC can make Manyu Division an important place.
He said the time has come for people to know that development can only be achieved through synergy and not individually. Agbor Tabi, who was recently appointed as the Board chairman of the University of Yaoundé II, talked of himself as one who cares about people, and regretted that some decisions he might have taken in good faith might have hurt some people.

Success, he said, is from God, adding that hard work can change destiny. One of the guests at the occasion, Prof. Martha Ayuk, said Prof. Tabi`s award is well merited, for, according to her, he represents a dedicated person to the development of his community and worthy of emulation.
She said Manyu needs linkages and partnerships towards development. While all the Manyu people agreed that lack of good roads is a major problem, Prof. Ayuk exhorted them to do what is in their power to render the roads accessible by building the earth roads and cleaning gutters.
As priority project the MDC that ushered in a new executive announced the creation of a micro-finance scheme with the contribution of members.

This story was written by Leocadia Bongben.