Bafia municipality: Birth certificates accessible to all
This is the new battle that Marthe Félicité Zintchem, the mayor of Bafia, wants to wage.
According to and observation, the capital of the department of Mbam and Inoubou (Bafia), serves as a locality where birth certificates are not issued to children at birth. A situation that worries Marthe Felicite Zintchem, mayor of the district municipality of Bafia. To fight against this phenomenon which is taking worrying proportions in society, it encourages parents to establish birth certificates to their children at birth.
To achieve this, an awareness campaign for populations by community was initiated. The first community in sight is that of the Hausa group of Bafia. This community has certain particularities compared to others. According to Mayor the Hausa people are strongly influenced by their culture and religion. Hence the proliferation of children born without parents issuing birth certificates.
To achieve this initiative, Marthe Felicité invited the head of the Hausa community to a consultation meeting in her office in the presence of a few collaborators. At the end of this meeting, the head of the Hausa community of Bafia was instructed to carry out a census of young girls of childbearing age as well as pregnant women. Following this action, Marthe Félicité Zintchem will conduct educational talks on regular births, but also and above all on the absolute need for these ladies to give their offspring every chance by establishing acts of birth just after childbirth.
According to the mayor, « It is inconceivable and embarrassing to see repeatedly that children of an age to sit official exams, and in particular the Primary School Certificate, the very first diploma in life, cannot do it for lack of birth certificate . Cases of this kind are legion in the district of Bafia. The head of the municipal executive wants to make it her priority. To achieve this, the various actors of the society such as the heads of blocs, heads of communities, traditional authorities and parents must join in the fight to stem this phenomenon within society. This meeting held in the premises of the town hall of Bafia on December 6 is the first in a long series that will continue with other communities, according to Marthe Félicité Zintchem.
Raphael MFORLEM
