Bamenda: Palpable Centre Of Living Together

Bamenda, the capital of the North West Region is the converging point for civil servants, workers in semi-public institutions, private institutions, traders, hawkers, jobseekers from seven administrative divisions of the region, all other regions of Cameroon, foreigners and in addition, the internally displaced persons from the close to 10-year raging security crisis affecting the North West and South West Regions. The highly cosmopolitan nature of the city brings in conscious and unconscious efforts to ensure and promote social cohesion, integration and peaceful living together to enable every inhabitant find a conducive space. Peaceful living together which is one of government’s key policies according to many Bamenda inhabitants is a reality. The ethnic, tribal, regional, religious origins of people do not matter as every citizen is more concerned about their livelihood activities and making life enjoyable. The veritable places where living together is practised unconsciously without anybody really insisting on it are markets, offices, other places of work, neighbourhood meetings, restaurants, recreational centres, cultural manifestations and other social gatherings. Madam Susan Demanou from Dschang in the West Region who is a provision shop owner at the Avenir Market in Bamenda I Subdivision says, living together is a reality. She has spent over 40 years in Bamenda starting from the time she worked a pharmacist and up to the moment where after retiring she decided to embrace business. In the same market, there is the palpable co-habitation of traders from different parts of the North West Region, Cameroon and foreigners, with every trader concerned about the success of their businesses. Restaurants, beer parlours , recreations grounds are most of the time filled with people who represent Cameroon’s ethnic and cultural diversity. In these places, they all seek satisfaction in the drinks and or food they eat that equally serve as occasions for sharing and fellowwhi...