OPIC South West: Constant Grassroots Meetings Yielding Fruits

Born out of the Major National Dialogue in 2019, the Public Independent Conciliator for the South West Region has stood the test of time in bridging the gap between Regional and municipal authorities and the end users of their services-population. Upon taking office in Buea, the OPIC South West Region has been holding town hall meetings with various sociological components of the society to inform, educate and sensitize the population on their rights and obligations towards the regional and local authorities. According to the Public Independent Conciliator for the South West, Dorothy Telelen Atabong Motaze, OPIC has held Town Hall meetings in 31 municipalities out of the 33 that make up the South West Region. But for Akwaya and Dikome Balue, the OPIC-SW has been in all municipalities where they have used the town-hall exchanges to increase citizen’s awareness and participation in local governance. The constant grassroots meetings, stakeholders’ attests, have strengthened good governance and enhanced accountability of local authorities. It has also reduced tensions that hitherto characterized users of council services and the population, thereby contributing to the promotion of peace and social cohesion. This is so too because the Public Independent Conciliator has a fundamental role of mediation and settlement of conflicts between Regional and Local councils as well as the users of their services. Mrs Motaze disclosed that over a 100 complaints were handled during the town-hall meetings with some getting instant solutions. Apart from the town-hall meetings which took the SW OPIC team to Muyuka, Tinto, Mbonge, Kumba II, Limbe II and Limbe III in 2025, preoccupations from the population were also tabled by words of mouth in the office by citizens who because of fear did not want to document their complaints. As far as written complaints are concerned, she revealed that a total of 43 were submitted in her office in 2025. Out of the number, 34 have been resolved while nine are pending. This, Mrs Motaze explained, is because the concerned may...