Dark side of North West Regional Assembly unveiled by Public Independent Conciliator
Created by presidential decree in 2020 to enhance social and economic development, the North West Regional Assembly, headed by its president, Fru Angwafo, has been indicted in the 2024 annual report of the Public Independent Conciliator, as promoter of discrimination, hate speech, favouritism amongst others.
The annual report, published by the Public Independent Conciliator for the North West region, Tamfu Simon Fai, is in compliance with its decree of creation. It x-rays the both good and bad activities of all 35 councils and their Mayors in the region.
In the report presented to the press on Friday February 28, 2025, the North West Regional Assembly is noted as the number one promoter of discriminatory practices including acts of differential treatment to workers, hate speech, favouritism and other unfair treatments.
The report furthers that the North West Regional Assembly has not been respecting workers’ rights including non-payment of overtime, non-payment of salaries, discrimination in selection for training and restricted access to workers’ information.
The Public Independent Conciliator also revealed in the report that the North West Regional Assembly has been a promoter of poor working conditions like non-existence of job descriptions, adding that many of its staff are yet to start receiving salaries, and some have been on voluntary services since 2021.
The report furthers that with a staff strength of 51 workers in the institution, only 32 have recruitment contracts.
In terms of inclusiveness at the level of recruitment, the institution is reported to be preaching virtue and practicing vise, as no worker with special needs was reported in its workforce.
The report also sees the president of the institution as a dictator, with a clear example being the recent outing by members of the House of Chiefs. “Some concerns were expressed over disparities in resource allocation, operational authority and concentration of attributes of authority in the hands of the president at the detriment of other members of the regional executive council “.
The North West Regional Assembly was however praised in the execution of projects, with many of its projects realised at 100%.
Tamfu Simon Fai in conclusion, urged members of the institution to improve in 2025, as copies of the report were forwarded to the President of the Republic for actions to be taken.
