Elvis Tah
6 October 2008
Some elderly people in the Southwest Province have accused the government and the society at large of not treating them with reverence.
The old men and women made this claim at the Bokova Community Hall, in a ceremony to commemorate the 18th edition of the International Day of the Elderly, Friday, October 3.
Celebrated under the theme, "The Rights of the Elderly," the ceremony in the Southwest Province was attended by old people from all over the province, as well as NGOs that cater for the old.
Prominent amongst them was the Care for the Old Foundation, CAFETOLD, Poorest of the Poor, Tiko Vision for the Elderly and WEWULEY Consultancy.Speaking on behalf of his contemporaries, 70-year-old Mola Stephen Ndumbe Ekema, WEWULEY coordinator, outlined a litany of problems faced by the elderly amongst which he cited social rejection, abandonment, retirement or loss of job, general weaknesses and public indecency.
He implored the government to offer free medical assistance to the elderly when they are hospitalised and to initiate a routine check on malaria, lumbago, diabetes, hypertension etc, for the elderly.
In a bid to keep the elderly busy, Ndumbe appealed the government to give them micro-credit grants for vegetable gardening and other small income-generating schemes.He pointed out that old age is usually accompanied by loss of sight and aural abilities. To him, it would be a welcome relief, should the government provide lenses or auditory aids for those suffering from eye and ear defects.
Most of the elderly people we spoke to complained about the bottlenecks in the chasing and processing pension papers.Ndumbe appealed to the government to set up decentralised structures and assist them in processing retirement files, in order to avoid situations in which some pensioners end up dying without enjoying their entitlements.
One of the old foxes, John Ndahne, about 70, in appraising the situation of the elderly in the country, said Cameroon is beginning to be awakened concerning the problem of the ageing.
Ndahne said he lives with his wife, few children and grandchildren. He said both his children and grandchildren are very respectful to him.
Unlike the general view by most of the old foxes, Ndahne thinks the African society is very hospitable to the elderly. "I think our society in general is very hospitable to the old. We are not like Europeans who abandon their old folks in homes for the old. With us here, it is a wonderful pleasure and pride to live with our children and grandchildren. It is at the same time a means of education because the elderly have wisdom which can always be passed on to the younger generation."
According to the Southwest Provincial Delegate of Social Affairs, Fon Valentine Foretia, Bokova was chosen to host the ceremony this year, in the province, because of its rural setting.Foretia stated that the ministry is doing everything within its reach to solve all the social problems in the country.
It should be noted that commemorative activities of the International Day of the Elderly started on Saturday September 27, with a free screening of diseases like diabetes, hypertension and prostrate cancer in some specific health districts.The Social Affairs Delegate, and a lecturer of Sociology in UB, Rebecca Ngeve, used the occasion to offer free walking sceptres, hurricane lamps and blankets to the elderly folks.
The old foxes during the occasion, danced to the tune of old timers that enabled them to recapitulate and relive their past.
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