By Wilson Musa Some Six individuals, including the Divisional Officer (DO) of Bamenda II, Nkongho Manchang, were abducted while traveling to Nkambe. The incident occurred in Tuesday February 6, 2024, in Ntumbaw, Ndu subdivision in the Northwest Region of Cameroon, a region already grappling with security challenges due to separatist activities. The convoy, which included the Divisional Officer of Bamenda II and five others, was en route to Nkambe, to take part in the installation ceremony of a new SDO, when they were intercepted by unidentified assailants. The perpetrators, believed to be associated with separatist groups, forcefully abducted the individuals. A security source told CNA that they only discovered the D.Os car abandoned on the road with no sign of him. The identities of the other victims besides the Divisional Officer have not been disclosed yet. The motive behind the kidnapping remains unclear, though such incidents often involve demands for ransom or political leverage. He is the second civil administrator to be kidnapped in the North West region since the crisis started in 2016. The first was the former DO of Batibo subdivision, Namata Marcel, who was kidnapped by separatist fighters on February 11, 2018. He was later killed in captivity. Local authorities have launched an investigation into the incident, working to identify and apprehend the perpetrators. This kidnapping adds to the ongoing security challenges in the Northwest Region, where separatist groups have been active for years, leading to clashes with security forces and causing displacement among civilians. What happened? The Governor of North West region Adolphe Lele had just installed the SDO of Boyo where he was transported via an helicopter. While the governor was installing the SDO of Boyo, the helicopter took the others to Donga against tomorrow. So the helicopter came back with the governor Tuesday evening to fly to Donga tomorrow morning. Having no space to fly with the Governor, the DO who had also served in Belo, d ecided to take the road to Nkambe central subdivision without security. The SDO who was to be installed tomorrow is Gorges Malgloire Bassilekin, formerly secretary general at the North West Governor's office who was recently promoted. It's suspected that the DO of Bamenda II, Nicolas Nkongho Manchang who has previously served in Donga Mantung as Assistant 1 wanted to extend his relationship ties with the SDO whom they have been together in Bamenda for about 4 years. Source: Cameroon News Agency The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has appealed to the leadership of the New Force Movement, a political movement, to prioritise the welfare of journalists in its policies and programmes. The GJA mentioned working conditions, remuneration, and safety of journalists as among key issues that should find space in the manifesto of the Movement as it prepared to contest the 2024 presidential election. Mr Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, President, GJA, made the appeal when Nana Kwame Bediako, leader, New Force Movement and his team paid a courtesy call on the leadership of the GJA in Accra on Tuesday. The GJA President said low remuneration of journalists was a major concern and called for a national dialogue to discuss measures to improve the working conditions of journalists. 'Working conditions of Journalists is a collective responsibility. All stakeholders should look at improving the situation to ensure professionalism. 'Journalists need to be paid well. The media deserve better… journalists deserve good re muneration,' he said. Mr Dwumfour welcomed plans by the New Force Movement to industrialise the country and create jobs, and urged the leadership to stick to the goals and work towards making the country prosperous. He urged the Movement to support efforts for peaceful elections and maintain positive relationship with the media. 'We assure you fair, adequate, and unbiased reportage,' Mr Dwumfour said. Nana Bediako recently announced his presidential ambition and declared his intention to contest the 2024 presidential election. During the meeting, Nana Bediako outlined wide ranging measures, focusing on industrialising all regions of the country to create sustainable jobs for the youth. He promised to introduce what he termed as Industrial Regional Evolution to decentralise industrialisation beyond the Greater Accra Region to cover the 15 other regions. Nana Bediako said he would create industrial hubs to support the country's industrialisation agenda and 'bring speed to the economy'. He said he would also invest in railway development to support easy movement of goods and services across the country. 'We should stop the exploitation of Africa. The youth should gain value from our own resources. As citizens, we are entitled to the usage of our own resources,' he said. Touching on his policies for the media, Nana Bediako said he had already established the Ghana Media Fund to support the welfare of journalists. He said his vision was to see the expansion of Ghana's media beyond the continent to push the African agenda and promote the interest of the continent. 'Africa needs to share news among ourselves. The more we do, the more we become successful,' Nana Bediako said. Source: Ghana News Agency