WEICAM Kumbo initiates civil wedding

By Livinus Tal Bam
The Kumbo Mayor, Donatus Njong Fonyuy, has described the legalisation of forty-four (44) marriages on the same day in Kumbo, as the first of its kind in the whole of Cameroon. The Mayor was speaking at the John Paul II Youth Centre Tobin, Kumbo, on July 19, where he presided over the signing ceremony of 44 marriages in his municipality.

The occasion was organised by a Kumbo-based non-governmental organisation, the Women’s Empowerment Institute Cameroon (WEICAM), dedicated to the empowerment of women and the promotion of human rights and democracy in Cameroon.

In his welcome speech, the Mayor thanked WEICAM for what he described as a laudable initiative. He equally thanked the couples for freely stepping forward to legalise their marriage.
Despite the fact that such massive weddings have taken place elsewhere in the country, the Kumbo event has so far recorded the highest number of consenting couples to have participated in the event.

The Minister of Women Empowerment and the Family, reputed for initiating and presiding at such ceremonies in different parts of the country, was absent from the Kumbo history making event.
Mayor Donatus Njong thanked the Executive Director of WEICAM for sacrificing her time and resources to give the couples an opportunity to legalise their marriages.

He called on the different couples to lead exemplary lives and to love each other, explaining that love will enable the growth of their families and instil happiness in their matrimonial homes. He cautioned them to guard against rumours because many will fabricate stories just to ruin their relationship with their partners.

Statistics from Kumbo municipality indicate that only seventeen (17) percent of couples living together are legally married. Ahead of the signing ceremony, WEICAM’s coordinator, Madam Geraldine Chin, in one of her preparatory classes, told participating women that civil marriage will protect their traditional and Christian weddings against unscrupulous men who always interfere in their relatives‘ matrimonial affairs especially after the death of one of the partners.

Since WEICAM intends to continue with the programme in Kumbo, the director called on all those present to support the organization by sending at least a couple to enrol for the next civil wedding sessions coming up in September and December.

Madam Geraldine Selamo revealed that WEICAM-Kumbo is making available a number of socio-economic support-services to the newly wedded couples. She added that plans are in the pipeline to organise adult literacy classes for elderly couples and to train interested couples in income generating activities and hygiene and sanitation, indispensable in the management of homes.

The Divisional Delegate for Women’s Empowerment and the Family for Bui, Henry F. Fombad, who was also present at the signing ceremony, congratulated WEICAM women on their initiative. He said they were working in line with the advocacy policy of the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and the Family.