The Minister in a tweet at 8:35 p.m. Thursday, October 3, 2019 said the contract to reconstruct the said hospital will cost FCFA 650 million.

“I have just signed the public contract for the reconstruction of the Kumba District Hospital, including the block that had been burnt by the secessionists, for a total of 650 million CFA francs,” Dr Manaouda Malachie tweeted.

Cameroon-info.net understands that Government had attributed the burning of portions of the Kumba District Hospital to armed separatists seeking to create a state they call Ambazonia.

The fire, which started around 1:00 a.m. on February 11, 2019, consumed the male surgical ward, the female surgical ward, and the maternity ward, as well as the nurses’ quarters and five cars. It was over the course of the incident that four patients in the surgical wards were burned alive.

According to the Minister of Communication, Rene Emmanuel Sadi, the attackers were from the Ambazonia separatist movements, who stormed the hospital and set the hospital on fire.

Widespread condemnation followed the incident, especially from human rights groups, which called the attack a “war [crime]” and called for immediate investigations to find those responsible. Locals also spoke out, calling the fire a barbaric attempt on the lives of hundreds of thousands of people to whom the hospital was reaching out. However, many are still wondering how the fire could have been allowed to burn for hours, consuming the greater part of the hospital’s buildings, given the fact that the fire fighting brigade of the army is situated less than 5 minutes’ drive from the hospital.

Ms. Allegra Del Pilar Baiocchi, United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Cameroon recently visited the hospital and promised to seek support for its reconstruction.

Kumba is the centremost town of the South West region, and with most hospitals closed or badly damaged, and medics abdicating their functions because of threats to their lives from the ongoing war, the Kumba District hospital were one of the rare surviving hospitals still operating at full capacity in the heart of the violence.

The Kumba District Hospital is managed by Dr. Mve Sandrine Emmanuella. The contract to reconstruct the medical facility is in line with the resolutions of the Major National Dialogue and the state’s programme to reconstruct the conflict-hit Anglophone regions.