No Journalist Will Become Mayor, MP or Senator on SDF Platform- Fru Ndi

Ni John Fru Ndi

FC Junior 

The National chairman of the leading opposition party in Cameroon, Ni John Fru Ndi has vowed that he will make sure that no journalist will ever become Mayor, Parliamentarian or Senator on his party’s ticket( the Social Democratic Front-SDF). Chairman Ni John Fru Ndi busted out to journalists at the Mini Agropastoral Show organized by the Tubah Council last December. He blamed journalists for propagating rumours that he (Fru Ndi) kicked the bucket (died). According to SDF chairman, the counterfeit information about his death was cooked up by journalists during the National Communication Forum in Yaounde.  He went further to illustrate and substantiate his argument by adding that journalists who had never called him, were calling and asking whether he was doing fine.   For that reason, he swore that no journalist shall hold any public office on the SDF ticket.

Journalists were taken aback by the chairman’s declaration yet many still look at it as a political statement shouldn’t be considered while to others are of the opinion that there is a lot of seriousness in what he intended. Some political analysts have also expressed indignation at Fru Ndi’s declaration giving that it was the press that catapulted the SDF in the 90s.

However Fru Ndi said that like his friend Paul Biya he will not say that he has more twenty years to live, but rather he will “chop corn” on the grave of everyone who said he had kicked the bucket.

Back to the issue of journalists not assuming any public office on SDF ticket, Fru Ndi it should be noted is just like Louis XIV who said he was the state because he is the Chairman of the National Advisory Council-NAC which implies that he advises himself, he is also the Chairman of the National Executive Committee-NEC and the chairman of the Investiture Committee. By implication, in his capacity as the chairman of the Investiture Committee, he (Fru Ndi) appoints Mayors and Parliamentarians the way President Biya appoints Ministers, Directors etc……

The most pathetic thing is that this statement is coming at a point in time that journalists were bent on supporting their colleagues like Beatrice Animbom Munjo to pick the ticket to Parliament as the MP for Bafut-Tubah, Martin Fon Yembe as Mayor of Ndu, Chris Mbunwe as Mayor of Nkambe and Teche Nyamusa  as MP for Mbengwi  as well as Francis Wache (who Nkor people allegedly want him to contest in any elective post). History had it recorded that the first journalists who would have assumed an elective public office in the SDF was Vanegasen Mochiggle, but went he won the primaries to contest in 2007 in the Bali-Santa Constituency, President Biya carved Santa into a Special Constituency and Bali was attached to Bamenda. Mochiggle was forced to drop his beat for Parliament. Annebom Munjo who contested in the primaries in Bafut-Tubah packed home a meager 16 votes and dashed the hopes of journalists supporting their colleague during campaign.

Now that Ni Fru Ndi declared journalists unwanted specie, many hopes will certainly die prematurely. However, anyone who doubts Ni John Fru Ndi’s declaration should not that he is not a politician who misses his words.  Hon Akonteh Andrew, Hon Augustine Jua, Hon Kwemo Pierre, Hon Ngwasiri and Hon Ndobegang  may have a story to tell just like Mayor Mangoh Jones Tanko (Nkambe), Mayor Chiato David  (Njinikom), Mayor David Kangong Nfor (Ndu) and the Mayor of Bafoussam III were sacked from the party for challenging the decision of the Investiture Committee before being rehabilitated.

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