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| Martin Tanjong: Mayor of Tubah |
At atmosphere of stale
familiarity looms in Tubah Council, Mezam Division of the Northwest Region
following a standoff by some 27 out of the 35 SDF councilors of the Tubah
council are now threatening a collective resignation from the SDF party as a solidarity move for the mayor of the
council ,Martin Tanjong who has recently come under scathing attacks from the
hierarchy of the party. Things came to
head on Monday 8 September 2014 when the 27 councilors rallied at the
residence of mayor Martin Tanjong in Bambili to reinstate their unflinching
support and loyalty to mayor Martin Tanjong whom they all hold they voted into
office in good faith.
Of late, the SDF had slammed
the mayor Martin Tanjong with the dreaded article 8:2 and seemingly during the
last NEC meeting, 18:8 barring the former district chairman now mayor was
ruled.
The crisis which has been
rocking the SDF party in Tubah since the 30 September 2013 elections resurfaced
recently when the SDF provincial chairman who doubles as member of parliament
for the Boyo constituency,Honourable Njong Evaristus summoned a meeting of the
SDF at the Tubah council chambers threatening the mayor and the councilors that
should they not toe party lines in the
upcoming reorganization of the party come September 11, they are all going to
face the wrath of the party. Honourable Njong Evaristus warned Martin Tanjong
that he must step aside as the district chairman of the party even before the
reorganization of the basic organs of the party is carried out in Tubah. The
councilors of the Tubah council did not also take it lightly when Honourable
Njong threatened to extend the wrath of the party to them.
The controversial visit of
honourable Njong Evaristus was closely
followed by that of Honourable Wilfred Fusi Namukong of the Bafut/Tubah
constituency who fueled more confusion by announcing that the money that has
been announced as his contribution for the 30th September 2013
election campaign is not what he actually gave, adding that the electoral
district chairman, Martin Tanjong must be held to account. To conclude, he
offered another 500,000frs for the reorganization of the basic organs of the party
come September 11 2014.
Enraged by the twist of
events ahead of the reorganization of the party in Tubah in the days ahead, the
27 councilors of the Tubah council, met at the residence of mayor Martin
Tanjong to take a decision on how to deal with the looming crisis.
One of the councilors, Mr
Nyincho told the press at the end of the meeting that the SDF party is founded
on the principle of “power to the people”. It is this fundamental principle; he
noted that guided their choice of mayor after the elections. He thus advised
party hierarchy to respect the basic principles of the party as the councilors
in Tubah are not going to change their position.
Another councilor for his
part said the SDF party which is well organized in Tubah some years back had a
common understanding that the position of mayor will rotate from one village to
the other. After Bambui, it was just but normal that Bambili takes over from
where the throne would move to Babanki. He expressed shock as to why the
investiture committee of the party violated this arrangement for reasons that
are not yet clear. He was corroborated by a third female councilor who warned
that Honourable Njong should be stopped from stirring the trouble that he is
fomenting in Tubah. All the 27 councilors present at the meeting fumed that how
on earth can Njong Evaristus who lost election woefully in Fundong be the one
dishing out lessons on democracy and elections to people who master the subject
matter better than him. They said he went ahead to sell councilors for a
whooping amount of money in the 14 April 2014 senate elections.
It is here that the
councilors reaffirmed their unflinching loyalty to Mayor Martin Tanjong noting
that any attempt to disrupt the party or get Martin Tanjong out of the way
through undemocratic means would mean that all of them would collectively
resign from the party. They further warned the administration to be careful
because Honourable Njong Evaristus may provoke a bloodbath in Tubah on 11
September in the guise of reorganizing the party. The councilors held their
grounds that 11 September 2014 in Tubah could just turn out to be like 11
September 2001 in the USA when the twin towers were brought down. Another
school of thought is accusing Hon. Njong of trying to put the Bambui and the Bambili
people at loggerhead.
In his reaction, Mayor
Martin Tanjog said he was the mayor of all the people of Tubah and not a mayor
for SDF militants only. Tanjong
challenged all that he should be judged by the development that he has brought
to Tubah at the end of the mandate ,so that the community can look back with
appreciation even after he has left office .He said Honourable Njong Evaristus
has been behaving as if he is mad when
it comes to elections in Tubah when he cannot even boast of having a following
in his constituency in Boyo. The mayor went on to say that he and his
councilors will not be intimidated by the SDF provincial chairman who is doing
all within his reach to destabilize the SDF party in Tubah. According to the
Mayor, almost all senior SDF officials had already called him to discuss the
situation but, he concluded that it is the will of the people who elected him
that will prevail.
In prelude to the meeting at the mayor’s
residence some school administrators in Tubah in the presence of the Inspector
of Basic Education, Mr Njimetet Penn received didactic material from the
council. While handing over the material mayor Martin Tanjong said it was to
ensure that the more than 26 schools in the municipality take off effectively
.The material he noted contained everything that the schools need such as
registers, chalk, paper, sheets amongst
others. All fingers are now crossed as to what will happen in Tubah come 11
September 2014 as there are already threats that the council chambers will not
be used by Honourable Njong Evaristus for the controversial reorganization.
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
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