Political Stalemate at Tubah Council As 27 Councilors Threaten to Dump SDF

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 30^th 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.

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