Bokom Haram Infiltration Feared over Mad Rush for Cameroon Free Identity Cards in Ako

Ron Zehnabu 

The issuance of free identity cards kick-started in Ako sub Division a week ago amidst controversies and tension. Yet politicians have decried the influx of Nigerians in some border villages to acquire Cameroon free identity cards. In the border sub Division of Ako, local politicians especially of the opposition are scared as they claim that hundreds of Nigerians spotted at Abuenshie, Abafum and Buku areas. It is feared that the laiser-faire could facilitate the infiltration of some members of Boko Haram. However, source concocted sources hinted that the strategy to issue free Cameroon identity card to some Nigerians living along the borderline was masterminded by some politicians. But CPDM section President for Ako refuted the allegations and said that his party had never made such an attempt to import foreigners to vote for them.  

Ako Sub Division in Donga Mantung Division is an Island on land giving the encalved nature of the border villages. In Ako, 18 villages speak the same mother tongue “dialect” with 16 other villages in Nigeria. This according to what we gathered at the border village of Abafum makes things very difficult for the identification team to distinguish who is a Cameroonian and who is not.  In the villages of Abafum and Buku where an alarm was raised that Nigerians were acquiring free identity cards and registering massively, the story is not only about politics. The truth is that though these two villages are in Cameroon, the economy is directly in the hands of Nigeria giving that the people use the Nigerian currency “Naira” and not the Cameroon Franc (CFA). It is a common phenomenon says Peter Ashie that they of the border villages have double nationalities. Yet politicians are crying out that since the issuances of identity cards go with voter’s registration, it is a pretext to rig elections. Allegations are rife at that over 50 Nigerians used the opportunity to acquire Cameroon identity cards yet the Fon of Abafum said the information is baseless and faulty. On the other hand the Divisional Officer for Ako says it is very difficult to know who is Cameroonian and who is not giving that the people speak the same mother tongue, have the same culture and also carryout inter-marriages.

But when SDF Parliamentary aspirant for Ako stormed Abafum, he defied the myth to pick out some Nigerians who were already holding identification forms and we cued up to be issued Cameroonian identity cards. He raised an alarm and suggested that all the forms should be collected. And when the forms were collected back, he (with the help of the team from Nkambe) proceeded by calling in every applicant and asking the name of his/her village, the name of the councilor and the fon, anyone who could not give a correct response was disqualified and requested to bring witnesses who would testify. It was at this moment some of the Nigerians who were trying to obtain the identity cards escaped. Speaking to this reporter, John Okie said that contrary to the young men who were trying to obtain Cameroonian identity cards were small business men who wanted the identity cards to escape from police and gendarmes harassments. But another authoritative voice hinted that it was a well calculated strategy by some CPDM bigwigs to import voters.

It should be recalled that during the launching of the free identification exercise in Ako town, Ho. JK Ntoi clashed with SDF Parliamentary aspirant Shiwa David. According to what we gathered, Hon. Ntoi was annoyed that young Shiwa David told the population that he (Shiwa and Hon. Awudu) lobbied for the free identification process in Ako. Hon. Ntoi Joseph who claimed he and CPDM Mayor for Ako, Emimi Emmanuel had raised over 1.5 million FCFA and handed to the Senior Divisional Officer for Donga Mantung Ngone Ndodemesape Bernard for the team to move to Ako was aghast. Hon. Ntoi we gathered almost engaged in a fight yet Shiwa David stood his ground. It needed the intervention of Ngone Ndodemesape for flaring tempers to calm down. Upon arrival in Ako, the SDO for Ako is quoted to have told Hon. Ntoi that the funds he (Hon. Ntoi) and the mayor contributed was given to the court to ease their movement to the field to issue free nationalities and that the presence of the identification team in Ako was thanks to Shiwa David. Public opinion in Ako has been why the identification post in Ako was closed yet we gathered that the Ako identification was closed due to rampant issuance of Cameroonian identity cards to Nigerians and not Residence Permit as requested by law.

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Senatorial Challenges: NW Fons Union Scrambles for Appointments

North West Fons Union (NOWEFU), a one-time enviable and lobbying force in the North West Region grouping traditional rulers is wallowing in hypocrisy. The “royal beggars” as some of them have been tag-named have stage another controversial act that almost resulted to some of them being stoned with rotten tomatoes by angry youths. On Thursday February 28, 2013, NOWEFU fons led by its President General, Fon Teche Njei stormed the Governor’s office with a motion of support urging President Biya to appoint some of them into the senate. Northwesterners were again taken aback due to the fact that some months ago, the same fons declared publicly that they were all behind Dr. Nick Ngwanyam, one of the Senatorial Aspirant. Public opinion in the Northwest region is harsh and flabbergasted at the present NOWEFU President for playing the ostrich. One fon who spoke to this reporter on phone on grounds of anonymity frowned at his colleagues for their obnoxious behaviors. “Why have they so suddenly dumped their Mbangfon. I think this union has been transformed to something else”, he argued. What is however pathetic is based on the fact NOWEFU for the past years has only been heard of during public gathering and occasions like this, Fonchi Telia remarked. To Nfor Jeremiah, North West fons grouped under the umbrella of NOWEFU are a good example of bad leaders and will never stop to spring surprises.  

By issuing a motion of support for the president and asking him to appoint one of theirs into the senate, the fons have again confirmed that they are the “royal beggars”. Impressionists have described them as “the posts- hungry idiots clamouring for posts in the Senate”.

Another school of thought holds that PM Yang Philemon should be ready to collect these motions of support in order to publish a volume of the people’s cry for senate.

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Senatorial Elections: Paul Biya-Fru Ndi Romance Goes Sour

Romance Biya-Fru Ndi at First meeting

The chairman of the Social Democratic Front-SDF has declared that "If Mr Biya does not talk to us; the SDF will make sure that this senatorial election does not hold. I will tell my boys to sharpen their machetes". Ni John Fru Ndi told journalists a forth night ago in Yaounde. Just a one day after President Biya announced that Senatorial elections shall hold on April 14 2013, the political climate in Cameroon is considerably radicalized. They show, in essence, the convening of the electorate for the Senate on April 14 and the modalities of management of the Electoral College (composed of regional councilors and municipal councilors) this election the first of it kind in Cameroon look extremely special and intriguing. Ni John Fru Ndi improvised a press conference at his residence in Yaoundé to propagate the position of the leading opposition party in Cameroon. The Chairman of the Social Democratic Front it should be recalled had declared that he will run for senatorial elections provided there is a level playing ground. He had also argued that senatorial elections should be after the forth coming municipal and legislative elections, stating that the present councilors were elected under MINAT and NEO which were not credible at all. Political analysts are of the opinion that it is because Fru Ndi wanted to go to the senate that he has been out in the field mobilizing voters to register. However expressionists say Fru Ndi's trappings are wanting, given that he is a controversial leader. The story is that when people expect the SDF to participate in elections, Fru Ndi usually calls for a boycott, and when everyone is expecting a boycott the SDF participates. When Fru Ndi tabled 14 points on the impartiality of ELECAM, it ignited hope in many but he latter swallowed it without giving any explanation to anybody. Allegations are also rife at that Fru Ndi had a secret meeting with Biya before he (Biya) left for France and during the meeting the two friends agreed that Fru Ndi will be appointed senator. Without such a possibility, Fru Ndi's chances of becoming senator could be far-fetched.

However, the terms of article 222 of Law No. 2012/001 of 19 April 2012 on the Electoral Code, "the senators are elected in each region by an electoral college consisting of regional councilors and municipal councilors." In the current context where there are no regional councils, the Electoral College will consist solely of municipal councilors.
And since the constitutional reform of 2008, the new regulations provide that "the senatorial elections may take place before the establishment of the Regional Councils." So the presidential decree of February 27, 2013 is not against the current law.

Notwithstanding, Ni John Fru Ndi vomited that the mandate of the present councilors expired in 2012, indeed, the mandate of councilors, who are the only voters and was extended by a Presidential decree. In this situation certainly legal, but difficult in a democracy, the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM) party of President Paul Biya controls more than 4/5 of the 360 ​​councils of Cameroon, a position that makes him (Biya) the super favorite super to easily take control of the upper house. Added to this is the prerogative that the Constitution gives the President of the Republic the powers to appoint 30 of the 100 senators. Reasons why Fru Ndi is threatening that if President Biya wants to destroy Cameroon, he (Fru Ndi) will help him do so. Yet public opinion holds that the best person so far to be appointed President of the Senate is Ni John Fru Ndi but with the present controversy, the romance Fru Ndi-Biya may likely turn into chaos.

Candidature

Candidates to compete in the elections must be 40 years old as of April 14, 2013 and should be people who enjoy their civic rights. Their candidatures must be endorsed by a legalized political party. And the candidate should be registered in a list in any of the ten regions of Cameroon, meaning that Senatorial elections shall be through a list system. Each list shall comprise 14 names, 07 substantives and 07 alternates.

Each political party is expected to deposit the list of their candidates 15 days after the Electoral College has been convened. In this case, latest date for candidatures is 14 March 2013.

Voting shall take place in all the Divisional Headquarters, which implies that the 2013 Senatorial Elections shall have only 58 polling stations nationwide.

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GBHS Nkambe Going (2) Clandestine Students Arrested and Detained

The reputation of Government Bilingual High School Nkambe on Wednesday February 26, 2013 took another heavy knock. The level of indiscipline at GBHS Nkambe we gathered has reached the point that the school administration could only seek solace in police intervention. The population of Nkambe was taken aback when news spread the town that some eight students were picked up by police and were detained at the Nkambe Police Station for not paying school fees. Yet well placed sources refuted the allegations and hinted that the so-called "ghost students"  were those whose names do not feature in the school register. According to what we gathered the number of clandestine students at GBHS Nkambe are out-numbered. According to what we gathered majority of the students who were smart jumped over the fence and escaped while only eight unfortunate ones were arrested and immediately taken out of campus to the police. 
Reasons for the falling standard of education at GBHS Nkambe have attracted much public discussions recently to the point that diverse opinions have been voiced out. Yet, a school of thought holds that education is a Human right that should be accorded to all humans as a threshold for moral, mental and moral development of human personality. While another school of thought holds that the fact that the school administration could handle disciplinary issues by summoning parents and or guardian to present the sky rocket problem is indicative of administrative lapses and failure. The bad news follows other indications that teaching and learning standards at GBHS Nkambe are slipping when measured against others. Other commentators suggested that the high rate of indiscipline and the drop standing is a severe blow to Government and bad news for the future of youths of Donga Mantung Division as well as many others who have passed through the school. "How can Donga Mantung hope to compete economically if our young people are not as well-educated as those in other places?, an authoritative voice questioned.

The question many have been asking on the growing indiscipline at GBHS Nkambe is whether a parent be averse to a teacher disciplining his child? Should a teacher beat or flog and or dismiss the child from school for not paying school fee? Should a parent leave the discipline of his/her child entirely to the teacher? These are the questions at the fore now that stakeholders have noticed that indiscipline is becoming epidemic at GBHS Nkambe. Some parents, on the one hand, are calling to question the disciplinary power of the school administration, teachers, while the teachers on the other, are accusing parents of leaving their responsibilities of training the children entirely to them. The result of the cacophony at GBHS is the high level of indiscipline among students which is actually becoming a cause for concern.The reputation of the one-time citadel of education in Donga Mantung Division is being dragged into the mud. Of late, some students connived with their peers from town steal computers eventhough they were arrested. Sources say millions of FCFA have been spent to construct and repair the school gate, but the impact is out-measured as students continue to jump over it.

However, when this reporter contacted the Principal of GBHS Nkambe to find out why the students were arrested by police and not dismissed, she banged the phone without responding to our worries. Notwithstanding the fact that the students were later released from police cell, public opinion is aghast at the administrative measures. Yet it is alleged that some of the students arrested were registered but had not paid their fees while others who are not known by the school administration have become a threat even to teachers. "They are fun of disturbing in class....etc, one student told this reporter.  In fact, too many versions have been voiced out on this incident. Allegations are rife at that before the clandestine students were arrested, it aired that some students earlier expressed their disgust by pasting their views on the school board, complaining bitterly for some changes.

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Massive Decamp from CPDM into SDF as Hon. Awudu Evaluates Voters Registration

Hon. Awudu Mbaya Cyprian

By FC Junior

The zonal conferences aimed at evaluating the level of voters’ registration in Nkambe Central kick-started last week with the SDF registering the influx of new militants. The evaluation process which started in Chup village took a u-turn when 168 CPDM militants of Ngaah-Bongom decamped to join the Social Democratic Front-SDF. In Binju-Nkambe, two frontline militants of the CPDM decided to dump the CPDM for the SDF. At Kup, there was seventh heaven and elation when 17 militants of the CPDM changed their minds and moved to the opposition. At Bih, Saah, Nwangri and Bi-Njeng, series of resignations were also registered. Musa Ibrahim, formerly CPDM militants told the crowd at Saah that he took the decision because “it is better to play in a team that you are sure to win” reasons why he made up his mind and decided to take along with him five of his friends to join the SDF. On his part Nformi Godwill of Ngaah who was among the 168 CPDM militants made a pathetic testimony when he moved to the rostrum and told that crowd that when he lost one of his eyes, nobody visited him in hospital bed. “I have been militating in the CPDM for the past 27 years and I have decided to quit because for 27 years what I have received is nothing but promises that have never materialized”. He said “I and my people have decided to go to where politics is practiced with a human face” Godwill Nformi concluded.

Jubilation there was in Binju-Nkambe when Ndi Tantoh formerly a diehard militant of the CPDM moved to the rostrum to announce that he has decided to plunge with his entire body into the SDF. He said he was sleeping with a snake on the bed without knowing and now that he is aware, he had no other option than to quit. “I am now a full militant of the SDF with all my body” he commented.  

It should be noted that the evaluation of voters’ registration using the biometric system seemingly is igniting sympathizers of the SDF to make choices.

Addressing militants and sympathizers Hon. Awudu Mbaya said campaigns have not yet started and that when the time shall come, it shall be the moment of truth. Harping on the importance of registering, Hon. Awudu said by so doing each and everyone will be assuming his/her responsibility. Everywhere he went, Hon. Awudu Mbaya made it clear that he has not come to assess the level of registration of militants of the SDF, so that he could assist everyone to register.

However, he always starts by passing warm greeting from SDF National Chairman and greeting from the Speaker of the National Assembly, Hon. Cavaye Yeguie to the population.  In every village, he was able to show to the population what he (Hon. Awudu) has been able to contribute. Hon. Awudu Mbaya also frowned at the act of intimidation by some traditional rulers and administrators. He said the SDF will not allow any administrator to interfere in political issues. As Madame Mary Awudu, SDF education secretary puts it: “even climate change cannot change the SDF in Nkambe”. Quoting from Jeremiah 17, Hon. Awudu Mbaya added that money cannot buy people.  Mangoh Jones Tanko, the Mayor of Nkambe was categorical in speeches that Hon. Awudu Mbaya holds the record as the most practical politician in Mbum land. “No politician has ever done what Hon. Awudu has done” he emphasized urging the population to understand that Hon. Awudu has just started and they should register massively in order to give him another mandate to Parliament.

Before proceeding to the evaluation of registered voters, Hon. Awudu Mbaya cautioned and warned that anyone who registers and give out his receipt to someone else is doing so at his or her own risk given that it is illegal for people to collect voters’ receipts to keep. The evaluation process which is done by showing of hand has been described by pundits as the most practical and efficient manner. In spite of the fact that identity cards were being issued for free, the evaluation process still demonstrated that they were people without identity cards as well as people have not registered in the voters register. Yet, he provided an on the spot solution everywhere he went without trying to know whether the people were of the SDF or CPDM. He also lamented the fact that the issuance of free identity cards is a snail-like slow and is always characterized by the shortage of films or carton papers in Nkambe.

But as a practical politician, he would always remind the population of the June 6, 1990 incident that took place in Ndu during which women were brutalized, forced to move naked in front of men. Hon. Awudu lamented that for 23 years now, the CPDM government has not been able to apologize for killing innocent people and for destroying the lives of many women. To Hon. Awudu Mbaya until the Biya regime apologizes to the population of Donga Mantung Division then shall anyone believe in whatever thing they have to say. He also questioned what people who have served in government like Shey Jones Yembe (11 years) and Ngafeeson Emmanuel (10 years) have done for Mbum people in term of development.

To Mary Awudu, the SDF doesn’t worship money and quoting James 10:10 she cautioned that when a devil gives you a golden crown, you should be sure to loose your head.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa

At Last President Biya Announces Senatorial Elections in April, Ignores Fru Ndi

President Biya has issued a Presidential Decree announcing the first Senatorial elections in Cameroon for April 14, 2013, contrary to the call from the main opposition that Senatorial elections should be postpone. The Presidential Decree of February 27, 2013 took political pundits aback giving that the mandates of present municipal councilors had long expired. Yet, they make up the Electoral College.  However it is alleged Ni John Fru Ndi declared his candidature.  Besides, Ni John Fru Ndi is quoted to have said that “if Biya wants to destroy the country” he (Biya) should announce Senatorial Elections. Yet, as usual President Biya ignored Fru Ndi’s call to announce senatorial elections. Each candidate according to what we gathered is expected to pay a deposit of one million FCFA into the state treasury. Members of the Electoral College who will participate will also receive an allowance of 50.000 FCFA.

Ni John Fru Ndi it should be recalled during his tour of Donga Mantung Division stormed Tabenken, Nkambe, Lus and Ndu where hundreds turned out to listen to SDF National chairman. 

While in Tabenken village in Nkambe Central, one of the speakers who attracted  alot of admiration was Chris Mbunwe. Chris Mbunwe, in his capacity as SDF Regional Communication Secretary thrilled the people of Tabenken on the various  political malpractices orchestrated by the CPDM to rig elections. The rigging machinery, Chris said is actually in difficulties with biometric registration. Thus, Chris Mbunwe urged his people of Tabenken to register massively in order to vote because "no single vote will be stolen". He also used the occasion to bief the population on the 14 points the SDF submitted to the Biya government. He said the SDF pressed for transparent ballot boxes, biometric registration and that the SDF is still on fighting for single ballot papers.

Stakes and Challenges

Popular opinion holds that Nfi John Fru should be appointed as President of the Senate giving his contribution to the political process in Cameroon. Base on the fact that the Constitution gives the head of state the right to appoint 30 of the 100 to make up the senate, many see no reason why Ni John Fru Ndi should not be appointed as well. Even though Ni John Fru Ndi is of the opposition, he  represents the aspiration of majority of Cameroonians. As a matter of fact, a senate without Ni John Fru Ndi will automatically means the collapse of democracy in Cameroon. However, it is not yet clear whether SDF chieftain will accept if appointed as senator. Notwithstanding,  the cordial relationship that Fru Ndi has been enjoying with his friend Paul Biya could be consolidated with his appointment into the senate. Yet the secrecy of the meeting held between Paul Biya and Fru Ndi before the head of state could leave Cameroon for Paris has been interpreted in different ways by bookmakers. Pundits are of the opinion that Fru Ndi's declaration to become senator is a no nonsense one. Yet it is difficult for him to become senator with the present councilors in place reasons why Fru Ndi himself told militants in Ndu where he made that declaration that he can only contest provide the feild is level. If senate elections hold before municipal and legislative elections, then Fru Ndi will not make it. This because SDF won 14 councils while the CPDM won 18. The number of councilors of the CPDM will be more than those of the SDF. Since the head of state will appoint 30, Fru Ndi can be one of the lucky ones to be appointed.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa