Supreme Court Rejects CPDM Lists For Bafoussam Central, Nkwen, Lobo...

By Kini Nsom & Nformi Sonde Kinsai

The Supreme Court has, for the first time since the return to multipartyism in Cameroon, disqualified lists of candidates belonging to the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, CPDM, party.

The Court rejected the CPDM list for Bafoussam Centre, Bamenda III (Nkwen) and Lobo in the Centre Province. Interestingly, only the CPDM party had a list in Lobo, Jean Marie Atangana Mebara's constituency. The question now is: with the lone list disqualified, will there be elections in Lobo?

The Administrative Bench, presided over by Justice Clement Atangana also disqualified the SDF list for the Bali municipal council elections on June 12 on claims that its sociological component was faulty.

Reacting to the court decision, the SDF Secretary General, Dr. Elizabeth Tamanjong, said it was a flagrant act of injustice and a vicious move to hand over the Bali Council to the CPDM party on a platter of gold.

She warned that SDF militants will not allow the CPDM to win by forfeiture in their (SDF) fief.

No SDF List, No Election In Bali

"The message we are sending to the Biya regime is short and simple: No SDF list, no elections in Bali," the SDF scribe stated in a terse reaction in Yaounde on June 13.
Dr. Tamanjong said the Administrative Bench of the Supreme Court actually showed bias against her party in some areas.

The SDF list was rejected as the court engaged in a marathon examination of 101 pre-electoral petitions from the various candidates.One SDF legal adviser, Barrister Joseph Lavoisier Tsapy, said the disqualification of the Bali SDF list is an act of injustice that could stir far-reaching repercussions.

The lawyer charged that the Supreme Court judge who handled the case, Justice Leonard Fongot, is a Bali elite who showed bias against the party.The CPDM Section President for Bali, Ngo Ajong, had filed a petition at the Administrative Bench praying it to disqualify the SDF list.

He argued that the SDF list has the name of one Emmanuel Doh Sikod, who is an ex-convict and that it did not have any candidate from Bawock, thereby rendering its sociological component questionable.

The court dismissed the claim that Doh Sikod was an ex-convict, arguing that he was convicted for a mild misdemeanour and not an outright felony. The court, however, observed that the SDF list did not have any Bawock candidate.

This time around, a battery of SDF lawyers led by Barrister Francis Sama, Harmony Bobga and Augustine Bami, argued that one Wilfred Yingai, whose name is on the list is from Bawock.

They presented documented proof that Yingai is from Bawock. Even Wilfred Yingai himself appeared in court and said he was from Bawock.In a counter move, one CPDM lawyer presented a disclaimer purportedly from the Bawock Fon to the effect that Yingai is not from Bawock.

The presiding judge argued that for the list to have the name of only one Bawock person does not make for any credible representation of Bawock for the list of 35 counsellors.
Barrister Bobga raised a counter argument, stating that the law governing municipal elections does not say that there should be proportional representation.

He said Bali is inhabited by close to 30,000 people while Bawock is made of only 5000 people.The SDF lawyers even called on the court to respect its jurisprudence by rejecting Ajong's petition because he wrote it as Section President for the CPDM and not as a candidate in the upcoming elections as provided by the law.

The court scorned their submissions and ruled that the SDF list be disqualified. It equally rejected the SDF petition for Bamenda III. The petition that was submitted by Prince Amando was based on claims that one Francis Ndiashanga whose name appears in the list is still an SDF counsellor and has not resigned from the party.

Lists Re-instated

The court also re-instated the SDF list of candidates for the municipal elections for Mbanga in the Littoral Province. The Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, MINATD, had rejected the list on claims that some of its candidates deposited incomplete files. Popular musician, Lapiro De Mbanga, is part of the list that was reinstated.

On the contrary, the court cancelled the SDF list for the newly created Limbola Rural Council in Limbe, Fako Division in the Southwest Province.A petition from CPDM in Muyuka calling for the rejection of the SDF list on claims that it contains militants of the UPC who had not tendered their resignation was rejected.

The judge observed that 13 years ago when the candidate was declared as an active militant of UPC is a long period that could not be used to justify the disqualification of the SDF list.

The same reasons advanced by Andrew Motanga of CPDM Fako I Limbe that the SDF list for municipal elections in Limbe II has CPDM militants, and deserves rejection was granted by the judge.

One Lyonga who had not resigned as a CPDM Section President was identified on the SDF list.A petition from Taddos Nkenkeng Amingu of AFP Kumba II calling for the rejection of the CPDM list for late submission was declared by the judge as unjustified and consequently rejected.

In a rather controversial decision, Justice Clement Atangana rejected Ms. Mirabel Mbole Sone's petition of AFP Kumba III on grounds that the list for that council area did not feature at all on the list published by MINATD.

The Attorney General had observed that the claim was justified but the judge went ahead to reject Sone's petition. The SDF list for Konye, which was rejected for submission of document, was ordered to be re-instated when SDF lawyers and one David Baguma Elangwe, argued and justified in court that the documents were deposited within the deadline.

A claim in a petition by Chief Richard Kalla Essoh of CPDM Tiko that the composition of the SDF list ignored the sociological consideration was declared as unfounded. Chief Kalla Essoh said the head of the SDF party in the locality enlisted his tribe's people of Momo origin in the Northwest Province.

The petition was also rejected because Kalla is not a candidate for the July 22 elections.
The petition by Ernest Ngome Ebong to have the SDF list in Tombel re-instated was rejected while the petition by Ferdinand Ngong of Boyo I CPDM calling for the rejection of the SDF list because the head of the list is convict was declared unfounded and consequently rejected.

The SDF list for Wabane was re-instated when the court observed that the file deposited with the DO had complete documents.The SDF lawyers strongly argued in court that some SDOs and DOs were noted for withdrawing documents from files tendered in by some candidates, just to frustrate the party's bid to compete in some constituencies at the July 22 elections.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has disqualified the CPDM list for Bafoussam Centre, Bamenda III (Nkwen) and Lobo in the Centre Province.Interestingly, only the CPDM party had a list in Lobo.

Comments

[Y. Maurice Martin]

Is Democracy in Cameron advancing?

[Tanyi]

Can't really tell Maurice. But the courts seem to be getting more guts.

[Shalom]

Hahaha!! More guts indeed Tanyi? They are playing to the gallery so that when they tailor the elections, people could justify it by the fact that they had shown fairness. The CPDM lists rejected must be headed by none-entities of the party who can be sacrificed without consequence. Look at them very well

[7512wilson]

Well, Justice Clement Atangana seem to have gotten it all wrong with regards to his decision to reject the SDF list from Bali. It is a very suicidal move that can lead to untold violence with far reaching implications. Bali people from all indications are very intolerant to any form of injustice against them and such decisions to impose an already rejected and decried CPDM on the people will lead to a very scary and fluid atmosphere that could potentially engulf into a full scale civil strife. It is very important that for the sake of peace and justice, the Judges should re-look into the Bali case and make the right call.
More to come..

[nshom]

The way these decisoins were taken indicates that Clement Atangana's hand were tied llike those of his boss at some point 15 years ago.

You see, there are several interpretations to thesame clauses of the law depending on who is invlolved.

nonesense.

[Fritzane Kiki HK]

Is Civil war the cause of famine in Sub-Saharan Africa?

I think the answer is YES.As of the present statistic all the countries in Sub-saharan Africa have undergone food shortages because of civil strife and political instabiltiy; the consequences are far more crucial than expected.Today,almost 24 African countries face famine and hunger but the world media has not yet given a favorable stand to this plight in their reports;however,we all know that the problems remain those ranging from civil strife and war to adverse weather and economic crisis.Though report says some 30.5 million people will need food assistance in Africa but the numbers might be on the rise as civil continue to rock the hunger striken masses.Most regions in sub-Saharan Africa continue to need some food assistance, but the situation is worst in Southern Africa, where about 12 million people need immediate emergency food following a poor cereal harvest earlier this year,and more civil wars, civil strifes, civil disobedience and poor governance in most of these countries.

Southern African countries like Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe will all need emergency food assistance as early as June following a poor cereal harvest earlier this year which will cast no doubt that the world need more helping hand to these African countries still in civil wars and chaos.In Malawi, it is estimated that the number of people facing food shortages is about 4.6 million, about 40 percent of the population, due mainly to rising maize prices and mismanagement.Even in Zimbabwe, the number of people facing food shortages could possiblly reach 3 million and the prospects for 2007 are seriously threatened by the short supply and high costs of farm inputs such as seeds, fuel and fertilizer.South Africa has fared much better with a good maize harvest, and the resulting closing stocks of 5.1 million tonnes, as of 30 June 2006, are more than enough to cover the subregion's maize import requirements.

While in the Eastern part of Africa the 2006 main season harvest of cereal crops is ending in southern parts of eastern Africa, while in northern areas crops are at varying stages of development. Despite beneficial rains and favourable crop prospects in some parts, the report warns "the food situation remains precarious for a large number of people with high malnutrition rates reported in several countries."

The food situation in Sudan is particularly alarming due to prolonged conflict, especially in Darfur and in southern Sudan. According to the report, access to food is worsening for returnees and poor households in parts of southern Sudan and the continued crisis in Greater Darfur remains the most pressing humanitarian problem.

Similarly, in Somalia, recent assessments indicate that the poor 2005 main season harvest in southern Somalia, forecast at 44 percent below average, coupled with an upsurge in civil strife have exacerbated the food situation. Overall, nearly one million people need humanitarian assistance.

Eritrea and Ethiopia are expected to have generally favourable main cropping seasons for 2005. However, a large number of people still depend on food assistance due to the lingering effects of earlier drought and/or war, according to the report.

The case in Western Africa is a bit favorable where the regions crop prospects are said to be "generally good" in the Sahel. But, the Sahel and northern parts of several coastal countries continue to face a difficult lean season, due mainly to unusually high food prices.Some crops in Niger are developing satisfactorily thanks to generally widespread rainfall and adequate soil moisture and overall harvest prospects are favourable.

In another development, in the Central Africa civil strife and insecurity still undermine food security in several countries, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the report says food insecurity affects over 70 percent of the population of 57 million.

Food aid is highly needed if not things will go for the worst since the civil wars continue to hamper a smooth agricultural atmosphere.Even though cereal import requirements in sub-Saharan Africa in 2006/07 are expected to remain a bit high. The total food aid requirement in 2006/07 is estimated at about 3.2 million tonnes. Cereal food aid pledges for 2006/07, including those carried over from 2005/06, amount to 2.8 million tonnes, of which 2 million tonnes have been delivered.

Take note that until date most of the sub Saharan African countries are under famine level and as of now up to 24 countries are still facing food emergencies and are in urgent need for support.They are Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.Where are we heading to?We need a change of gorvernance and peaceful co-existance to survive this demise.

Fritzane Kiki
Hong Kong

[mbangnilun]

A bit of commonsense will prove that there is something fishy in the fact that CPDM is the one to complain about SDF poor representation in the Bali Constituency. In fact, one would expect 'C' to seize the opportunity and campaign against 'S' in Bawock on the strength of this 'neglect,' and not the reverse! What does 'C' stand to benefit, if 'S' had a candidate from Bawock, apart from the fact that calling from the 'S' list to be disqualified will hand over the Constituency to 'C' without a contest? Besides, what authenticates a person's place of origin: the Fon's purportedly written statement to the contrary, or the contested person's presence in court? Talk of transparency? Even murky waters can be transparent, depending on the looking-glass that one holds against the image...