Mbella Moki/Mokake Debate Fails

By Ernest Sumelong

A much-heralded political debate on CRTV Radio Buea between former and incumbent Buea Mayors, John Mokake Endeley and Charles Mbella Moki, aborted when the former declined at the eleventh hour.

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Both Mayors had previously conceded to the debate that germinated from a seminar organised by the Cameroon Association of English Speaking Journalists, CAMASEJ, more than a fortnight ago.

Both men, who are heading the SDF and CPDM lists for Buea municipality for the upcoming twin elections had recorded their voices inviting the audience for the 'historic showdown'.
But on Saturday, July 14, after an almost weeklong publicity on radio, the would-be moderator, Samuel Bokuba, informed the public ten minutes into the programme that Mokake could not make it unless he obtained permission from his party hierarchy.

Also present at the radio house was a battery of journalists of the private media ready to fire questions at the debaters. Mbella Moki, who was present and spoiling for the showdown, expressed frustration at his rival's withdrawal.

"This is a political disaster. I feel very disappointed because this was a forum for us to discuss issues pertaining to the development of Buea. The announcements have been running for up to a week, only for him to decline at the last minute on the flimsy excuse that he has to obtain permission from his party hierarchy. I did not know that my opponent could descend so low like this," Mbella said.

Mbella Moki told The Post that the former Mayor had left the council at the end of his mandate with huge debts and most of the projects he undertook were not completed and not paid for.

He said the former council administration owed the National Social Insurance a huge debt. According to him, the former Mayor could not defend the much-talked-about development which some claimed he brought and that is why he could not show up for the debate.
However, the incumbent Mayor said he is steadfast and poised for the debate at whatever time his opponent deems it necessary to hold.

The YCPDM Fako III Section President, Emmanuel Motomby, contended that Mokake was afraid to face Mbella Moki.According to Motomby, Mokake would not have had what to say.
Meanwhile, Mokake Endeley told reporters in his Bokwango residence that he did not challenge anyone to a debate but claimed that Samuel Bokuba prompted the arrangement.

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He said he is not afraid to face Mbella Moki for a debate, but he can only be part of a debate if things are properly done. "I did not refuse the debate because I am afraid of Mbella Moki. First of all I have my God, but the fact that I know my God is with me, I should not predispose myself to danger.

In principle I have to concert with my party hierarchy before accepting to take part in a debate of that nature, I cannot take a unilateral decision," Endeley said.On why he recorded his voice on the spot that had been running on CRTV radio, Endeley said he met Bokuba one morning who told him that he met Mbella Moki and proposed a political debate for both of them.

He said he told Bokuba that he would have to concert with his party hierarchy. He argued that the spot bearing his voice was recorded for his campaign chat and not for that purpose.

"I told Bokuba to stop playing that spot on Friday because I hadn't made any arrangement for a debate but I was surprised that CRTV kept playing the spot," Endeley said.
He pointed out that a good political debate is one that is done in the open air and both the press and the civil society are present and not only journalists in the radio studio.

"Are you people saying that the debate would be moderated by Bokuba in that studio and the scores be given by him, what about the public stakeholders?" Endeley quipped.
Endeley said Bokuba came to his house early in the morning of Tuesday and was insisting on recording his voice for the spot to be part of the debate, which he reluctantly accepted but indicated on the recording that he (Endeley) was inviting the general public for a radio chat with him (Endeley), and not a political debate with Mbella Moki.

Endeley insinuated that Bokuba and Mbella Moki teamed up to scheme something against him.
For his part, the Legal Adviser for the SDF, Barrister Julius Oben, expressed disdain at CRTV.
He said what CRTV did was unfair to his party because the call for a debate was a conditional call and not a fixed one but CRTV twisted it the other way round.

&kbid

Comments

[Kene]

Mr Endeley, are you going to obtain permission from those above to develop buea. Well you act like a child who is to be seen and not heard. you are a disgrace as a political leader.
Please, you still have the opportunity to make this debate. Take your chance else history will remember as the one who is afraid of a debate with Moki.

[ROLLY MALCOLM]

It is time enough our people be able to distinguish between those who jumped into politics with the interest of the masses at heart and those who are just there for personal interest. Why will a Politician wait until the last minute before realising that he has to obtain permission from his party Hierarchy. This simply implies that some of those our so called politicians don't even know what they are doing. If I may ask, What does he need the permission for? I think it was a Debate meant for each of them ( the Mayors ) to have an opportunity to outline all what they did while in office. And this was to go a long way to boost their Campaign messages because then, they will be talking to a wider public. Politics in Cameroon is for those who wwant to gain access to the National Cake so as to secure a share of it for themselves and their immediate family.

[rexon]

Endeley had the right to boycott the debate at the last minute due to several technical issues that he cited. Who would be moderating the debate and what guarantees does he have for his personal security? Some of u just write because u dont know the type of country we are dealing with. Unlike Moki, Endeley cannot just say anything and go free. Moki can castigate anybody in the SDF and say things without proves but Endeley cannot do thesame no matter the amount of evidences he has at his disposal. We are living in a country where cult heros like Biya must be worshipped no matter how evil they are and whoever says anything against them would be slaughtered. Endeley have every right to think about his personal security first before going into a debate with any nicompomps in the names of CPDM stalwarts.

By the way, what has Mbella Moky or people like Motomby ever achieved in a perfectly competitive world? These are fools who could not even pass simple GCE O-Levels. Motomby despite studying in BHS buea was unable to pass simple GCE A-Levels. The only thing they could be proud of was their courage to betray the masses and dine with the CPDM at a time when nobody wanted to identify with this murderous regime. Now they are bold enough to talk about the development of a city that have produced great Southern Cameroonian statemen like Mola Litumbe, Late Dr Endeley, Mola Ngongi, etc.

Mbella Moky, Motomby, et al. Please go and sleep. You dont even know your own left and right and can only steal from your connections with the CPDM to make a living. Its a shame.

[rexon]

Correction: Motomby could not pass GCE O-levels not A-Levels to the best of my knowledge.

[Tita Mofaw]

why would Endeley do a thing like this? I thought the guy had balls but it seems he is no match for Mbella. This debate was going to be an historic event which English speaking Cameroonians would be proud of because, ofcourse, we know why the other part of Cameroon is scared of us.

How does Endeley plan to gain the support of the masses if he cannot go head on with Mbella? Again Mbella has demonstrated that he is not afraid of the populace and is ready to take his message to them. he did this during the strike at UB and on other occasions.As a person I think Mbella is a good politician (but I don't mean Endeley is bad, just that taking off at the last minute is kind of coward).

[Jimmy Stan]

This is a disgrace to the opposition in Cameroon. In my oppinion just few weeks into the election, Mr Endeley should Know how he is going to battle the rulling party, but instead of doing this, he is afraid, this is a shame. I think Mr Moki had to be timid, but to my greatest surprise the man who is suppose to fighting to win needs his Party chairman to tell him what to say . Shameeeeeeeee

[Emmanuel]

Rexon,
I agree that the SDF candidate is not at liberty to say anything he wants and get away with it. Is a debate made up only of things people say and cannot get away with them? There are so many ways to say things that have implicit truths in them without actually accusing anybody. If he does not know how to word his propaganda he should not even be a candidate. Why should any candidate focus on castigating anyone to make a point? The incompetence of the regime has supplied more than sufficient material for use as ammunition against it and there is no need for any aspiring politician to point a finger at any one CPDM official. Take for example law and order and banditry in Buea for a start. Is the situation the way it is because one mayor D.O. or governor failed to do his job? This excuse tells us the type of mayor or whatever he is going to be. He seems not to quite understand the source of Cameroons problem and thinks pointing fingers at CPDM politicians is the way to identify the problem. Unfortunately it seems SDF campaign message has drifted from its radical origins. It is a pity that the the SDF party has legitimized the Cameron meaning of radicalism which has violence in its connotations. A radical approach to anything simply means approaching the issue from its sources or origins. That is how the SDF started off. There was no question of blaming a DO or governor or government delegate. The SDF tactfully focused their attention to the top of the CPDM junta. This approach without actually under-estimating the amount of damage these junior officials can inflict tactfully minimized these CPDM lieutenants. It put them in their place and the population treated them as such. In those days the D.O, Mayor or Governor had a hard time executing his orders because his powers had been watered down by the opposition. Today instead of focusing at the source of the problem they are attacking mayors, D.O.s etc as if these people have a say in whatever they do. If the opposition does not recognize that these people are there just for the money, and instead start debating with them on policy issues then they don't understand Cameroon politics. Cameroon government and the CPDM operate like an animal with with super survival instincts. They use these sharp instincts just to do enough to stay alive i.e. in power. They decree that schools should be established here or there, just to indicate their presence there. A lone sycophant in that area is then used to drum up such support as if the school is the saviour that just came again. When we focus now on that lone sycophant it lends him such credibility, and publicity he just so badly needs. In the days when SDF was fighting Biya and not mayors or government delegates or council chairman, we knew only of two elephants in Cameroon John Fru Ndi and Paul Biya. Paul Biya was always on the defensive because the SDF did not relent on attacks. Today they even have more evidence and reason for more attacks. The state of the roads have gone worse, crime rate has even tripled, corruption is even worse despite the so called anti corruption commisions formed. Why do we even think about mayors? I know the SDF policy change to accept to participate in elections is one tactic to keep the party together. It is easy to understand though difficult to accept. If the hierarchy stubbornly refuses to participate in elections there is going to be a faction within that will decide to participate regardless. The simple reason is money. There are very few people in Cameroon who know they can win whichever elections it is in their constituency and yet refuse to do so when the financial rewards are so tempting. "Why" a selfish me would ask myself "would I not participate to be a an MP and be earning millions every year for five years at least and with no accountability for extra yearly millions called micro credit grants" With such selfish people like myself within the ranks of the SDF, the party reasoned well to accept to participate in all these stupid elections. The reasons is simple to understand. If they refused a splinter group would have emmerged and the CPDM government would have been the first to welcome it as the genuine SDF thereby burying the SDF just like the UPC, and UNDP. So participating in elections does not even mean the party has endorsed the CPDM party government administrative mechanism. It is just a way of saving the party. And therefore I think that no importance should be given to these fake positions of mayors D.Os, Governors etc who are not representative of the people. If someone happens to occupy such positions and decides to use whatever powers he has to do justice to Cameroonian citizens within his jurisdiction we all know that it is not CPDM government policy to do so. Why then do we waste time and energy arrogating respect and honour to people who do not even deserve or care about it? When the fight was directed at Etoudi full time,there was so much to talk about that Mr Biya had to hire somebody to talk for him, KOUNTCHOU. In those tough days when John Fru Ndi talked Biya's mouth on Kountchou responded and Cameroon trembled but there were still D.Os,Mayors and government delegates etc all over the place. The SDF can still gather the abundant ammunition found everywhere to redirect their salvos back at Etoudi
Fon E.

[C. N. Fosung]

I thought he should know his record. What he achieved, and failed, should be public issue. We can only progress if Cameroonians have true and honest education. Our education system is not only failing our testing politicians, but almost failing everybody. What a challenge we face in Cameroon!.

For those who are eligible to vote in Cameroon, the substantive member for Buea, Barrister Eta Besong is a fine gentleman that i have met during my stay in Cameroon, and i think, he will bring some common sense to the assembly. I will recommend him for Buea.

[Sanji]

Is there any politician who will act without obtaining authorisation from his part? The CPDM is not a good political party they act on their owne discression.
I think Endeley did just teh right thing. They talk about Democracy in Cameroon is it really a democractic nation? What if he said certain things and the CPDM government later decided to put him behind bars? I think most folks here should think about the sort of country we come from. In the past people have been arrested for holding illegal meetings was this debate authorise by the govenment? or it was moki's owne arrangement.
Well lets waite and see what the people of Buea will say when they go out to vote.