Missed opportunity to Reconcile:

Benjy Itoe & Nfon Mukete disagree to agree, Meme CPDM Suffers

-Militants disappointed, confused as Itoe boycotts reconciliation meeting called at Nfon Mukete’s palace Thursday

By Doh Bertrand Nua in Kumba

Benjamin Itoe presents Senatorial candidate, Otte Mofa to public as Nfon Mukete
watches on. The current is not flowing between the two giants

Militants of the ruling CPDM party in Meme Division will continue to wallow in an orgy of confusion and uncertainty as the two major players of their in Meme have disagreed to agree.

            The visibly anxious and enthusiastic militants could not conceal their disappointment following the absence of former Minister, Justice Benjamin Motanga Itoe, and some of his followers at a crucial meeting called at Nfon Mukete’s palace, at the behest of the militants, on Saturday 24 March 2018.

            A CPDM insider who pleaded to remain anonymous disclosed to The Median that the militants decided to call the in camera meeting after concerting with the party bigwigs. The militants had unanimously noted the dwindling fortunes of their party, which they blamed on the politics of camps and exclusion masterminded by the Mukete and Itoe camps.

            The militants said they thought it expedient to hold a meeting and reconcile feuding camps and sub camps prior to the celebration of the party anniversary. They said the meeting would also provide occasion for them to brainstorm on how to pick up the broken pieces of the party and seek ways to forge ahead in renewed harmony. But the meeting turned out to be a missed opportunity after all. Benjamin Itoe and his disciples all elected to stay away.

            The Meme CPDM Permanent Coordinator, Justice Benjamin Mutanga Itoe technically avoided Nfon Mukete’s reconciliation overture despite being present in town. The former minister (no other Meme son has been minister after him) reportedly left Kumba at the eleventh hour to the start of the reconciliation meeting, on the pretext that he was attending an urgent meeting with the Governor in Buea, we learned.

            Our source revealed to us that the reconciliation meeting at the palace was decided not by Nfon Mukete, but by militants of the party, whilst attending a campaign meeting with the Secretary General of the party, Jean Kuete, in Buea, earlier on Thursday.

            Though Benjy Itoe was unrepentantly opposed to the suggestion of the militants in Buea, he did not give reasons for his renunciation, our source said, who revealed further that in the heat of the debates and arguments that ensued in Buea, Benjamin Itoe was visibly overpowered by the militants, the majority of whom insisted on holding a reconciliation meeting ahead of the senatorial elections in Kumba.

            Other party bigwigs that boycotted the palace meeting included notably Hon. Atinda Martins Mboni and Madam Ndoh Beltha Bakata, both of whom are understood to be allies of Benjy Itoe. 

            When the news of the planned reconciliation between Mukete and Itoe spread like bush fire throughout Kumba, a source close to Justice Itoe predicted that:“Justice can never attend such a meeting; he will only reconcile with Nfon Mukete over his dead body.”

            The source noted that the article in The Post newspaper that that talked of reconciliation between the two Meme CPDM heavy-weights was misleading. 

            Our source revealed that despite the boycott by Benji Itoe, Nfon V.E Mukete thanked the militants for coming in their numbers. He said their presence in great numbers speaks to their resolve to once again re-galvanize themselves towards rekindling their party’s lost glow in Kumba and Meme.

            Political watchers have noted that after losing grounds to the SDF and after the recent cabinet reshuffle that has left the division to continue without a minister despite staying for 26 years running without one, it was imperative, if not expedient, for the leaders of the belligerent camps in Meme CPDM to suppress their egos and selfish-interests and consider reconciling, at least, for the supreme interest of the division.

Reconciliation Brings New Faces to Nfon’s Palace

            The reconciliation meeting at the palace of the Bafaw paramount ruler brought together militants and section presidents some of whom had never set foot on the palace for several years, ever since the disputed reorganization of basic organs of the party in 2015. Meme CPDM stalwarts the likes of Senator Otte Andrew Mofa, Mayor Musima George Lobe and Tabot Lawson Bakia (Njalla) were all seen for the first time in the palace.

            It was the first time that Tabot Lawson Njalla was seen at the Nfon’s Palace for a party meeting ever since he defeated Prince Ekalle Mukete in 2015 to become section president of CPDM Meme 1A-Kumba Central.