Voted As Pioneer City Mayor After All:

Will Motanga Pardon His Detractors Or Will He Crush Them?

Former Government Delegate, Andrew Motanga’s ‘sweet’ victory as pioneer city mayor of Limbe, comes despite being the target of a sustained smear campaign, and a well calculated plot hashed by his political rivals and detractors to get him out of the city council. With politics being a power game where the strong destroy the weak, it remains to be seen how Motanga will relate with his avowed detractors, especially the band of petition writing Limbe Chiefs.

By Ticha Melanis in Limbe

Andrew Motanga Monjimba has silenced his political detractorsafter his brilliant election as the 

pioneer city mayor of Limbe

Former government delegate of Limbe, Andrew Motanga Monjimba has been elected as the pioneer city mayor of Limbe. He was elected on Tuesday 25 February during the first session as of right of the Limbe city council.

                The election was supervised by the SDO for Fako Engamba Emmanuel Ledoux and chaired by the eldest city councilor.

                76 councilors from the three sub-divisional councils in Limbe took part in the election, with five councilors represented through proxies.

                Motanga harvested 72 votes, while his sole challenger, Ekema Abel, had just one vote. There were two blank votes.

                Motanga will be assisted by two deputies, Karen Nora Muto Tanga as first assistant City Mayor, and Kouontchou Emmanuel as second assistant.

                Speaking to the press after his victory, the new city mayor thanked the people of Limbe for renewing their confidence in him. He promised to continue with his project of transforming Limbe into a veritable OPEC City.

                Motanga said the motto of his new mandate shall be “working with the people to develop Limbe.”

                He beckoned all persons who have good ideas to help develop Limbe to not hesitate to share it with him or any of his deputies. 

                Motanga’s unfortunate challenger, Ekema Abel, conceded defeat but expressed dissatisfaction with the conduct of the election, saying the circular of the CPDM scribe barring suspects of embezzlement, mismanagement or people who have criminal matters in court from running for the post of Mayor and city Mayor was not respected. 

                “The rules set by our party were not respected. But i will not waste my time to petition for cancellation of the vote because for me politics is just a game. When things like this happen you just let go and forget about petitioning. If the authorities know that what happened is wrong, they should take the necessary corrective action,” Ekema Abel said, promising to work with Motanga and his team if ever they would be ready to work him.  

                The SDO thanked the Limbe councilors for their sense of maturity. He urged them to ensure that peace and development remain the hallmark of Limbe.

                Commentators have been quick to note that by winning and becoming the first ever City Mayor of Limbe, Motanga has not only silenced his detractors, he has also proven that the majority of Limbe denizens are for him and with him: They approve of his stewardship as the outgoing government delegate of Limbe.

                The commentators recalled how no sooner did the head of state, Paul Biya, convened the electorate for the twin legislative/municipal elections than some Limbe Chiefs published a release castigating Motanga and accusing him of committing all sorts of financial and other crimes at the city council.

                The ‘misguided’ outing by the Chiefs came at a time when talk was making the rounds in Limbe about an alleged convocation of Motanga and several of his collaborators, to appear before the judge of the Special Criminal Tribunal in Yaounde on 5 February, in connection with financial crimes they had allegedly committed at the council.

                With the talk of a summons from Yaounde, added to the public indictment by Limbe Chiefs, many feared that Motanga’s days as a free man were numbered. Some even said his space in Kondengui Prison had already been prepared.

                But Motanga remained undaunted and focused despite the smear campaign and evil plot that was hashed against him by his detractors and political rivals.

                That Motanga emerged victorious despite the machinations only proves that in politics harder men liveth.

                But politics being a power game where the strong survive and crush the weak, it remains to be seen how Motanga would now relate with these unmasked detractors, especially now that his power has been fortified with this other victory.

                Perhaps, it should be mentioned that some of the Chiefs have repented their sins and have already rallied with Motanga