-Hysteric denizens dance in triumph, parade new ‘Super Mayor’ along the streets of Kumba
By Ekoko Willies in Kumba
The suspense as to who becomes the pioneer City Mayor of Kumba has finally ended. Councillors of Kumba on Thursday 22 October 2020 gave their votes overwhelmingly to Greg Mewanu Ntemoyock to become the pioneer City Mayor.
Mewanu emerged the winner in a tension-packed election that sanctioned the re-run first session as of right of the Kumba City Council holding at the City Hall on Thursday.
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| Super Mayor, Greg Mewanu, celebrates his hard-won victory |
He first grabbed 43 votes against 33 for Nkelle, in primaries conducted by CPDM representatives from Yaounde. He would later collect 65 of the total 75 votes cast, in the election proper, conducted by the eldest and youngest councillors of Kumba. There were 11 blank votes.
Mewanu’s victory though hard-won, was not surprising to many. It was no secret to anyone that Victor Nkelle Ngoh, who had served the City for 11 years as Government Delegate, and seven months as City Mayor, had lost face with the inhabitants of Kumba, who reckoned that his performance at the council was anything but impressive.
He inherited the City Council from the legendary Cavin Nnoko Mbelle, who had put Kumba among the fast growing cities in Cameroon, thanks to his development vision and drive. But Nkelle failed to live up to the standards his predecessor, Nnoko, had set for the City. Some Kumba denizens said maybe Nnoko raised the bar of achievements too high for Nkelle to measure up.
Even though Nkelle’s admirers rushed to his defence, blaming his poor performance on a weak treasury at the council, informed observers dismissed him as lacking in vision and drive. They said he was at a loss of solutions to the many problems that are stalling Kumba’s development. Many did not conceal their desire to see a change at the helm of the city council.
Greg Mewanu thus presented himself as that change that was badly-needed at the Council.
Born and bred in Kumba, Mewanu did his early education in Kumba before travelling for further studies in Germany. He would later return to Kumba to embrace business and politics.
An active militant of the CPDM party, he was elected as councillor of the Kumba 1 council during the 9 February 2020 Municipal election.
Mewanu would then put forth his candidature for the post of city mayor of Kumba. But he lost the vote to Nkele Ngoh, in the election on 28 February 2020. Dissatisfied with the outcome of the vote, Mewanu petitioned the administrative court, arguing that the election was marred by irregularities.
Though the SW administrative court dismissed the petition as invalid in substance, the Supreme Court upheld it at last and final instance, ordering a re-run election.
During a pre-election meeting on Wednesday 21 October, a two-man team from the CPDM headquarters in Yaounde led by Minister Paul Tasong, urged councillors to concert and come up with a unique candidate for the post of City Mayor. It turned out that Nkelle and Mewanu could not come to a compromise.
Tasong later called for a vote to get a consensus candidate, but later revisited his decision, maintaining that a unique candidate must be found through compromise. This hesitancy and ‘Bafia dance’ by Tasong created suspicion among the councillors, many of whom accused him of wanting to impose Nkelle as City Mayor. The councillors said they must go to voting to get the unique candidate.
“We must vote; we must vote,” chanted the councillors at the top of their voices.
As tension mounted, Tasong postponed the proceedings to the following morning at 8 am. He invited all the councillors for dinner at a popular hotel in town.
But, suspecting the motive and the venue, many councillors, mostly Mewanu’s supporters, boycotted the dinner, saying the hotel was Nkelle’s campaign headquarters.
Mewanu and his supporters said that Nkelle’s political masters from Yaounde, notably Senator Otte Andrew and Hon. Tabot Njalla, had asked for the postponement to give them time enough to buy over councillors to support their protégé – Nkelle Ngoh.
The Ultimate Victory
The events on Thursday proceeded very fast. The party primaries in-house saw Mewanu collecting 42 votes, with just 33 for Nkelle. Greg’s victory drove the hundreds of anxious denizens who had crowded the precincts of the city council, into hysteria. Kumba denizens literally went wild in celebration. Bike riders packed their bikes; shop owners closed their shops; market women abandoned their merchandize, with all rushing to the City Hall to join the crowd in the celebration.
Before long the information was all over on social media networks that Greg Mewanu is the new City Mayor of Kumba.
But the celebration was not to last for long. It turned out that Mewanu had only won the primaries, but not the rerun election proper, which still had to take place, in the presence of the Meme SDO.
But no sooner did the SDO arrive at the City Hall and the proceedings began than Nkelle Ngoh got up and introduced a point of order. He said Mewanu is an ex-convict and cannot be eligible for election as city mayor. However, the motion by Nkelle was overruled by the presiding eldest councillor, and this was not before Minister Paul Tasong and the SDO evoked a lack of jurisdiction, competence and relevance.
A lawyer, who was on stand-by, edified the sitting that Mewanu was convicted for a land matter and not a criminal offence. Besides, the lawyer said a convicted person can be rehabilitated after three years of the end of his conviction. He said Mewanu had been rehabilitated reason he has a non-conviction certificate.
Having failed to get his motion through, Nkelle threw in the towel, allowing Mewanu to run unopposed. Mewanu got 64 of the 75 votes cast, with 11 blank votes.
A Victory of Hope
Commentators say Mewanu’s victory sets a new dawn for K-Town. They said 12 years of Nkelle Ngoh has taken Kumba far behind in terms of development and Mewanu’s coming brings joy and hope that K-Town may regain its hustle and bustle of yore.
Speaking to reporters shortly after his election, Mewanu said: “It is not a victory for Mewanu, but a victory for Kumba and all those who have been yearning for a new era of development in Kumba.”
He beckoned the councillors and the populations to join him so that together they can implement his vision for K-Town, the difficult context of the Anglophone conflict and the covid-19 pandemic notwithstanding. He said brighter days lie ahead for Kumba.
Mewanu thanked his predecessor, Nkelle Ngoh, whom he calls ‘grand frere’, for his selfless service to Kumba.
Meanwhile, the two deputy city mayors from the 28 February election, Balike Esuka Victorine espe Ebanja and Sako Umana Mcmillan, were retained by the councillors.
Unprecedented Euphoria
The euphoria that gripped the city following Mewanu’s election was uncontrollable. Many said it was unheard of in Kumba in the last three decades. A reporter likened the celebrations to the fever that gripped Cameroon when the Indomitable Lions defeated Argentina in the 1990 World Cup.
Reports said Okada riders packed their bikes and waited outside to be sure that the result of the vote was not doctored. Market vendors abandoned their shops and crowded the arena. Others trooped into the bars to celebrate over a drink.
Literally lifting their new ‘Super Mayor’ to the skies, the crowds paraded Mewanu from the city hall to his Alaska Street, Buea Road residence, with hundreds of bikes displaying in front.
The Police were helpless in the face of the over 10.000-man crowd. But it was a peaceful and happy parade after all.
Commentators said at long last the will of the masses has prevailed over selfish interests in Kumba. They said for several decades now candidates for political office were selected only on tribal and/or self-seeking interests.
Yet, for Mewanu as City Mayor, there is no time for celebration especially giving the circumstances of his victory and the context of the times.
Perhaps the point should be made, that, Kumba is the economic capital of the SW region. It is also the largest city and has a typically business-inclined population that needs to be reassured and re-galvanized to action once again. Of course, the expectations are very high.
Getting the populations to ignore the separatists’ calls for ghost town will be a veritable litmus test for Mewanu. Let’s wait and see!
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