Hon. Lifaka was honest & independent -
Says insider
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Convivial atmosphere at the Nguti
grandstand,
which served as a makeshift polling station
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The Buea Meeting of Sunday, 6 December
2015
Rumour
alone could have made believe that the meeting was called to cancel elections
in Tombel. Even I, Divisional Chargé de Mission for that exercise, did not know
why we were convened to Buea on that day. So, all the reasons that were
advanced were mere speculation. Of course, some people could have intentionally
sent the rumour going viral, as it did, so as to cause confusion where there was
none. And you unfortunately fell for it.
Participants
That
meeting was not open to whoever thought they could attend. It is not like
people came and mounted pressure on us. Only list leaders were invited, and
they alone were heard. No other persons had access to the meeting venue, and
the uninvited persons I saw actually stayed in the shadows.
Honourable
Emilia Lifaka’smanoeuvres
Nothing
could be further from the truth than your: “… the president of the divisional
supervisory committee, Hon. Emilia MonjowaLifaka was said to have manoeuvred,
albeit unsuccessfully, to ensure that the Mayor of Tombel, Madam Rose Ngassa,
wins as WCPDM Section President. Reports said because Hon. Lifaka and the SDO
for Kupe-Muanenguba, HaddisonKwetong had been corrupted by Rose Ngassa, they
did everything to get Ngassa’s list to triumph. Lifaka reportedly travelled to
Tombel on three separate occasions to make sure things worked out for Ngassa.
But her efforts could not stand the mobilization capacity of the “unity
list”…Observers question why Hon. Lifaka did not pay even a single visit to
Nguti which was also within her sphere of control!” This is a good example of
what responsible journalism is not and do allow me point out the following:
Our schedule of activities planned
visits to Tombel, just like Bangem and Nguti, to gauge progress of activities;
If you were to watch videos of our
two (not three) visits to Tombel, you would see women, supporters of Njumbe
Florence (winner) and Rose Ngassa alike, without exception, dancing for joy at
polling stations whenever the Chairlady’s moving words clicked with them. Her
presence was reassuring, they knew she was there for all of them, and did not
hide it. So it is preposterous to state that Hon. Lifaka’s efforts could not
stand the mobilization capacity of the unity list;
If you really cared for the facts,
you would have understood that there was no way our team could have been in
Kupe-Muanenguba without having links with the administrative authorities of the
Division, who were expected to provide us security in the first place;
If you understood the mission we
were assigned, then you would have known why Hon. Lifaka paid a listening ear
to all complaints and also get information from administrative and security
officials, who supposedly should master their area of jurisdiction. But if the
SDO has lost face and been “pocketed” by Ngassa, to use your words, it is not
proper to state that the only common ground in his association with Hon. Lifaka
is that they were both corrupted by Ngassa. Did you say guilt by association?
And does the fact that Hon. Lifaka paid heed to Ngassa’s complaints mean she approved
of them? As a referee, she was supposed to receive complaints from all sides
and should not be indicted for doing her job! If there were any apprehensions,
it was the fear that unscrupulous persons may use their positions to tilt her
opinion;
But if you got closer to Hon.
Lifaka, you would have realised that she has a strong, independent and
analytical mind of her own, and will not swallow things whole without seeking
to ascertain their veracity;
Of course, if the truth meant
anything to you in that article, you would have known that the Chairlady was in
Nguti on the day of the Section elections to ensure all was smooth, just like
she had done in Bangem and Tombel, and these images are real.
Your
comments do not, therefore, in the least reflect the woman I worked with for
well over a month; they denigrate and smear the repute of the CPDM Central
Committee envoy to Kupe-Muanenguba during the reorganisation exercise; they
cast doubt on the morality of those who conducted elections in our Division,
and may even bring to disrepute the image of the CPDM.
What you should know and should have
known
If
the picture were as glowing as I am trying to paint it, you may ask, why then
was there such a fuss about the goings-on in Tombel? The truth is, Tombel was
calm after the elections, and those who lost actually conceded defeat, or so it
was thought. Members of the “unity list” even paid a courtesy call on their
mayor thereafter and they all talk of a most convivial encounter. So, why the
volt-face, Ngassa’s petition, which both the Kupe-Muanenguba III Section
Electoral Committee and the Kupe-Muanenguba Divisional Coordination Committee
saw only on the day of the Buea meeting? Only the petitioner and her horde of
hangers on should provide the answer. But my take is
that after they lost, the leeches saw that she will no longer be releasing the
money they badly need and so thought they could induce her further into error
so that she keeps spending while they feed fat off it. Yes, the day she lost
the section elections, she wept like a child and bitterly blamed all those who
had “fooled her into running.”
The petition
Ngassa’s
petition actually tried to question the credibility of the elections, which is
normal for a loser. So, why pinpoint the peculiar case of Tombel when petitions
came from all over, you may again want to ask! The point is, all the other
petitions were appropriately channelled and were trashed by the Regional
Follow-up Committee, unlike Ngassa’s, which by-passed the Kupe-Muanenguba III
Section Electoral Committee, the Kupe-Muanenguba Divisional Coordination
Committee, and the South West Regional Follow-up Committee as already
mentioned. It could not thus have been handled at these respective levels.
Mountain out of a molehill
However,
Ngassa’s petition went too far and accused the people of Tombel of xenophobic,
anti-Bamileke sentiment. These misguided statements are potentially dangerous
for Cameroon, and especially for an affably welcoming community like Tombel,
where Bamilekes (who form just a small fraction of the settler population in
Tombel), live in harmony not only with Tombel indigenes, but with other settler
groups from all over Kupe-Muanenguba and the country at large. Such gravely
untoward, albeit tenuous and flimsy accusations could not, therefore, have left
the CPDM Central Committee indifferent, reason why the Regional Chair, Ibrahim
TalbaMalla, convened the meeting to clear the mist.
Of
course, it turned out that Ngassa was just trying to brew a storm in a tea cup.
EricNkwelle
Chargé de
Mission
KM DCC
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