K’ba Market election cancelled at 11th hour

By Doh Bertrand Nua in Kumba

The over 2000 shop owners and traders of the Kumba main market have been left in a permanent state of confusion as to who will be managing the affairs of the welfare of the traders following the cancellation of the election by the Administration on Friday March 17, 2017 at the market after hours of voting.

                The traders had turn had turned out in a hotly contested election to decide among three candidates the new president to head the affairs of the Kumba Main Market Traders Welfare Association.

                The stormy election lasted some over eight hours in the voting process before it was canceled by the Meme Administration under the pretext that it was too late and voting was still ongoing. The over 2000 traders have been divided in to three separate camps, representing the three candidates; Mr. SonaSonaHabibullah represented in the process by a blue ballot, Mr. Tatang Augustine represented by a green ballot and Mr. Tabot William Tabot, standing for a white ballot. Prior to the election, the First Assistant Senior Divisional officer for Meme, EpoulewaneVerklineMbua, had signed a communique disqualifying the incumbent president, Mr. Chamajuh James for reasons best known to the administration.

                The Median newspaper gathered from some sources who preferred been anonymous that, the election process was cancaled just when vote counting was about to begin because one of the candidate one who is related to heavyweight authority in Kumba is been favoured and from every indication if the votes were counted he would have been defeated. The sources for revealed the cancelation is for further underground work to be done by the set candidate and his heavyweight god fathers. Other observers revealed immediately the candidate feared been defeated because of how things were unfolding, he made fee calls to who only the candidate knows and minutes later the election was cancelled with orders from the administration. The election which was cancelled at about 8pm left many of the traders debated, confused and angry with some of them even refusing to leave the market. It only took the intervention of the forces of law and order for the population to be send out of the market some hours later even though some still gathered at the main gate of the market chanting names of their candidates.

                Meantime, some of the supporters of the incumbent president, Chamujuh James, who was disqualified by the administration all mobilized to say the incumbent must continue to be at the helm until fresh elections are done. Others even shouted if his name is not included in the fresh elections, then it won't hold.

                Some pundits and observers have notes that with the present deadlock, the Meme administration may come out with a caretaker committee to take charge of the activities of the traders before fresh elections are been conducted.

                The election was presided over by the representative of the Divisional officer of Kumba and monitored by the chief of service of commercial and judicial affairs, third deputy mayor of Kumba I, senior police inspector amongst others.