Last Monday April 29, 2013, the Supreme Court seating in for the constitutional council proclaimed results of the April 14 senatorial election. Cpdm swept seats in eight regions it raced in the Cpdm throw a victory ball at the party’s seat. Detailed results of all 58 divisions.
The results were proclaimed yesterday April 29, 2013 in Yaoundé during a two hour session chaired by the President of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Alexis Dipanda Mouellé. 30 senators will be appointed by the Head of State.The Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement has emerged overall victor of Cameroon’s first ever Senatorial elections held on April 14, 2013 across Cameroon, winning 56 out of the seventy seats opened for contest. Before the detailed reading of results, Chief Justice Dipanda Mouellé put everything into perspective by reiterating that “the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement competed in eight regions including the Centre, East, Far North, North, Littoral, North West, South and South West”. “The Social Democratic Front on its part ran in the Adamaoua, Centre, North, North West, West, South and South West regions”, he explained. While the Cameroon Democratic Union competed only in the West region, the National Union for Democracy and Progress raced in the Adamaoua, Far North and Littoral regions. Before panning on regions, the speaker presented the results of the 58 divisions of Cameroon. These in-depth results presented in alphabetical order revealed that in the Adamaoua region, out of 526 councilors who voted in the eleven polling stations, 219 voted in favour of the SDF giving John Fru Ndi’s party a 54.94% victor and consequently seven seats in the Senate. In the Centre region, the thirty seven polling stations which received the votes of 1804 councilors gave the CDPM a 99% win and seven seats in the Upper house of parliament as well. In the East region where the CPDM was the lone party on the list, the ruling party had a 100 % victory. Throughout the twenty five polling stations of the Far North, 1440 councilors partook in the election with 1253 voting for the CDPM, making 91.79 % and grabbing the seven senatorial positions. A similar scenario unfolded in the Littoral where the competition between the CPDM and the NUDP in 16 polling stations ended in favour of Paul Biya’s party (92.66 % and all the seven seats). Even though the CPDM won in the North region, the party experienced a slight drop in performance with 65.66%, in front of Bello Bouba’s party which scored 34.02 %. The most tight battle was in the North West region where John Fru Ndi’s party lost with 47.97% while the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement scored 52.02 %, winning the 7 senatorial positions of the region. Everything was smooth in the West region where the Social Democratic Front got the seven seats with 78 %, far ahead of the Cameroon Democratic Union of Adamou Ndam Njoya which had 21.7% in the region. In the South region, the CDPM had seven hundred and four votes accounting for 99.29 %, beating the SDF which had 0.71%. Contrary to pre-election forecast, almost all councilors of the South West region voted in favour of the CPDM, registering 89.30% and winning the seven seats, out passing the SDF which scored 10.70 %. Building on the regional elections, Chief Justice Dipanda Mouellé announced that, “in all, there were 182 polling stations across Cameroon, 9839 voters with 9787 who voted effectively, 104 abstentions and 255 null and void ballots, representing a general participation rate of 98.25 %”. At the end of the solemn court session, the president of the Supreme Court congratulated the elected senators and wished them luck in the pursuance of their new duties. He insisted on the fact that “senators must actively partake in the elaboration of good laws for the good of all Cameroonians rather than moving around majestically with senatorial wings…”. The court session was attended by the president of the National Assembly and members of the house’s bureau, the Prime Minister who was flanked by members of government (except Bello Bouba), members of the diplomatic corps, members of Elections Cameroon, the Grand Chancellor of national orders and a host of national dignitaries. Talking to press men, Senator Sylvestre Naah Ondoua said, “I feel humbled to be among the first senators of Cameroon. I would do my best to be up to the challenge”. Quizzed on what would become of John Fru Ndi after his failure to be a senator, the Secretary General of the SDF, Elizabeth Tamanjong said, “despite the nature of the results, Ni John Fru Ndi remains the leader of our party”. At the end of the session, Chief Justice Alexis Dipanda Mouellé treated the session’s attendees to a cocktail.
MANYANYE IKOME
