Gender equity and consensus have been prescribed as key elements in the elaboration of lists under the banner of the Cameroon’s People Democratic Movement in view of the twin elections.
During a meeting between members of the regional and divisional commissions charged with the elaboration of CPDM consensual lists and the party’s Secretary General held yesterday July 8, 2013 in the tripartite hall of the Yaounde conference center, Mr Jean Nkuete said “I urge you to encourage the participation of women and youths in the upcoming twin elections and to drill militants on the rationale of consensual lists”. The SG insisted on the fact that “divisional commissions must preach the virtues of consensus on the field, seek the views of ordinary militants, section and sub section presidents, political, religious or administrative authorities and, ensure the respect of conditions spelt out by the circular signed on July 5, 2013 by the national president”. According to him, “the representatives of the Central Committee should avoid subjective and bias interpretations of this circular”. For this reason, he said, any candidate who does not meet the said requirements would simply be disqualified. In finding and defining the role militants play in this process, he noted that “grass root militants have a clear picture of all those vying for office and, in accordance with provisions of sections 23(5) of the party’s legal instruments, the central committee does the final nomination of candidates for national and local elections”. In order to avoid over zealousness on the field, Mr Nkuete was unequivocal on the fact that, “all members of regional and divisional commissions should have clearly defined roles with performance related indicators”. He later on set the deadline of Friday July 12, 2013 for the submission of complete application files from the divisional and regional commissions to the central commission based in Yaounde. After him, the Technical Adviser at the Central Committee, Professor Paul Celestin Ndembiyembe took to the rostrum to give tit bits to members of the various commissions. Matter of factly, he said “all commissions should help in the search for a consensus, identify and report candidates who directly or indirectly mar the struggle to arrive at a consensus, ensure that only documents required by law feature in the application files, read, understand and master the electoral code”. Coming back to gender equity, he advised that “men and women should feature in cases where there are two parliamentary seats and at least two women should be present in constituencies with 5 seats while not less than three women should be present in constituencies like the Mfoundi division where there are 7 seats”. He also cautioned members of the various commissions to create a gap between the teams which handle the legislative election and the one in charge of the municipal election. In order not to sit back on the setbacks of senatorial elections held on April 14, 2013, the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement has identified a collection of possible traps to be avoided during the selection of candidates for the twin elections. Consequently, the CPDM’s assistant Communication Secretary, Professor Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo drilled attendees on “the implications of accepting documents legalized by the wrong authorities, the various types of certificates of non conviction, the futility of legalized and certified documents which are more than three months old, etc”. He also insisted on the fact that the “declaration of candidacy and the affidavit must be signed by the candidates and legalized by the Divisional Officer”. He also explained the difference between the certificate of registration for the twin elections and the receipts delivered by Elections Cameroon after registration for the said elections. Concerning the cautions worth FCFA 1,000,000 and FCFA 50,000 for legislative and municipal elections respectively, Professor Moukoko said “only original receipts should be accepted on the field”.The meeting ended with an insightful and engaging discussion during which attendees sought to find out what answer to give to alternate senators who wish to partake in the election. “There is no qualm to that effect”, answered the SG. Members of the various commissions set out for their destinations last night.
MANYANYE IKOME
