As noted by the US ambassador to Cameroon, the election was transparent and Cameroonians are to be congratulated.
After the proclamation of results of the October 9 presidential election, the leader of the Cameroonian ecological movement, Pierre Fritz Ngo told journalists that “putting aside the imperfections of the electoral process, we must all accept that the organisation of an election across the world was a fastidious task for Elecam”. “I accept the results”, he said. On Monday October 24, the very leader, together with that of the Unified socialist party, Isaac Feuze used the columns of the national bilingual daily newspaper, Cameroon Tribune to congratulate Paul Biya following his landslide victory. In like manner, the leader of the Union des forces democratiques du Cameroun, Victorien Hameni Bieuleu gently opined that “there is nothing to object as far as results are concerned. Now we know the president-elect and in my view, the electoral process and work of the Supreme Court took place in transparency”. Given that all the praises and flaws of this election generally stemmed from the organisation by Elecam, the institution’s president, Samuel Fonkam Azu’u said “I am glad and happy the results of the presidential election were released. Elecam wishes to thank all Cameroonians who directly or indirectly partook in the electoral process. We are grateful to the men and women of the media who accompanied us throughout the exercise. We accept your criticisms in good faith”. Members of the diplomatic corps in the likes of Robert P Jackson of the USA, Xue Jinewei of the People’s Republic of China and Bharat Joshi of Great Britain as well as Cpdm grass root militants have equally saluted the election results and victory of Mr Paul Biya. Yet, as unfolding facts now suggest, an opposition party has taken upon itself to animate purposeless calumny campaigns against the legitimate winner of the October 9, presidential election. Being almost absent in the entire voter registration process, this opposition party never answered present at the appropriate time. Fru Ndi protested the setting up of Elecam and was later asked to submit names for the restructuring of the board. After doing that, the head of the Social democratic front and some of his partners in the opposition are today challenging the verdict of the Supreme Court. In trying to put to question the fairness of the election, Fru Ndi says: “The unfortunate thing is that because of the haphazard registration, so many people could not vote. When some people found out that they didn’t have their voters’ card, they got angry and stayed home”. Two days after the official proclamation of results, the Sdf went further to complain that dead people voted in the election. However, upon voting at the Government primary school of Bastos in Yaoundé on October 9, Paul Biya enjoined all Cameroonians to “be indulgent vis a vis the imperfections in the voting process”. He said “despite the few irregularities noticed, there was no intention to cheat”. He further reminded Cameroonians that Elections Cameroon aka Elecam is a baby institution which should enjoy the trust and confidence of all Cameroonians.
MANYANYE IKOME
