Cameroon:Mayor Mbella Moki Fires Back at Challengers, Insists He Can’t Lose Elections Now

By Christopher Ambe Shu

 Apparently waiting for the right moment to strike his numerous detractors and challengers within and out of the CPDM party, Charles Mbella Moki, president of Fako III Section (Buea) CPDM, on March 24, used the 27^th anniversary of the party in Buea to tell a huge crowd of party members and sympathizers who turned up for the celebrations that, losing an election is not part of his political agenda despite the on-going scheming to unseat him.

Fako III CPDM  Section President Charles Mbella Moki vows:"I cannot lose elections in Buea now"//Recorder Cmr

 “It is not yet time to lose elections in Buea”, thundered the local party boss, who is also Mayor of Buea to a cheering crowd of militants, as some of them seemingly aware of the on-going scheming against their leader, displayed pro-Mbella Moki placards.

 “Paul Biya for Cameroon, Mbella Moki, for Buea ‘’, read one of the placards.

Without mentioning names, Mbella Moki made senior party officials sent by the Central Committee of the party to boost the anniversary celebrations in Buea visibly uncomfortable .To the surprise of many, Mbella Moki bluntly told them to be honest ambassadors of the party at the grassroots, instead of scheming and fanning division in a bid to unseat him as Section president and mayor when it was not yet time for that.

“I have an injection and when I inject people with it they are energized and are ready to face challenges at any time”, boasted Mbella Moki, whose current terms as section president and Mayor are supposed to end this year when the party calls for elections to reorganize its structures and when the President of the Republic convenes the electorate for this year’s municipal elections.

Judging from the significant Buea  Council-supported   infrastructural development of  the town ,many  people strongly believe that if the CPDM reorganizes its structures and Mbella Moki is elected  a councilor on the CPDM ticket -and the CPDM eventually  wins the municipal elections in Buea,he may be reelected as mayor to serve a third consecutive five-year term as Mayor. 

But even as many hail the increasing infrastructural development of the town now under Mayor Moki, his detractors think otherwise. They insist that his time is up.  Consequently, his detractors are said to be holding secret meetings here and there and often strategizing on how to frustrate his efforts to rise again. So intense is the cold war within the CPDM in Buea that longtime political observers have likened it to a vendetta.

But Mbella Moki, privately described even by CPDM partisans as a political tactician and dribbler is said to have sufficient information about what his schemers have in store for him. He has vowed to fight back with all his might to ensure that the CPDM remains the winning and leading party in Buea –and why not under his continued leadership.

The section president regretted that some shortsighted CPDM militants have joined cheap talk by the opposition SDF that the mayor of Buea has mortgaged the Municipality by bringing on board private investors to help boost infrastructural  development of the Municipality.

“We have transformed Buea through the Build, Operate-and Transfer (BOT) and the Public Private Partnership Initiative (PPPI).But it is rather unfortunate that some of our comrades, who have been to school, are subscribing to misinformation by the opposition about the BOT and PPPI funded projects”, said Mbella Moki, adding that it is such partnerships that have developed the USA.

With elections just at the corner, how can Mbella Moki ensure that he remains in the limelight?

This is what he told the huge crowd of militants and sympathizers: “I am coming to meet you at your doorsteps to get you registered for the coming polls.Togther we have done so much to give Buea a facelift that we cannot afford to lose any elections now”.

 He said he has dedicated his life “to serve Buea under the CPDM ticket and we shall achieve more and build a new Buea.”

 “It is thanks to our level of accountability and transparency in the management of the Council resources that we won a prize from the Council Support Fund, FEICOM, and we also won the confidence of other right-thinking Individuals in our Community who have accepted to venture into this PPPI and BOT”, Mbella Moki said, adding that his leadership- whether at the council or party level- has a positive balance sheet to charm more voters. 

Telca  CEO Mrs Kate Kanyi  visits Buea council projects

The CPDM Central Committee delegation to the anniversary celebrations in Buea was led by Hon Emilia Lifaka, VP of the National Assembly, who is said not to be pulling on well with Section President Mbella Moki .Hon. Lifaka called on militants to close ranks and consolidate their political gains.

Mayor Moki and his visitor Mrs. Kate Kanyi

Meanwhile on the eve of the party’s 27^th anniversary, Madam Kate Kanyi, business magnate and CEO of Telca ltd Douala, a coffee and cocoa company, attracted by the current infrastructural development of Buea, paid a surprise visit to Mayor Mbella Moki, and visited some project construction sites. She encouraged the mayor to continue enhancing the development of the Municipality and promised her support where necessary.