Cameroon:Ex-Governor Tanjong dismisses claim he was elected MP without enrolling as voter

By Christopher Ambe 
Retired Governor Enow Tanjong, one of the newly elected MP's for Manyu, has dismissed as unfounded an allegation contained in a petition addressed to the Board Chairman of ELECAM, Cameroon's elections management body, by Akoson A. Raymond, People's Action Party (PAP) parliamentary candidate, Manyu ,that the former was elected MP at last September 30 legislative election when he did not enroll in the electoral register as required by law.

 The petition, emailed to the The Recorder, was copied to media organs  and foreign representations  in Cameroon.
The petition, titled "Time For ELECAM to Prove Neutrality and Competence", calls for ELECAM to initiate legal action to ensure that retired Governor Tanjong's parliamentary seat is declared vacant.   

  But when the The Recorder met retired Governor Tanjong in Buea, for investigation, on Friday, October 25, the MP-elect regretted that such a serious allegation could be made against his person by someone who himself wanted to be the people's representative .Describing it as unfounded, he went straight for his voter's card(Number 05676861), which he came and handed to this reporter for a view.

 The MP-elect said he was one of the first to enroll in the electoral register in Buea with his polling station being the Military Sector, opposite the Nigerian Consulate-General of Nigeria, after the launching of biometric registration. He explained that when he later decided to run for parliamentary election in Manyu as a CPDM candidate, he informed ELECAM about it and he was issued a voter card with his new polling station as Government School  Fotabe A, where he reportedly voted.  

 

 Retired Governor Tangong who said he was contemplating legal action against the writer of the petition, remarked, "The people of Mamfe wanted me to be their MP and bring sanity to what was going."
He said the motivation behind such as a serious allegation was bad faith and could only come from "drowning people who have nothing to offer to the population"

  In the same petition, Mr.Akoson alleged that another MP-elect for Manyu Chief Igelle Elias Terhemen, forged his 'attestation of Deposit of his Caution Fee, which was one of the requirements to qualify as a parliamentary candidate.

But when The Recorder contacted Chief Igelle by phone, he too dismissed the allegation. "…Go to ELECAM and check, my attestation of deposit of one million FCFA is there. I paid in Mamfe treasury. You can go to ELECAM and get the reference number and then go to Mamfe Treasury and find out yourself."

Following is Mr. Akoson Raymond's petition:

The Board Chairman,
Elections Cameroon,
ELECAM, Yaounde.
Sir,
Time For ELECAM to Prove Neutrality and Competence

The Intelligence Unit of People's Action Party, PAP has uncovered disturbing facts that would cause some if not all of the parliamentary seats in Manyu automatically become vacant after the Supreme Court's proclamation of results of the legislative election Thursday October 17, 2013.
 
Fact One: Hard evidence from the Biometric database at Yaounde reveals that retired governor Enow Tanjong from Fotabe village, Upper Bayang, one of the CPDM list members for parliamentary election in Manyu DID NOT REGISTER on the electoral register. Section 156 of Law No. 2012/001 of April 19, 2012 relating to the Electoral Code spells out paramount eligibility criterion for parliament which is to be registered on the electoral registers.
 
Note: Sec. 161 (2) of the Electoral Code provides; 'The seat in the National Assembly of a member or alternate shall AUTOMATICALLY become VACANT if, after proclamation of the results of the election, it is established that such member or alternate was INELIGIBLE...'
 
Fact Two: Again, sufficient evidence there is that Igelle Elias Terhemen from Akwaya -- a list member of the CPDM Parliamentary list in Manyu faked his 'Attestation of Deposit of his Caution Fee'. The said Igelle Elias did not pay his caution fee. This means that Sec. 166 of the Electoral Code was violated which of course, has penal consequences.
 
Note: For non payment of his caution fee, Igelle Elias Terhemen crumbled the CPDM parliamentary list. ELECAM knows what happens to incomplete lists submitted for screening. It is only logical to state that CPDM DID NOT participate at the legislative election in Manyu.
 
PAP salutes the effort of ELECAM thus far and understands that no institution can function perfectly without shortcomings. However, such shortcomings must be fixed when noticed. The neutrality and fairness of ELECAM will be measured on how they weigh in to arrest this situation.
 
In the coming days, PAP shall be organizing a press confab where the evidences will be brandished.
 Respectfully submitted,
Akoson A. Raymond,
PAP Parliamentary Candidate,
Manyu.
E-mail: akosonako@yahoo.com
Tel: 78358029

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[Also Published in The Recorder Newspaper ,Cameroon,of October 28,2013]