Cameroon-info.net understands that Ndenge Godden Zama, Limbe I SDF Electoral District Chairman and some of his party members uncovered a rigging plot allegedly put in place by the CPDM.

An aspiring councillor on the List of the CPDM in Limbe I, a certain Arrey Grace Manyi, is reported to have been caught with huge numbers of CPDM ballot papers. Zama, who doubles as Secretary General of the SDF Fako Divisional Coordination, and some SDF aspiring Councillors say they caught the ballot papers with the lady red-handed and almost stopped voting in the polling station but for the timely intervention of the Senior Divisional Officer, SDO, for Fako, Emmanuel Engamba Ledoux.

“People come here, collect multiple CPDM ballot papers, stuff them in envelops to go and fill ballot boxes. If we harm somebody in this town today, nobody should blame us. As I am telling you now, they (separatist fighters) are asking for FCFA 5 million ransom from me. My brother is in the bush because of this election. Look at it, I am not happy,” Zama told the SDO at the scene of the incident Sunday.

A day after the polls, Journalist Asong Hillary Jr. says he has been receiving tons of threats already from politicians in Limbe. He declares that his safety and that of his family is now in doubts.

He writes to his colleagues: “While some people say I'm part of the rigging machinery in Limbe, CPDM officials have gone mad against me claiming that I exposed the lady who was reportedly caught stuffing envelopes with CPDM ballot papers.  Let it be known, therefore, that one innocent Mr. Asong Hillary Jr. is the subject of threats from political stooges of both the ruling and opposition parties in the Limbe municipality.  My life and that of my entire family are uncertain.”

Asong adds that: “I was attacked yesterday night at my business centre by some people who consider themselves affiliates to the CPDM. They revealed that one Obi Ekwalle, an SDF polling agent at the said voting centre said I, Hillary Asong, made the call while he wanted to stay quiet in the hope of collecting money at the end of the move.”

Asong tells Cameroon-Info.Net that: “After monitoring yesterday's elections in Limbe as assigned by my media house, I received a couple of calls from unknown numbers whose owners refused introducing themselves but told me I should be ready to expose everything in Limbe including my death and/or that of any of my children.

“Later on at Westgate Complex, a leisure centre where I'm manager, some members of the CPDM, (including the accused lady and the president of the polling station where the incident occurred) came around for their first time since the creation of the complex months ago and told me they were disappointed in me, saying I should not be the one to do such on Elections Day. They revealed to me a certain Obi Ekwalle, an SDF polling agent at the same voting centre declared that I was the one who drew the attention of SDF members who stormed the place (even in my absence and without my knowledge).”

In a missive penned in Limbe Monday, February 10, 2020, Aminateh Nkemngu, journalist and registered voter in Limbe calls on the competent authorities to assume their responsibilities and investigate cases of election fraud in Limbe, as well as threats to journalists and some members of the opposition.

Titled “Alert and serious call to order for CPDM politicians in Limbe!”, Aminateh says they “have received information on good authority that following yesterday’s election and unmasking of ballot box stuffing and vote buying by militants of CPDM in Limbe, some journalists and other sympathisers of the SDF have come under what I will call life threats for contributing to expose the huge fraud masterminded by CPDM to which the attention of the SDO for Fako, Mr. Engamba Emmanuel Ledoux was drawn with concrete evidence.”

As such, Aminateh Nkemngu took upon himself to make the following declarations:

“That Cameroon is a state of law and nobody whosoever is above the law. So the law must take its full course in investigating electoral fraud in Limbe no matter whose ox is gored.

“That we are all Cameroonians. We are all free to live anywhere on the national territory. Any attempt by any individual to spew hatred by claiming ownership or having Limbe at heart because it is his or her village through rigging elections is criminal and must be resisted.

“That as Cameroonians, we owe our immediate communities in particular and Cameroon in general the responsibility to build social peace and justice. Any attempt to thwart this sacrosanct principle of nation building through outright stuffing of ballot boxes, vote buying and intimidation must be dealt with according to the rules and regulations in force.

“The 2020 local elections are holding against a backdrop of armed confrontation in the South West and North West Regions. This election offers us a unique opportunity to demonstrate to our radicalized young people that change is only possible through the ballot box and not the barrel of the gun. In that way, we will be encouraging them to drop arms and come back home. Any attempt therefore to stuff ballot boxes, buy votes and provoke social tensions must be considered an act of terrorism and those found guilty by the competent authorities be treated as such.

“Finally, I hasten to say if a credible and transparent investigation into serious allegations of ballot box stuffing, vote buying and threats to lives in Limbe are not properly investigated and handled, it could degenerate into physical, bloody and even armed confrontations between militants of the contesting political parties (SDF and CPDM) in Limbe!!!”

Story by Atia T. Azohnwi