Littoral SDF rocked by protracted election crisis

For over three years, a protracted election crisis has rocked the SDF party in the Littoral Region with no solution in view. Even the last SDF National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting, which held in Bamenda on February 20-21, 2016, did not seem to offer any solution to the crisis.

Neither the SDF National Chairman John Fru Ndi nor NEC came out with a new date for the organisation of the overdue election of a new Bureau for the Littoral SDF.

The Chairman of the Bonaberi (Douala IV) SDF Electoral District, John Ndangle Kumase, sounded quite frustrated when The Post contacted him on March 8, 2016. Kumase said they had expected NEC to treat the reorganisation of the Littoral SDF as a special case, considering that the operation, which started in 2013, has till date not succeeded. “The Littoral SDF has been in crisis for too long,” said Kumase.

He said they were disappointed that NEC did not fix any date for the election of a new Littoral Regional Bureau. According to the Bonaberi District Chair, NEC just lumps Littoral with the other Regions when talking about the reorganisation of the party’s basic organs in 2016.

Observers say the lack of commitment by NEC to reorganise the SDF in Littoral is due to many members of NEC nursing selfish reasons and taking sides with the different camps in the crisis. The Littoral SDF has since split into two; with one camp against that of the current Littoral SDF Chairman Hon. Jean Michel Nintcheu accusing him of using intrigues and money to delay the reorganisation of the party in the Region.

Nintcheu’s mandate ended in early 2013, but so far, no election has been organised. The cry of many SDF militants in Douala in particular and other parts of Littoral was for Fru Ndi to intervene. That was why there was a lot of hope in the Littoral SDF that the crisis was finally going to end, when early this year Fru Ndi fixed February 21 as the date for the election of a new Regional Bureau.

But SDF militants of the Littoral were surprised when the Chairman early last month postponed the election without giving a new date. The head of the NEC team charged with the reorganisation of the party organs in the Littoral Region, Senator Jean Tsomelo, told The Post that Fru Ndi postponed the election because the NEC meeting that was earlier scheduled to hold in Bamenda on February 6 was postponed to February 21.

He said the postponement of the NEC meeting was because the date coincided with the burial of Major General Martin Chumu Tumenta.

Meanwhile, Senator Tsomelo was reappointed as leader of the NEC delegation for the Littoral with new members like Hon. Emmanuel Yoyo and Hon. Wirba coming on board.

This is the fourth time NEC has made appointments for the reorganisation of the Littoral SDF. The National Organisation Secretary of the SDF, Ferdinard Asapngu, was first designate in 2013. NEC replaced him in 2014 following an allegation of corruption.

NEC then designated Tsomelou to replace Asapngu. Mid-last year, Hon. Cyprian Awudu Mbaya and Vanigansen Mo Chiggle were appointed for reinforcement, though Awudu did not show up.