SDF District Chairman fired for assault on MP

The Social Democratic Front’s National Executive Committee, NEC, has endorsed the expulsion of Che Ngong Rex, the party’s district chairman for Bafmen, in Menchum division.

Che is currently detained in Wum for assaulting Ndong Larry Hills a.k.a. Wum Boy who is the serving Member of Parliament for Menchum North.

Meeting in Bamenda last Saturday, NEC simply endorsed an earlier decision that had been taken by the North West SDF provincial bureau; slamming the party’s dreaded Article 8.2 on Che.

Apparently out of worry of being tagged a party that harbours terrorists, sources within the SDF hinted our reporter that Saturday’s NEC meeting took the Che-Wum Boy matter very seriously.

Without much debate, Che’s article 8.2 earlier served him by the North West SDF provincial bureau was simply endorsed. It should be noted that Article 8.2 expels militants that the SDF considers indiscipline.

Meanwhile, a military source disclosed to the Journal that Che may be transferred to Kondengui Maximum Security Prison in Yaounde, to await trial. His continuous detention in Wum, the source said, poses a lot of security concerns in the entire Menchum division.

The senior military official said that there are increasing reports that his supporters are threatening to break into the cell and have him released, and the state cannot take such chances.

Besides, he added, Che’s transfer to Yaounde would serve as a deterrent to people who think they can beat up the people’s representatives and go free.

Asked what would become of the venue of the crime should the SDF district chairman be transferred to Yaounde, the military source clarified that he might just be taken to Yaounde temporarily to permit the tension to die down. “He would be taken back to Wum for effective trial when gendarmes would have been through with investigation," he said.

The SDF Member of Parliament for Menchum North beaten by Che received medical attention at the Bamenda General Hospital after he was assaulted. Ndong Larry Hills narrated that he was at the Bafmen palace on August 1, to take part in a meeting summoned by the Bafmen Cultural and Development Association president.

The meeting, he said, was summoned to discuss issues related to the Bafmen water project extension. Also in attendance were the Fon, Mayor and traditional council authorities of Bafmen.

The MP narrated that when he took the floor to give directives on how a follow-up committee be put in place to monitor the work of the contractor carrying out the water project that is being sponsored by a Dutch family; Che not only ordered him to sit down but accused him of doing nothing for Bafmen with his micro-projects grants.

He added that the SDF district chairman rained insults on him in total disregard of the Fon of Bafmen, who had ordered the SDF official to behave himself.

The meeting, he said, was brought to an abrupt end following the tension that was created in the palace by Che. Other accounts have it that the Bafmen SDF District Chairman was before the premature end of the gathering slammed a fine of ten goats by the Fon and traditional council of Bafmen.

“When I left the palace, Ngong Rex kept following me from behind and calling me the highest crook in the world and a thief…I responded that he is the highest crook in Bafmen, who has been selling election results since 1992. At this juncture, he gave me a devastating blow on my left eye…”

The MP said while he lost consciousness and slummed to the ground, Che took to his hills but was later arrested by gendarmes in Bafmen. Reports say irate villagers and Bafmen SDF militants invaded the gendarmerie cell and demanded to have Che released for them to skin him.

It took the timely intervention and wits of the Bafmen gendarmerie brigade commander for him to be whisked off to Wum where he is currently detained.