Tubah mayor frustrates reorganisation of SDF Electoral District

Tubah council in Mezam division, Martin Tanjong who defied the investiture committee of the SDF party to become the mayor of Tubah has dealt another serious blow on the SDF after he frustrated a planned reorganization of the SDF Tubah electoral district which was slated for Thursday 11 September 2014.

The crisis which has been rocking the SDF party in Tubah since the 30 September 2013 elections resurfaced recently when the SDF Provincial chairman and member of parliament for the Boyo constituency, Honourable Njong Evaristus summoned a meeting of the SDF at the Tubah council chambers threatening the mayor and the councilors that should they not toe party lines in the upcoming reorganization of the party come September 11 when the reorganization will take place ,they are all going to face the wrath of the party.

Honourable Njong Evaristus warned Martin Tanjong that he must step aside as the district chairman of the party even before the reorganization of the basic organs of the party is carried out in Tubah. The councilors of the Tubah council did not also take it lightly when Honourable Njong threatened to extend the wrath of the party to them should they not toe the line.

Enraged by the twist of events ahead of the reorganization of the party in Tubah in the days ahead, some 27 councilors out of the 35 in the Tubah council, met at the residence of mayor Martin Tanjong on Monday 8 September to take a decision on how to deal with the looming crisis.

One of the councilors, Mr Nyincho told the press at the end of the meeting that the SDF party is founded on the principle of “power to the people”.

It is this fundamental principle, he noted that guided their choice of mayor after the elections. He thus advised party hierarchy to respect the basic principles of the party as the councilors in Tubah are not going to change their position.

Another councilor Akumbom Patrick from Kedjom Keku, for his part said the SDF party which is well organized in Tubah some years back had a common understanding that the position of mayor will rotate from one village to the other. After Bambui, it was just but normal that Bambili takes over from where the throne would move to Babanki.

He expressed shock as to why the investiture committee of the party violated this arrangement for reasons that are not yet clear. He was corroborated by a third female councilor who warned that Honourable Njong should be stopped from stirring the trouble that he is fomenting in Tubah.

All the 27 councilors present at the meeting fumed that how on earth can Njong Evaristus who lost election woefully in Fundong be the one dishing out lessons on democracy and elections to people who master the subject matter better than him. They Said he is responsible for Councilors’ in Boyo not voting the SDF in last 14 April 2014 senate elections.

It is here that the councilors reaffirmed their unflinching loyalty to Mayor Martin Tanjong, any attempt to disrupt the party or get Martin Tanjong out of the way through undemocratic means would mean that all of them would collectively resign from the party.

They further warned the administration to be careful because Honourable Njong Evaristus may provoke a bloodbath in Tubah on 11 September in the guise of reorganizing the party. The councilors held their grounds that 11 September 2014 in Tubah could just turn out to be like 11 September 2001 in the USA when the twin towers were brought down.

Reacting to the situation ,Martin Tanjong said he was elected on the platform of the SDF party but now he is a mayor for all of Tubah subdivision. He said he can only judged by his works at the end of his mandate. Addressing the SDF provincial chairman ,Tanjong said Honourable Njong has been behaving as if he is insane when it comes to talking about Tubah whereas he lost elections in Fundong and was only saved by votes from Belo.

Martin Tanjong went on to say he and his councilors are all very prepared for any eventuality from the SDF party hierarchy warning that should the basic texts of the party not be respected, then there would be a very ugly development in Tubah.

He wondered aloud how such a reorganization was targeting only Tubah and not the entire SDF party. He concluded that politics is like a shareholder business wherein to send one partner out, you must calculate his shares and profit and hand it back to him before he leaves.

For fear of a bloodbath ,the SDF party hierarchy postponed the reorganisation to the 11 November 2014 while negotiations are presently ongoing to resolve the crisis between the SDF and mayor Martin Tanjong.