Why Agbor Tabi advised Biya against compensating traitors

Prof Peter Agbor Tabi, was buried in his village, Ndekwai, Manyu Division, Southwest Region, June 4. The Varsity don died in an American Hospital in Paris, France on April 26, 2016.

Different people have different opinions about the late Agbor Tabi. But the memory that CPDM militants in Douala, especially those of the Wouri V CPDM Section have of the late Professor, is a strong advice he gave President Biya last year; that people who abandon the CPDM and later want to return, should not be given any posts.

According to him, such people should start from the base as new militants, because giving them such positions is tantamount to giving compensations to traitors. That was Agbor Tabi’s position in the negotiations between Jean Nkuete and the National President of the La Dynamique, Albert Dzongang.

The Douala-based Dzongang was formerly a big shot in the CPDM in Douala and served as Mayor and MP in the 90s.

He later on abandoned theCPDM, created La Dynamique and contested the 2011 Presidential election , after which he became a member of the famous ‘G 7’ (opposition front) created after the controversial 2011 Presidential election.

Who To Replace Foning

When the Mayor of Douala V, Francoise Foning, died in January 2015, one of the major challenges in the CPDM was who to replace her as CPDM Section President of Wouri V.

Some Bamileke CPDM bigwigs including Jean Nkuete, expressed fear that many Bamileke CPDM militants in Douala V may decamp if another powerful Bamileke elite does not replace Foning. Nkuete convened a secret meeting with Bamileke CPDM bigwigs, which Dzongang was invited.

Dzongang reportedly agreed to return to the CPDM, if he was made Wouri V CPDM Section President. After the meeting, Nkuete wrote a secret correspondence to Biya , requesting him to visa the deal. The correspondence later leaked to the media.

Biya Seeks Agbor Tabi’s Advice

When President Biya received the correspondence, he sent a copy to Prof Agbor Tabi for his views and advice. Agbor Tabi’s secret reply to President Biya, which later leaked to La Nouvelle Expression was hard.

‘No Compensation To Traitors’

The advice late Prof Agbor Tabi gave Biya on the issue of Dzongang’s return to the CPDM was hard. According to the leaked correspondence, Agbor Tabi recalled that Dzongang was one of the big shots in the CPDM in the 80s and early 90s, but found it inadmissible and treacherous that Dzongang abandoned Biya and the CPDM to join the opposition to fight against Biya and the CPDM.

He was however, not against the idea of Dzongang returning to the party, but he advised that if Dzongang had to return, he should start from the base as a new militant. He stressed that giving Dzongang the post of Section President would be tantamount to paying compensation to a traitor.

Agbor Tabi, however, observed that Foning was indisputably one of the most committed CPDM militants, but that it would not be good for the memory of late Foning, to fill the post she left with somebody who abandoned the same Foning and other militants to join the opposition.

Biya Rejects Deal

Apparently based on the advice given by Agbor Tabi, Biya did not visa the Nkuete- Dzongang deal. On the other hand, Agbor Tabi’s advice was hailed by CPDM militants in Douala, especially the CPDM elite of Wouri V CPDM Section who were very bitter with the idea that the party hierarchy was planning to bring back Dzongang and impose him as Section President.

The plan had generated a lot of discontent in the Wouri Section. Thus the memory CPDM leaders and militants in Douala have of the late Prof Agbor Tabi, is a positive one.