Why SDF failed to revenge Councillors,Mayors' arrest

A recent move taken by Social Democratic Front, SDF Grand Councillors of the Kumba City Council calling for the demolition of a building on a disputed piece of land with the Kumba I Council collapsed during a recent council session.

The move was seen by observers asa revenge on the City Council in a standoff that led to the arrest of some Councillors; the First Deputy Mayor, Raphael Tanyi, and the Mayor Abel Ebako in March this year.

Motions calling for the shops that are near completion to be demolished abruptly went dead after the Senior Divisional Officer, SDO, David Koulbout Aman, said the same measuring rod will be used to assess the multiple Business Centres of the SDF run Councils in Meme.

Councillors argued during the session that the building project was not among those submitted for approval by the Government Delegate, Victor Nkelle Ngoh, at the time of outlining his annual plan of action.

Other reasons brought to the fore to justify the motion were that Councillors were not given the opportunity to deliberate and pass a motion on the project. Some expressed fear that the terms of the contract may end up putting the City Council in more debts.

Yet the Government Delegate told the audience that Public -Private Partnership projects do not necessarily need a deliberation. He furthered that the first thing to do is to get the Minister of Finance informed on the investment.

According to Councillor Promise Chia, the Councillors had in 2014 during the administrative and management account session adopted a master plan that limited buildings beyond seven metres from the road. Chia said such space does not warrant heavy investment.

Kumba II Council Mayor, Martin Ndobegang, supported the move, stating that such anarchical construction induces other city dwellers to build against the regulations in force.

Arguments came to a halt when the supervisory authority disclosed that if the building is demolished, a commission will also visit the various business centres across the city constructed by Sub Divisional Councils to measure the distance from the road.

The SDO pointed the Kumba II Council business Centre at Hill Top as one of the structures that could also be earmarked for demolition, if the argument advanced by the Councillors were to be strictly implemented.

At this point, most of the Councillors stopped talking about demolition and decided to focus on other Council business.

It would be recalled that the fight over the said piece of land later degenerated into a legal action. But in an interview with The Post in April, Mayor Ebako denied the legal action aspect of the matter.