Cameroon: Government worry over negative media reports on Country’s Electoral Body

Joseph Dion Ngute, Cameroon’s minister delegate in the Ministry of External Relations in charge of relations with the Commonwealth, has described as baseless media reports here that the Commonwealth had suspended aid to Cameroon on grounds that the president appointed mostly CPDM lackeys to man the country’s electoral body - Elections Cameroon (ELECAM).

He told the country’s CRTV in an interview that the Commonwealth, having learned of the press reports, did not hesitate to debunk the claims and issued a statement indicating that they had not yet made any judgment on the appointment of ELECAM members.

The alleged Commonwealth statement refuting the press reports carried by the state News paper - Cameroon Tribune, states that the media reports are inaccurate and that, “we will be discussing the matter as part of our ongoing engagement with the government”.

Dion Ngute said the Commonwealth has been accompanying the government in a number of initiatives, which deal with governance and democracy and that it had discussed elaborately with the government of Cameroon in view of putting in place a neutral organ responsible for carrying out all aspects of elections in the country.
“They (Commonwealth) have no specific mandate to determine who is a member of ELECAM. It is the sovereign act of the government of Cameroon,” he said.
But various newspapers have remained sceptical about the Commonwealth’s rebuttal, arguing that they have not yet seen a signed copy of the Commonwealth’s reaction to press reports that it suspended aid to Cameroon.

Reports about the Commonwealth’s suspension of aid to Cameroon came amidst widespread indignation within Cameroon and abroad over the partisan composition of ELECAM and serious questions about the integrity of the outfit’s chairman, Samuel Fonkam Azu’u, currently embroiled in a forgery and illegal immigration scandal.

Biya postpones ELECAM’s swearing-in

Meanwhile, the long-awaited appointments of ELECAM’s board were made at the same time last month with the announcement of the swearing-in date of 15 January.
But when Thursday 15 January, passed uneventfully it was clear that the controversies surrounding ELECAM forced President Paul Biya not to proceed with the swearing-in.
Domestic and international opinions have expressed outrage at the wantonly partisan character of the appointments. At least eight of the 12 board members are senior operatives of the ruling CPDM, while the remaining four are said to have CPDM sympathies.
This violates article 8 of the ELECAM law which stipulates the appointment of politically neutral persons.

To add salt to the injury, questions have been raised about the personal integrity of the board chair, Fonkam Azu’u. In his capacity as assistant secretary general at the national assembly, Fonkam is implicated in a case of aiding and abetting the illegal immigration of four Cameroonians.

These issues are presently being hotly debated in the media. It is believed that President Paul Biya is likely to review his appointments to the ELECAM board, in order to respect the provision of neutrality. It is not clear how soon this change would be done, but the postponement of the swearing-in remains the strongest indicator that the revision of appointment is coming.
Source: The Herald