By Sah Terence Animbom
Some members of the Donga Mantung Divisional counting commission have noted with serious doubts some figures presented by the Elecam Council Head for Ako sub division. These members of the commission who have been frightened by victimization circumstances faced by citizens in the ongoing Anglophone crisis have pleaded on very strong terms to be kept anonymous. They observed that the figures presented by the council head for Ako were unusually high and also not reconciling, thus raising question marks.
It is worth noting that the Ako council is SDF run and even the Member of Parliament for the constituency is SDF. They observed that CPDM votes were initially inflated with up to 1000 votes, giving a total of 6319 votes for Paul Biya’s party and only 402 for SDF, in an SDF run constituency. They were even more concerned when they noticed that the reports on counting operations otherwise known as Process Verbal had a very similar handwriting which appeared to have been done by a single person.
It was a second counting with the help of PVs by the divisional counting commission with SDF, MRC and CPDM representatives present that led to the discovery that CPDM votes were 1000 more unaccounted votes than what pertained in the seemingly one man filled process verbals presented.
It is however very regrettable that the opposition does not seem to know how to go about the issue of irregularities in Ako Donga Mantung, though they have been agitating. The mayor of Ako as well as SDF District Chair for Ako while talking to the Alternate MP, Hon. Shewa said they acknowledge that there was voting, but refuse to admit the claim that 7000 people voted in Ako. They argued that the concentration of over 50 polling stations in just three polling centers was enough reason to keep people at home especially coupled with the insecurity and threats. They added that their road network is very poor thus requires high transport fares on bikes that will require a voter to spend up to 6000 or 7000FCFA in order to go and vote. Even inhabitants of Ako argue that they did not see such a mass of people on the streets and around pooling centers that day but acknowledge seeing a few. “Besides, people could not vote that high when Akwaja polling center was blocked and no one went there” they hold.
Some concerned citizens worry that the main man who should have spoken in the face of such a situation, bringing it to the open is Hon. Awudu Mbaya who is regrettably out of the country as informed by one of his close aids.
Meanwhile it is rumoured that some ELECAM officials were called by a big CPDM guru who tried to negotiate for the panel beating of results. Many have started casting doubts on the whole results from Ndonga Mantung.