People Action Party, PAP, was created following the reintroduction of multipartism in Cameroon with Late Professor Victor Mukwelle Ngoh as Founder and National Chairman and Kumba as headquarters. Following a series of meeting with party executive, Justice Ayah Paul was through an agreement in 2011, mandated to run as Presidential Candidate in the 2011 presidential elections and to be at the helm of the party on a five-year non renewable probation. In January 2016, exactly five years after, Justice Ayah Paul, was relieved of his position during a General Assembly of the party in Kumba. In the event, Ngoh Albert Mukwelle was confirmed Interim National Chairman. In this exclusive interview with THE SUNNEWSPAPER Kumba City Correspondent, Ngoh Albert Mukwelle, son of the Founder of PAP, amongst other burning issues affecting the party, zooms into the life of PAP, why Justice Ayah Paul was relieved of his National Chairman position of People’s Action Party, PAP, and the circumstances under which he emerged as Interim National Chairman of the People’s Action Party. Read on
THE SUN: Thanks for accepting to answer questions from THE SUN NEWSPAPER. You are the Interim National Chairman of PAP, under what circumstances were you elected and by what organ of the party?
Ngoh Albert Mukwelle :Thank you very much for visiting our party secretariat this day at Kumba Town for this exclusive interview with your widely read newspaper. As a matter of fact, I am the Interim Chairman of PAP by succession and as the key person who entered the agreement with Hon. Ayah Paul when he was absorbed in to the party in 2011 for the Presidential elections. We had a press conference and during that press conference, we the delegates of PAP who were in agreement actually decided that since I was the Vice Chairman, later on Deputy Secretary General of the party while Hon Ayah Paul was leading I had to succeed him in that circumstance.
What is the relationship between Ayah Paul and PAP?
The relationship between Ayah Paul and PAP as of now is very strained because he still goes around publishing on behalf of PAP, three days ago I saw a story he did with The Guardian Post Newspaper representing PAP, talking about why the National Day should not be respected. We the militants of PAP we do not condone such boycotting actions especially when it comes to us being part of a system in which our party was legalized.
Did you attend any elections or general assembly of PAP where the name was changed to Popular Action Party, PAP?
I never attended any assembly like that. No assembly was even held because from all reasonable doubt those who were actually registered or brought into the executive of that Popular Action Party were unaware of such decisions. No meeting was held to the best of my knowledge because after we interviewed some of them, they said they were not even consulted and their names were just written on the executive list without their knowledge. Popular Action Party does not exist, the administration itself does not recognize them because we have consulted some of the administrators such as the D.O and the National Security and they say they are not aware of any party under that same acronym, PAP.
What is your position in PAP, and where do you belong, People’s Action Party, PAP or Popular Action Party, PAP?
I am the Interim National Chairman. I belong to People’s Action Party. It is rather unfortunate that I and the other delegates, who are in agreement over Hon. Ayah Paul not being at the helm of the party, were actually expelled from a party we have never belonged to. To say we were expelled from the Popular Action Party which we have never being part of it is outright fallacy.
In your last PAP meeting, you did indicate intention to probe into the financial management of PAP under Ayah Paul. Can you throw more light in to this?
As of now we have notified the administration and other bodies involved in the political platform here in Cameroon of our decision. Subsequently we intend to do an investigation to the decision we took on March 9, 2016, because we have experienced a lot of issues within the party since 2011 and we do not want to make the same mistakes, so the commission which has to be in charge of probing and doing that investigation has to be formed and we are trying as much as possible in building that commission, we do not just want to put any type of person to go and represent the party. The investigation will include; money the government returns for your investiture CFA 1million, campaign allowance CFA 14million, but Hon. Ayah Paul said he only collected CFA 7million as of the time when we were still working with him in 2012 during the National Meet the People Tour. After that when we met in some other meetings he told us that the government is actually giving us subventions but as of the time, he said he has not yet received a dime which was shortly before the municipal and legislative election. After that we did not have any other meeting for three years now and so it is understood that those subventions had to start passing since 2013 and it is obvious that even if he has not collected all he must have collected something. We were told the subvention is CFA 30million a year, which means CFA 90million for the past 3 years.
Before I leave have you ever been dismissed from PAP, and how did Ayah become Chairman of PAP, why was he changed?
I have never been dismissed from People’s Action Party, PAP. Ayah Paul became the chairman of PAP in an informal meeting, actually it was the 9th informal meeting that we held trying to negotiate to have him at the helm of the party since he wanted to run for President and no other political party had actually accepted him to represent them and he could not register a party as of that time, so we had to call the founding Secretary General and also talk to other party militants who had been active before. During that 9th meeting after a lot of disagreement because I had opted to be as Chairman and allow Ayah to run as President, but for one reason or the other they said he was influential and so it was necessary that he be the Chairman. I signed his first membership card on January 26, 2011. After serious negotiations we agreed that we will give him a five-year probation which was non renewable, that after the five years he was going to hand over the party documents we gave to him on that day and from that moment he can be a floor member or resign if he chooses. The period elapsed since January 26, 2016. He was moved in connection to the agreement; the agreement stipulates that he will be head of the party for five years which has already elapsed. We did not expel him from the party but only relieved him from his position as National Chairman.