By DOH JAMES SONKEY
The President of the Electoral Board of Elections Cameroon, ELECAM, Enow Abrams Egbe has urged the media, political parties and the civil society in their role as major election stakeholders, to prioritise peace before, during and after the February 9, 2020 legislative and municipal elections in Cameroon. He made the appeal last January 23, 2020 at the Head Office of Elections Cameroon in Yaoundé, as he chaired a meeting with political parties running for the twin elections, media professionals and members of the civil society, some few hours to the official launch of electoral campaigns last January 25, 2020.
Responding to varied preoccupations expressed by political parties and the civil society, Enow Abrams Egbe explained that “restriction of movements on polling day is always done as a means of avoiding electoral fraud so that people should not be tempted to go from one polling station to the other in an attempt to vote more than once.”
Evaluating the path covered by ELECAM in the organisation of elections since its creation, the President of the Electoral Board said “We are making efforts since three years now to make sure that there is transparency in Cameroon’s electoral process.”
During the occasion, the Director General of Elections, Erik Essousse while reassuring holders of voters’ cards established since 2013 that their cards are still valid, urged them to massively participate in the polls of Feb 9, 2020. He was giving updates on the readiness of ELECAM to handle the twin elections.
He said “I ordered an indelible ink which is still on my fingers, indicating that voters will have to go for many days with the ink on their fingers after they must have cast their votes.”
The meeting which took place on the theme ‘2020 legislative and municipal elections for a more effective and inclusive participation as guarantee for social cohesion’, enabled the various parties to renew their commitments to promote peaceful elections in Cameroon.