BY ATIA TILARIOUS AZOHNWI
The Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji has said he is yet to find any document in his ministry that shows that Senator Fon Teche Njei is a traditional ruler.
This is what filtered out when the two factions of the North West Fons Union, NOWEFU, met in a closed-door meeting with the Minister of Territorial Administration and North West Governor at Ayaba Hotel on Thursday, March 22, 2018. They resolved to dissolve all existing structures of the union and also to rewrite its constitution.
The 11-man constitutional committee is headed by NOWEFU’s pioneer president, Fon Abumbi of Bafut with Fon Kevin Shomitang II of Bambalang as secretary. A new constitution is required to conduct fresh elections into the executive committee of the union. The committee has 45 days to rewrite the NOWEFU constitution.
A Fon who attended the meeting said it came to their knowledge that the contested President General of NOWEFU, Senator Fon Teche Njei is not recognised by the administration as a Fon.
Senator Fon Teche Njei was absent at the March 22 meeting.
Fon Teche Njei who is Fon of Ngyen-Muwa village in Momo Division, and Senator, was elected President of NOWEFU on March 16, 2012. After serving his three-year term as spelt out in the Union’s constitution, Teche’s mandate expired on March 16, 2015. His reluctance to convene an Elective General Assembly after the expiration of his mandate has since plunged the union into fracas.
Fon Teche took upon himself to amend the NOWEFU constitution to perpetuate his stay at the helm of the union. He created the post of President of the General Assembly of NOWEFU and placed it above the President General.
Article 1 of the Fon Teche crafted internal rules and regulations defining the duties and functions of the various officers of NOWEFU states that: “The Honorary President General Shall be the liaison person between the union and the administration of the Republic, Shall work closely with the executive Bureau of the Union, Shall be a member of Government or assimilated as such, Shall be a former Executive Bureau Member and Shall be elected by the General Assembly”.
Implicitly, only Senator Fon Teche fulfils the above cited conditions, meaning that it was a calculated attempt to cling on to power.
If Fon Teche’s plans worked out smoothly, observers hold that, Donga-Mantung would have taken an empty office, given that it is their turn to produce the next President General of NOWEFU.
The North West Governor had rejected the Teche constitution for nonconformity, but Fon Teche went on to install himself as President of the General Assembly of NOWEFU.
Fon Teche is noted for having conspicuously boycotted the installation of Minister Paul Atanga Nji. His absence at the March 22 meeting attended by members of his camp apparently signals his end at the union.