BY ATIA TILARIOUS AZOHNWI and TALLA AGHAA CHRIS
Nanji Kenneth Ene is the new mayor of the Ekondo Titi Council. He was elected along with two others on Thursday, March 29, 2018 during a special council session supervised by Ndian Senior Divisional Officer, Etta Mbokaya Ashu.
Utam Margaret Ndiba was elected First Deputy Mayor while Njio Clement is the new second deputy mayor.
Nanji Kenneth Ene was until his election serving as First Deputy Mayor of the Ekondo Titi Council following the September 30, 2013 municipal elections. The ex-student of the St. Joseph’s College Sasse steps in following the demise of Mayor Mbongo Alfred Ngoe.
The election drama
Many tongues have been wagging as to who will succeed the Late Mayor Mbongo just some few months to the end of his mandate taking into consideration they were voted in September 2013. Before the election of Mayor Nanje Kenneth, three candidates had hit the campaign trail to gather support. THE SUN gathered that Councilor William Itoe and Mesembe James, former Mayor from 2007-2013 had already announced their intentions.
However, following a gentleman agreement some years back between the Balues and Balondos who make up EKondo –Titi, when a Balue is Mayor, the lone parliamentary seat goes to the Balondo clan. This is what obtains in the present case where the Member of Parliament, Hon Njume Peter Abang hails from Balondo, and the late Mayor was from Balue.
With this scenario, it was very evident that the position of Mayor was to go to the Balondos but the Balues’ argued that they needed to complete their mandate since the late Mayor was from Balue Tribe.
The SUN gathered that some top Balue elites had already addressed a memo to the administration indicating that they won’t back any Balue councillor contesting for Mayor and that they are interested in lone Parliamentary seat.
On Election Day, when the SDO for Ndian arrived the council chambers for real business to start there was serious election fever and tension amongst the councilors. But when the SDO set the ball rolling for elections to begin, only one list emerged and it was from the Balondo faction indicating Nanje Kenneth as their choice for Mayor.
When the SDO read the list there was no objection and Nanje Kenneth was declared Mayor for Ekondo Titi while the former 2nd deputy Mayor, Ndiba Margret from the Barombi Tribe emerged as 1st deputy Mayor.
Shortly after the elections, Nanje Kenneth expressed satisfaction and thanked the Councilors who had bestowed their confidence on him.
He pledged to continue from where his predecessor, whom he describes as a wonderful teacher in terms of Council activities, ended.
Nanje Kenneth has been in the Ekondo Titi Council since 2007 where he has always been voted Proterm chairman in most council sessions. In 2013 after the Council election in September, he was voted 1st Deputy Mayor.