By SAH TERENCE ANIMBOM
A good number of Elections Cameroon staff if not all, are consumed by a fresh bolt of fear that has stricken them since the Constitutional Council ordered for a rerun of Legislative elections in some four divisions in the North West region comprising ten legislative constituencies, due to mass irregularities during the February 9, 2020 polls.
Elections in the English speaking regions of Cameroon have been forbidden by armed separatists who say nothing government organises will be tolerated in ‘their territory until they achieve their independence.’ They successfully hindered thousands of voters across the North West Region from coming out to vote on February 9, and a few bold ones who dared to come out in places like Boyo division were well trashed and kidnapped by armed fighters while those who successfully went out and voted have remained targets till date.
Though all ELECAM staff in the region were given maximum security and collaboration by the military, the ‘’Amba boys still found a way to traumatise them en route to their various posts of responsibility, especially those who went to work in Bafut, Batibo, Bali, Belo, Kumbo, Wum and other hot beds of the crisis in the North West. The Bafut team had their armored car shot at several times that they were forced to return to Bamenda to get more reinforcement before making the trip to Bafut again. Reports say a car was burnt in the convoy.
Prior to the elections, some ELECAM staff were kidnapped and given a public humiliation as they were asked to undress and take a sand bath in front of the separatists’ cameras in Santa. Many other ELECAM staff have been forced to leave their homes and relocate to safer areas in Bamenda as they are now targets for the ‘Amba boys’.
The SUN has had confidential discussions with some workers of ELECAM North West who think that their identities were sold out to armed separatist fighters by someone within. It was rumoured around Bamenda just a week to the February , polls that an ELECAM staff had been apprehended by the State Security Forces for double standards and dealings with the ‘Amba boys’ and that he had taken pictures of staff and sold them out to ‘Amba boys’ in the bushes, thus endangering the lives of most staff. The hierarchy has not issued any public statement to this claim however. Many hold that it is a top security issue within ELECAM North West that needs to be handled with absolute tact.
The greatest fears of the workers include getting to their hostile duty posts in the 34 sub divisions of the region, moving from Bamenda and life after the elections. A staff wondered; “will I ever be able to stay in my house in Bafut?”