By IKOME CHRISTIE-NOELLA EPOSI
Following the proclamation of results for the February 9 2020 municipal and legislative elections, petitions from opposition political parties including the S .D.F and U.N.D.P which were filed at the administrative court in Buea, South west region of Cameroon have been dismissed and regarded inadmissible by the court. This took place last March 12, 2020.
The two aforementioned opposition parties filed in complains as to why the winning party C.P.D.M didn’t deserve the required victory at the elections.
The sittings which held in a panel of three judges comprising Justice MBU Edward OSOH as President of the court and president of the panel, Justice Lonje Martin Bende and Justice Christopher OFON George, also saw a handful of Barristers from the private Bar as well as those of the legal department in attendance.
At the level of the Tiko Municipality, some of the petitions filed in were that of the S.D.F as petitioner with one Elundu Joseph Mambe as head of his list, Elections Cameroon (ELECAM) as 1st respondent and CPDM as 2nd respondent. The petitioner Joseph Mambe petitioned the court to cancel the elections in the Tiko municipality following multiple electoral malpractices and infringement of electoral laws. He also complained of the CPDM having more than one representation in some polling stations which according to him influenced the conduct of the elections. Elundu equally blamed some CPDM officials whom he said identified themselves as ELECAM officials. Generally, the petitioner stated that there was no commission to analyse the results in some stations and that there were a lot of errors in the calculation of votes in other areas. He requested a re-election to be done but his request was not granted by the court as it was regarded inadmissible due to lack of evidence.
Amongst other petitioners from the Tiko municipality who had similar complaints were Manyi Joy Mbu epouse Ngeka and Ngando Peter Bolonjo of the UNDP.
John Kona Makia, Tanyi Raphael Nukanjem and Chia Promise Fu were petitioners of the SDF from Kumba I, II and III whose petitions were equally dismissed for either being filed out of time or for lack of substantial evidence.
From the Limbe III municipality, Njonga David Nanja and Monono Moki Richard were the SDF list leaders whose petitions against CPDM were dismissed for being time barred.
At the level of the Buea municipality, SDF list leader and petitioner Efokoa John Mofoke intimated that the polls in Buea were not free, fair and transparent and should be cancelled. It should be noted that sitting in as 2nd respondent representing the CPDM was the Mayor of the Buea Council, David Mafany Namange. The petitioner’s request was denied as his petition was filed out of time.
Non-conformity with the electoral code and multiple electoral malpractices are some of the complaints tabled by petitioners.
As soon as election results were released on February 10 2020, a day after the holding of the elections, petitioners were expected to file in petitions within five days after the proclamation (11th-15th of February 2020). A majority of the petitions were dismissed for being time barred because most petitioners filed in their petitions after the 15th which was out of time.
At the close of the proceedings, Justice Mbu Edward Osoh as President of the court and president of the panel thanked all for their commitments and decorum throughout the proceedings. “We appreciate the conduct of the hearing, we are not a political organ, we are a court of law and we’ve just done our best as far as the law permits” the President concluded.
After the hearings, the CPDM once again has been vindicated as they are still regarded as big winners and the SDF as big losers following the judgment from the administrative court in Buea