By DANIELA NEBA NGUM
The Board member of Elections Cameroon, ELECAM for the Southwest Region, Christopher Tambe Tiku has told municipal councilors in Meme that they are oblige to take part in the upcoming senatorial election unless unavoidably absent.
The Board member told the councilors on Friday, March 16 at the Meme ELECAM head office during an evaluation meeting with stakeholders.
‘Section 227 (ii) makes it mandatory for all municipal councilors to take part in elections unless they are unavoidably absent which is covered under section 227 (iii), then they can issue proxy to any councilor’, Tambe Tiku noted.
Tambe Tiku said given the social unrest that now characterized Meme division, municipal councilors have been receiving anonymous threats calling them to restrain from the elections. It is against this backdrop that most councilors are showing little or no interest in the upcoming elections.
Some are however looking for other councilors who will stand in for them on the Election Day even though they are capable of partaking in the election.
According to the Board Member, the meeting will go a long way to change the mentality of councilors who think that they can willingly boycott the election because of threats.
He further told councilors that a proxy can only be accepted in circumstances beyond the councilor’s control and each councilor is entitled to only one proxy.
He cautioned the stakeholders that if they boycott the election without tangible reasons they risk losing their voting rights.
Talking about security, the Board Member assured councilors that the Governor of the Region together with some of his Senior Divisional Officers, SDOs have declared that measures are being taken to protect the councilors and the voting materials.
He added that the security measures will be implemented during and after the election, as such if a councilor after the election is under threat, they may solicit protection from the authorities.