History in the Making as Pastor & Others Tiptoe Into the NW Regional Council

History in the Making as Pastor & Others Tiptoe Into the NW Regional Council

As the December 6th 2020 regional elections into the Regional Council and Regional House of Chiefs approaches which of course will be the last phase of the implementation of the decentralisation process through the promulgation into law of the General Code of Regional and Local Authorities which also gives a special statues to the North West and South West regions of Cameroon, Mbengwi Online has observed that the preelection atmosphere on the ground indicates it'll likely be a non-event. 

Most people don't even know there's something as such coming up not to talk of knowing who the candidates are.  Mbengwi Online has a screenshot extracted from social media bearing names of some candidates from Momo division standing for election into the Regional Council under the ruling CPDM party as published by The Watchdog Tribune newspaper. Unfortunately we don't know the particular edition. On the list, the first name is TEGHEN HUMPHRED TAKUM and the last is ANYAMBOD EMMANUEL ANYA. From our further findings, the former is a traditional authority in Meta (fon of Barakwe) and the latter is a retired pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC) from Njikwa.

List of Candidates from Momo Division Aspiring to be Voted into the Regional Council

From every indication, the list is valid. However, the candidates have implored the strategy of keeping sealed lips on the subject though we couldn't directly contact all of them to react. Only the fon of Njinibi village, going in for the Regional House of Chiefs spoke extensively to Mbengwi Online, link to report here attached -  https://mbengwionline.blogspot.com/2020/10/upcoming-election-into-nw-regional.html.

The other candidates we found on the Momo list are MBANWI PHILIP NJEKWO, ANJOH FRI-MANYI ROSE, AZEH ERIC NYAH, ASHU ATAMBUN WILDFRED AGU, UJAMBENG STEPHEN ANDONG and ADAMU PHILOMENA, giving a total of 8 candidates vying for the Regional Council. As for the Regional House of Chiefs, 3 names featured on the list to represent Momo division. They are; FOMBA RICHARD AYONG (Fon of Enyoh, Batibo), CHICK MARCUS FOMINYAM (Fon of Njinibi, Meta) and NGWAN MBANYAM SIG III (Fon of Guzang, Batibo).

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The decision by some traditional and religious leaders in Momo division to stand for election (though unchallenged) into the Regional Council and House of Chiefs has sparked mixed reactions from some opinion holders. Amboh Gordon is a social critic. Expressing his views to Mbengwi Online, he first admitted that it's true man by nature is a political animal that has the freedom to participate in political games like elections."But the game must be played contextually" he insisted and went on to say "A footballer is free to play in any football team of his choice if he is able but when this footballer starts wanting to play rugby or cricket because of freedom then something is wrong mentally with that footballer."

In continuation, hear him; "That said, the three cases I know of in Momo are all abnormal [Note, cases not the person]. Firstly, beginning with Njinibi, the village is a third class fondom and to stand as candidate into the House of Chiefs, one must be a first or second class Fon. Worst still, the candidate from Njinibi has not been traditional endorsed as fon of the village and was never chosen by the other Meta fons to represent them" Mbengwi Online can't confirm if his pronouncements are founded.

Then he continued,"As for Barakwe, the creation of the House of Chiefs means fons are not supposed to seat in the Regional House of Divisional Representatives (Council). Maybe the Fon of Barakwe resigned as third class Fon before going in to represent Meta in the house of divisional representative." Again Mbengwi Online can't confirm the veracity of these his claims

Lastly, he rounded up by saying"And for the Reverend Man of God from Oshie, it is his right to dive into politics now that he is on retirement but as to find himself on the ticked of the CPDM, a party we have never seen him militating with is more than a scandal and knowing fully well the critical stance of Rev. Anyambod and the respect he commanded when he was still active as a senior pastor of the PCC, for him to have gone in on the ticket of the morally bankrupt CPDM party, this to me makes the whole issue of freedom of choice to be equated to that of a professional footballer who wants to abruptly become a rugby player"

Ndetan Nji Cyprian is another public opinion holder. Expressing his view to Mbengwi Online on the subject, he said "If God has called a fon or pastor for regional elections as he called the man of Bafut [Referring to late prophet Frank Afanwi of Kingship Ministry] for presidential election, what's wrong with that? It's just a game of interest. The Bible says by their fruits we shall know them"

To Ache Emnanuel, a political commentator and varsity student, "Traditional authorities due to their fatherly role are better off when not associated with political parties. Chiefs are supposed to be neutral because they serve subjects who belong to a number of political parties but somehow whether by design or accident, some traditional leaders in the country seem to miss the boat of sanity as they from time to time make a foray into partisan politics."

He went on to advice the chiefs to hands off politics especially during this critical period. In his words, "The state of affairs of our country warrants political quietness from these traditional rulers which is not forthcoming. The problem is that these chiefs confuse the mantra of serving the government of the day with active participation in politics. Let chiefs concentrate on the development of their areas other than taking political sides, a prerequisite for the growth of our nascent democracy."

For better clarification on the position of the church vis-à-vis politics and in our quest for vital information on the subject, Mbengwi Online contacted a reverend pastor of the PCC for explanation. He requested for anonymity. He began by saying,"This our pastor is on retirement and the Book of Orders of the PCC permits a pastor to do so, just that for those in active service, you're requested to take leave of absence from pastoral services until you indicate your return. So for him on retirement, he has the right to go without seeking permission from the church"

Chapter Six titled Church and Politics on page 61 of the said book states that "The PCC shall continue to encourage it's lay Christians to take part in politics... A pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, still in active service, shall not indulge in partisan politics... Pastors are therefore barred from participating in politics at all levels. However, where a pastor considers his participation in active partisan politics as an expression of obedience and faithfulness to God's call for justice, such a pastor shall be required to resign or ask for leave without pay from his/her pastoral activities. And his/her political views shall not be understood as the official view of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon..."

On page 62, the said Book of Orders adds that "Pastors shall, in any case, exercise their civic rights by voting. In fact, the pastor should encourage his parishioners to exercise their civic rights by participating in free and fair elections. Pastors shall do so without influencing members of their parishes to follow their political persuasions."

Our anonymous pastor disclosed to Mbengwi Online that in history, the PCC has had a pastor turned parliamentarian, later government minister and back to the church ministry, ending up as moderator of the PCC and chief of his village. This was the late Rev. Jeremiah Chi Kangsen in the days of West Cameroon. He served the PCC as Synod Clerk from 1967-1969 and as Moderator from 1969-1985, the longest serving moderator the church has ever had. This he said happened in the days of West Cameroon.

Furthermore, in continuation he also revealed that Rev. Esau Anjoundong Adongatou applied for same permission before being allowed to go in as the Momo divisional boss of ELECAM but unfortunately, his stay in the position was short lived due to the set up that wrapped up his neck after the murder of the Rev. Kenji Zephania

For more clarity, our anonymous pastor presented to Mbengwi Online some extracts from the book Christian Chiefs Fallen Between Stools authored by Jonas N. Ndah. The book explains the coalition between the church and tradition  citing the Rev. Jeremiah Chi as pacesetter. All of these put together thus clears the air on the church's stance as regards politics and tradition. The candidacy of retired Rev. Pastor Anyambod is thus valid

Decentralization in the Cameroonian context is a governance system involving the devolution of resources and competencies to local and regional authorities in order to bring development, good governance and equitable growth closer to the people. If fully applied, regional and local authorities will take the destiny of their economic, social, political and cultural development into their hands. 

Accordingly, on December 24 2019, coming on the heels of the Major National Dialogue, the General Code of Regional and Local Authorities was enacted through Law No. 2019/024 signed by President Paul Biya in which a Special Statues was accorded the NW and SW regions of Cameroon based on their language specificity and historical heritage. This shall entail respect for the peculiarities of the Anglophone Education System and considerations of specificities of the Anglo Saxon Legal System based on the common law. In effect, a new bicameral Regional Assembly made up of a House of Chiefs composed of 20 traditional leaders and a House of Regional Representatives composed of 70 members

Sunday's voting exercise shall be done by traditional rulers and councillors. From every indication, considering that there's just one list from one party, the CPDM, one can rightly conclude that the results are already known. There have been some rumour circulating around that a couple of days to the voting day, a 4 days ghost operation has been called for by proponents of secession. Some freewill thinkers think it's an outdated strategy that rather brings more hardship on the commoners and wish it be abandoned because all previous similar events ended up taking place. Mbengwi Online hopes to cover the voting exercise come Sunday and report on what transpired thereafter.