The Cameroon News

November 11, 2011

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ELECAM Official, Mayor Sued For Electoral Fraud

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An ELECAM official, Emmanuel Kouadiba, and Manoka Mayor, Ernest Edimo, have been sued for electoral fraud at the Wouri High Court. PADDEC National President and candidate at the October 9 poll, Jean de Dieu Momo, sued the duo on October 28 for what he termed electoral malpractices in Manoka Sub-Division. The PADDEC leader accuses the ELECAM Wouri Divisional Coordinator, Kouadiba, and Edimo, also Wouri VI CPDM Section President, of giving CPDM candidate, Paul Biya, 2,500 votes in Manoka whereas, according to him, there are not more than 1000 inhabitants on the islands. Momo also claims that all the tally sheets from the polling stations in Manoka were signed by Edimo.

He also complains that in Nkongmomdo Quarter in Douala I Sub-Division, Biya scored more than 4,300 votes, whereas the population of the quarter is barely 1,500. Momo said the ELECAM Coordinator violated the law by directing tally sheets from six Council Commissions in Douala through his office before going to the Wouri Divisional Supervisory Commission. He stated that, according to the law, the tally sheets were supposed to leave the Council Commissions straight to the Divisional Commission.

He said he gathered that, when the tally sheets got to the Wouri Divisional Branch of ELECAM, the Coordinator sneaked in 18 persons he had quietly hired to falsify the scores to the advantage of Biya. Momo said the operation took place at night, and that the hired fraudsters accomplished their dirty mission. Momo said Kouadiba and Edimo as well as ELECAM all deserve to face the full weight of the law.

When The Post contacted the Wouri ELECAM Coordinator on November 1, he said he had not been officially notified about the case. He, however, admitted that he had heard about it, saying Barrister Momo's accusations were based on rumours, ignorance and bad faith. "I did my job well," he said. Kouadiba said the PADDEC leader would have done himself and his party good by contacting the right sources to check the veracity of the rumours.

He said Momo`s attitude was typical of the officials of most political parties in Douala, whom he claimed sit in their offices or quarters and listen to rumours, and would not bother to approach competent authorities or institutions to find out the truth. The Wouri ELECAM boss said the official number of registered voters in Manoka Sub-Division for the October 9 poll stood at 3,800, while there were 14 polling stations. Kouadiba held that it is both ridiculous and unfortunate for Momo to claim that the Cameroonian population of Manoka Sub-Division is not more than 1000.

Asked if the CPDM candidate could have scored as many as 2,500 votes in Manoka, Kouadiba said he had no reason to doubt the score. He said the PADDEC candidate is complaining when his party as well as other opposition parties did not have a single representative in any of the polling stations in Manoka.

On the allegation that Mayor Edimo signed all the tally sheets that came from the polling stations in Manoka, Kouadiba said someone brought up the rumour at the Wouri Divisional Commission, and he summoned the President of the Communal Commission for Manoka, who debunked the allegation. The ELECAM boss said the Divisional Commission compared the tally sheets from the Manoka Communal Commission with the ones CPDM representatives had and found no irregularity.

As for the allegation that the population of Nkongmomdo Quarter is barely between 1000 - 1500, Kouadiba said he finds it ridiculous for somebody to imagine that the population of a heavily populated and large quarter Nkongmomdo is barely 1000 -1500. No date has been fixed for the start of the case, though Momo says he is bracing up to take on those he has accused of electoral fraud whenever the matter comes up.

Article source The Post