The Social Democratic Front (SDF) published what it claims to be the authentic results of its 
performance during the July 22 twin elections. These results are allegedly based results sheets submitted by polling officers around the country.
According to release, "The SDF trends show that the Party has won in 74 Parliamentary constituencies and 104 Council areas". These results are diametrically at odds with the unofficial results so far released by the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization (MINATD) which claim that the ruling CPDM grabbed at least 156 seats and the SDF a mere 15.
Continue reading "Battle of "Electoral Trends": SDF Claims 74 Seats in Parliament" »
In an interesting and controversial (some would say inflammatory) interview granted to the Chronicle newspaper, Ntemfac Ofege, the veteran Cameroonian journalist and famous “Prison Graduate” of the fiery 1990s, talks frankly about the just concluded elections in Cameroon; the widespread fraud, the leading actors, and what the future holds for Cameroon. Absolutely no one on the Cameroonian political landscape comes out unscathed from this no-holds-barred interview. Excerpts:
Cameroonians yesterday 22nd July, went to the to elect members of parliament and municipal councilors. The elections were predictably marred by violence and massive rigging besides the fact that many Cameroonians boycotted the elections for various reasons. At least one militant from the ruling CPDM party, suspecting of abetting rigging was killed and several others were reportedly injured, following bloody inter-party clashes and mob action. Some observers have already qualified the elections as the worst organized since the return of multiparty politics in 1990 and the “most massively rigged”.
The Clamour, the howls
YAOUNDE, July 19 (Reuters) - Cameroon holds one-sided parliamentary elections on Sunday expected to strengthen President Paul Biya's 25-year grip on power, although his opponents are already saying the vote is rigged.
Spring, Maryland apartment of Mr. Ignatius Foncham, killing all three of his daughters (aged 4 years, 2 years and just 4 months old). The mother of the children survived the fire in critical condition, but unfortunately succumbed to the cold hands of death about two weeks later on July 12th, 2007. Within the span of two weeks, Mr. Foncham’s life was turned upside down. It is impossible to imagine how one can recover from such a catastrophic loss. In light of this, it is even more devastating to consider that the loss of all of Mr. Foncham’s children happened in his absence, as he was then being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 
On July 1, 2007, the Government of Cameroon announced that it had earmarked 1.5 billion CFA francs to fund political parties taking part in the July 22 parliamentary and municipal elections, although it did not shed light on how that money was to be distributed among the 44 parties participating in the election. 
By rights I should be talking to Chinua Achebe in Ogidi, his home town in Nigeria. He should be telling me about his efforts as chairman of the village council to build schools, improve the water and bring health to the people. We should be talking about whether and when the rains will come, and how the yam harvest is doing this year.
Prior to the 1997 legislative elections, I wrote a special report for the Cameroon Post titled "The 1997 Legislative Elections in Cameroon - A Geo-strategic projection" which reviewed the law governing legislative elections in Cameroon and its impact on the chances of the contending parties (that is, beyond the issue of electoral fraud which invariably skews electoral outcomes). With legislative elections just around the corner, I am republishing parts of that article which are still relevant today. These excerpts will show how the laws in place give the ruling CPDM an undue advantage even in the hypothetical situation where there is absolutely no electoral fraud.
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