Cameroon: Fru Ndi Breaks Silence, Officially Declares He will Run for Senatorial Elections
YAOUNDE - MARCH 9, 2013
© Valentine MULANGO | Cameroon-Info.Net
It is now official and without any doubts, the National Chairman of the Social Democratic Front, SDF, John Fru Ndi, will be among the 70 candidates to take part in the Sunday April 14 first ever senatorial elections in Cameroon.
It is now official and without any doubts, the National Chairman of the Social Democratic Front, SDF, John Fru Ndi, will be among the 70 candidates to take part in the Sunday April 14 first ever senatorial elections in Cameroon. The SDF Chair was unequivocal Friday March 8, when he declared that the upper house of Cameroon should be an assembly of mature people reason why he has decided to take part in the senatorial race.
Last month, Ni John Fru Ndi, categorical rebutted claims by some media outfits that he will run for senatorial elections. Speaking to us via phone, the charismatic SDF leader was not very clear on his stand as of then, saying that he may go in for it “depending on the conditions.” These conditions according to Mr. Fru Ndi, are that the Senatorial elections should not be organized before the Municipal and Legislative ones. This, because Senators are voted by Municipal and Regional Councilors. And in the present dispensation, Cameroon does not even have regional councils yet. Not only that, the mandate of these Municipal Councilors expired some seven Months ago.
Today none of these conditions have changed yet Mr. Chairman has decided to stand as candidate for the senatorial polls of April 14, independent voices say.
John Fru Ndi’s decision comes a day after the SDF party refrained from her decision not to participate in the Sunday April 14 senatorial elections. The party reversed her decision after the National Chairman held talks Thursday March 7, with President Biya’s envoy, Martin Belinga Eboutou, Director of Civil Cabinet at the Presidency of the Republic.
Fru Ndi said after the dialogue that “I have told the SDF militants in particular that we are having discussions with Mr. Biya. And these discussions, he sent his emissary to talk to us and looking at the senatorial election which is the upper house, we’ve discussed not only at the level with Mr. Biya but also at the level of the party. And we’ve come to a conclusion that we should participate in this elections not withstanding.”
Just last week, the SDF through its Chairman was completely singing a different song. Hear Fru Ndi: “The SDF on our own will make sure that these elections don’t take place. I am going to tell my boys to sharpen their machetes. I think we’ve had enough in this country. It is very unfair for the Cameroonian people. I think they want war; we are not going in for war. We are taking the machetes to make sure those elections don’t take place.”
What possible explanation does the SDF has for this sudden change of decision? What has pushed the party to finally see reasons for participation? The SDF National Legal Advicer, Honorable Joesph Mbah Ndam, attempted answering these questions.
He says “The reason is that, if the President were to die now, the mandates of parliamentarians have expired and the mandate of the President of the National Assembly has equally expired. And if such a vacancy were to occur which we don’t want to think about, we will be calling on an expired President of the National Assembly to preside over the destiny of our nation. This is very frightening.”
Hon. Mbah Ndam did not end there; “We are lucky that the army that we have is such that it does not want to put us into trouble. Otherwise we are existing today without a properly constituted parliament, without a properly constituted local council structure and without a senate which actually is suppose to paddle the affairs of nation in the event of a vacancy. This is not good for a nation. That is why we’ve weighed all these irregularities and illegalities and thought that in the supreme interest of the nation we should participate in this masquerade (referring to senatorial elections).”
© Valentine MULANGO | Cameroon-Info.Net
It is now official and without any doubts, the National Chairman of the Social Democratic Front, SDF, John Fru Ndi, will be among the 70 candidates to take part in the Sunday April 14 first ever senatorial elections in Cameroon.
Fru Ndi abandons presidential ambition for senate
Photo: © Archives - 2004
Photo: © Archives - 2004
It is now official and without any doubts, the National Chairman of the Social Democratic Front, SDF, John Fru Ndi, will be among the 70 candidates to take part in the Sunday April 14 first ever senatorial elections in Cameroon. The SDF Chair was unequivocal Friday March 8, when he declared that the upper house of Cameroon should be an assembly of mature people reason why he has decided to take part in the senatorial race.
Last month, Ni John Fru Ndi, categorical rebutted claims by some media outfits that he will run for senatorial elections. Speaking to us via phone, the charismatic SDF leader was not very clear on his stand as of then, saying that he may go in for it “depending on the conditions.” These conditions according to Mr. Fru Ndi, are that the Senatorial elections should not be organized before the Municipal and Legislative ones. This, because Senators are voted by Municipal and Regional Councilors. And in the present dispensation, Cameroon does not even have regional councils yet. Not only that, the mandate of these Municipal Councilors expired some seven Months ago.
Today none of these conditions have changed yet Mr. Chairman has decided to stand as candidate for the senatorial polls of April 14, independent voices say.
John Fru Ndi’s decision comes a day after the SDF party refrained from her decision not to participate in the Sunday April 14 senatorial elections. The party reversed her decision after the National Chairman held talks Thursday March 7, with President Biya’s envoy, Martin Belinga Eboutou, Director of Civil Cabinet at the Presidency of the Republic.
Fru Ndi said after the dialogue that “I have told the SDF militants in particular that we are having discussions with Mr. Biya. And these discussions, he sent his emissary to talk to us and looking at the senatorial election which is the upper house, we’ve discussed not only at the level with Mr. Biya but also at the level of the party. And we’ve come to a conclusion that we should participate in this elections not withstanding.”
Just last week, the SDF through its Chairman was completely singing a different song. Hear Fru Ndi: “The SDF on our own will make sure that these elections don’t take place. I am going to tell my boys to sharpen their machetes. I think we’ve had enough in this country. It is very unfair for the Cameroonian people. I think they want war; we are not going in for war. We are taking the machetes to make sure those elections don’t take place.”
What possible explanation does the SDF has for this sudden change of decision? What has pushed the party to finally see reasons for participation? The SDF National Legal Advicer, Honorable Joesph Mbah Ndam, attempted answering these questions.
He says “The reason is that, if the President were to die now, the mandates of parliamentarians have expired and the mandate of the President of the National Assembly has equally expired. And if such a vacancy were to occur which we don’t want to think about, we will be calling on an expired President of the National Assembly to preside over the destiny of our nation. This is very frightening.”
Hon. Mbah Ndam did not end there; “We are lucky that the army that we have is such that it does not want to put us into trouble. Otherwise we are existing today without a properly constituted parliament, without a properly constituted local council structure and without a senate which actually is suppose to paddle the affairs of nation in the event of a vacancy. This is not good for a nation. That is why we’ve weighed all these irregularities and illegalities and thought that in the supreme interest of the nation we should participate in this masquerade (referring to senatorial elections).”