POLITICAL DRAMA: Elisabeth Tamanjong unleashes The Sins of Fru Ndi_describes him as a dictator

Dr. Elisabeth Tamanjong(Left) and Fru Ndi (Right) at a rally in Bda

Cameroon Journal, Yaounde February 17, 2015 - In this report made available to The Cameroon Journal, and written by Elisabeth Tamanjong, (until last week, Secretary General of the SDF party), she spills out her marginalization in the party, suggesting that she was just a figure head in the organization. But above all, she’s very particular about the many sins of Chairman John Fru Ndi.

She explains how from 2006, Fru Ndi virtually assumed all the powers to hire and fire in the party when he influenced the stripping of elective offices such as that of the SG and others, to his sole discretion.

Tamanjong narrates how on very many occasions she suffered humiliation from Fru Ndi. In what she describes as “shabby treatment of my person,” she writes; “the National Chairman pushed my hands as I attempted to reach across a document to the then 2nd Vice National Chairman, Comrade Joshua Osih.” The role of the SG, she adds, “During our stewardship, has been reduced to mere window dressing through the dictatorial actions of the National Chairman of the party.”

Her’s is a document that should be read and kept for posterity. We bring the full text of her document unedited here. We should add that we couldn’t print the last page of the document in which she made proposals on how the SDF should be reformed. Unlike the other pages, it came in a picture format and we couldn’t copy it. Read on.

SDF Chairman John Fru Ndi and Dr. Elisabeth Tamanjong in a working visit inspecting a refurbished structure of the party.

 

Dr. Elisabeth Tamanjong

My Political Profile in the SDF (1991 – 2014)

 officially joined the SDF in 1991;

 Provincial Treasurer for Centre Province from 1991 to 1995;

 President of the Charismatic Women of SDF from 1992 – 1993;

 Co-opted into NEC in 1993;

 Elected as the 2nd Assistant Secretary General in 1999;

 Assumed the full role of Secretary General in 2005 when my

Predecessors left;

 Organized a crisis Convention in 2006 during which the Office of

Secretary General switched from being elective to be by appointment by the National Chairman of the Party;

 Was thereupon appointed Secretary General in that same year, a position maintained till now.

Just after the stolen victory of 11 October 1992 whereby the state of emergency was imposed on the North West, some prominent SDF members, among whom were late Justice Nyo Wakai, Barrister Sama Francis, etc. had been arrested, brought (from Bamenda) and detained in an undisclosed location in Yaounde. After intense investigation, the Yaounde SDF members finally discovered where the above mentioned comrades had been held up. Throughout their incarceration in Yaounde, ladies Carol Anyangwe, Odette Ngatom, Beatrice Fri Bime, Beatrice Annembom Monju, Grace Che Ngwafor, Angela Garba, your humble servant, … to name only these few (who formed the nucleus of the Charismatic Women of the SDF), ensured the feeding of the political detainees from our meagre means assisted by a well worked out funding strategy. Being at the forefront of this relief contingency team, before food was served to the detainees, your humble servant had to taste it in front of the Prison Administration, to prove that the food was not poisonous. Our above mentioned strategy consisted in obtaining contributions from party members and sympathisers whose coded identities were entered in a register. Thanks to this strategy, the SDF detainees were all reasonably well fed. The collaboration of my husband, then an Assistant Director of Public Works in the Ministry of Public Works must, with gratitude, be mentioned. It will be recalled how Dr Kamdoum Basil “appropriated” the register which he handed it to the CPDM regime, which in her turn, used it to harass and even terrorise the generous contributors. The obvious consequence was that people shied-off from contributing to the erstwhile laudable humanitarian undertaking of the SDF Charismatic Women, under the leadership of your humble servant.

A case in point of political incrimination was on November 3, 1993 when 15 women and many men, among whom my husband and I – in my third month of pregnancy – were taken to the GMI and tortured. This adversity rather strengthened my determination to fight for a just cause to which I have never relented in serving our beloved party. By the way, the cause of the SDF runs in the veins of my family – father, father-in-law, uncles and aunts included.

Circumstances of becoming Party Secretary General

The 7th Ordinary National Convention of the Social Democratic Front, SDF was held in Bamenda from May 26 – 28, 2006; characterised by the well-known Muna crisis. A major issue during this Convention was the constitutional amendment prescribing the choice of the Secretary General by appointment rather than by election as was hitherto the case. The amendment empowered the National Chairperson to appoint the Secretary General together with his/her Assistants after due consultation. It was on that basis that I was appointed Party Secretary General on July 17, 2006. Six months earlier on, I was acting as the Secretary General of the Party upon the desistence of Dr. Ndobegang Michael, who had been appointed upon the destitution of Professor Tazoacha Asonganyi. The diligence and efficiency with which I carried out my duties as Acting Secretary General weighed in favour of my confirmation in full right.

My Crisis Administration as Secretary General in 2006

I became the SG at a very difficult time when the Muna crisis was still ongoing. The party Centre Regional Secretariat in Yaounde had been sealed off by the Mfoundi divisional administration as a result of the scuffle between bona fide members and the followers of Muna that ensued on May 26, 2006. Despite the fact that it was being guarded by the gendarmerie forces, the Regional Secretariat was set aflame by those who, we believe, failed to forcefully and illegally take over the SDF. Consequently, I had no office to work in. As part of his continuous support to the SDF, my husband had to offer an office space in his commercial apartments, which we used as a temporary secretariat for over 6 years. Here party members and officials were received, among whom is Hon. Awudu Mbaya, who was indeed very supportive and encouraging.

To crown it all, the Commonwealth Delegation who monitored the 2007 twin elections, were received by me for talks in this venue prior to the elections. Hence we initially started off, stoically and diligently worked through those very difficult years in the General Secretariat.

The Office of Secretary General

Below is an extract of the constitution of the Social Democratic Front which defines the functions of the Secretary General of the party:13.3: The Secretary General

    The General Secretariat of the Party shall be headed by a Secretary General, assisted by four (4) Deputy Secretaries General, at least one of whom shall be of the opposite sex;
    The Secretary General and his/her deputies shall, after due consultation, be appointed by the National Chairperson;
    The Secretary General, assisted by the Deputy Secretaries General, in addition to the specific functions conferred on them by the Internal Rules and Regulations and/or any other enabling instrument, shall:
    Take or cause to be taken and keep proper books provided for the purpose, the minute of the meetings of the National Convention, the National Executive Committee, the National Advisory Council, the Audit and Oversight Committee, and the cabinet meetings of the Shadow Government;
    Conduct or cause to be conducted such correspondence as may be required from time; provided that all correspondence destined to third parties shall be signed by the National Chairperson or such official as shall be delegated by the latter;6

iii. Prepare or cause to be prepared, subject to the approval of the National Chairperson, the order of business of meetings of all national organs of the Party;

    Supervise and control the activities of the National Secretariat and recommend for appointment of officials and recruitment of staff of the National Secretariat by the

National Chairperson;

    Ensure that no person except members of the various organs as provided by this constitution, attend their respective meetings and that only members of the several delegations and officers of the Convention shall be admitted to the Section of the Convention hall restricted to delegates;
    Carry out all other functions as shall be assigned by the National Executive Committee and/or the National Chairperson and report to them;

vii. The provisions of section 13.1 (d) above shall apply to the post of the National Secretary General.

13.4: The National Deputy Secretaries General

The National Assistant Secretaries General shall perform the duties of the Secretary General in his/her absence or as may be assigned to them by him/her.

In the light of this extract and in the spirit of the constitution as a whole, I did everything to work within the confines of the constitutional provisions of my office. Since 2006, I have coordinated the activities of the SDF at all levels on a day-to-day basis. Under my stewardship, we (of the General Secretariat) ensured that all NEC Resolutions, Press Releases, etc. were widely distributed to party structures and the public. We have defended the Party’s position on many salient issues in the country.Projects realised from 2006 – 2014

In collaboration, to a large extent, with the Secretariat for Political Education & Training and, to a small extent, the Secretariat of Communication, we have had some 14 projects, namely:

 Acquisition of a printing press;

 Training of Trainers on Election Monitoring of June 2007;

 The Role of Youths in Socialist Democracy of February 2008;

 The Northern Women seminar in June 2008;

 The Women Seminar of November 2008;

 The Political Empowerment of the Socialist Youths of September 2009;

 The Mayors’ Seminar of November 2009;

 The Provincial and National Elective Conferences of the Socialist Women Forum of 2009 & 2010;

 The Socialist Women Seminar on Capacity Building of June 2010;

 The Socialist Youths Seminar on good governance of August 2010;

 The Socialist Women Seminar of April 2012;

 A seminar on the “Role of Communication in Politics” held in May & June 2012;

 The Training of Trainers of Election Monitors: a nationwide series of workshops held in 2012;

 The Mayors’ seminar of February 2014.

Under my stewardship, a good working relationship with the Labour Party of

Great Britain was instituted. Thanks to the good working climate with this sister party, we acquired a modern printing press for our beloved party. In addition and most importantly, we have refurbished the Centre Regional Secretariat of the SDF in Yaounde, now also serving as the de-facto General Secretariat of the Party – none other existing elsewhere. This property is a legacy to the Party by the Founding Father, late James Mbanga. This Secretariat is the fruit of over two years of negotiation for funding with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, FES. Because FES did not want to be perceived as overtly sponsoring the party, the project had to be code-named: Centre for Social & Democratic Studies (CSDS). Hence, it is mistaken to think, as many party cadres unfortunately misconstrued, that CSDS is an NGO, created in order to misappropriate funds destined for party projects. (See page 11 for pictures of the old & new Secretariat).

Throughout my mandate we have executed projects in all the nooks and crannies in the country. The maintenance of good working relations with some of our most fervent partners – the Labour Party, Fondation Jean Jaurès, FJJ and FES has earned the invitations from these organisations, each time the occasion arises.

The creation of Socialist Youths and Women in our party has given hopes to youths and women of the SDF, despite efforts made to frustrate the existence of these party organs due to fear, suspicion or apathy.

Support to grass root members

Thanks to connections with the Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation and other developmental institutions such as GP-DERUDEP (Grassfield Participatory Decentralised Rural Development Project), SDF women in many Regions of the country were provided improved planting seeds as specified below:

 In the Northwest Region: corn, potatoes and bean seedlings to Bamenda I, II and III Councils Santa, Tubah, Belo;

 2 tons of corn seeds distributed to the women of the West Region;

 500 kg each of groundnut and corn seedlings to the Far North Region.

 Some of our councils benefitted from programmes such as “Mayors for Peace” – a programme which arms Mayors with skills to be agents of peace and conflict management. The Mayors of Bamenda I, II, Ndu and Nkambe, to name only these few are beneficiaries of this programme.

 Some of the burning issues challenging our democratic process, especially election malpractices in Cameroon, were addressed in an organised press conference and in question and answer sessions with the media.

Diplomacy

During my tenure of office, in the company of various party officials, we led visits to members of the diplomatic corps as advised by the National Chairman. Such Party officials are Hon. Joseph Mbah Ndam, Hon. Joseph Lukong Banadzem, Hon. Dr. Ngetcham, and Professor Jean Takougang. As soon as any Diplomat presented his/her credentials to the President of the Republic, the SG and her collaborators took their turn to inform the in-coming Diplomat of the

Party ideology, its activities, perceived challenges in the democratic process and the way forward. Such meetings have proved to be very fruitful. 9

- In addition to these meetings, a memo was addressed to the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon during his maiden visit to Cameroon during which he addressed the Cameroon’s National Assembly;

- Other memos were addressed to Pope Benedict XVI, the French Prime Minister François Fillon, the diplomatic corps and other international bodies. (See appendices)

Shabby treatment of my person

Since taking office in 2006, I have been subject to repeated disrespect and humiliation, publicly and privately, from across the board of the party cadres. A few summarised instances of the unpleasant situation are:

 On the occasion of a visit to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) facilities in 2011, the National Chairman pushed my hands as I attempted to reach across a document to the then 2nd Vice National Chairman, Comrade Joshua Osih;

 At a public rally in Kumba, that same year the National Chairman rudely ordered me to take out chewing gum from my mouth;

 My signature as Secretary General has been repeatedly and publicly challenged by party officials, to the knowledge and acquiescence of the National Chairman;

 The use of the services of Private Secretaries in carrying out our duties as Secretary General was, inexplicably, misconstrued by the National Chairman though all of our predecessors availed themselves of the same facility.

 It has been a tradition in our Party that the Secretary General presents, to SDF Parliamentarians, the decision of the National Investiture Committee which appoints some of them to various posts in the Bureau of the National Assembly and in Commissions. During my stewardship, Iwas rubbed of this role. I only get information of their appointments via the media like any other party militant.

 Socialist International meetings are supposed to be attended by both the National Chairman and Secretary General of member parties; SDF often participates in such meetings conspicuously in the absence of the SG as was the case of meetings held in France, South Africa, and Namibia. Furthermore, no female representative has ever been designated to attend any of these meetings;

 A party such as ours, having aspirations to govern Cameroon, needs to avail herself of all the research findings and publications of renowned national and international institutions. surprisingly though, such publications were indexed by the 1st Vice National Chairman as CPDM (Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement) materials being presented for discussion during a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting. Judging by the fact that no NEC member raised any objection to this utterance, it would seem that the assistance was in accord with the insinuation from 1st Vice National Chairman. But no, privately after the meeting, comrades came scrambling for copies of the scientific journals published by the Cameroon Academy of Sciences and the Institutes for Social and Human Sciences, Cameroon;

 On the occasion of a National Investiture Committee (NIC) meeting, it was made known – contrary to the provisions of the party constitution quoted above – that the role of a Secretary General is limited to taking minutes exclusively at NEC meetings. Consequently, the SG would never again be invited to any other Committee meetings of the party, such as the National Advisory Council, (NAC) – notwithstanding the fact that she is a statutory member. The role of the SG, during our stewardship, has been reduced to mere window dressing through the dictatorial actions of the National Chairman of the party;

 During the Camp David Meeting – a meeting of party elders so coined and convened to instruct the SG henceforth, not to sign any memoranda or letters directed to international bodies, diplomats or leaders of other political parties. The purported reason for this was to impede the SG from eventually assuming any executive function;

 The dates of NEC meetings, as well as the meeting agenda, are normally fixed by the Secretary General in consultation with the National Chairman, but recently such meetings (namely, the last two in Buea and Bamenda) have been summoned with complete disregard of the Secretary General;11

 I have been replaced as a statutory signatory to the party’s bank account, without even being informed, in violation with Section 13.5(d) of the Party Constitution;

 During the 2012 Elective Convention, I was unjustifiably labelled in front of over 1500 delegates as stubborn. The National Chairman even openly threatened to use his constitutional powers to sack me from my post just by the stroke of his pen;

 My constitutional responsibilities as Secretary General were assigned to other persons during the 2012 Convention, when National Chairman arrogated to himself the formation of the various Committees and their members; The Accreditation Report, prepared by me, in consonance with the Constitution of the Party, was instead assigned for presentation by Honourable Yoyo Emmanuel;

o The Convention Resolutions, prepared by the SDF National Secretariat, were ordered by the National Chairman to be presented by the 1st Vice National Chairman instead of the Secretary General.

 During the said Convention, the constitutional role of the Secretary General, as stipulated in “PART II: AD HOC COMMITTEES OF THE NATIONAL CONVENTION, Rule 8 on Selection of Delegates to the Committees states:

Rule 8.1: Indication for Preference of Committee Accredited delegates shall, on the first days of the Convention, submit to the Secretary General, in order of preference three committees which they shall like to be member during the Convention.

Rule 8.2: Secretary General not bound by the preference The Secretary General shall not be bound to attribute any or every delegate to the committees of their preference and may omit to attribute a delegate to any committee.”

In defiance of these provisions, this role was taken away from me – a woman – and conferred to Honourable Yoyo Emmanuel, for no justifiable reason.