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BAMENDA: April 29, 2006: In an unprecedented internal election of the SDF, erstwhile Party Chair John Fru Ndi beat his rival Hon. Paulinus Jua by the widest margin ever witnessed in the Party in 15 years. Mr Fru Ndi gained 462 votes out of 470, in a secret ballot, Saturday April, 28, 2006, in the Boyo Divisional capital of Fundong. Mr Jua obtained seven votes in total. Mr Fru Ndi will be the North-West Provincial candidate for Party Chairmanship in the May Convention. Each Province is expected to hold primaries for its candidates.

Hon. Jua, son of late former Premier Ngom Jua and Member of Parliament for Boyo failed to get a single vote among delegates from his Boyo constituency. Out of 55 voting delegates from his Division of origin, Mr Jua obtained zero votes. He also failed to get a single vote in four of the seven Divisions. Mr Jua got one vote each from Ngoketunia and Momo Divisions. Voting delegates are chosen by each District Conference. Provincial and National Executive Members and Members of Parliament have automatic voting rights. In press interviews last week Mr. Jua said he had campaigned across the Province and was sure of a victory. Negative newspaper articles on Mr Fru Ndi’s leadership may have led Mr Jua to hope for a win, but there is a huge gap between elitist press politics and grassroots views. Most newspapers and media do not reach the grassroots and only face-to-face politics works. Mr Fru Ndi is renowned for grassroots campaigning. An eye witness of the conference vote said: "I have never seen such unanimity in the SDF since I joined in 1990; I tell you what, the Boyo verdict is so emphatic that anyone inside and outside SDF should get the message and accept that like the launching of the SDF in 1990, many high-impact decisions are made here in the North-West [Province]!"

Mr Fru Ndi got 100% votes from Provincial and National Executive Committee members as well 100% votes from Members of Parliament. "This is amazing coming at the time of huge challenges" said an academic and a delegate.

This vote comes at a time when the Party is undergoing internal squabbles caused by inflated egoes of those candidates vying for Mr Fru Ndi’s post. No other candidate has gone through in properly organised primaries to oppose Mr Fru Ndi. One Celestin Djamen with doubtful membership credentials declared his intention to run, but has not been endorsed by the Provincial Conference in France. SDF-France Representative Jean-Paul Tchakote has characterised this candidature as ‘virtual’ alluding to the fact that it does not conform to Party Rules of coming from the grassroots structures. Another candidate former Bar Council President Bernard Muna announced himself candidate following contested District and Provincial Conferences in the Centre Province.

Saturday’s election is a referendum on the popularity of Mr Fru Ndi and will leave his detractors very worried indeed. Mr Fru Ndi has been criticised by his opponents of staying long at the helm of the Party, however, Mr Fru Ndi’s supporters point to lack of a trusted replacement and the fact that none of the Party leaders in Cameroon’s opposition have relinquished their posts. They see a plot to replace Mr Fru Ndi with someone who can play elitist power games and allow for the cooptation of the movement into the ruling government. Majority of the grassroots members are opposed to cooptation. The SDF with over 600,000 members has very strong grassroots structures with an estimated 80,000 volunteers ranging from Party vangurdas to Exco members accross the country. It will be very difficult to dismantle or manipulate this incredible machinery built over one and half decade.

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