The 1st National Vice Chairman of the SDF, Hon Joshua Nambangi Osih, has asserted that the people of Kumba II voted for an SDF list and not an individual, whom he accused of hijacking the Kumba II Council.

He said the will of the people of Kumba II should be respected and regretted that indiscipline is being condoned in the SDF.

In an interview granted by The Post, Hon Osih expressed optimism that National Executive Committee, NEC, of the SDF, will be able to take a final decision on the appeals that were filed by the present Mayors of Kumba II and Tubah, who had earlier been dismissed from the party. The interview also touches on a number of other issues, including Osih’s first year in Parliament. Read on:

The Post: A few weeks ago, some militants were dismissed from the CPDM that used to criticise the SDF for dismissing some of its militants for anti-party activities. What is your reaction?

Joshua Nambangi Osih: As an SDF official, I cannot comment on the decision the CPDM took to dismiss some of its militants, because, we of the SDF are politically mature and consider that as an internal affair of the CPDM.

I can only comment on the criticisms the CPDM used to make about some internal decisions that were taken by the SDF. Well, each time the CPDM criticises the SDF, it means that the SDF has done the right thing. If we do the wrong thing, they will rather be happy, because, it will play to their advantage. So, I am delighted to see them criticise us, because, it means we are doing the right thing.

But one thing I will to like to make a remark on is that, because the CPDM was criticising the SDF, many members of the SDF thought that the party needed to calm down with discipline. I think that all the problems we have inside the SDF today, are because we overlooked indiscipline and we tried to reconcile people who were indiscipline with ourselves. And this has caused us more problems.

I have always been on the side of strict discipline and I think that it is big time for the SDF to again, be this party where you do not joke; where anybody who violates the statutes of the party should be sanctioned, and sanctioned seriously. We are a party that is meant to govern Cameroon. Cameroonians are counting on us to govern this country tomorrow, and I think we can only govern this country tomorrow if we are appropriate with ourselves, if we are strict with discipline, and if we sanction without any emotions.

Talking about indiscipline, the Mayors of the SDF-run Kumba II and Tubah Councils, Martin Ndobegang and Martin Meshongong Tanjong, respectively, were on October 26, 2013, ordered by NEC to leave the posts. One year later, they are still in office. Are they still militants of the SDF?

These two individuals were served with their exclusions from the SDF at that time. As far as I know, they executed their rights of recall to that decision. I am not very close to that file, but I think the procedure is still ongoing. So, I cannot comment until they have exhausted all forms of appeals possible.

We are in a political party which is very dynamic. All decisions are not taken on the basis of the statutes. Some decisions can be political, if they have to. As regard the decision that was taken concerning the two individuals, the party took a conservative position which is an obvious position; that of excluding them because they did not respect the position of the party taken by the National Investiture Committee.

These individuals embarrassingly did not respect the signature of the National Chairman of our party. The NEC meeting we held on Saturday, November 8, was a special session, and so the files of Kumba II and Tubah Councils were not on the table. But I think that after the next NEC meeting, we might deliberate on this issue.

Those who have been tasked to handle the situation and clarify it will likely present their report to NEC. We will look at the situation in the field and see what is going on exactly; case by case. So, if good reasons can be advanced for the appeals of those individuals to be entertained, then, we will look at them. But if they do not have sufficient reasons, I am afraid the earlier decision that NEC took would be final. But for me, as an individual militant of the SDF, until those appeals are entertained by NEC, I personally do not consider them as militants of the SDF.

There were reports a few months ago that you were in Kumba, apparently on a secret mission to rally Councillors of the Kumba II to pass a vote of no-confidence against the Mayor, Ndobegang?

A vote of no-confidence! That is not exactly what I was doing. The Kumba II Council found itself in a situation where the choice of the party at the level of the investiture was without due consideration to party discipline.

So, the first work that had to be done was to get a majority again within the Council, before we can take any decision after that. It was the party that asked me to go to Kumba. The work I went to Kumba to do was to get a majority inside the Council. I was helped by Hon Awudu Mbaya. Suffice to say that the work has been done and it is now behind me.

What does the party want a majority inside the council for? The majority is in accordance with what a majority of the Councillors will agree within the Council. I accomplished the assignment I was given and I am proud of the work I did. Right now, it is up to NEC to take the decisions.

What I can say is that, as far as the SDF is concerned, the Kumba II Council is not functioning normally, and a decision has to be taken. If we have not taken a decision yet, I believe it is because our National Chairman wanted to explore all avenues to come to the best decision.

There are many ways a party can sanction a militant. There are even some sanctions that tend to be more severe on someone than exclusion. Whatever the case, I am hopeful that when we come out of the next NEC meeting, we will be able to communicate a final position of the party on the matter. One thing I pray for is that the will of the people of Kumba II be respected.

What is the will of the people of Kumba II? At the September 30, 2013 Municipal Elections, the people of Kumba II voted for a list and not for an individual. They wanted the SDF party to manage their Council. That is how we got elected.

I do wish and pray that all those concerned; the 25 Councillors, the National Executive Committee, and the Southwest Regional Executive Committee, should ensure that the will of the people of Kumba II is respected.

I think it is important to understand that the SDF, in this matter, is fighting for the will of the people of Kumba II to be respected, and it is now one year that they haven’t had the Council they voted for. Rather, they have a council that was hijacked. This is inadmissible.

How has your first year in Parliament been? Well, it has been a year of learning, and it has been an exciting year as well, with much work to do in the Finance and Budget Committee which I happen to be the Vice President. As I got into Parliament, we were in charge of putting in place a bill that takes care of the fiscal state of the regime, which has completely changed the way state budgetary and financial management occurs. So, it has been a lot of work in the committee.

How has it been in your constituency, Wouri Centre? It has unfortunately being a slow year. We have been having issues inside the party in Douala, that we trying to handle. At the NEC meeting on November 8, a senior party official was assigned to travel to Douala and see into the matter. So, I am convinced that, before the end of the year, those issues will be handled, to make it such that I will be able to touch base inside my constituency through the party, as against going direct as I am doing now.

Why should an MP want to touch base through his political party? Being an MP from a constituency does not mean that an MP does not have a party. An MP is for the entire nation. But an MP is supposed to relay to the entire nation via his constituency, and relays towards his constituency via his party. He cannot cut any of them off, because, they are part of the equation. I got elected MP as a member of a party, and I have to respect that.

We have garnered that your party, the SDF, has been having problems with the reorganisation of the basic organs in Douala …? The party has been suffering from organisational issues and it has taken much longer to fix than I would have thought. We have some people who are fighting against the fact that our party is waxing strong. However it is normal. It is something that happens in any big organisation. Hopefully, we are towards the end of that situation. With the situation over, we will be able to work much more proactively for the four remaining years of the mandate.

You are the first ever person from the English-speaking part of Cameroon to be an MP in Douala. Have you faced any particular problem as an Anglophone MP in Douala?

I do not think that I was elected MP because I come from one part of the country or the other. I consider myself a Cameroonian, and that is the way I presented myself to the electorate. People do not relate to me as being from one village or the other. People of Wouri Centre Constituency relate to me as being their representative, and, as such, I am at their service. I have been telling them that I am at their service, and they have to use me. So, take it that I am not an English- speaking MP or an Anglophone MP. I am a Cameroonian with origins from the Southwest Region, of which I am very proud. Douala is a cosmopolitan town, and so I also consider myself as a son of Douala.

I have been in Douala I since 1988, and I consider myself as a son-of-the-soil. Over the years, we have seen many Mayors and MPs in Douala who are people that hail from regions like the West and Centre, and it has never been an issue. Why should it be an issue with somebody who hails from the Southwest Region, which is even part of the Sawa people, being an MP in Douala?

Interviewed By Joe Dinga Pefok