Sanji Joseph has staged a spectacular comeback, winning the Momo I section of the CPDM, barely days after his list was rejected by the Divisional Electoral Commission.
He recorded a landslide victory with 68.20% of the votes cast, amidst wild scenes of celebration and joy in Mbengwi.
Angry Youths of the party in Momo I-Mbengwi on Sunday November 23, laid siege to the party house, briefly taking hostage some members of the Electoral Commission including the Vice Chancellor of the Bamenda University-Tafah Edward Edokat and some polling agents for what they decried as gross injustice, manipulation and rejection of their list by some party cohorts of their opponents against their preferred candidate, Sanji Joseph.
The Regional Electoral Commission in Bamenda, chaired by the Vice president Ngafeeson Emmanuel Bantar after listening to the two list leaders ordered a rerun of the election on Tuesday November 24, with both men, Tangoh Humphrey and Sanji Joseph to square off.
According to the official results released late into the night on Tuesday by the Divisional Coordinator for Momo-Dr Ndifontah Nyamdi, 2154 militants voted for Sanji Joseph while 1004 voted for Tangoh Humphrey.
Another highlight of the election was the defeat of the current mayor of Mbengwi Tebe Beatrice for the position of WCPDM section president by the seemingly unknown political debutant Delphine Ndeni Ngum.
Sanji Joseph also scored another victory with his candidate, Chum Idadi Achick also winning the position of YCPDM Section president.
Sanji Joseph speaking to the press after the proclamation of results promised to work harder to unit and build a stronger CPDM in Mbengwi. He attributed his victory to boomerang efforts of his detractors.
“The rejection of our list was a plus to us that is what has made us win the race,” he said. He further attributed the victory to the youths of the party who turn out massively to casts their votes for him.
Prof. Tafah Edokat, president of the Sub divisional electoral commission described the entire process as a victory for democracy and called on those who lost in the polls to embrace each other. He urged them to rally with the winners to forge a strong party in Momo.
A total of 7523 voters were registered, with 3168 voters casting their ballots, representing a 42% participation rate. The Section is made up of 33 subsections.