SDF Chairmanship: Osih Joshua wins landslide!.

He was elected alongside other members into the National Executive Committee, NEC, of the SDF. 

Elections took place during the party’s 10^th Ordinary Convention held in Yaounde from Friday October 27 to Sunday October 29.

Osih who previously served as First National Vice President of the party, secured 985 out of the 1,565 votes cast. 

His immediate challenger, Shewa David Jestel, grabbed 363 votes while Godden Zama Ndenge, came third after securing 217 votes.

Besides Osih Joshua, other party stalwarts were also elected into various positions into NEC. 

They include Senator Mochiggle Vanigansen who was elected First Vice National President while former Bafut Mayor, Langsi Abel, was voted National Treasurer. 
For his part, Tagne Ngeko Emmanuel, was elected National Financial Secretary while journalist, Kejang Henry, was voted by acclamation as National Communications Secretary.

Osih pledges to ensure internal democracy 

Addressing party supporters shortly after emerging as National Chairman of the SDF, Hon Osih Joshua thanked his followers before promising that internal democracy would prevail in the party during his tenure.

The 2018 presidential candidate also pledged to work with all members of the party who have something to offer.

According to him, there would be level playing field for all party members.

The politician promised to hit the ground running to ensure victory for the party in all forthcoming political confrontations across the country. He said his victory was that of the SDF as a political party.

“…If I had just one thing to say, it is that the SDF is back and we are back,” Osih told delegates at the gathering.

He described the SDF as a serious political party before praising voters for having “decided to give us a serious leadership…”. 

“…you can trust me, we will get to where we have to go…we will win those councils, parliamentary seats, senatorial seats, regional councils, to make sure that after that we win that presidential seat to govern this country and take Cameroonians out of poverty, sufferings, underdevelopment and for the good of all of us,” he said. 

“It is an emotional moment for me. But I want to tell you one thing; together, we are stronger,” he concluded.

Some of the newly elected members into NEC

Osih won but the SDF lost- Zama

Reacting to last weekend’s election, one of the contenders to the post of Chairman of the SDF, Zama Godden, described the exercise as a farce.

He said although Hon Osih Joshua was declared winner of the hotly contested poll, the SDF party emerged as the biggest loser.

Zama who emerged third after securing 217 votes, said the procedure to elect officials into NEC was largely marred by irregularities and intrigues.

He stated that: “We demonstrated the strength of our party but unfortunately, elections were marred by a lot of irregularities. Joshua Osih won the election but I think the SDF lost”.

He was blunt that: “The election was actually a farce”. 

Zama who is currently serving as Limbe I Electoral District Chair of the SDF, cited “the situation of under aged kids who left schools to come and vote. We had the situation of people being ferried from neighborhoods in Yaounde to vote. It was a disgraceful procedure. As I said before, Joshua Osih won the election but the SDF lost”. 

He continued that: “Overall, the election was disgraceful. The voting process was chaotic. When it started, the candidates didn’t have the list of accredited delegates. We didn’t even have representatives at the various polling stations. People were just called in to start voting. That was why we had to stop the process to ensure that it was regular and transparent”.

“It is disgraceful that the SDF, which is a party that is fighting for proper elections in Cameroon, should carry out elections in this manner. I think that for posterity’s sake and for the integrity of the party, we must do better,” he insisted.

Asked about his way forward, following Sunday’s election, Zama stated that: “I am a supporter at the base. I will continue to work at the grassroots level of our party. Hopefully in future, I will be able to have something to offer to the party at the national level”.

Quizzed on whether he is ready to work with the newly elected National Chairman, if cornered, Zama was categorical.

“I think there is no possibility of me working with the current national executive. However, I remain a supporter of the SDF. I will continue to work in Limbe where I am the District Chairman,” he said.

It is important to state that The Guardian Post made all frantic efforts to get the other contender, Shewa David’s reaction, after the results were declared.

Not only did he leave even before the final counting of the votes, all attempts to get his reactions via telephone, met with the rocks…we called severally but he did not take his calls. 

Irate supporters disrupt voting

Saturday’s voting exercise at the 10^th National Ordinary Convention of the SDF was not without hitches. For several hours, the voting process was disrupted by supporters of two of the candidates for the position of National Chairman. 

Candidates Shewa David, Zama Godden and their supporters took to the floor in anger, alleging irregularities in the selection process of the elected members into the National Executive Committee, NEC of the SDF. 

Amongst other things, Shewa and Zama alleged the massive presence of mercenaries in the delegation from the Far North Region. 

They also sounded an alarm over the presence of child voters in the same delegation.

Shewa, who later emerged runner up in the race for National Chairman, had expressed worries that delegates were using accreditation badges instead of their national ID cards to vote during Saturday’s election. 

To this end, he raised concerns about the possibility of double voting. After three hours of deadlock and following intense deliberations, voting resumed. 

All three candidates had during the bitter exchanges agreed to have representatives at all the polling stations to ensure transparency of the exercise. 

When voting resumed, it took more than eight hours for the results to be proclaimed by officials of the Electoral Committee put in place by the party to supervise the elections. 

The exercise began at about 6:00 pm Saturday evening, winners of the elections were only known at about 7:00am Sunday morning. 

It was an-all-night exercise which saw delegates dosing off within and outside the Yaounde Multipurpose Sports Complex where the convention took place.

Time for promises is over

In the build up to his victory, Hon Osih Joshua had made several promises to win the votes of supporters of the party.

Amongst the several promises made, Hon Osih pledged to renew trust with all members and build a conquering party, if elected.

Hon Osih also said his team aims to restore trust in members by being transparent and honouring commitments.

“We are also going to implement a real ‘power to the people’ internal policy. This involves: organising a bi-annual national conference for the formulation of our public policy proposals and bringing together all the Electoral District Presidents, Divisional Coordinators, Regional Presidents and the National Executive Committee, NEC,” he pledged.

He equally promised to develop a national strategy to win local elections as well as construct the party’s national headquarters in Bamenda, a liaison and regional office in Yaounde.