Ahead of 2025 elections: Nico Halle urges gov’t to ensure normalcy in NW, SW, level playing ground.

The African Union election expert has also urged electoral authorities to take all necessary measures to enable all eligible citizens, including those displaced, to exercise their right to vote in a timely manner.

Speaking as guest on Cameroon Radio Television, CRTV’s flagship magazine programme, Cameroon Calling, Sunday August 18, the highly accomplished lawyer, regretted that mobilisations ahead of the polls were generally timid.

The former President of the General Assembly of the Cameroon Bar Association insisted that elections cannot be considered credible without the full participation of those who are eligible to vote.

“The mobilisation is timid. Elections are next year. So, normally, the entire nation should be mobilised. I have the impression that not much has been done yet by the stakeholders. I am expecting more to be done,” Ntumfor said. 

He maintained that elections should be organised in the most peaceful manner.

“I hate conflict, violence…election should bring the people together. Election should be a process of peacefully selecting leaders. When it is not peaceful, it is not good. I have always said that any action or deed of a man which is not accompanied by the holy spirit is bound to collapse,” Nico Halle stated. 

He prescribed that all “stakeholders should seek God’s face” as preparations heighten ahead of the elections. 

“You know, all the crises here and there can’t make for a good election. It has to be done in a serene environment,” he maintained.  

Ntumfor Nico Halle who counts more 180 awards and distinctions to his credit, was blunt that: “I think that we are on the wrong side of history if we think that we can have our way in violence. That is why over the years, I have been crusading peace, harmony and fighting corruption which creates unemployment and poverty and causes bitterness in the minds of the people. Hungry people don’t have kind words for you”.

Speaking further, Ntumfor Nico Halle insisted, that: “This nation belongs to the 28 million Cameroonians and nobody has more rights than the other. So, when it gets to elections, the mobilisation should be total. The state as per Jean-Jacques Rousseau has the responsibility vis-a-vis the people and the people also have their responsibilities vis-a-vis the state. We should be looking up to building an enabling environment conducive for the elections and mobilisation should be ongoing”.

“It is incumbent on those organising elections to make sure that the people are informed” he added.

Solve the crises we are facing

Asked of what could be done for elections to be effectively organised in North West and South West regions, where an armed conflict is raging on, Ntumfor Nico Halle didn’t mince his words.

He was categorical that authorities must do everything humanly possible to ensure a return of normalcy.

Ntumfor Nico Halle who is known for telling truth to power, no matter whose ox is gored, stated firmly that credible elections cannot be organised in situation of conflict.

“…let us not pretend. When you organise an election in a conflictual situation, you can’t call that an election because some people will be disenfranchised. So, there is urgent need for this situation to be addressed so that the people can freely and willingly go and register and vote,” he stated. 

Sharing his experience on managing elections in Cameroon, Ntumfor, said organising elections is the “most excruciating assignment” that can be handed to a person. 

“I was appointed by the powers that be in 2001 to manage elections in this country. It wasn’t a bed of roses for me. I was going around with my coffin since I had received threats, because I wanted to organise free and transparent elections. Those who are specialised in rigging elections did not love me at all. They did everything to weaken me,” he detailed. 

Further commenting about his experience with ONEL, the international peace crusader, said: “Since I was born, I don’t know of any assignment that was that excruciating. But I did my job so well. I did everything to meet standards. 90% percent of conflicts in the world emanate from rigged elections”.  

Seek the face of God

Harping further on the need for credible elections to be organised in the country, Ntumfor Nico Halle challenged election stakeholders to seek the face of God.

He was categorical that election organisers must clean their mentality and mindsets and “go on their knees to beg God”. 

“Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build, labour in vain. If we don’t take God on board, we wouldn’t succeed,” Ntumfor stressed.

He said God has blessed Cameroon with human and natural resources, but regrettably added that “the huge level of poverty and unemployment can only be the absence of God accompanying us”.

“So, this is the moment for us to go on our knees and ask God to forgive us of our trespasses and prepare us to get into these elections and come out clean. But again, I should end by saying let us address the crises that are staring us in the face,” he concluded.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No:3205 of Wednesday August 21, 2024