There is no apathy in voters’ registration-ELECAM Delegate

“Elections Cameroon, ELECAM, is not witnessing registration apathy. These are just political polemics and gimmicks propagated by some uneducated politicians.”

These were the words of the Southwest Regional Delegate of ELECAM, Barrister Okha Bau Okha, who was attempting an appraisal of the recent revision of the electoral registration exercise in the Southwest Region.

In an exclusive interview with The Post in Buea, on Thursday, August 4, 2014, Barrister Okha Bau said, since the creation of ELECAM, the electoral body has never witnessed registration apathy. This, he said, was demonstrated during the September 30, 2013, twin elections, where ELECAM registered over 75 percent of the electorate in the Southwest Region in particular, and the country in general.

When invalid ballots were factored into the total number of electorate who participated in the twin elections, the Delegate went on, the percentage rose to about 80 percent.

“We cannot be talking about voters’ apathy in a country that can register up to 80 percent of the electorate. If we compare voters’ participation in Cameroon with those of other countries in the world, we can confidently say Cameroon is advancing. For instance, voters’ registration in the European Union was hovering at about 50 percent. It was the same scenario with that of Afghanistan,” Barrister Okha Bau stated.

The ELECAM Regional boss noted that one of the perennial problems that have greatly hindered the revision of the electoral registration exercise in the region is the poor state of roads.

“The registration commission cannot freely move into some parts of the region such as; Akwaya, parts of Ndian, Lebialem and Mamfe because of poor state of roads and the weather conditions at this period of the year.”

Apart from the poor road network, the Delegate said, at times the registration kits get broken as the commission tries to brave the bad roads to get people registered. This, he added, also hinders the effective revision of exercise.

Southwest Registers Over 7,983 Voters After the August 31 deadline for the revision of voters’ registration elapsed, the Southwest Region has registered some 7,983 eligible voters. But the ELECAM Regional Delegate said the number may exceed 8,000 as the registration figures of some Divisions are still expected in his office. Among the 7,983 voters registered 4,580 males and 3,403 females.

The revision of the electoral registration exercise which started on January 1 and ended on August 31, according to the Delegate, was made up of three components namely; the registration of new voters, voters who have changed residence or died and those who have been declared incompetent by the law.

He said the revision exercise may have been timid because it was not an election year and that the eligible voters may not have been motivated to register.

He, nonetheless, called on those who could not meet the August 31registration deadline to do so next year when the voters’ registers will be opened again. “Voting is a civic responsibility and those who do not vote, are doing a disservice to the nation,” he stated.

He, however, dismissed the fact that there was apathy in the registration process, as to him, the present statistics at hand are encouraging.