Joe Dinga Pefok (Uncle Joe)
How in 2019, the ‘Operation 11 Million’ group decided to transform into a political party. And why, and how, Cabral LIBII NGUE instead became the National President of PCRN in that 2019.
How ABDOURAMAN BABA initiated a dialogue to resolve the problem that sparked off in 2023 between the former National President of PCRN, KONA Robert, and the Cabral LIBII team, and how the dialogue was sabotaged by Minister Paul ATANGA NJI.
Many people have been questioning why Cabral Libii Ngue and his large ‘Operation 11 Million’ group, in the first place did not create their own political party, instead of going to negotiate and takeover another person’s party; something that has been bringing them a lot headache. The truth is that the group tried to register a party in early 2019, but faced a stone wall.
‘Operation 11 Million’
Talking about “Operation 11 Million’, it should be noted that it was a whatsApp group of youths led by Cabral Libii who then was about 35 years old. It was created in 2016 to mobilize the population, especially youths that had not yet registered in the voters’ register or on the voters’ list, to go out and register, ahead of the 2018 presidential election. The group that started in Yaounde, rapidly spread across the country, especially in university towns like Douala, Ngaoundere and so on. Membership grew into thousands. The announced target of the group was to raise the number of registered voters in Cameroon to 11 million, and that was how the group became known as ‘Operation 11 Million’.
Seeing that the group had grown into a big and serious organization, the elections organizing body, Elections Cameroon (ELECAM), started collaborating with the group in the field in 2017. ‘Operation 11 Million’ also reportedly received some financial support from one or two organizations, and that enabled Cabral Libii and some of his colleagues to travel to some parts of the country, for the voters’ registration campaign. The truth about the whole thing was that the youthful Cabral Libii who then was running the Campus Radio at Yaounde II University (Soa), also then secretly had political ambition, though by then, he was not yet in politics.
Proposal In ‘Operation 11 Million’, That The Group Up A Presidential Candidate
Meanwhile in the second half of 2017, some members of ‘Operation 11 Million’ in their online discussion proposed that the group should put up a presidential candidate, so as to benefit from the fruits of their labour, as regard the voters’ registration campaign that they were carrying out. Some members of the group immediately proposed that their leader, Cabral Libii, should be their presidential candidate. Cabral Libii initially rejected the proposal and even the idea for the group to put up a presidential candidate. For one thing too, though Cabral Libii was secretly nursing political ambition, he was in fact not yet ready to get into politics. However following increasing pressure by a large majority of members of ‘Operation 11 Million’, Cabral Libii asked to be given sometimes to reflect. The group moved into 2018, without a response from Cabral Libii. It was after a few months into 2018, that Cabral Libii finally gave a positive response to the group.
Prof Nkou Mvondo, And His ‘Parti UNIVERS’
But then the ‘Operation 11 Million’ group was not a political party, and so could not in reality put up a candidate at the 2018 presidential election. So the group had to look for a political party, on whose platform Cabral Libii could run in the presidential election. More so, it had to be a party that according to the new conditions contain in the modified Electoral Code of the country, was either represented in the National Assembly, in the Senate, or in a municipal council.
Suffice to say that Cabral Libii Ngue, the leader of ‘Operation 11 Million’, ran on the ticket Prof Nkou Mvondo’s Parti UNIVERS, at the October 7, 2019 presidential election. Neither Cabral Libii nor any member of the ‘Operation 11 Million’ was a militant of ‘Parti UNIVERS’, but Cabral Libii was close to Nkou Mvondo, who even used to call Cabral his son. So it was ‘father – son’ relationship that got Nkou Mvondo and Cabral Libii to easily reach an agreement, which led the former to give the latter the investiture as “Parti UNVERS’ candidate for the 2018 presidential election..
Dispute Over Money
But unfortunately a dispute erupted between the ‘Operation 11 Million’ group and the President of ‘Parti UNIVERS’, Prof Nkou Mvondo, after the presidential election. The problem was over Nkou Mvondo’s failure to release the remaining part of Cabral Libii’s campaign funds from the State that was paid into the account of Parti UNIVERS, by the Ministry of Territorial Administration. It should be noted the then new Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, decided that the campaign funds from the State meant for presidential candidates, should instead, be paid into the bank account of the political parties, on which tickets the candidates ran in the election. That was how the Cabral Libii’s campaign funds from the State, was instead paid into the account of ‘Parti UNIVERS”., to which he was not a signatory.
After the election, the Finance Committee of ‘Operation 11 Million’, that handled finances for the presidential election campaign, said over 5 million francs CFA was still left in the bank account of ‘Parti UNIVERS, and requested that Nkou Movondo should withdraw the money and handover to the committee. But Nkou Mvondo would not do that. Rather, he reportedly claimed that his party spent some money in the campaign. But that claim was strongly rejected by the Finance Committee of ‘Operation 11 Million’, which insisted that the committee provided all he funds that Nkou Mvondo needed for himself and his party, for the campaign.
Cabral Libii tried to calm down things, for the issue not to get out into the public, especially considering the relationship he had with Nkou Mvondo. But many members of ‘Operation 11 Million’, apparently also due to their youthful exuberance, would not drop the mater. Rather the matter soon found itself in the public space and in the media, Prof Nkou Mvondo found himself in a big embarrassment. Suffice to say the ‘Operation 11 Million’ decided not to continue with ‘Parti UNIVERS’ and so left.
“Operation 11 Million’ Also Decide To Transform Into A Political Party.
The ‘Operation 11 Million’ group also decided to transform into a political party, and to do that fast, especially as the legislative and municipal elections that were postponed from 2018 to 2019 by the President of the Republic, were supposed to be around the corner.
Cabral Libii’s Childhood Friend, Valere Bessala, Offers Him A Registered Party. But – –
It happened that Cabral Libii’s childhood friend, Valere Bertrand Bessala (a civil administrator by training), had taken advantage of being in the Ministry of Territorial Administration, to secretly create a political party known as JUVENCE. Bessala in fact registered that party for his friend Cabral Libii, though the latter did not initially know. Bessala explained in a TV interview that in their group of four childhood friends, he foresaw that Cabral Libii will one day get into politics, whereas he (Bessala) had no intention or interest of one day getting into politics.
When Cabral Libii and his ‘Operation‘11 Million’ group decided to leave Prof Nkou Mvondo’s party, Bessala thought that was the right moment, and thus called his longtime friend (Cabral), and presented him with the surprise gift; the documents of a new political party called, JUVENCE, that, he had quietly created for him. But to Bessala’s biggest embarrassment, Cabral Libii rejected the offer. It is not clear why Cabral Libii refused the offer. Perhaps his close collaborators in the ‘Operation 11 Million’ group did not like the idea. Bessala said following Cabral Libii’s rejection, he found himself with a political party in his hand, when he then did not have any political plan or programme. Suffice to say Bessala later decided to get involved in politics, to make use of the party, JUVENCE, that, he registered.
Cabral Libii And His Group, Tried to Register Their Own Party, ‘LE CITOYEN’
Meanwhile, Cabral Libii and his group, decided to create their own political party known as, ‘Le Citoyen’ (The Citizen). The file was deposited at the Ministry of Territorial Administration in March 2019. But apparently Cabral Libii’s brilliant performance at the 2018 presidential election had frightened the new Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, who is also an official of the ruling CPDM party, Mezam CPDM Coordinator. The minister seemingly decided not to legalize Cabral Libii’s party. A longtime close collaborator of Cabral Libii, Armand Okol, say after they deposited the file for the registration of their party, ‘Le Citoyen’, officials at MINAT kept turning them round and round. Each time they went to MINAT to find out what was happening with their file, there was a new story. A times they would be told that one of the documents in the file was missing, and they would rush and bring a copy. Next time another new story would be told.
It should be noted that while the Ministry of Territorial Administration commonly known by the French acronym, MINAT, was playing this game, Cabral Libii and his close collaborators like Okol were under a big pressure. Time was not on their side. President Biya in 2018 first postponed the legislative and municipal elections to 2019. They did not know whether there would be a second postponement or not. So Cabral Libii and his colleagues were really worried that President Biya could announce the date of the legislative and municipal elections, when they did not yet have a political party. At one point they resolved to look for another party, since the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, seemingly did not want to legalize their party, ‘Le Citoyen”.
Suffice to say Cabral Libii and his collaborators finally met Pa Kona Robert, the then National President of PCRN, and his small group, in Guidiguis, Far North Region, negotiated and took over his party, the PCRN. Then PCRN was a party that existed more on paper than in the field. There is of course no doubt that money changed hands in the political deal between Cabral Libii’s group and Pa Kona’s group, for the takeover of PCRN. It should be noted that the meeting that held in Pa Kona’s Guidiguis, was transformed into the first congress of PCRN, with Cabral Libii Ngue elected National President of the party. It is not clear as to who linked Cabral Libii and his team, to Pa Kona and his group. Whatever the case, Cabral Libii being somebody with a strong legal background, made sure that all the required paper work for such a takeover, that is, the takeover of PCRN, were rightly done, signed and legalized. There were also video recordings.
Pa Kona Sparks Off Conflict With Cabral Libii / Pa Robert Kona In Need Of ‘Food’
Abdouraman Hamadou Baba is known more in Cameroon in the domain of football, precisely in FECAFOOT, football club management, and related issues. But besides also being a businessman and the President of a football club, he is also involved in politics. Abdouraman made an interesting disclosure as to how the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, interfered in the internal crisis of PCRN. Abdouraman made the disclosure when he was guest last year on a popular weekly programme over Equinoxe TV in Douala, known as “LA VERITE EN FACE’.
Abdouraman disclosed that the origin of the conflict over PCRN was over ‘food’. He said the ‘Founding President’ of PCRN, Pa Kona Robert, a retired civil servant who hails from Guidiguis, Mayo Kani Division in the Far North Region, at one point started complaining that he was not being treated fairly by the Cabral Libii’s leadership of the PCRN. Pa Kona started making some controversial declarations. He said Pa Kona felt that with PCRN having a number of MPs a well as running a number of councils, the ‘Founding President’ of the party, who more so was on retirement, was not being taken care of by the party. Pa Kona said he also wanted a post in the party.
In fact some sources told The Mentor News that what made things to become very difficult for Pa Kona, was that he ran into a certain problem (not political), and his pension was suspended by the Ministry of Finance. That made Pa Kona to become so broke and frustrated. But it should be noted that there was nothing in the agreement that Pa Kona Robert and the Cabral Libii group signed for the latter’s takeover of the party, that, the party would be taking care of the former National President. There was also no post in the party known as Founding President.
How Minister Atanga Nji Got Into PCRN Crisis ‘Uninvited’
Meanwhile, Abdouraman Hamadou Baba said knowing both Pa Kona Robert and Cabral Libii, and also knowing what Pa Kona’s real problem was, he decided to intervene in the matter, to get both sides to sit down and dialogue, so as to sort out the issues. The meetings that were holding in Yaounde to resolve the matter were quietly taking place behind closed doors. Abdouraman was actually assisting Pa Kona at the meetings they were having with the PCRN leadership. Abdouraman said the two sides actually came to an agreement on what the party would be giving to Pa Kona as financial assistance during a specified period of time, and were close to the point of resolving the second and last issue, which was to create a post in the PCRN for Pa Kona who felt left out.
Abdouraman disclosed that one day in Yaounde, Pa Kona told him that he had received a call from the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, who invited him to his office. Pa Kona himself at that point did not know the reason for the invitation. Abdouraman disclosed that he was the one that carried Pa Kona in his vehicle, and dropped him at MINAT for the rendezvous with Minister Atanga Nji, whom he Pa Kona had never met before. Abdouraman said when he dropped Pa Kona at MINAT, Pa Kona said he would call him when he leaves MINAT. But he said to his surprise, Pa Kona did not call as promised. He said what he instead embarrassingly heard next, was Pa Kona making hostile declarations over the media, accusing Cabral Libii of having stolen his party, and that he had taken back his party, and so on. Your guess is definitely as good as that of The Mentor, as to what happened when Pa Kona met Minister Atanga Nji.
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