By Walter Wilson Nana
Increasingly, there is need to improve citizen action for transparency and fair election in Cameroon. This is the nub of a one day workshop organised by the Civil Society Organisations; Reach Out Cameroon and Un Monde Avenir in Buea, recently.
According to the workshop Coordinator, Elvis Ngwa of Reach Out Cameroon, it is relevant for Cameroonian citizens to be re-educated on their role(s) in participating in the democratic process of their country. “A lot of people think that the way in which electoral activities are carried out in Cameroon is shady, so, there is a feeling of reluctance in being part of the country’s democratic processes. Hence, with the Biometric registration process ongoing in Cameroon now, we in the leadership of civil society organisations think that it is time to reawaken the interest of our citizens to be part of the process,” he explained.
Ngwa noted that educating the citizens on the electoral process is part of bringing them closer to the country’s democratic endeavours. “It is our collective responsibility to encourage the citizens to go register, vote and defend their votes. If this is not done, our electoral process will be a sham. The civil society leaders we’re training have the responsibility to not only get down to the population and motivate them but educate them. We’ve a target of reaching out to 20,000 people in the Southwest and Littoral Regions before the twin elections of 2013,” he said.
On what strategies they have on the ground to pursue this endeavour, Ndi Tanto, Director, Ecumenical Service for Peace and facilitator at the workshop said there is need for civil society leaders to be empowered with enough information to provoke the docility of the citizens to take action. “They have to develop new strategies to get Cameroonians on board the electoral and democratic processes, especially as we look up to the 2013 electoral calendar in the country where Cameroonians have the responsibility to vote their local leaders – municipal councillors and parliamentarians,” he said.
Tanto said sensitisation should be focussed, largely towards groups and fora. “We’ve to get to the people, talk to them directly, get their feedbacks, ideas and see how we can mould these ideas into new objectives and progressively use those objectives to move the people. The people should see themselves in the actions taken. We need to employ strategies that will be innovative enough to enlist their ideas on board. We need to make Cameroonians know that they’re responsible for the current leadership they have. And if it is bad, it’s because they have been sleeping. And if they need a new leadership, they have to sit up, participate actively and be part of the voting process for the new leadership that will be accountable to them,” he added.
Valentine Ofe of the Buea-based Foundation for Released Prisoners said civil participation is prime in any democratic organisation, hence as civil society activists it is their responsibility to encourage the population since they are closer to them. “People have to participate in the electoral processes of their country. This is the base of our development and the changes we’re all looking out for,” he mentioned.
From the Limbe-based Organisation for Gender, Civic Engagement & Youth Development, Mary Ntui, said Cameroonians must be informed of their rights and obligations, which include registering in the electoral lists and subsequently voting when the time comes. “Cameroonians must know what is happening around them and make a change in their society. It is also our responsibility as civil society organisations to mobilise them,” she will add.
The more than twenty civil society leaders who came from the Southwest and Littoral Regions were also given techniques on how to effectively mobilise the population.