Nyanon and her illiterate voters

Cappolytree was furious with Nguelemedouga’s method, but he choose not to complains, because in spite the fact that, he had given the sub district officer CFA Franc 2 million, he had no power over him and Nguelemedouga was still a threat to his ambitions. Nyanon sub district is part of the Ndom sub division in the Sanaga Maritime division of the Littoral province in French-speaking Cameroon. The Sanaga Maritime division is part of greater Bassaland and Bassaland, had one of the highest percentages of educated people in French-speaking Cameroon. The only other part of French-speaking Cameroon with high number of educated people was the Betiland. But Nyanon was different, she was a locality most affected by rural exodus and had large number of under age children who were not qualified to vote. Nyanon also had large number old men and women, who could not read or write and spoke only the Bassa language. This therefore made elections in Nyanon sub district, whose headquarters bore the same name, peculiar. Voting Nyanon like in other rural parts of the country, with the same problems was complicated. Hence and Nyanon and other rural parts of the country are authorised to carry out in two or three methods of voting. Those who could read had to cast their ballots using the standard secret voting system. While those who were sick or could not read, gave an official order to some one, in his or her family, who was a major, to go and vote on his/her behalf.

The problem with this second system was that, it was difficult to know whether the person voting on behalf of the one who could not, truly respected the wishes of the one he/she was representing. Voting by proxy was therefore a passport for vote rigging. Nguelemedouga sensing that, the second method could open the floodgate of challenges of the official results, decide that, those who could not read or write, would vote in selected classrooms of the new primary and secondary schools, which were opened immediately after he was installed as the administrator of the new sub district. Representatives of the different political parties, taking part in the elections had to present themselves or stand in front of selected classes. The sub district officer, will call the names of parties they represented. And will shout: all those who want to vote for this party should indicate by rising up their right hands. He will count the hands raised and note down the number of raised hands, for each party and ask his assistant to write it on the blackboard, using a chalk. This procedure was done in the presence of all political parties. When the atypical voting of the illiterate voters was completed, Nguelemedouga left to his office with the official result, but changed them and waited for the votes cast in the standard secret ballots to be announced.

When the results of the elections were announced, it was discovered that, the representative of the UPC was not really leading Cappolytree with a wide margin and there was no doubt that, the combined votes of the illiterates and the standard votes, will be in favour of Cappolytree. Why? Simply because, Nguelemedouga knew that, those who voted in the open classrooms never really cared to contest their votes or do forget fast. In Nyanon, Nguelemedouga reinvented and perfected electoral cheating; taking it to a level that made him to become the darling of the government. Cappolyree’s victory was not only surprising to Cappolytree himself, but to the entire members of the ruling party. It was the first time that, the ruling party’s victory in an elections was accepted in Bassaland without any challenges from the opposition. But this happened because of the insidious smear campaigns carried out by Nguelemedouga against Malate, the candidate of one of the three factions of the UPC in Nyanon. The news of the way elections were organised in Nyanon reach Yaoundé and Nguelemedouga was personally short-listed by the head of the state for promotion as divisional officer, thus, ready for transfer to the unpredictable Anglophone region. But it was not clear whether he will be posted to the coastal or hinterland parts of the Anglophone region.