CAMEROONQS MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS REVEAL WEAKNESSES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YAOUNDE 001114

PARIS AND LONDON FOR AFRICA ACTION OFFICERS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM CM
SUBJECT: CAMEROONQS MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS REVEAL WEAKNESSES

REF. YAOUNDE 1046


1. (SBU) Summary: On October 26, six re-run municipal council
elections were peaceful and to some degree improved from other
recent polls. However, turnout was lower than expected and there
were numerous irregularities, highlighting major areas for
improvement as Cameroon heads toward national polls in 2011. The
ruling Cameroon PeopleQs Democratic Movement (CPDM) retained all
councils except the fifth district of Douala (Douala 5),which it
will share with the opposition. End summary.


2. (SBU) On October 26, voters went to the polls in municipal
council re-run elections in Matomb, Bana, Bafang, Pette, Mogode and
Douala V. As reported in reftel, the elections were notable as it
was the first time that the government had agreed to re-run
elections following Supreme Court nullification of the results. The
elections were peaceful, there were no complaints about indelible
ink (as in past elections),the logistics seemed better planned, and
opposition parties reported that they had better systems in place to
block attempted cheating. Emboffs were the only foreign observers,
with one team sent to Douala 5 and one team to Bafang/Bana.


3. (U) While the ruling CPDM retained control of all six
municipalities, the Municipal Council of Douala 5 (with about 250
thousand people) will go from being a CPDM bastion to being split
between 45 CPDM, 14 Social Democratic Front (SDF)[m1] and 2 UPC
(Union of the Peoples of Cameroon) Counselors. The SDF is
contesting the Douala 5 results while former mayor Francoise Foning
and aspirant Emmanuel Simo are struggling to be the partyQs choice
for mayor.

Numerous Problems
--------------


4. (U) Voter Turnout: Voter turnout was mixed, but generally
lower than expected. According to official numbers, Matomb, Pette
and Modode had over 60 percent turnout, while the figure in Bafang
was 49 percent and Bana 40 percent. In Douala 5, only 11 percent of
the 154,346 thousand registered voters went to the polls. Several
Douala 5 polling booths had zero voters.


5. (U) Procedural Problems: At several polling stations,
especially in Douala 5 and Bafang, some voters objected to the
acceptance of official application receipts in lieu of National
Identification cards as forms of voter identification. As a result
of this confusion, some people were not allowed to vote. In
addition, vote counting was done in the near-dark, with many polling
stations equipped with weak kerosene lamps or candles. Many voters
seemed poorly informed about the election process and party workers
lacked basic training about the law and procedures. There was some
confusion about the voter register and complaints that voters could
not find their names or saw duplicate names on the register.


6. (SBU) Corruption and Irregularities: Allegations of corruption
were numerous. In Douala 5 and Matomb, the SDF and the UPC accused
the CPDM of corrupting voters and the chairpersons of local polling
commissions with money. In Douala 5V, allegations of fraud included
the falsification of reports, and ballot papers cast which
outnumbered the number of registered voters. The regional president
of the National Elections Observatory (ONEL) confirmed one specific
case of apparent ballot stuffing. One CPDM representative in Douala
5 was summoned by the gendarmerie on corruption charges. SDF
officials in Douala acknowledged to Pol/Econ Chief that some of
their party officials had accepted money to stuff ballot boxes or to
ignore irregularities. In Bafang, the SDF claimed that there was a
ghost polling station, which was used by CPDM voters.

Comment
--------------


7. (SBU) The CPDM brought some heavy guns into the Douala 5 fight,
including the Vice Prime Minister, but the struggle within the party
for the mayorship reveals some discomfort with the controversial,
high profile and allegedly corrupt Francoise Foning. The municipal
council elections involved only six of 360 constituencies, were
generally praised as better than previous polls, and had little
direct national significance. However, the elections showed that
there is still a lot to do to improve CameroonQs electoral system as
it heads toward presidential elections in 2011 and municipal and
parliamentary elections in 2012.


8. (SBU) All stakeholders are to blame for the problems seen on
October 26. Despite recommendations that observers and ONEL made
following the 2007 elections, the administration failed to clarify
rules about identification papers. Political parties again
displayed their poor knowledge of the law and internal
organizational weaknesses. (In Bafang for instance, the SDF
initially appointed monitors in polling stations where they were not
registered, which could have resulted in their not being allowed to

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vote.) Because of weaknesses in the electoral law, ONEL was
incapable of addressing many of the problems on election day. The
low turnout likely reflected voter disillusionment with the
electoral process, accentuated because this was a re-run election on
a Sunday.


GARVEY