VZCZCXRO8007
PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMA RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO
DE RUEHYD #1257/01 3661452
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 311452Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9536
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE PRIORITY 0269
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YAOUNDE 001257 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/C AND DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV EAID PREL PHUM PINR CM
SUBJECT: BIYA TAPS PARTY FAITHFUL TO RUN NEW ELECTION AGENCY 
 
REF: YAOUNDE 1235 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Summary.  President Paul Biya appointed the 
membership of the newly created elections agency ELECAM in a 
Presidential Decree issued on December 30, one day after the 
legislative deadline.  The process of devolving management of 
the elections from the central government to an independent 
body began more than five years ago, as part of the political 
reforms linked to the Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) 
debt-relief process.  The membership of the commission is 
heavily dominated by ruling party hacks and is viewed on the 
street as disappointing, if not entirely unexpected.  End 
summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  Samuel Azong Fonkam, an apparatchik of the ruling 
Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement (CPDM) party, will be 
the President of the twelve-member body, which also includes 
former ministers and prominent officials from the CPDM and 
one representative from the Protestant Church (see para 5 for 
names and initial bio notes).  There are no prominent members 
of civil society, no representatives of opposition political 
parties and no CPDM members known for their independent or 
reformist thought. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Preliminary discussions with civil society 
contacts suggest ELECAM's leadership is not viewed as either 
inclusive or independent of CPDM control.  One independent 
newspaper headlined the story saying "Lock-Out: CPDM 
Entrusted with Running Elections."  One prominent political 
activist noted cynically to Poloffs that "we are not 
disappointed (by the nominations) because we never expected 
Biya would do anything differently."  Two prominent political 
activists contacted by Poloffs were more interested in 
discussing the coup in Guinea and its relevance to Cameroon 
than ELECAM, which they viewed as more of the same regime 
preservation. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Comment:  We are struck that Biya apparently felt 
unconstrained to provide even a fig leaf of inclusiveness or 
independence to ELECAM's leadership.  Biya told the 
Ambassador in August 2008 that he had rejected the initial 
membership slate for ELECAM proposed to him "because most of 
them are older than me" and he did not want a gerontocracy in 
ELECAM.  The subsequent five months of work do not appear to 
have produced any more than a reduction in median age. It 
certainly was not for lack of time or options; ELECAM has 
been in the works for years, the deadline for nominations was 
extended from 18 months to two years, and Cameroon boasts 
dozens of prominent, apolitical individuals who possess the 
experience and credibility that would lend legitimacy to 
ELECAM.  We withhold judgment, pending further conversations 
with a broad spectrum of contacts, but we note with concern 
that the Cameroonian street apparently sees its future more 
in Guinea than in Ghana.  End comment. 
 
¶5. (U) Members and their bio notes: 
 
--Samuel Azong FONKAM, President of ELECAM: a former Deputy 
Secretary General of the National Assembly (a position 
controlled by the Presidency); a civil administrator trained 
at the National School of Administration and Magistracy 
(ENAM); native of the Northwest Region. 
 
--Justin Ewodo EBANGA, Vice-President of ELECAM; native of 
the Center Region; a graduate of the University of Yaounde; a 
lawyer and former president of the Cameroon Bar Association; 
served as Center Region Secretary in ELECAM's predecessor, 
the National Observatory of Elections (ONEL). 
 
--Dr. Cecile Bomba NKOLO;  a member of the Political Bureau 
of the CPDM; a native of the Center Region; a physician and 
former Minister of Social Affairs (2002-2004). 
 
--Dr. Dorothy Limunga NJEUMA; a member of the CPDM Central 
Committee; a native of the Southwest Region; previously 
served as rector of Yaounde I University and Vice-Chancellor 
of the University of Buea; was Vice-Minister of National 
Education (1975-1985); rumored to have been considered as a 
possible new Prime Minister in an expected Cabinet reshuffle, 
but her position on ELECAM will make that impossible. 
 
--Mrs. Sadou DAOUDOU (aka Lady Bawa): native of the Adamaoua 
Region and member of the CPDM; the widow of the late Sadou 
Daoudou, who was a former Minister of Defense and member of 
the CPDM Central Committee; a career diplomat trained at the 
International Relations Institute of Cameroon (IRIC). 
 
--Abdoulaye BABALE; a founding member of the CPDM and member 
of the CPDM central committee; native of the Far North 
 
YAOUNDE 00001257  002 OF 002 
 
 
Region; holds a postgraduate degree in Public Law and a 
postgraduate degree in Political Science; served as Minister 
of Housing and Town Planning and Minister of Higher Education. 
 
--Thomas Ejake MBONDA: member of the CPDM; longtime 
administrator and former Governor of the Center and Southwest 
Regions; served on the a committee that set up the National 
Commission for Final Counting of Votes for the 2007 Municipal 
Elections; native of the Littoral Region. 
 
--Rev. Dieudonne Massi GAMS: Member of the National 
Anti-Corruption Commission (CONAC); a pastor and Secretary 
General of the Presbyterian Church of Cameroon; served as 
East Regional Secretary for ONEL; native of the East Region. 
 
--Ali ADAMOU: native of the North Region. 
 
--Pierre Roger Efandene BEKONO: former official in Ministry 
of Agriculture; native of the South Region. 
 
--Jules Mana NSCHWANGELE: Member of the Board of Directors of 
the National Oil Company (SNH). 
 
--Elie MBONDA: a member of the CPDM elected to the National 
Assembly in 1997; a member of the Pan-African Parliament and 
professor at University of Yaounde with a background in 
health; a native of the West Region. 
GARVEY