Dr. Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle blames Hate speech on Election Rigging
Colbert Gwain @The Muteff Factor (formerly The Colbert Factor)
In Muteff village, located in the Fundong Subdivision of the Boyo Division in Cameroon's Northwest Region, December was traditionally a time for family reunions and merrymaking. It was an opportunity for those who had been away to return home, visit relatives, and resolve any family differences or learn about their genealogy.
In December 1992, a young man from Muteff, who worked in Yaounde, returned to the village with gifts, eager to visit his uncle, who lived on the other side of the village. As he arrived at his uncle's compound on a bright afternoon, they warmly greeted each other and exchanged pleasantries. However, the atmosphere shifted when the uncle asked where he worked, and the young man replied that he was working in Yaounde.
The uncle's demeanor changed abruptly, and he accused his nephew of being involved in the alleged rigging of the October presidential election, which had taken place earlier that year. The nephew protested his innocence, claiming he only exercised his civic duty by voting for the CPDM candidate and nothing else, but the uncle remained unconvinced. In his view, anyone living in Yaounde and close to the CPDM, was complicit in the election rigging.
To demonstrate his anger, the uncle refused to accept the gifts his nephew had brought, including some Yaounde bread, which was a rare treat in the village. The uncle's children were disappointed, having been looking forward to enjoying the bread.
It took some time and intervention from other family members to reconcile the uncle and nephew. Even then, the uncle's anger and frustration were evident, as he emphasized the gravity of "forcefully ceasing a child's butterfly" through election rigging. To this day, some family members in Muteff village remain unable to speak to each other due to perceived or actual accusations of election rigging.
That's why Sir Dr. Barrister Ntumfor Nico Halle, an international election observer and peace advocate, would often say: 'If you rig elections, you rig yourself, your wife, your child, your family, your community, your region, and your nation.' And that's not only a major cause of the flourishing of hate speech in our society today, but also of poor governance, chaos, anarchy, and, above all, disorder.
In his April 2021 analysis of hate speech in Cameroon, which remains pertinent today as hate speech escalates ahead of the October 12, 2025, presidential election, Sir Dr. Barrister Ntumfor Nico Halle emphasized that election rigging is a root cause of hate speech. He also noted that those who rig elections cannot credibly claim to be fighting hate speech.
Just like the Muteff uncle who accused his nephew to his face of contributing to the rigging of the 1992 presidential election—widely believed to have been won by Fru Ndi—Sir Dr. Ntumfor Nico Halle boldly narrates a personal encounter with a Cameroonian who claimed to be honest despite being widely perceived otherwise. Ntumfor recounts: 'I met someone I know at an event who boasted about occupying high positions and being one of the most bilingual and educated Cameroonians. During our 20-minute conversation, I told him straight out that I don't value his learned stature, as most Cameroonians view him as corrupt and an election rigger, rendering him morally bankrupt. I reminded him of his pursuit of power and wealth through corrupt means, which is public knowledge. He was visibly ashamed when I revealed his past actions at a state institution in front of another friend. Can such a person fight hate speech? Absolutely not, as he is partly responsible for the poverty and social unrest that fuels it."
In 2021, just like today, Ntumfor continues to wonder aloud: 'How can we fight hate speech when elections are rigged at almost all levels of our society? About 95% of uprisings in the world emanate from rigged elections. See what happens in cultural associations, our communities, global churches, within political parties, civil society, and even the Bar Association, where the rule of law ought to be the guiding principle. Despicable.' In his characteristic boldness and clarity of vision, Ntumfor aptly states, 'If we must fight hate speech, we must start from what causes hate speech; otherwise, it would be an effort in futility.'
In his usual candor, Ntumfor reflects on the vices that fuel hate speech in Cameroon, questioning: 'How can one who promotes corruption, bribery, graft, discrimination, tribalism, division, hypocrisy, falsehood, xenophobia, violence, bitterness, frustration, sycophancy, and other such vices genuinely fight hate speech? These vices inherently perpetuate hate speech.'
In hitting closer to home, Ntumfor wonders how Cameroonians can pretend to fight hate speech when discrimination seems to be a governance system. He asks, 'How can we fight hate speech when core moral values like love, justice, equity, transparency, goodness, kindness, accountability, integrity, truth, patriotism, respect for human rights and liberties, and credibility are treated with levity?'
More concerningly, the apostle of moral rectitude is overwhelmed by the fact that in Cameroon, even the institutions meant to uphold morality have failed: 'How can we fight hate speech when religious structures, which ought to be a moral force to reckon with, have degenerated into despicable moral decadence?'
As if insinuating that the raging existential crisis in Cameroon's two English-speaking regions stems from persistent rigged elections, hate speech, and widespread frustration among grassroots people living in abject squalor, Ntumfor recalls the Vatican Secretary of State's 2021 proposal, which mirrored his own suggestion: establishing a Justice, Peace, and Reconciliation platform with an executive commission empowered to act independently. This platform would facilitate honest, objective, and inclusive dialogue. To ensure its success, preliminary measures should be taken to create an enabling environment. Ntumfor concludes, 'I still stand by this crusade and pray that God shows the people of this beloved country the right way to come out of the crisis.'
By Vanguard Media Group
CEO:Chifu Edward
Community Radio consultant/Facilitator
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