Last September 11, Labor Minister Grégoire Owona signed a decision setting November 1st as the day for the next staff representative elections nationwide. According to the same decision, campaigns will start on October 17 and end at midnight, on October 31. However, up to now, campaigns have not been launched at the Centre Regional Council (CRC). "The HR department of the Centre Regional Council has not published the lists of candidates," informs an administrative source. 

Deception?

When contacted, Bruno Parfait Avodo, head of CRC's HR department declined to answer SBBC's questions. Similarly, no official note has yet been published to explain the delay. An anonymous source close to the CRC president's cabinet claims the campaign was postponed because there was no candidate. Léon Mesmin Ebode, head of public relations, whom we contacted by telephone, says that since last week, employees have been holding informal discussions to encourage candidacies.

This claim is contradicted by several people working for CRC, who confirm that candidacies have been declared and submitted to CRC's HR department, which is responsible for coordinating these staff representative elections. "We can confirm that on the evening of October 16, at least three lists of candidates were [already] registered in accordance with the provisions of the notice of election signed by the president of the regional council on October 11, 2023," says a source involved in the process.  

Clan battle

According to our source, these candidacies have even been submitted to Gilbert Tsimi Evouna (photo), the Chairman of the Council. However, SBBC is unable to confirm this information. The source believes that the delay is the result of a covert clan battle at the CRC. "Executives reputedly close to the President of the Council are maneuvering to rule out the candidacies of people over whom they have no control, hence the blockages observed," informs our source.

According to the Notice of Election distributed to CRC staff, three titular staff representatives and three alternates will be elected into two colleges. Workers in categories I to VI, who make up college A, must designate one (01) titular delegate and his or her alternate. Collegium B, which comprises workers in categories VII to XII (supervisors, managers, and directors), will elect two (02) delegates and two alternates.

Michel Ange Nga