Achu George Mofor, a former civil administrator and governor of the East Region in the early 1990s, has died. He was announced to have died in Pennsylvania, the United States of America, on January 20 after an illness. Born on March 22, 1939, he died at the age of 85.
The native of Santa served the state of CCameroon,rising to the position of governor of the East Region (formerly Province) in 1991.
He, however, resigned as governor after matching orders came from Yaoundé obliging him to ensure a win in his area of command for CPDM candidate and incumbent President Paul Biya in the 1992 presidential elections.
In his resignation letter, he noted that he was also instructed to repress potential opposition in the said elections, which he said contravened his principles as a civil servant.
Here is his resignation letter in full.
George Achu Mofor
Governor of East Province
Republic of Cameroon
19th October 1992
H.E. The President of The
Republic of Cameroon
Yaoundé
Your Excellency,
EXERCISE OF MY DUTIES
I have the honour to draw your very high attention to the following facts which make it very difficult, if not impossible for me to continue to perform my duties as Governor of East Province, a responsibility you entrusted to me some eighteen months ago (March 1991).
1) You remember that last year, I forwarded to you a copy of a letter addressed to the Minister of Territorial Administration who, for reasons other than administrative, was doing everything possible to jeopardise the normal exercise of my duties. A copy of another letter sent to the Secretary of State for Defence in connection with the deplorable conduct of the Legion Commander of the Gendarmerie whom you transfered two months ago, bore ample testimony to the harm which my boss did to my authority.
2) Ever since, I have been subjected to pressure of all types; notably from my boss, who has not missed any opportunity to draw my attention to my alleged affiliations with the opposition. That his attitude towards me is not due to any breach of duty on my part, but on purely political considerations, is evidenced by the excellent report he made on me last year (19.5/20). For this reason, you advised me during your visit here in September last year that I should continue to do my work objectively and not to listen to what people say. I wish to seize this opportunity to express my gratitude for this advice and the confidence bestowed on me during this period and the fact that you have not personally exercised any undue influence on me. I cannot say this of all members of government, some of whom have done so directly or otherwise.
3) In spite of the above, I have been the subject of systematic blackmail to force me to change my attitude to serve all my subjects impartially, without fear or favour, or based on political, ethnic or religious considerations as some people want.
4) As a nationalist, a patriot, and an avowed democrat, I adhered totally, on your accession to power, to your policy of stringency, moral rectitude and democratisation of our society and expressed this in a memorandum sent to you in 1990 in which I took a clear stand for democracy, followed by concrete proposals on democratic and constitutional reforms, some of which have been adopted.
5) The “last straw that has broken the camel’s back” is the organisation and conduct of the last presidential elections of 11/10/92. I feel very concerned about the fact that there is overwhelming evidence of foul play and fraud in the said elections through legislation, regulation, registration of voters, unequitable treatment of candidates and voters, the conduct of the polls and the verification of the results. This has been reported by members of the public, foreign observers, etc. My attention has been drawn to some of the irregularities in my province. But Governors were not directly involved in the conduct of the elections. It was therefore very difficult if not impossible to change the course of events.
Let me draw your attention to the fact that I did not find it in accordance with my conscience to implement the instructions of the Minister of Territorial Administration given during the last extra ordinary Governor’s Conference of 28 September 1992. By these we were instructed to do everything fair and foul to ensure at least a 60% victory for the CPDM party candidate in our provinces. This subjected us, as he insisted, to “an obligation de resultat.” Furthermore, we were to be appraised thereafter on this basis. To assist us in this task a six page document issued by the UDC party on Techniques of Electoral Fraud was distributed to us.
As another example of blackmail and influence, he issued to us a second document entitled MAJORITE PRESIDENTIELLE by which the prison staff about 5,000 strong, was requested to support your candidature to show gratitude for the recent regulation you adopted relating to better working conditions for them, and that in case of your victory the disciplinary measures taken against some of them during the last strike would be reviewed.
We have been instructed to execute the exceptional security measures taken by government to ensure that all citizens accept the results and to severely repress any acts of violence resulting from discontent following their declaration. I do not think I would be in a position to enforce such orders that could lead to bloody confrontations between the forces at my disposal and citizens who are convinced that they have been deprived of their rights.
Taking into account the above facts and considerations, I feel strongly that it is not in accordance with my conscience, my duty to the people of this province in particular and of Cameroon as a whole, who are aspiring to a real democratic society where Human Rights and the Rule of Law are respected, to continue to serve your government in this capacity.
This said, I therefore tender my resignation as Governor of East Province.
Yours faithfully,
George Achu Mofor
Senior Administrative Officer
Officer of the Cameroon Order of Valour
