Dr Francis Ateh Ngong aka Ateh Bazore has been elected as the new Board Chair of the authors’s rights management body, SONACAM.

He was elected on Saturday, December 14 during a stormy elective General Assembly which brought together artistes from the ten regions at the Yaounde Conference Centre.

The folklore singer picked up 285 votes ahead of his closest challenger Jean Pierre Essome who had 185 votes. Ambroise Messi (85 votes) and Nde Ndifonka aka Wax Dey (65) finished third and fourth respectively.

Ateh Bazore who burst into ecstasy at the proclamation of the results said it was a dream come true for him to finally be given the opportunity to serve the artistes.

He thanked all those who voted for him as well as all the artistes who turned up to exercise their rights to vote. He promised bring sanity into the corporation, work for the interest of all artistes and ensure they can finally reap the benefits of their sweat.

The over ten-hour elective General Assembly also saw the election of Serge Rafric as the first Vice President and Beko Sadey as the second Vice President.

Prince Ndedi Eyango was voted as head of the body’s supervisory board while Marthe Mouaha aka Dinaly was voted in as the head of the ethics, disciplinary and arbitration committee. On the other hand, Louis De Kum is the body’s head for identification, admission and classification while DJ Billick will head commission in charge of programmes and online music.