The opposition coalition backing Akere Muna as a 2025 presidential candidate has hit a significant hurdle before it could gain momentum. Last week, a group of 20 opposition parties, civil society organizations, and prominent figures announced Muna as their united candidate for the upcoming election.
Among the political parties involved in the coalition is the Union des Populations du Cameroun (UPC), led by Pierre Baleguel Nkot. Another UPC faction under the leadership of Bapooh Lipot is challenging this endorsement.
In a press conference held in Yaoundé on Wednesday, October 2, Lipot strongly rejected the involvement of his faction of the UPC in the opposition alliance. He clarified that no one had been authorized to enter such an alliance on behalf of the party. “It has come to our notice that some people are talking with other political parties to endorse another candidate on behalf of the UPC,” Bapooh Lipot stated.
Lipot further emphasized that his faction of the UPC remains in alliance with the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) and will support the party’s candidate, presumably incumbent President Paul Biya, in the 2025 presidential race. “That is why we came out as a united group to let Cameroonians know that we will be participating in the 2025 presidential elections,” he said. “Through that participation, we keep our alliance with the CPDM and support its candidate.”
A Divided UPC
The UPC, founded in 1948, fought for Cameroon’s independence and unification. The nationalist stance prompted French colonial authorities to ban it, leading to the hunting and killing of many of its leaders during the colonial and post-colonial period. After the reintroduction of a multi-party system in 1990, the UPC relaunched, but internal divisions and leadership crises have plagued it since.
The party splits today into factions with opposing political alignments. Bapooh Lipot leads one faction that aligns with the CPDM and supports maintaining ties with the ruling party. Meanwhile, a rival faction, led by Pierre Baleguel Nkot and supported by activist Henriette Ekwe, opposes any alliance with the CPDM.
Baleguel’s faction has thrown its support behind Akere Muna, endorsing his candidacy in the 2025 elections as part of a broader push for an Anglophone president, more than 60 years after Cameroon’s unification.
