By Amina Hilda
Barrister Michèle Ndoki has been permanently suspended from Maurice Kamto’s Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM) Party.
In a decision published this evening Thursday, July 13, the party states that she is being suspended for defaming the party and its president.
She is equally being accused of anti-party activities and lack of loyalty among others.
Barrister Ndoki in 2019 took a bullet in her thigh while protesting to protect the alleged victory by the CRM in the 2018 Presidential elections. She was later arrested and spent time in prison.
Upon release from prison, Barrister Ndoki became increasingly popular for the bravery she had shown both during her defence of Kamto at the Constitutional Council and during the post-election protests.
This newfound popularity seemed to have earned her enmity with Kamto loyalists who started slandering her with unfounded allegations.
When Ndoki declared her intention to challenge Kamto in the party’s primaries, that was considered by the party a ‘step too far’ and has now been branded as an act of ‘disloyalty’.
This has left many Cameroonians questioning if Kamto is not going to be as bad if not worse than President Biya. Biya has been known never to have any opposition within the CPDM, which is the benchmark of any Democratic party.
Primaries within political parties are often considered as opportunities for the candidates to perfect their policies as they go against each other, before facing outside opponents.
There are many political analysts who believe that Barack Obama was good in 2008 only because he went against a formidable Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries.
The dismissal of Ndoki however, sadly confirms that Kamto, for all the talk about bringing about change to Cameroon, is not ready to be challenged.
