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The recent controversy surrounding a letter by Cameroonian MPs to the US congress has once more brought the succession dispute of the Social Democratic Front, SDF party under scrutiny.
It has also brought to question the nature of the relationship between Osih, who was involved in the controversy, and other top opposition political leaders.
When asked if the party hierarchy was aware and in tandem with the decision, Osih said he had no quarrel with the hierarchy.
“… As far as I am concerned at this moment I have no problem with the chairman of the party. He is aware of all that is happening,” he said.
“I don’t do things for him to be congratulating me, we aren’t in school where we have to pass exams. I do what I have to do as a parliamentarian of the entire nation. The Chairman Ni John Fru Ndi is aware of that. Everywhere Cameroon is concerned, the nation comes first,” he said when quizzed on Fru Ndi’s silence over his latest actions.
Nintcheu, a bone in Osih’s throat?
Among those who have been vocal about Osih’s outing with ruling CPDM MPs, was Hon Jean Michel Nintcheu, his fellow comrade. The politician’s stance, Osih concurred, was partly a result of the power tussle at the helm of the SDF.
To Osih, “… it is sickening to use a bloody war to position oneself politically. In politics, a certain level of moral uprightness is needed for one not to condescend so low so as to carve a Nintcheu for oneself”.
“I think it is despicable using a war with so much deadlock to position oneself politically because of internal prospects. There is a certain level of dignity in politics which doesn’t allow me to go that low,” he stated.
The MP also maintained that he and Nintcheu have not been in contact since the recent controversy,
Nintcheu, he said, “…hasn’t called me. I am his National Vice-president. So he would have called me, he would have asked me the content of that document”.
“So, I can classify this situation as one of the silent battles like you earlier said, which are ongoing within the party. But I regret that one will be using a deadly crisis in order to position oneself,” he told Equinoxe radio listeners.
“My arms are wide open and I have never had any personal issue with Jean Michel Nintcheu. I move on and take consideration of his position which I, however, respect because he has the right to have a contrary opinion to mine. But I believe that for us to move on, we must bury the differences, we have to understand ourselves,” said Osih.
He furthered that “if he [Nintcheu] had asked me questions, he would have understood. That is why I began by saying that one of the problems was that the communique was solely in English and was not translated”.
Currently tipped as a possible favorite to replace Fru Ndi, alongside Nintcheu, others suggest that the succession could be at the helm of their ideological differences.
‘Osih’s bid to succeed Fru Ndi…’
Osih’s decision and outings are yet to sit in with some observers and SDF party supporters. Ahead of the party’s National Executive Committee, NEC meeting, some have called for the resignation and possibly sanction of the politician.
Even other opposition parties have been at loggerheads with the MP over his latest decisions.
Kamto versus Osih
Following the letter to the US Congress, Professor Maurice Kamto of the MRC party gave SDF’s Joshua Osih a ‘dressing down’.
To Osih, Kamto is yet to have a proper understanding of the situation at hand.
“I think Maurice Kamto has still not understood the rationale behind our outing as well as what is going on within the SDF. The advice I can give him as a friend is that it is important to understand that what is happening within SDF, if he and his party try to influence what is happening, it would be too good for the Cameroon opposition family,” Osih said on Equinoxe Radio.
“I feel honored to have been at the center of discussions amongst Cameroonians for over 3 to 4 days and I hope that in the coming days, people will ask many more pertinent questions vis-à-vis the ongoing crisis in the North West and South West Regions,” he added.
