Cameroon’s prominent opposition parties, the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM) and the Cameroon Party for National Reconciliation (PCRN), have been in a war of words for the past few days.
This was after Cabral Libii, leader of the PCRN, dismissed the possibility of any coalition with Kamto for the upcoming presidential elections.
He said he cannot trust Kamto to bring about meaningful change in Cameroon because he is a product of the current regime, which he once served as Deputy Minister of Justice.
Kamto’s supporters have chided Libii for his blatant statement, which came at a time when many Cameroonians want the disjointed opposition to unite against President Paul Biya’s four-decade rule.
Role in Biya Regime
Kamto, who was the first runners-up at the 2018 elections, served as Deputy Minister of Justice in the Biya government from 2004 to 2011.
But he resigned from the position and formed the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM) party to oppose Biya.
He has since then become a prominent opposition voice in the country.
But there are many who don’t believe in Kamto and Cabral Libii is one of them.
In a recent Tiktok live session, Libii questioned Kamto’s commitment to change a system he helped to build.
“If you form a coalition with someone who worked for the regime, expect him to betray you tomorrow,” Cabral Libii said.
He insisted that he prefers to work directly with the ruling CPDM party, than with someone who had dined with it before decamping to the opposition.
Maurice Kamto, it should be noted, campaigned for opposition candidate Ni John Fru Ndi in the 1992 elections where Biya obtained a disputed victory.
“If people were with Fru Ndi in 1992, and abandoned him to join government, to eat, they sponsored the suffering of Cameroonians,” Cabral Libii said, apparently speaking about Kamto.
“I better walk with the CPDM if it is authentic,” he added.
Kamto’s Assistant Hits Back
Cabral Libii’s statement did not go unnoticed.
Mamadou Mota, Vice President of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement party, recalled Libii’s experience as Animator at the campus radio of the state-owned University of Yaounde 2 in Soa.
According to Mota, Cabral cannot claim to be clean when he also worked at a government-run institution before becoming an opposition leader.
However, some observers have described Mota’s argument as mean.
“Radio animator is an inconsequential position compared to a deputy minister,” a political analyst told MMI.
