Hopes of a formidable opposition coalition against Biya’s 42-year reign ahead of the October 2025 presidential elections are increasingly getting slim as opposition leaders look in different directions.
Opinion leaders and commentators have been drumming for a coalition to face incumbent president Paul Biya at the polls previewed for October this year.
The actions of some prominent opposition leaders are telling of an impossibility for them to come together for a common interest.
Maurice Kamto, Cabral Libi MP, Osih Joshua MP, Tomaino Ndam Njoya, and Akere Muna stand out as credible opposition forces to consider if they unite behind a single candidate.
However, their actions and pronouncements suggest otherwise.
Kamto’s Lack of Interest
At the moment, Maurice Kamto, leader of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM), who emerged second in the 2018 presidential elections, is the most popular amongst Cameroonians but lacks representation in parliament. He long indicated his intention to be a candidate backed by some minor opposition parties. Others have declared their intention to run separately.
The debates of a formidable coalition heat up as the Social Democratic Front (SDF), an opposition political party, states that Maurice Kamto shows no interest in forming any alliance with the SDF, once a leading opposition party in Cameroon.
Considering the attitude of Maurice Kamto towards the SDF, Kejang Henry, Communications Secretary of the SDF, stated that “Looking at recent political interactions and developments within the ranks of the opposition parties within the last two years, the answer is clearly in the ‘negative’.”
In the 1992 presidential elections, Maurice Kamto backed Ni John Fru Ndi, SDF leader who was a candidate of the Union for Change, a coalition of opposition parties that claimed victory, though the Supreme Court declared Biya the winner.
After joining the government, Kamto resigned as deputy minister of justice to form the CRM opposition political party in 2012. He has over the years gathered some following as an opposition leader in the country.
According to the SDF, communications secretary Kamto has been snobbish of any alliance with the party that opened the gateway to multipartism in Cameroon.
Refusal to Honour Fru Ndi, Even in Death
“When the late SDF Chairman escaped Ambazonia threats and settled in Nkoulfoulou, Yaoundé, several political leaders paid courtesy visits to the Chairman. The leader of the MRC never set foot at the chairman’s residence. Talk less of a condolence visit when the chairman passed away on June 13, 2023,” said the SDF communications secretary in a post shared on his social media handle.
He recalled that “Prof Kamto rather scheduled a press conference on the day fixed for the removal of the chairman’s remains, 27/07/2023. Needless to go further to mention that Kamto was totally absent throughout the funeral. To make matters worse, while the SDF was mourning, MRC pundits and propagandists spent all their energy in the media space spreading the smear that the CPDM hijacked the chairman’s funeral in a flimsy effort to promote idle claims that the CPDM and SDF are birds of a feather.”
The SDF held its convention in October 2023, which Kamto failed to attend but sent a low-level delegation, according to Kejang Henry.
“Relationships are nurtured and developed over time and especially during key moments and events,” he stated, saying, “The MRC low-level delegation to the SDF Convention was led by the regional chairperson for the Centre.”
Nintcheu’s Role
On the other hand, after leaving the SDF, Jean Michel Nintcheu MP immediately declared support for Kamto. He resurrected FCC, a party he founded before joining the SDF.
Kejang noted that “Hon. Nintcheu has repeatedly referred to the SDF as an empty shell.”
“The question is, will this empty shell be needed for the purposes of building a coalition to face Biya in 2025? Let’s wait and see,” he questioned.
While SDF is highly sceptical of any alliance with Kamto, Cabral Libi MP, leader of PCRN, in a recent outing ruled out the possibility of a coalition with Kamto, whom he described as a product of Biya regime.
