By Tata Mbunwe
Cameroon’s opposition party Chairman, Joshua Osih, believes voter apathy is the most serious problem facing the country’s politics and the reason why 91-year-old President Paul Biya has been in power for over 40 years now.
The leader of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) remarked, during a session with youths in the South West Region last week, that President Biya has managed to remain in power by benefitting from the population’s boycott of elections.
Since taking power in 1982, President Paul Biya has managed to win five elections and is speculated to contest in next year’s election.
However, in a country of more than 26 million people with over 7 million registered voters, less than 4 million participated in the 2018 elections where Biya won 71 percent of the vote.
“You had less voters in the entire South West Region than in my constituency in Douala,” said Joshua Osih, who is also a Member of Parliament for Wouri Center Constituency in the Littoral Region.
“So, when Mr Biya even does a project here (in the South West) he is just pitying you because you cannot remove him from power. You have no power against him,” he told youths, responding to a question on voter apathy.
He continued: “Why do all the positions in government go to the Far North and the Center? All – where there’s money and power it goes there – because those two Regions give Mr Biya nearly 1.8 million votes. That is four times more than the total amount of voters in the South West. When he takes his civil servants and adds to it he has his 2.5 million votes. He has won the elections.”
Osih is heading one Cameroon’s most emblematic political party, the SDF. Although the party has lost grounds in most parts of the country, Osih believes they can conquer the Presidency with support from the grassroots.
For the past two weeks, he has been touring the country’s 10 Regions to listen to the concerns of the population so as to structure his policies to reflect their plight.
In Buea, headquarters of the South West Region which he visited last Saturday, youths expressed resentment over the country’s politics and the current political leadership, citing issues like unemployment, police harassment, bribery and corruption, bad roads, high cost of housing and lack of freedom of expression.
He explained voter apathy as a situation whereby registered voters fail to participate in elections.
But he said the problem in Cameroon is way beyond just voter apathy, but a lack of interest in politics among youths.
Joshua Osih encouraged them to take their future into their hands by deciding to participate in next year’s election.
“If the President of the Republic doesn’t work for you, kick hin out. If the new one doesn’t work for you after seven years, kick him out too. But when you stay at home, the message you are sending is that we have the best President in the world,” Hon Osih said.
