2025 presidentials: Opposition united in attacking Biya, but remain divisive.

File Photo of some opposition leaders in Cameroon

In their end-of-year speeches to the nation, the four main opposition party leaders, Prof Maurice Kamto of MRC; Hon Cabral Libii of the Cameroonian Party for National Reconciliation, PCRN; Barrister Akere Muna of Now Movement and Hon Osih Joshua of the Social Democratic Movement, SDF, were unanimous in their caustic criticism of the Biya regime.



For Kamto, who, based on results of the last presidential election, is the regime's nightmare, “Cameroon's economic performance is still lacking far behind that of comparable African countries while our public debt continuous to grow and at almost injurious for investments that are either unseen or unfinished till date”.

He added that: "Our country has reached the point where it has to resort to new borrowing to pay off old debts”.

But these debts are not translated into socio-economic development as illustrated by Hon Cabral Libii. He claimed that during the construction of facilities to host the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, 3,000 billion FCFA was embezzled. When COVID-19 surfaced, the politician claimed Biya’s cronies stole at least 1,000 billion FCFA.

Those, he said, added to the 3,000 billion FCFA stolen in road projects, 800 billion FCFA in shady crude oil deals and hundreds of billions mismanaged within the urban development setup of the country.

“No roads, no electricity, people dying of curable diseases, no water, no one is progressing, the retirement of senior citizens compromised...They want to bury us alive. Our capacity is what will survive us. We need a rupture to change things,” he cried out.

Akere Muna, popular for his unflinching fight against corruption, asked: “When our leaders list the misfortunes that have befallen our country, I ask a simple question: who was in charge? Everyone acknowledges that poor governance and corruption are our main obstacles. Can we reasonably hope that those who have entrenched such a system will be the ones to fix it?”

Hon Osih was less caustic in his criticism of the regime and pitched his candidacy with the worker's union. 

The bottom line in all of their speeches was that the CPDM regime has failed to resolve the daunting problems Cameroonians face daily. President Biya in his own speech conceded the problems raised by the opposition but proffered solutions.

The million dollar question, however, has been that if in over four decades, they have not been significantly solved, what is the guarantee that they will be resolved in the next seven years by the government with leaders in the evening of their lives?

The main opposition outlined their own solutions with the MRC partially borrowing from Ntumfor Barrister Nico Halle to free all those detained or jail in connection with the conflict in the North West and South West Regions.

He is also promising to bring back refugees and convene a national dialogue with all sides on the table if elected.

Cabral Libii said if elected president, he will change the form of State, dissolve the National School of Administration and Magistracy, ENAM; offer every council two billion FCFA to promote local development; give the best 10,000 students nationwide scholarship of 50,000,000 FCFA; institute bursaries for pupils and students of both public and private schools.

The MP also promised free education of children of security officers killed in line of duty. He again dangled the creation of industries to transform farm harvests locally and to increase the local transformation of timber to create 35000 jobs within the sector alone.

SODECOTON and CICAM, he promised, should be merged to fix the textile sector and encourage local cotton transformation. He also said the rehabilitation of the National Oil Refining Corporation, SONARA, would begin while arrangements would be made for a neighbouring country to process crude from Cameroon.

Akere proposed a transitional government “that will allow us to rebuild our institutions and bring about systemic change aimed at the emancipation of our people”.

“Once we have established these new institutions, I will ensure that free and fair elections take place, and I will hand over power to the new leader chosen by the people,” he added. 

Like every opposition politician, all the four are on the same page that there are problems. The Electoral Code doesn't provide a level playing field with Libii claiming "persecution", while Kamto is complaining of "obstructionist maneuvers" by ELECAM.

Akere urged Cameroonians to know that this year "the future of Cameroon will be in your hands. It is imperative that you register to vote, actively participate in the electoral process, and be present at your polling stations during the counting. Past results".

If the electorate adheres to the advice by Akere, the chances of rigging shall be minimised. But the chances of opposition victory will not be guaranteed if they remain in divisions as portrayed in their speeches. It is also embarrassing that the opposition is seriously divided over producing a single and formidable candidate to challenge President Biya.

 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3332 of Wednesday January 08, 2025

 

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