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The long awaited and proverbial elective convention of the prime opposition political party, the Social Democratic Front (SDF) party has finally come and is gone, but has left umpteenth salient issues that still animate public debates as well as the press.
One of them was the presence of the Governor of the Northwest region, Adolphe Lele L’Afrique, which presence has been interpreted by some political pundits as political harmony as well as a depiction of veritable democracy in the country.
In his welcome address, the Mayor of the Bamenda II council, Balick Awa Fidelis was firm and categorical in his demand for the release of everyone arrested within the context of the raging Anglophone crisis.
The municipal authority did not fail to challenge the international observers present at the convention to convey the scourge of the Anglophone community in Cameroon to the international stage.
For his part, the regional president of the party Hon. Evaristus Njong, laid bare the fact that, the people were irritated with the Biya regime for refusing to heed to their voice. He also maintained that it was time to do away with the New Deal government for its lacunae.
In an intervention that marked the highpoint of day 1 of the convention, the National Chairman of the party Ni John Fru Ndi blew his own horn on the fact that his party was the only one to frequently organize its convention and that has succeeded to renew its basic organs both at the district and regional level. As concerns the disturbing Anglophone crisis, Fru Ndi condemned a number of ills including a declining economy, a looming specter of devaluation, hate speech and above all, the abject management of the Anglophone crisis.
He frowned against the lost of lives and destruction of properties which he blamed on the inability of the regime to deal with the crisis. He also sounded nervous about the situation of Anglophone refugees in Nigeria and according to him, these yawning setbacks of the Biya regime only give the SDF the urge to reorganize and clinch power in Cameroon.
The chairman then proceeded to congratulating SDF Mayors, Members of the lower and upper houses of Parliament and other actors for braving the odds to rise up on the behalf of the aggrieved people of the two English speaking regions in what now looks like a collective fight against marginalization.
However, there was special consideration from the governor of the Northwest region to the SDf party vis-à-vis the party’s convention. Besides the fact that the governor brought forward the curfew time for the sake of delegates to the convention, he also allowed the party to use the congress hall at short notice. His presence at the convention also spoke volumes.
Conspicuously present at the convention too was the former Secretary-General at the Presidency of the Republic and Minister of Public Health TITUS EDZOA.
Fresh Blood to
Contest in Upcoming Presidential Elections
The highpoint of the chairman’s speech was the declaration that he was not going to be presenting his candidature for election as the party’s flag bearer in the upcoming presidential elections constitutionally scheduled for 2018.
This declaration of Fru Ndi was accompanied by a thunderous applause from participants at the convention. He further added that he had decided to create space for younger militants of the party.
Even before the holding of the convention and the withdrawal of Fru Ndi from the race for president, projections had been made by political analysts and the press, suggesting that the chairman was not going to contest to be the party’s candidate in the next presidential polls.
Fru Ndi Sits under President Biya’s Picture
The atmosphere that led up to the holding of the elective convention of the SDF party was a very tense one as threats from secessionists were rife. First, the caveat from secessionists to Fru Ndi and his party reportedly created a serous polemic of venue of the convention.
TCR gathered from sources that both the catholic and the Presbyterian churches had denied giving out their halls booked for the event by the party because they also had received threats from secessionists.
However, while Mayor Njong Donatyus of Kumbo council acknowledged that the Presbyterian church was threatened against giving out the PC Ntamulung hold to the party for the convention, that of the catholic church was simply rebuffed by the party as it was considered small to host the expected participants, thereby ruling out rumours that the catholic church was threatened.
According to Mayor Njong, this then compelled the party to take the convention to the Bamenda congress hall where Chairman Fru Ndi sat under the picture of the head of state cum national Chairman of the Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement (CPDM) party.
This then inspired critics to unleash opprobrium against the SDF party as a whole and chairman Fru Ndi for being unable to get a building of its own that can host such events even after about 27 years of existence.
Recall that such criticisms have often resurfaced every so often the party convenes its NEC meetings at the Ntarikon residence of Ni John Fru Ndi.
Bike Riders Fail to Escort Chairman Fru Ndi to
Convention Ground against Tradition
Another “irregularity” that marked the 9th convention of the number one opposition party in Cameroon, was the absence of bike riders of Bamenda that before then, were known to be strong followers of chairman Fru Ndi and loyalists to the SDFF party as well.
Unlike in such events before when the bike riders will usher the chairman to and from the event ground, no such ritual took place this year.
This was further aggravated by the fact that Bamenda was observing a three day ghost town aimed at demonstrating their total rejection against the holding of the SDF convention especially in Bamenda, as had earlier been rejected by leaders of secessionists.
This has even caused some opinion holders to think that the SDF might have lost its stronghold in Bamenda, by insisting to hold its convention and in Bamenda at that.
Deputy SG of CPDM Party
Attends Convention
Also present at the convention in what appeared to be a “curveball” to most political observers in the Northwest region, was the Deputy Secretary General of the CPDM party, Gregoire Owona.
His presence though, seems to have set apart political pundits who until today, struggle to slice and dice, its raison d’être.
While some point to the fact that the SDF might have sold out itself to the ruling CPDM party, others have strongly ruled out that allegation, while suggesting that such harmony and tolerance are allowed for in true democratic societies.
But, it is worth stating that, such conjugation is rarely seen between these two political parties that have for close to three decades now, animated the political space in Cameroon. LVV/FHM
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