By Dieudonné ESSOMBA
“Since the final publication of the list of presidential candidates, we have seen the old “Biya Must Go” logic that has always pervaded the Cameroonian opposition, incapable of organising itself around clearly defined ideological lines.
Some are calling for a union of the opposition, to the point of accusing each other of treason. Treason of what? What connection can there be between a party that advocates a federal state and another that advocates maintaining a unitary state? These are two completely different worlds that have no connection!” How can we logically expect an Osih or a Cabral, authentic federalists, to join forces with Bello Bouba, one of Ahidjo’s purest heirs and the perfect clone of Biya bi Mvondo, all fundamentalist offspring of a centralised state where a single individual controls everything and thinks for everyone?
This makes no political sense!
In Cameroon, the main dividing line between political parties is the form of the state.
Why? Because the form of the state is not a matter of political choices, but of the nation’s architectural requirements.
It is the matrix within which everything else is built, namely institutions, governance, and the nature and modalities of public policies.
The two party groups have nothing to do with each other and cannot form any operational coalition. For the upcoming presidential election, the Federalists must radically establish this dividing line and avoid tangling with the heirs of the unitary state. They must transform this election into a referendum between the two models.
Joshua Osih is particularly challenged in this fight. The SDF has been the first federalist party in Cameroon, since its first day of creation, and it has never wavered from this approach. Despite the ups and downs, it must maintain and radicalise its stance.
Federalism, once frowned upon, increasingly appears as an imperative requirement to pull Cameroon out of the abyss. About ten years ago, with the outbreak of the Anglophone crisis, senior government officials attempted to criminalise support for federalism!
Who doesn’t remember Minister Tchiroma’s terrifying threats to the media promoting federalism? Now, Tchiroma himself has become a federalist! Moreover, Bello Bouba, who is a sort of Biya II, is paving the way for federalism!
These electoral and opportunistic federalists are testament to the irresistible tensions that are gradually moving Cameroon toward a federal state.
It therefore remains important to fully understand the stakes of the upcoming presidential election: a referendum between a unitary Cameroon and a federal Cameroon.