By NOELA EBOB BISONG
Coming as a hint to some possible ongoing underground affair at the level of Cameroon’s Presidency, a tweet from Professor Maurice Kamto, leader of opposition party, Cameroon Renaissance Movement CRM, has kept many tongues wagging since Saturday, May 23, 2020.
At 11:22PM, Prof. Kamto tweeted that: “We will not accept the mutual agreement succession in our country, nor new popular elections without consensual reform of the electoral system. Only the Cameroonian people will have to choose their legitimate leaders, in freedom and democratic transparency.” He did not say more and at press time he hadn’t.
Though it remains exactly unclear the reason behind the outing by the CRM leader, some political pundits say unlike popular opinion that Kamto might just in his usual style be animating the political scene in Cameroon, the urgency and precision of his message means the political figure, currently eyeing the first office of the nation, surely has some credible sources which have let him into some current details.
In an apparent reply to Kamto, Cabral Libii, Cameroon’s young political star also tweeted that the reform of the electoral code was not as important as getting many Cameroonians as possible to participate in any future elections.
It should be recalled that President Biya is in the second year of his seven-year mandate which he harvested at the October 2018 Presidential election. Nonetheless, CRM’s Maurice Kamto who was declared runner up by the Constitutional Council continues to dispute the results.
Public opinions were rife over the past months as to the possible whereabouts of Cameroon’s President Biya, with even Kamto giving him an ultimatum to the president to appear in public and address the nation as proof he is alive and in control. But after months of suspicious silence by the leader, a somewhat healthy and strong Biya appeared on May 19, in an unusual address to the nation on the eve of the country’s National Day. He spoke mainly about the deadly coronavirus pandemic in the country.
Nonetheless, as the president is no longer in his youthful days after close to 40 years at the helm of the nation and currently 87, his possible succession has remained on the table of informal discussions within circles.
Some have gone ahead to point out that the regular outings of his son Franck Biya, may just be a sign to his possible succession should the leader decide to abdicate or in case of any other circumstance.
The succession debate has not remained a topic for the opposition only. CPDM stalwarts have also joined the fray to calm nerves by insisting that in case of a vacancy the CPDM will normally hold its congress to choose its chairman who going by the party’s text is the natural candidate for any presidential election.
“We will not accept the mutual agreement succession in our country, nor new popular elections without consensual reform of the electoral system. Only the Cameroonian people will have to choose their legitimate leaders, in freedom and democratic transparency”, Prof. Kamto has been quick to warn.
The succession rumblings are getting louder amidst all sorts of stories (mostly unverifiable) swirling around the Unity Palace and why now?