By SAH TERENCE ANIMBOM
The Social Democratic Front SDF party has not had the kind of dissapointment it had during the last February 9, 2020 municipal and legislative polls, where they emerged with only one council out of 34 municipal councils in the entire North West region and none in the South West region, which happen to be the anglophone regions of the country and the strongest hold of the party.
They also emerged with only two parliamentary seats in the entire Anglophone Cameroon.
Prior to the twin elections of February 9, 2020, the SDF was divided over the participation of the party in the elections. While the National Chairman John Fru Ndi, the 1st Vice National Chair Joshua Osih, Hon. Joseph Mbah Ndam and Hon. Forbi Nchinda Simon felt that the SDF should participate in the elections, others like Senator Kemende Henry Gamsey said it will be catastrophic for the SDF to take part in the elections given the current socio-political state of high insecurity in the Anglophone regions which was their fief.
It would appear “the big four” felt embarrassed by this statement from Senator Kemende, which pushed Joshua Osih to ask that he should have tabled his resignation from the Senate immediately after raising such a concern when he was voted under the same condition and even worst as Osih claimed.
Senator Kemende however argued that the conditions under which the Senatorial elections held were nowhere close to what holds now. “We in the senate went to the field. I went to the field and I went from door to door to see all the 100 councillors in Ngoketunjia who then were all on the ground. We had no threats like now and on the day of elections we could even move around in our cars unguarded. That is not the situation of today. You saw it for yourselves during the presidential elections and this will even be worse. If the SDF goes in for these elections, they will be crushed” he argued.
It is worth noting that Senator Kemende was part of the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the SDF that decided for a boycott of the twin elections by the SDF if the security situation in the North West and South West Regions did not change. Whatever pushed the party hierarchy to unilaterally decide for the participation of the party in the just ended elections is what remains unknown to most members of the party.
The outcome of the just ended elections has reduced the once vibrant SDF party to a shadow of itself in the North West and South West regions, losing 13 parliamentary seats to the CPDM and loosing over 15 municipal councils in the North West region alone.
In Bamenda city where SDF was once the force to reckon with, they have been reduced to just one municipal council, the only council in the entire region, even taking away their chance of controlling the position of City Mayor or the Regional Council.
Many political analysts say the SDF failed to listen to the voice of the people and that they have been served right for their stubbornness.
Senator Kemede questions: “When did the SDF stop after putting out a threat to boycott the last elections to analyse the security situation of the two regions? What suddenly made them want to participate in the elections under the same conditions they warned against and even worst? It was when they started kidnapping councillors for wanting to participate in the elections that the party got even more serious with plans of participation!”
There is however little hope for the SDF if the rerun of legislative elections in a few constituencies in the North West and South West is successful.