As Cameroon braces for a crucial presidential election on October 12, some opposition candidate cleared by the country’s poll management agency are rooting for a single candidate against incumbent President Paul Biya amid calls for the opposition to join forces and unseat the long serving leader.
At the behest of Hermine Patricia Tomaino Ndam Njoya, National President of the Cameroon Democratic Union (CDU), lone woman on the provisional list of 13 candidates cleared for the vote, six opposition candidates met in Foumban in the West Region of the country on Saturday, August 2 and committed themselves “to the choice of a consensual candidate around a common program”. They were joined at the meeting by some political party leaders.
The convenor was joined at the meeting by other opposition candidates like Akere Muna who is backed by the UNIVERS part, Serge Espoir Matomba of the United People for Social Renovation (PURS) party and Jacques Bouhga Hagbe of the Mouvement Citoyen National Camerounais (MCNC) party.
Meanwhile Issa Tchiroma Bakary of the Cameroon National Salvation Front (FNSC) and one of the youngest candidates for the election, Ateki Seta Caxton of the Liberal Alliance Party (PAL) were represented, highlighting their endorsement of the coalition talks.
Discussions during the meeting that also had in attendance the some opposition political leaders focused on strategies to present a united front in the upcoming presidential election during which incumbent President Paul Biya will be seeking an eighth term of office.
“The Foumban Declaration”
In a statement issued at the end of the strategic meeting dubbed “The Foumban Declaration”, the opposition presidential candidates and political leaders said they are committed to the democratic future of Cameroon.
They affirmed their determination to confront what they term the stagnation and existential threat posed by the regime in power for 43 years.
“For more than four decades, the Cameroonian people have suffered systemic oppression, economic marginalization and the stifling of democratic freedoms”, the opposition candidates and political leaders said in the statement.
The October 12 presidential election they said, is not just another ballot but a decisive moment for survival of the country. They called on all Cameroonian youth, women, men civil society and the diaspora to rise up as one and join in their drive for unity in action for a new vision for Cameroon.
“We commit ourselves to the choice of a consensual candidate around a common program; and we invite the people to play their role as citizens by voting massively,” they said in the statement.
Absence of key opposition figures
Away from rigging allegations, a notoriously fractious opposition has also helped incumbent Biya win elections in the country to extend his extraordinarily long reign and the Foumban meeting political observers say, represents a major effort in a united opposition against the leader.
However, the absence of some key opposition figures in the October 12 presidential race like Hon Joshua Osih of the Social Democratic Front (SDF), Hon Cabral Libii of the Cameroon Party for National Reconciliation (PCRN) and Bello Bouba Maigari of the National Union for Democracy and Progress (NUDP) has raised questions about the strength of an opposition alliance ahead of the poll.
Media reports say they were duly invited to the conclave but they did not show up and did not also send representatives. Hon Osih had not replied to our request for comment at the time of this report.
Besides the absence of the key political figures, some Cameroonians are even questioning the choice of Foumban – a town that hosted the July 1961 constitutional talks that aimed to unify the British Southern Cameroons and the French-speaking République du Cameroun – a key step in the formation of the Federal Republic of Cameroon. Some Cameroonians blame the ongoing unrest in the English-speaking regions of the country on the failure of the famous Foumban Conference.
First published in NewsWatch newspaper No 215 of Monday, August 4, 2025.
