Threatened with losing its historical strongholds in the forthcoming local elections, the leadership of the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) in the Fako Division of the South West Region is reviewing strategies ahead of the 2027 municipal and legislative elections.
The review comes after former Communication Minister turned opposition leader Issa Tchiroma Bakary defeated the ruling party’s national president and candidate in the October 12, 2025 presidential election, Paul Biya, in the Division.
Local CPDM party officials in Fako have thus been urged to mobilise for a “landslide sweep” of all parliamentary and municipal council seats in the Division.
Prof. Pauline Nalova Lyonga, Minister of Secondary Education and Head of the CPDM Permanent Divisional Delegation for Fako, made the call during a restitution meeting held at the Buea Council Hall on Saturday, August 8.
The meeting brought together top brass of the ruling party in the Division. She said it was convened to disseminate the orientations from the CPDM Central Committee following a July 22 seminar in Yaounde chaired by the Secretary General of the Central Committee of the ruling party, Jean Nkuete.
Prof. Nalova said her mission in Buea was to “domesticate the Yaounde directives” and align the party machinery in Fako ahead of the twin polls.
“We gather here on the heels of a strategic, landmark seminar in Yaounde. We have to look at each other in the eye and align our strategic machinery for the upcoming legislative and municipal elections,” Prof. Nalova explained.
She stated that the CPDM party’s main goal is to “secure a landslide sweep of all parliamentary seats and municipal councils across Fako Division” when the elections are called early next year.
Bleak future for the CPDM
During the Yaounde seminar held under the theme: “The imperative of a CPDM landslide victory in the legislative and municipal elections: Reasons, prerequisites, actions”, Nkuete had cautioned that the atmosphere ahead of the forthcoming twin polls is not in favour of the ruling party nationwide.
“We must frankly acknowledge that the prevailing environment is not favourable to us in the run-up to the coming municipal and parliamentary elections”, the CPDM Secretary General had said.
Still during the same meeting, he had observed that: “Indeed, growing public disenchantment at both national and local levels, rising expectations, unfulfilled promises and shortcomings of every kind are increasingly being highlighted and denounced from every quarter”.
Jean Nkuete called on Regional and Divisional leaders of the ruling party nationwide to, more than ever before, show political realism and pragmatism in seeking solutions to the challenges “that confront us in our various communities.”
He had said the next six months leading to the elections are crucial for the CPDM to sustain work at the grassroots countrywide, urging comrades not to give in to fear.
“We must cling with even greater determination and pride to the positions of the leadership we hold in municipal councils and the National Assembly, and prepare to defend them fearlessly, with determination, panache and boldness,” Jean Nkuete appealed.
The Yaounde seminar was attended by heads of Regional and Divisional Permanent Delegations of the CPDM nationwide as well as the political outfit’s Chargé de missions.
Nalova admits stiff competition in Fako
The CPDM has historically enjoyed a strong political presence in the Fako Division. But as the party’s scribe had noted during the Yaounde meeting, recent electoral outcomes require a review of strategy for the ruling party nationwide, including in the Fako Division.
The CPDM candidate, Biya had secured just 36.47 percent of the 60,483 valid votes cast in the 2025 election in Fako, the party’s weakest performance across the six divisions of the South West Region. Fako is the lone Division in the South West that voted for Issa Tchiroma, who garnered 50.18 percent of the votes.
Political analysts say the defeat suffered at the hands of Issa Tchiroma at the 2025 presidential election has shattered the myth of the ruling party’s strength in the Fako Division. And the CPDM permanent Divisional Delegation to the Division is apparently conscious of this.
Prof Nalova admitted during the Buea meeting that the party faced stiff competition during the October 2025 presidential election. She noted that urban and semi-urban strongholds such as Buea, Limbe, and Tiko must be reclaimed, according to Limbe-based The Sun newspaper.
To reclaim victory in the Division, however, a key imperative is to encourage supporters to register massively and vote for the CPDM in the coming elections, analysts hold.
To achieve this, Prof. Nalova called on parliamentarians, mayors, CPDM section presidents and other officials to strengthen internal cohesion, reconnect with the grassroots, counter disinformation and encourage potential voters to register on the electoral lists before the August 31, 2026 deadline.
“We mustn’t fear. We mustn’t be complacent,” Prof. Nalova told local CPDM party officials of Fako, insisting that the party must change its working methods and approach the coming elections with greater seriousness and determination, according to a report by Pan African Vision.
“Fako, wake up. You must wake up. No more joking… We have to know how to win,” Prof. Nalova told the gathering.
This report was first published in NewsWatch Newspaper No. 237 of Monday, August 17, 2026.
