(By Tikum Mbah Azonga)
Paul Biya`s
ruling CPDM party and the other parties, including the opposition ones at
present in the government. Eyes are on the opposition UNDP leader Bello Bouba
who has been in government for about a decade now. The problem with Bello is
that while he serves as Biya`s minister, he seems to have forgotten the role of
his own party. He does not criticize Biya or the CPDM. Of course, he has not
shown any disgust about anything by resigning like Garga Haman Adji did when he
was Public Service Minister.
Bello is just there. Yet, he ought to examine
himself because a significant number of top cadres of his party have abandoned
him. On can cite Abunaw Rose Makia who was instrumental in winning a large number of votes for the UNDP in her
native South West Region but later bolted to the CPDM. Another firebrand woman of the UNDP, Nicole
Okala, slammed the door at the UNDP and joined Biya`s CPDM. A senior founder member of Bello`s party once said:
“It`s true that Bello is a cabinet member, but he tends to forget that he is
also the leader of a political party”. This was after the complainant requested
several times to be received by Bello but the request was not granted.
Probably,
though, when it comes to possible alliances in the expected cabinet reshuffle,
there is no party on which more attention is focused than the SDF led by Ni
John Fru Ndi. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, when Biya opened the
door to the return of multiparty politics in 1990; the SDF was the first
political party to become recognized. It was a long, hard and bloody journey
for the party. But it got there. Since then, the SDF has consistently proved to
be the country`s incontestable opposition party at all three electoral levels:
presidential, parliamentary and municipal.
Significantly,
the SDF has never joined a Biya government. Although the truth may never be
told, it is clear that when Fru Ndi has been asked for the reason, he has said
he was not consulted by Biya. However, other sources say he was consulted but
put down his own conditions which were rejected by Biya such as the post of
prime minister, and a larger number of ministerial departments than those
proposed by Biya.
The key
question now is whether if asked, the SDF should join the government. We
strongly believe that the party should consider the offer. If the SDF is given
ministerial posts, it will be in a position to show the country and the world
that it can run ministries – and in passing, serve the country – better than
the CPDM. That could be a good campaign strategy for the SDF in view of the
2018 presidential election. Secondly, being part of the government would enable
the party to be in a better position to publicly contradict the government or
criticize it when the latter insists on taking an action that is detrimental to
the nation. If the worse comes to the worse, the SDF team can resign. By the
time things get to such a point though, Cameroonians and the world will have
realized that “at least the SDF did its best while in government and it`s only
that its hands were tied.” The SDF must understand that contrary to what many
people think, being part of a coalition government does not necessarily mean
forfeiting ones rights.
Like Solomon
Tandeng Muna was said: “People come and go but the nation remains.”
THE END
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