Cameroon Politics:The SDF JOSHUA NAMBANGI OSIH---FROM POWER TO THE PEOPLE TO POWER TO THE YOUTH and WOMEN

To win any elections, it requires having a marketable candidate on the platform of a sellable Political party. Is Sesse Joshua OSIH the Clarion call of a party that desperately needs a new blood? If he is, he needs to do a dispassionate introspection on why the SDF has become so impotent and unattractive to voters outside the North West Region or Grassland.        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogU6az4G1BU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok9Vw6UoK7k

By Albert Atabong Motale

The news on Cameroon Journal whether grounded, founded or a possibility of Sesse Joshua Nambangi Osih (JNO) as the successor to the Legend and Political colossus SDF Chairman, Nii John Fru, has elicited some sense of cautious optimism and rekindled hope across the political landscape.  Whatever our political persuasion or divide, it should be seen as a welcome development, a good omen for our democracy, a rare transfer of power from the old to the young and a rare opportunity for our youth to arise and shine.  Cameroon can no longer continue to patronize analogue leaders in this digital age.  JNO provides that window of opportunity and rare hope for the youth in a political terrain firmly under the control and hands of grandfathers and maybe with a few grandmothers.
The role and place of Chairman Nii John Fru in the history of Cameroon cannot be over emphasized as he would be best described as the Father of Multi Party democracy and arguably the best President Cameroon never had. A true patriot and statesman should always quit the stage when the ovation is lowest.       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogU6az4G1BU

The story, travails and trajectory of the Social Democratic Front define and encapsulate our democratic struggles as a people, our hopes, missed opportunities, our resignations, pains, sad political miscalculations, our frustrations as social democrats, progressives and critical masses to see CHANGE and POWER TO THE PEOPLE materialize in Cameroon in the last 26 years.

The SDF party which was launched on May 26^, 1990 in Bamenda incidentally shares the same birth place with the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) party, had the hope of dislodging the CPDM from power and change Cameroon political landscape forever; but after 26^th years it is still an opposition party, with a Chairman listed as one of the serial losers of Presidential elections in Africa.  The accession of Sesse Joshua Nambangi OSIH to the throne and shoes of Nii John Fru and the humongous tasks ahead of him, could be better appreciated vis-a-vis the current state of health of the party he shall be inheriting. The question remains though……. Is Joshua Nambangi OSIH inheriting an asset or a liability? 

Honorable Joshua Osih

The popularity and political fortunes of the SDF and Nii Fru Ndi as the Presidential candidate has been on a constant and steep decline and has dwindled to an extent of becoming anemic and a silent minority party heading towards political oblivion as it has been the case in its outings and performances in national elections since inception. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogU6az4G1BU

   PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS AND RESULTS

Recall, Chairman Nii John Fru Ndi as candidate in the October 1992 presidential elections received about 36% of the vote against about 40% for incumbent President, Paul Biya, according to official results. The difference was just 4% in an election described as badly rigged in favour of the ruling party Candidate. In the October 2004 Presidential elections, Nii Fru Ndi scored 17.4% of the votes approximately an 18.6% drop from previous outing. And in the 2011 Presidential elections described by most of the International and Domestic observers as` free, fair, and transparent, Nii Fru Ndi pulled 518,175 votes constituting 10.17%, approximately 7% drop against CPDM and President Biya  who scored 3,772,527 constituting 77.99%. These are not the records to give Nii Fru Ndi any validity anymore as a credible leader or candidate of the SDF party in the forthcoming Presidential Elections of 2018 and, as they say, it is better to quit the political scene when still at the top and when only you can see the signs of drowning ship than for everyone to see the ship drown and write an obituary which may undermine your works and struggles over the years past. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok9Vw6UoK7k

        NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS AND RESULTS

In the May 1997 National Assembly (NA) elections the SDF party won 43 seats---winning 19 out of 20 seats in the North West and 15 out 25 seats in the Western Region. It also made major incursions in Littoral and SW regions as well. In the 2002 NA elections, SDF won only 22 seats losing almost half of its seats and was reduced to a regional party confined to the North West region. Its national appeal as a party that was, had been diminished as a result of these serial losses and for a leader who is doing the nation and the party by still clinging to power even as he is unaware that his best days have long gone-by. 
           https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogU6az4G1BU

 In the July / September 2007 parliamentary elections, the SDF won 16 out of 180 seats.The official results of the NA elections announced on 17 October 2013 show that, the Social Democratic Front won 18 out of 180 seats, a slight increase of 2 seats. These are not records to give the SDF party any resonance; they are records that speak of change from top to bottom within the party. Change that will transform the SDF party from being looked upon as only a North West Regional party into a National party again.

Can Sesse Joshua OSIH answer the Clarion call of a party that desperately needs new blood?

Sesse Joshua Nambangi OSIH shall be inheriting a party akin to a political train WRECK with a badly knocked down engine in the middle of the forest, with a captain who did not bother to inquire from his passengers why they were disembarking nor accepting the recommendations and expert views from Engineers and mechanics on how to jump start the engine. The SDF slogan Power to the People that swept across the nation like a violent hurricane in the 90s has been decimated and downgraded to a harmless hot air. That is the party Sesse Osih shall be inheriting.

Sesse Osih needs to do a dispassionate introspection on why the SDF has become so impotent and unattractive to voters outside the North West Region or Grassland. To win any elections, it requires having a marketable candidate on the platform of a sellable political party. It is also possible to have a good candidate but on a wrong political party or vice versa.  Osih as a Vice Chairman of the SDF and MP must have heard or read several narratives, diagnostics, prescriptions and remedies to resuscitate the failing health of the SDF party which could, at best, be described as anemic and in an intensive care unit (ICU).

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok9Vw6UoK7k

 Hon. Osih must rebrand the party and begin to tell the people how they can transform their lives and put money in their pockets. Incidentally, Cameroon has abundant human and natural resources that could be harnessed to pull the country from the woods. The SDF should start telling the people about restructuring the country and reforming the system. They should be bold in telling the people of the need to establish a Federal system with a 20 state Federation; SW Region =4 states. NW region 4 states, Littoral =2 states,  South=1 state, East-1 state, Adamawa- 2 states, Far North – 2 states, North -2 states.West-2 states. 

They should be telling the people about having elected Governors and scrapping Prefects as executive powers at all levels should be vested in the hands of elected officials. They should be telling the people that Democracy means separation of powers with no more Presidential Decrees which is an aberration and forged Law. 

They should be telling the people about introducing Fiscal Federalism so that each state can grow according to its potentials and resources.  We cannot continue to see power so centralized in the hands of those from Centre and South regions.

The coming of Osih as the successor to the legendary Nii John Fru shall be the first time in our history for a citizen of Ndian and of the South West Region to be a National Chairman or flag bearer of a major political party with members at the National Assembly.  Joshua Osih shall arguably be the youngest National Chairman of a political party with MPs in Parliament in Cameroon.  The accession of Joshua as National Chairman of the SDF or its flag bearer signifies hope to the youth in a country where 75% of the political class is made of great grandfathers and most were already Ministers when Joshua Osih was born. It shall signify a paradigm and generational shift and a very positive development for Cameroon and Central African region, (CEMC) with the highest collection of sit tight and longest serving dictators in the world. 

Hon. Osih should understand that, the main objective, goal and vision of any political party are to win elections and capture power.  The SDF has missed several opportunities because of its political naivety, misjudgment, idealistic posturing, rigidness, hallucinations and unproductive posture of boycotting elections and hoping CPDM shall effect the `Change` to suit the yearnings and aspirations of the SDF. Osih should be mindful of the fact that, good laws do not make good people but good men make good laws. Change might be the only thing which is constant but the most difficult to effect.  The priority of OSIH`s SDF should be winning majority seats at the National Assembly at the next elections.

                             https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogU6az4G1BU

Fortunately for Sesse Osih, there are so many leaders, models and templates to adopt, modify and adapt to the Cameroonian context.  David Cameron at 40 was the Leader of Conservative Party in UK and at 43 led the party to victory, became Prime Minister and retired at 49. Whether it is the Senegalese, Ivorian, Kenyan, Sierra Leonean, Malawian, Zambian or Nigerian models to understudy, UNITY and MERGERS of opposition parties into a formidable force are critical to winning any elections in Africa.  The CPDM might not be a `dream party ` or a Love Boat but it remains the only national party and most organised with militants in every village in Cameroon and in the diaspora. The CPDM party prints have become Sunday wears, a national attire and costume by our folks, attending weddings, church services and social functions.  Whether it is wore out of poverty, lack of alternative dresses they serve as unconscious adverts for the party. All these can change with Joshua OSIH’s message of Federalism or Federated States making decisions rather than President Paul Biya’s message of power consolidation in the Unity Palace.

The SDF shall need to restructure the party to reflect and align it to a modern democratic political party. One of the reforms badly needed is to separate the office of the National Chairman from the Presidential flag bearer of the party. Let the flagbearership contest be open to all who meet the requirements because the more, the merrier. This will help to deepen internal party democracy, win back skeptics and energise the grassroots. It makes no sense for the SDF to have party structure akin to Westminster Political system whereas Cameroon is practicing a Presidential system even though it has all the trappings of a Constitutional Dictatorship. The SDF needs to abolish the appointments of shadow Ministers which are relevant for parliamentary system and replace them with party communicators headed by a Director of Media and Publicity.  The first contest and test for any political party contesting elections is to win the popularity contest. Once any political wins the popularity contest, it can begin to dictate public debates and drive its agenda or manifestos with relative ease. 

The SDF is not only a train with a broken down engine but has also lost its voice. Most modern political parties invest so much on communication and publicity for obvious reasons as people tend to believe more in what they hear and see. For instance, who speaks for the SDF on the economy, new Penal code or Biya long private stay abroad? Who speak for the SDF on the autonomy of Universities, proposed relocation of CDC Head office, poor educational and health facilities in Cameroon? Who speak for the SDF on the absence and diminishing role of Cameroon in African affairs? Who speaks for the SDF manifestos and to clean the perception of SDF as a graffi party?  The SDF shall need strategists and researchers to drive the party ideology and ideals. 

Fortunately Osih understands the pains and frustrations of an average Cameroonian whether those residing in Madie –Ngolo, Dikome Balue, Meangwe–Ngolo, whose living conditions are same like 70% of Cameroonians living in rural communities. He understands that, the policy of the CPDM is not to allow their President to visit rural areas especially communities which do not have paved roads. He understands that, CPDM finds it difficult to win urban areas but sweeps all the rural areas, which might not have the big numbers but has large numbers of Parliamentary seats and election figures could easily be manipulated. He should equally understand that, elections could only be rigged when the party is popular. That is why lawyers should be position in all polling stations to monitor the election in conjunction with international observers. All these shall be planned ahead of the 2018 Cameroon Presidential Elections.

Joshua is inheriting the SDF at the time its fortunes are at its lowest ebb but with tremendous potentials and opportunities especially at a time when Cameroonians are so tired, frustrated, with no light at the end of the tunnel and their feet are tired. And with the current political dispensation and marginalization in Cameroon by the CPDM party, these events should serve as a clarion call for Joshua Osih to start building alliances. The first to build is that with Cameroon Diaspora. The Cameroonians in the diaspora are not in synch with the policies of the CPDM party and Osih can be that change that Cameroonians have been waiting for. He is the epitome of bilingualism because speaks both language fluently, He is knowledgeable, intelligent, humble and a quintessential leader. He is equally a very handsome man that can attract every eye in a room. With OSIH, SDF already has a marketable candidate and could transform SDF into a sellable party to the Youth and Women who form the critical mass of Cameroon electoral system.