Cameroon’s youngest presidential aspirant, Hiram Iyodi, sparks youth discussions
Presidential hopeful Hiram Samuel Iyodi, who had barely held the frontrunner seat for long, had his candidacy accepted on July 26 by Elections Cameroon for the October presidential election. Apart from being a former CPDM president in Canada South, Hiram Iyodi is not the regular politician Cameroonians know.
In 2018, he was part of the Now Movement of Barrister Akere Muna, who later gave his support to Maurice Kamto. Hiram, since then, has been in the background and sometimes on social media.
But not being too close to the Cameroonian reality did not stop him from getting the Cameroon Democratic Front, FDC, ticket for the race.
The aspirant recently released a 12-point manifesto outlining his vision for Cameroon’s political, economic, and social transformation, should he be elected president under the Cameroon Democratic Front, CDF.
At the heart of his plan is a commitment to end what he termed “wasteful governance” by downsizing the government from 63 to 20 ministers and empowering a robust anti-corruption authority.
The 38-year-old also pledges to resolve the over 8-year Anglophone armed conflict by demilitarizing the North West and South West regions. He says he will initiate inclusive dialogue and organize a Sovereign National Conference in 2026.
On education and health, his manifesto features proposals to provide financial support for every birth and cover medical expenses for children up to age 10. On education, he advocates for a bilingual school system, aligning practical learning with local development needs. He adds that teachers and medical personnel would be granted a special status, with improved pay and working conditions.
On the judiciary, Hiram says his government will remove presidential influence over the judiciary, transforming prisons into reintegration units, and enforcing stricter penalties for gender-based violence.
Concerning the energy and infrastructure, the 2025 presidential hopeful vows to end power outages by promoting localized renewable energy sources and autonomous distribution networks. His land reform plan proposes abolishing the Ministry of Land Tenure, limiting land ownership to 2 hectares, and returning land management to local communities.
Hiram’s economic strategy focuses on banning raw material exports before local processing, boosting local industries, and investing in road and inland waterway infrastructure in Cameroon. He calls for an end to neo-colonial dependency by exiting the CFA franc and leading the creation of an African Monetary Fund.
Further, he proposes the dignified repatriation of former President Ahmadou Ahidjo’s remains and the symbolic restoration of national unity.
Finally, Hiram promises dual nationality, visa-free entry for Africans, and diaspora investment incentives to rebrand Cameroon as “Africa in miniature.”
Who is Hiram Samuel Iyodi?
Born in 1987 in Douala, Hiram is a 38-year-old engineer, business leader, and young politician. He is the Executive Secretary of the Patriotic Movement for the Prosperity of the People, MP3, a sovereignist political party with pan-Africanist tendencies, which was officially legalized in 2023.
Born to Dieudonné Iyodi, an engineer in the oil sector from the Sanaga-Maritime Division in the Littoral region, Harim studied Chemical Process Engineering at Laval University – Quebec, Canada. During his studies, he became President of the Association of Cameroonians in Quebec City between 2008-2009.
In 2010, while still in Canada, Hiram Iyodi participated in a collective project which marked the celebration of the 15th anniversaries of the independence of 14 African countries (1960-2010). This is where his vision and dreams for Cameroon from 2010 to 2060 began. He published with Veritas editions in Cameroon in 2011, “My Youthful Dreams: Cameroon in the next 50 years”.
In 2011, Harim returned to join the Cameroom Audit Council as a junior auditor in the oil and gas department, a position he held for over 5 years before joining his father’s engineering firm, AFRIK’GENESIS, in 2016 as Director of Operations to date.
While in Cameroon in 2012, Harim took part in several youth movements. And in 2017, he worked closely with Akere Muna under his NOW Movement as political program coordinator for the 2018 presidential election.
Immediately after the election, Hiram, together with other leaders, on November 17, 2018, in Douala, created the Patriotic Movement for the Prosperity of the People, MP3. The party was officially legalized on November 9, 2023, with Hiram as the Executive Secretary.
In December 2024, Hiram held a press conference during which he revealed the manifesto of the party captured in his publication “My Youthful Dreams: Cameroon in the next 50 years” and his wish to run for the presidency.
On July 21, 2025, Harim submitted his candidacy under the banner of the Cameroonian Democrats’ Front, CDF, an allied party of the MP3. On Saturday, July 26, Elections Cameroon officially declared its candidacy successful for the October presidential election.
Since then, he has been kind enough to talk about his Afro-social-liberal vision.
“Afro-Social Liberalism is not just an idea. It’s our weapon and our shield. It grounds the MP3 in the wisdom of our ancestors and arms us to confront a global system that was never built for us. Deeply rooted in African values, fiercely reaching for global power, this is how we rise, this is how we win,” Hiram posted.
