Hon. Joshua Osih says referendum pathway to peace in Cameroon
By Synthia Lateu
Presidential candidate hopeful Hon. Joshua Osih said that peace in Cameroon can be achieved through a referendum. He made the statement on June 10, while appearing as a guest on 2025RVD, a political program on local TV channel Canal 2 International, which features interviews with presidential aspirants.
Osih, who is running under the banner of the Social Democratic Front (SDF), emphasized that his party understands the realities of the North West and South West regions better than any other political party in Cameroon. According to him, the Anglophone crisis is a two-sided problem—one marked by violence and the other by deep-rooted political issues.
“The political issue needs a deep debate to come out if,” Osih said. “That is why we propose to have a first of all, a reconciliation and then a national discussion on a new social contract for Cameroon that will end up with a constitutional conference that will propose a new constitution for Cameroon, which we want to be federal, that will be proposed to Cameroonians by way of referendu.m”
He added that the SDF envisions holding this referendum within the first three years of their mandate, with the remaining four years dedicated to implementing its outcomes.
Hon. Osih also underlined the urgency of ending violence in the conflict-affected regions, stating that the first 100 days of his presidency would focus on restoring peace. He promised to engage relevant stakeholders in dialogue, release innocent detainees related to the crisis, and bring key actors from the conflict to the negotiation table. He criticized the current Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) centers as ineffective.
Osih highlighted his early engagement in the crisis, noting he was the only candidate who visited the Northwest and Southwest at the beginning of the crisis, where he observed that 100% of the fighters were young. The opposition party leader said he had since warned the National Assembly that youth unemployment and social precarity were matters of national security.
He also expressed deep regret over the continued hardship faced by Cameroonians, blaming the current regime for imposing “poverty and suffering” since 1992. Urging young people to register and vote for change, he acknowledged the difficulty in obtaining national ID cards but stressed that “those who do not vote have no right to complain.”
Osih further noted that around Africa, people envy Cameroon, and said that this was one of the reasons he decided to abandon his pursuits and commit to serving the country
