Opinion: Why Kamto is greedy!
By Nfor Hanson Nchanji
The recent crisis rocking the Cameroon Renaissance Movement political party has just one root cause; the refusal by the party’s leader to take part in the 2020 Parliamentary and Municipal elections.
Angered by a 2018 presidential election defeat described by MRC-CRM as an electoral holdup, the National President, Maurice Kamto, later decided to stop all political participation of his party in the February 9, 2020 polls.
By doing so, Kamto who relied much on the international community expected several actions that would paint the Biya regime as dictatorial and undemocratic but the world was focused on combatting COVID-19, shortly after the polls. It became a non-event.
Maurice Kamto also expected the regime to feel threatened that her image will be tarnished if the major opposition party at the time decided to withdraw from the polls, yet, this was another miscalculation. Undemocratic governments like the New Deal government of Paul Biya can do anything to remain in power, regardless of the situation-Biya’s regime proved that.
The MRC President was also hoping that those incarcerated after proscribed protests were going to be released following the pressure and this would have been some sort of negotiation for him to take part in the elections-again, President Paul Biya demonstrated that he doesn’t-care about basic party militants-did Kamto not remember that big personalities of the Republic are still languishing in Biya’s jails?
But this act by Kamto was a greedy and miscalculated political blunder!
The Cameroon Renaissance Movement, gained massive support during and after the 2018 presidential elections, with some bigwigs imprisoned, and others shot and injured. After their release from jail, the massive support for the CRM was still visible and the plan was that the opposition party should take part in the 2020 parliamentary and municipal elections to at least, get some Councils and Parliamentary Seats as well as compensate his political friends like the late Mayor of Njome Penja in Littoral, Paul Eric Kingue who was his campaign Manager and also jailed, Celestin Djamen, a former SDF orator, Barrister Michelle Ndoki, among others.
By not allowing his party to enjoy control over Councils and Parliament, which would have also given grassroots leaders and followers to benefit from their political actions and take control of their municipalities, Kamto proved beyond every reasonable doubt that he was politically greedy!
It even became obvious when he declared that he would take part in the 2025 presidential elections. In October 2022, he described the 2020 boycott as the greatest sacrifice a political party can make for Cameroonians but nothing has changed since the decision was made, so why is Kamto going in for the Presidential elections when nothing has changed?
The regime has not been moved by international reports on rights abuses nor stopped arresting members of the party. Like the late Fru Ndi who boycotted the 1997 elections, which many said cost him a voice at the National Assembly, Kamto’s action has plunged the MRC into a deep crisis with several resignations and a recent dismissal of Barrister Michelle Ndoki.
Again, with no parliamentarians and Councillors, Kamto’s party was unable to send candidates for the March 12, 2023 Senatorial elections.
The MRC party can claim that there is nothing wrong in the party but deep inside, there must be some retrospection that needs to be redressed in future decision-making processes. For example, why is the president given absolute power to decide whether or not they should boycott elections? This does not only goes to Kamto, but several African politicians leave no room for round table discussions and votes on certain political decisions affecting their parties.
In Western countries, political decisions are taken by a majority of the members eligible to vote and decide the party’s fate.
If the decision to boycott were to pass through the ballot in the MRC, Kamto would have been the only voice for YES against others for NO!
