The Paris based French weekly, Jeune Afrique has dedicated full page coverage to the so-called main opposition party in Cameroon, the Social Democratic Front, SDF. The report captioned “SOS SDF” questions the SDF’s inability and failure to take advantage of the situation Paul Biya finds himself now “weakened” by the Southern Cameroons crisis, the Edéa railway disaster and the likely return of a new IMF Structural Adjustment Plan.

Jeune Afrique also wondered aloud whether SDF Chairman Ni John Fru Ndi will run for the next presidential election mindful of the fact that there has been so kind of deaf internal protest within the party.  The Paris based publication pointed out that militants are at daggers-drawn positions with members of parliament like Joseph Mbah Ndam, Cyprian Awudu Mbala and Joseph Banadzem including Senator Jean Tsomelou. They are accusing the SDF elected representatives of wanting to “just” retain the place and the sinecures that go with it.

The Jeune Afrique report also hinted that a majority of SDF prestigious positions are occupied by Anglophones and to a lesser extent the Bamilékés. Jeune Afrique noted that for five years, the SDF has lost a part of its territorial landscape and it was absent in five of the ten regions of the country during the last electoral consultations.

By Sama Ernest