On June 10, 2025, Jean Nkuete, Secretary-General of the Central Committee (SG/CC) of the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM), released an 11-point statement addressing the increasingly polarized national political climate in the run-up to the presidential election. In the document, the Deputy Prime Minister directly targeted the opposition, specifically the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM), accusing it of escalating public tension.

Jean Nkuete wrote, “We are observing that, as the presidential election approaches, some political parties, several of which are grappling with their own internal contradictions, are feeding the public with false debates that create confusion.” His message became clearer as he denounced “calls for the preparation of a sacrificial and deadly insurrection,” referencing a third country whose situation, he argued, is incomparable to Cameroon’s.

The Shadow of the Paris Rally

This criticism is a thinly veiled attack on CRM leader Maurice Kamto, who delivered a controversial speech at a Paris rally on May 31. Kamto declared, “If we fail in 2025, it will be Cameroonians’ own fault.” The former Minister Delegate for Justice elaborated, “If we miss the opportunity for the change Cameroonians have been yearning for over decades, it will be our own fault. Don’t wait for anyone! Look at Senegal, what you saw there came after young Senegalese fought throughout 2023 and 2024, and there were nearly fifty deaths. Yes… Don’t think people just lie down and change happens. Transformation takes struggle.”

For Jean Nkuete, these remarks indicate a deliberate strategy to use confrontation as a political tool. He called for the rejection of all forms of violence, writing, “Cameroon is a mature nation, whose fundamentally republican people bear the scars of violence from the independence war, the dark years, and, more recently, the atrocities in the Northwest and Southwest regions.” He concluded by stating, “Cameroonians, who more than anyone know the cost and value of peace, will not allow personal ambition to endanger lives or jeopardize the peace, stability, and coexistence they have so dearly secured.“

CRM’s Response

In response to the accusations, CRM condemned what it called an attempt to criminalize political expression. According to barrister Désiré Sikati, a party member and lawyer at the Cameroon Bar, Kamto’s comments have been intentionally misrepresented. He asked, “Is it not legitimate and common in a democracy to call for public protests against illegality?” In his view, the May 31 speech should not be equated with a call for insurrection, but rather a lawful civic mobilization. He added, “Can a call to protest be interpreted as a call to die in a democratic state?“

The lawyer then reversed the accusation, implicitly pointing to the government’s suppression of political protests. He concluded in a pointed tone, “Should live bullets be fired at peaceful demonstrators in a democratic country?“

Source: Business in Cameroon