Cameroon doesn’t need political transition - Communication minister.

The member of government made the declaration in a recent outing on France-based media outlet, Radio France International, RFI.

Minister Rene Sadi said the Head of State, President Biya, is in full command of affairs in the country and his latest mandate given to him by Cameroonians during the 2018 presidential election is still to run to its logical end.

The minister was responding to remarks made by one-time Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic, Titus Edzoa, on the need for a political transition in the country, among other burning State issues. 

Edzoa, had in an earlier interview with RFI, said he had been contacted by some persons in Biya’s government, to lead a political transition. 

Edzoa, who spent over 17 years in prison, after being convicted on counts of embezzlement in 1997, proposed a three to four-year transition.

He said the proposed transition is intended to bring together all driving forces of Cameroon, with one fundamental mission, to carry out an audit and accounting of all sectors and to put back all republican institutions in place. 

However, Minister Rene Sadi considered the outing of Edzoa as not reflective of the reality on ground.  

“There is no reason to call for a political transition in Cameroon at this time. The institutions are functioning, the President of the Republic fully exercises his functions,” Minister Rene Sadi stated, adding that the question of transition is absolutely inappropriate from government’s point of view.

On the Edzoa’s declaration that he had been contacted to lead a transition, the Government Spokesperson said: “Look, personally, I doubt it. This is a statement that only commits Mr. Titus Edzoa, and probably those who say they contacted him”. 

Minister Rene Sadi didn’t seem to agree with the former Unity Palace scribe, that majority of Cameroonians are seeking a change at the helm of State, with Biya having managed the affairs of the country for 41 years and counting. 

“It is the Cameroonian people who decide. The elections [presidential] are coming up in 2025. We will see if Cameroonians want to change in one direction or another,” the MICOM boss said. 

Failed promises?

During his outing on RFI, Titus Edzoa had argued that the Biya regime has done nothing in terms of fulfilling promises made to Cameroonians during the 2018 Presidential elections.

He said institutions in the country are blocked and the armed conflict in the country’s North West and South West Regions is persisting, continuously claiming more lives and properties.

This opinion has, however, been shoved by the Minister of Communication, who said such declarations are a great departure from the truth.

“This is again the expression of an untruth. On the political level, the President of the Republic organised a Major National Dialogue and, as you know, which resulted in the creation of a Special Status in the two Regions of the North West and South West. On the economic level, major projects have been undertaken, notably dams, bridges, roads, to name but a few,” Rene Sadi explained.  

Minister Sadi also mentioned Cameroon’s hosting of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations and went on to state that if Titus Edzoa is claiming nothing has been since 2018, its simply out of bad faith.

Biya or his son in 2025?

Edzoa had opined that Biya’s candidacy or that of his son, Franck Biya, at the 2025 presidential election, would not be welcomed by Cameroonians.

 To Minister Rene Sadi, “...the President of the Republic has spoken publicly, and this on several occasions, on the question of his possible candidacy at the end of the current mandate”

He added that: “And he has always said that at the end of this mandate, Cameroonians and the international community will be informed of the decision he will make: whether to run again, or to withdraw. The President of the Republic will make his decision in agreement with the supporters of his party, the Cameroon People Democratic Movement, the CPDM”. 

On the option of the president’s eldest son running for president at the 2025 presidentials, Minister Rene Sadi, said: “As for his son, Franck Biya, if he meets the conditions of his eligibility, he will make his decision with full responsibility”. 

On whether the issue of age of the person to lead Cameroon was being discussed within the CPDM, the minister said: “I think we need to put into perspective this question, which comes up all the time, age, age, age…experience also counts and experience comes with age”.

Release of political prisoners

When Titus Edzoa shared his view on RFI, he also touched on the issue of some individuals being held in detention in Cameroon, whom he considers as political prisoners. 

He mentioned in particular the former Secretaries General of the Presidency, including Marafa Hamidou Yaya and Jean-Marie Atangana Mebara; former General Manager of the Cameroon Radio Television, CRTV, Amadou Vamoulke, as well as over 41 supporters of the opposition Cameroon Renaissance Movement, MRC party.

When quizzed on this, the Government Spokesperson argued that those being cited as political prisoners, were brought before the country’s courts for common law offenses and judged in a transparent manner.

“We are not in the habit of interfering in matters relating to justice. These compatriots, you know, were brought before the courts…they were judged in a transparent manner; in a framework accessible to the public, for offenses that we know are common law offenses and not crimes of political order. There are no political prisoners in Cameroon, that must be said, it must be emphasised,” the minister said. 

He stated that the decision to have them free or continue to keep them in prison will be decided by the courts or through a presidential pardon.

“If ever an action was envisaged or desired, I am thinking in particular, perhaps of a possible presidential pardon in accordance with the laws and regulations in place,” Sadi concluded.