2025 presidentials: UMS picks Kwemo, says open to coalition.

It brought together some 3,000 UMS delegates from across the country. The delegates unanimously elected the Member of Parliament from the Upper Nkam Division of the West Region in the last minutes of the congress that ran into the night. UMS has also expressed the wish to join any meaningful coalition that will easily flush out the current regime. 

Addressing party supporters and the delegates after his election, Hon Kwemo said he is glad and privileged to have been selected by the party and given the command baton to serve as torchbearer for the forthcoming election.

He said the composure of delegates throughout the congress restates the trust that the people have in him and the larger commitment that UMS party has in its bid to legitimately takeover power and lead change in Cameroon.

“Be aware that you have just trusted someone who must carry the Cameroonian flag in months to come,” Hon Kwemo said.

“I believe that at least 90% of the people who are presently here would have liked to watch the Champions League final this evening. But if you are still here, it is because there is a major problem in hand. You want to save your country. We want to save our country,” he added.

Final internal vetting pending 

Hon Kwemo said despite his unanimous election by delegates, he will further go through a final vetting phase at the level of the UMS’ political bureau. 

He said the vetting will be organised as stipulated by the party’s internal guidelines, which stand strong as part of the structure’s principles established to ensure that the body fully follows democratic requirements both internally and externally.

Per the UMS National President, the final vetting process will be followed by the unveiling and execution of a campaign plan that is destined to help the party to garner the massive support that it requires to guarantee its successful ride through the election exercise.

UMS ripe to lead Cameroon

Hon Kwemo said the party primaries marks the start of a journey that is bound to be promising and fulfilling, not only for UMS, but for the entire Cameroon as a nation despite the fact that the party will be a first-timer in the forthcoming presidential election. 

He said he is confident that after 14 years of exercise in the Cameroonian political landscape, UMS has garnered the experience and resources it needs to take over the command baton and build a Cameroon that is rich and prosperous through the effective distribution of resources and wealth.

“In 2011, the party had just been created. In 2018, we did not have a well-structured party. The representation was not so national,” Hon Kwemo said about the party which currently has two Members of Parliament in the National Assembly and has since 2013, also been controlling the Bafang Council in the Upper Nkam Division.

“We have worked on training and proximity and today we have a national party that is in all corners of Cameroon as highlighted by the mobilization that we had here today,” he noted.  

UMS open to coalition 

Hon Kwemo told UMS supporters and the press that despite the UMS’ strong conviction that it has what it takes to independently walk the challenge for the Unity Palace top office, the party is still fully open to embracing a coalition. 

He said the party is opened to such approaches due to its stance as a political party that believes that the interest of Cameroonians must be prioritised and placed ahead of those of separate institutions like political parties.

The legislator, however, insisted that the party will only engage in a coalition with candidates that are legally-qualified and have the required weight to feature as a strong force in the exercise. 

“I will not discuss with someone without knowing if he or she will be able to go all the way in the process. I believe that the simple criterion will be that if we want to pair up, it should be with a candidate who is validated by the Constitutional Council,” the UMS boss stated.

Saturday’s congress was attended by over a dozen leaders and representatives of other opposition parties or movements in Cameroon.

Notable among the figures whose messages centered on the need for a strong opposition coalition to challenge the ruling party was the leader of the Now Movement, Barrister Akere Muna; Hon Tomaïno Ndam Njoya of the Cameroon Democratic Union, CDU and Senator Pierre Flambeau Ngayap, who represented the leader of the National Union for Democracy and Progress, UNDP, Minister Bello Bouba Maigari. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3462 of Monday June 02, 2025