Tribalism threat to October 12 poll.

The issue of tribalism is on the national debate, with particular acuteness, which is deeply anchored in the sociopolitical history of the country. It has been amplified by the exclusion of Prof Maurice Kamto, a Bamileke, from the presidential election.

It has been exhumed, following a 2009 statement by the then Minister of Justice, Amadou Ali, today of blessed memory, confiding to an American diplomat that "…a Bamileke will never be President of Cameroon".

He had said the three Northern Regions that are ethnically and culturally different from the rest of Cameroon, would continue to lend their support to President Biya, as long as he wishes to remain President.  

He said: “…Betis are too few to argue in the North, let alone the rest of Cameroon. Bamilékés made overtures to Northern elite to forge an alliance between their respective Regions for the 2011 presidential election, but the northerners were so suspicious of Bamiléké intentions that they would never conclude an alliance to support a Bamiléké political power”.

The remarks, revealed by WikiLeaks, were made by the late Justice Minister, Amadou Ali, during a 2009 interview with former US Ambassador to Cameroon, Janet Garvey.

The Wikileaks exposed the conversation. His remark that "un Bamiléké ne sera jamais Président au Cameroun,"   remains alive and viral in the media and gossips in the country's political landscape.    

He had raised a storm. Pierre Abanda Npama, then President of the African Movement for New Independence and Democracy, MANIDEM, said “these are indecent and dangerous statements”.

For his part, Victorin Hameni Bieleu, President of the Union of Democratic Forces of Cameroon, UFDC, noted that "the drift is of extreme gravity,” while Barrister Alice Nkom, said the “statement was against national unity”.

More incisive was Jean-Michel Nintcheu, then MP of the Social Democratic Front, SDF; who demanded the resignation of Minister Amadou Ali and the opening of a judicial inquiry against him. Both Ali and the government maintained a suspicious silence. 

Today, tribalism continues to pollute the political atmosphere, with MRC National Communication Officer, Joseph Emmanuel Ateba, writing that: "When the Bamileke support Um Nyobe, they are nationalists; they support Fru Ndi, they are the forces of change; they support Paul Biya, they are Republicans, but when they support Kamto, they are tribalists". 

The social media has been quoting Historian, Achille Mbembe, as saying the disagreement in the Cameroonian opposition, particularly in its vocation to unite to seek electoral victory through a single candidate, is caused by tribalism.

He says: "The modern history of Cameroon- since the colonial era, shows that the great effort of the hegemonic forces of the moment will each consist in making the formation of another force impossible. Based on what? On the ability to transcend primitive or primary identities”. 

"Today, Bamilekephobia, it must be properly named, is an irrational fear, an almost atavistic hatred of an important component of what regrettably, is not a political community," Achille Mbembem said.

The Historian observed a tribalism "cultivated" by those in power. "Systems of domination that rely on the actions of the dominant but also the complicity of the dominated," he said.

There is no question that tribalism is a major issue in Cameroon, prompting the government to combat it with its campaign of "living together".

But it persists and at times, breeding hatred and xenophobia. In some communities, problems have on a few occasions degenerated into clannish clashes with indigenes in some parts of the country like the Centre and South Regions.

The American State Department Human Rights report has also indicted the government of tribalism in major public appointments.

The Guardian Post is, however, delighted that government's approach is not one of silence or denial. That explains why President Biya is warning against the "demons of tribalism".

He has reaffirmed his willingness to combat the scourges by effective penalisation of culprits, especially as the presidential election climate has become the theatre of an intensification of stigmatising discourse, fueled by dangerous communitarian rhetoric.

Opinion leaders and political figures make statements that exacerbate tensions between ethnic groups, thus compromising efforts at national cohesion.

For President Biya, national unity would not be negotiable. It calls for a patriotic surge and the responsibility of political, media and citizen actors. “Any stigmatisation of the other on the basis of their ethnicity, Region, language or religion, should be banished from the public space,” he insists.

His warning is in a context where some political actors don’t hesitate to instrumentalise ethnic origins to assuage their popularity.

The presidential election has reawakened the issue of tribalism, which might not end, even after the October 12 poll. The diagnoses have been made.

It should then not be a contemplation of the past, but calls for collective reconstruction of a national architecture of a common future, based on justice and equity without discrimination. How that should be done is left to those running for the presidency to explain to Cameroonians with no holds barred. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3545 of Tuesday August 26, 2025