October 12 poll: A question of conscience.

 Editorial

The dust is yet to settle, after the weekend declaration of Prof Maurice Kamto, who called on the electorate to "use their consciences" to elect any of the 11 opposition contestants. 

Some commentators have seen the egoism of the opposition, with some using the October 12 election to lobby for ministerial posts after the election, as almost a foregone conclusion that the incumbent would take an unprecedented eighth term.

This will be at an epoch in which a third term in office is an abomination in a democratic contest. 

Yet, Cameroon is a democracy. Some government apologists have even portrayed it as an "advanced democracy"!

There are, however, a few politicians, like Osih Joshua, candidate of the SDF, who claims there is no need for a consensus candidate and that President Paul Biya can still be beaten without a single opposition candidate.

Of course, at an advanced age of 92, in office for 43 years, and governing by "proxy" and "high instructions" as has been expatiated by the former Communication Minister and Government Spokesman, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, the incumbent deserves a rest, not the short trip abroad but retirement.

Biya's campaign was launched last Saturday, throughout the national territory. 

In his message, in the South West Region, where separatist fighters relaxed their lockdown at the weekend, the Prime Minister, Head of Government, Dr Chief Joseph Dion Ngute, braved the bad roads and filth strewn on streets in Tiko and Buea, to canvass for votes for President Biya.

Launching the regional campaign in Buea last Saturday, he called for a landslide victory for Paul Biya. 

According to Dion Ngute, the Region will cease to benefit from the privileges and development advances it currently enjoys, if Biya does not win the presidential election on October 12.

He emphasised that the Region is currently strongly represented in government and in elected assemblies such as the National Assembly and the Senate.

The PM cited the Kumba gas plant as "a testament to Biya's commitment to the growth of the South West Region”. 

“Politics is a game of interests, and President Biya has the interests of the South West Region at heart," he told CPDM supporters.

PM Dion Ngute firmly rejected claims that the National Oil Refinery, SONARA, was being transferred to Kribi, where another is under construction.

He pointed out that the very fact that construction work has begun on parts of the refinery that caught fire in 2019, is proof that it remains a Regional asset.

In passing, he promised that other development efforts are underway, such as the Limbe Deep Water Port. 

According to him, "plans" to begin construction had been intensified, as had the construction of the Bekoko-Idenau Road and the development of Tiko Airport.

"If someone other than Biya is elected, the consequences for the South West Region would be disastrous," he warned.

Outlining the central pillar of the party's campaign strategy, Prof Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, Director of the CPDM Academy, said the social media will be a major component of the party's strategy as it seeks to win over young voters. They are a segment of the community badly hit by poverty and unemployment.

Although all speakers at the rally gunned for a landslide, Senator Tabetando advised for caution. "...we must not rest on our laurels, no two elections are the same," he cautioned. 

Regarding the popular criticism that the CPDM candidate is too old and deficient in vitality, vigor and innovation to govern in an android generation, Dion Ngute said the vitriolic racisms were "unreasonable".

He was re-echoing Prof Felix Zogo, Secretary General of the Ministry of Communication, who is on record as saying President Biya will win "even in a wheelchair". 

In the same vein, the Minister of State, Minister of Higher Education, who is also the spin doctor of the ruling party, Prof Jacques Fame Ndongo, had in reaction to such criticisms, said at a book launch in Yaounde that: “If Paul Biya did not exist, he would have to be invented because he gives us hope”.

No human is indispensable. The campaigns for the crucial and unpredictable October 12 election, which promises to be more than any other, have been launched.

The splinter opposition, bankrupt in resources to match the crushing financial and material wealth of the ruling party that is supported with government vehicles, fuel and top civil servants, is a miss match. 

The nine contestants have, however, not given up hope. It is now left for the electorate, some with compromised and profound anesthetisation of their consciences, to consider the future of their children and nation and vote with a clean conscience.

Kamto, the supposed kingmaker who coroneted no king, has called for people to use their consciences, so have the Bishops of Cameroon. 

Isn't it said that in Cameroon," nothing is impossible"?

Does the Biblical Book of 1st Samuel, not tell us that inconsequential David defeated the all powerful Goliath?

Without a consensual opposition candidate, the battle of the October 12 poll is now centred on conscience. 

As Martin Luther King Jr writes in A Testament of Hope: “There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right”.

The Guardian Post can only hope the electorate will be given freedom to vote with their consciences, not adulterated, even in the midst of pervasive penury in the country. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3579 of Monday September 29, 2025