President Paul Biya gave his end of year address to the nation, and a not so subtle hint that he still has interest in keeping the presidency.

Biya warned that 2025 – the year Cameroon is meant to hold presidential elections is ‘full of challenges’, which was interpreted by some observers as a suggestion that he sees himself as president of the central African country beyond 2025.

Biya said he was paying attention to the cries of his party’s members who have recently embarked on a propaganda drive to market his candidacy.

At almost 92 years old, 40 of which he has spent at the head of his country, Paul Biya remains the sole candidate of the ruling Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement according to the party’s constitution.

Source: Africa News

The leaders of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) in Cameroon’s Centre region are calling on party militants to mobilize in support of Joshua Osih’s candidacy for next year’s presidential election. During a recent meeting of the region’s Executive Committee, it was agreed that every party member should act as an “ambassador” for Osih’s campaign. Additionally, the regional leadership is aiming to expand its ranks by recruiting new sympathizers, a move also intended to prepare for the upcoming legislative and municipal elections.

The critical question now is whether these measures will be enough to strengthen the SDF’s presence in the Centre region, particularly ahead of the presidential election. To meet this challenge, the party will need to urgently revitalize its grassroots structures. According to the December 2024 edition of the SDF newsletter, the latest Executive Committee meeting found that “most of the structures across the region’s ten departments are inactive.”

A reorganization of these structures appears to be in the works. This is not the first time the SDF has attempted such an overhaul. After disappointing results in the 2020 legislative and municipal elections in Mfoundi—Yaoundé’s most significant department—the party launched efforts to revive its activities there. However, four years later, little progress has been made, as the Executive Committee acknowledges that operations in Mfoundi remain nearly stagnant.

Joshua Osih, who hopes to run for the presidency as the head of a platform comprising political parties, trade unions, and associations, faces significant challenges. In the 2018 presidential election, Osih finished in fourth place with a lackluster result, marking a major setback for the SDF, which lost its position as the leading opposition party. At the time, the party attributed its poor performance to the security crisis in the North-West and South-West regions (Noso)—traditional SDF strongholds—where many militants were unable to vote.

Source: Business in Cameroon

A senior Manyu political leader has informed the Cameroon Concord News Group that there will be significant political changes in Cameroon in 2025 and that Manyu Division will be a totally different political landscape, as the youths of the Division are calling for change.

The politician, who elected anonymity, said that the current political dispensation in Manyu is hurting the Division as many current political leaders have failed to bring much-needed economic development to the Division whose economy is in the throes of a severe crisis.

He added that the youths of Manyu were already grumbling and looking outwards for that person who would understand their problems and would seek to bring meaningful economic initiatives to the Division.

“We need factories. We need a good hospital. We want our children to go to school in the best possible conditions. We know that the Diaspora can help us, but their help could be coordinated for it to deliver better results and that is why we of Manyu Division are urging members of our Diaspora to participate in the politics of our Division. We need people who will not come to earn a salary. We need people with ideas,” the politician stressed.

“After next year’s presidential election, the people of Manyu should take a look at those who have been representing us at the national level,” the angry politician said, stressing that “we have to look at young people to take over from our current politicians, most of whom have never kept their election promises.”

“Besides the Member of Parliament from Eyumojock, Honorable Teku Tanyi, who is constantly in his constituency to bring hope and some development initiatives, most of our politicians are simply dormant and will only come home when there are elections or when their political interests are at stake,” the angry politician said.

“Elective positions in Manyu should be given to young, dynamic and well to do Manyu men and women who have the Division’s interest at heart. We need people who can bring development to Manyu. We need people who can bring jobs to our youths,” he added.

“We must start looking at young and successful men and women in the Diaspora who can mobilize resources abroad for Manyu development. A few names have already been dropped and we hear that one of two Manyu senatorial seats will go to one of Manyu illustrious sons who have been pushing for Manyu development for decades,” the politician said.

“Our current senator is old, sick and tired and has nothing to show for, given the time he has been at the Senate in Yaounde. The current senator should consider his age and should support any young person who might express an interest in running. Manyu needs change but we want that transition to be smooth and friendly so that there will be peace. However, if the plea of the grassroots is not taken seriously, there will be change and it will be painful,” he stressed

“Manyu needs change and it needs people with a broad and global world view. Manyu needs a political leader who can connect the Division with the Division’s growing Diaspora, especially in North America. Manyu needs a credible person, somebody with great development ideas. We are tired of empty promises. We do not care where the person comes from. We need someone who loves Manyu and his people and based on what I have been hearing, we have someone from North America who will bring us the progress we need,” he pointed out.

“Our Members of Parliament must do more for our people. The people of Manyu are disappointed and they want change and any elected politician who does not deliver will not represent us anymore,” he stressed.

By our Mamfe correspondent Nkongho Philip Agbor

President Paul Biya has become a laughing stock deep inside the Unity Palace, Cameroon Intelligence Report has gathered from a well-placed source in Etoudi.

The CIR source said that Biya is now leading the nation from a wheelchair.

“He has a special wheelchair that he bought in Geneva that takes him around the presidential palace and he intends to rule till 100 years” our source said.

Biya was seen on the mobile chair moving around the presidency after he received some new ambassadors accredited to Cameroon.

The mobile chair, otherwise ordinarily referred to as a wheelchair is assisting the dictator to navigate his way around his office as well as at home in Mvomeka’a.

The Biya wheelchair has now confirmed that old age has taken its toll on the Francophone leader who will turn 92 this coming year.

A top CPDM baron who spoke to this reporter but sued for anonymity said Biya would rule from a wheel chair and then from the grave.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

The Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MRC) has given Maurice Kamto, its declared candidate for the 2025 presidential election, the freedom to decide how he will formally present his candidacy. However, Cameroon’s Constitution offers him three potential paths: securing an endorsement from the MRC, obtaining a nomination from another party, or running as an independent candidate.

This question arises due to the MRC’s boycott of the 2020 local elections, which left the party without elected officials. According to the Constitution, only parties with elected representatives can formally endorse a candidate. Although Kamto argues that elected officials have since joined the MRC—meaning the party could legally nominate him based on Cameroon’s lack of “binding mandates”—this interpretation is disputed. The Constitutional Council could potentially reject the MRC’s right to endorse a candidate under these circumstances.

Securing endorsement from a different party could be the safer route. Several parties within the Political Alliance for Change (APC), a coalition led by MP Jean-Michel Nintcheu, might be willing to endorse him, though the specific parties have not been named. If Kamto takes this route, he would likely choose a party open to an alliance with the MRC, allowing him to leverage the MRC’s political network for his campaign. The MRC has even allocated a confidential campaign budget to support Kamto’s run. “If Maurice Kamto goes left, we all go left. If it’s right, we go right,” a source within the MRC stated.

Running as an independent candidate is the last and most challenging option. This would require Kamto to gather 300 signatures from prominent individuals across Cameroon’s ten regions, including members of parliament, senators, municipal and regional councilors, and traditional chiefs. Since most of these figures are affiliated with the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM), this task would be especially difficult.

The clock is ticking, and Maurice Kamto shows no signs of urgency. Remarkably, his colleagues have not imposed a deadline for his decision.

Source: Sbbc

Aboubakary Abdoulaye, the first vice-president of the Senate, signed a decree on October 23 calling for the Senate to meet in November. This is unusual, as it is typically the Senate president, Marcel Niat Njifenji, who signs such decrees.

“The president is once again getting medical treatment abroad,” a parliamentary source said.

The absence of the upper house president has sometimes affected how the Senate works. During the March session, the Senate’s leadership team couldn’t be renewed for several days because the outgoing president was away. Sources in the Senate said he was recovering abroad and could not run for reelection.

The decree signed by the first vice-president aims to prevent further delays. Aboubakary Abdoulaye, a senator appointed by the ruling party CPDM and the powerful lamido of Rey Bouba in the North region, has been leading Senate debates for several years. Marcel Niat Njifenji, also an appointed senator from the Western region, usually only oversees the opening sessions.

The November session is expected to focus mainly on reviewing and approving the 2025 budget proposal presented by the executive. It will feature a general policy speech by the Prime Minister, followed by oral questioning sessions for government members. This speech, a key moment of the November session, will provide an overview of the government’s socioeconomic and cultural actions over the past year and outline the main directions for the next fiscal year.

Source: Sbbc