Political paralysis has gripped Yaoundé and it is now at a dangerous crossroads ⁰

It is difficult to say where the political chaos in Yaoundé will lead us to after very powerful political leaders from the North announced they were no longer with President Biya.  It is hard to predict.

Some of Biya’s men in government are still protesting against the North and struggling to handle pressure coming from Barrister Akere Muna and Professor Maurice Kamto.

Unconfirmed reports suggest Ministers Issa Tchiroma, Bello Bouba and Mey have told loyalists to leave Yaoundé and head back to the North.

Political paralysis has gripped Cameroon and the October presidential election is fast approaching.

Biya and his Beti-Ewondo political elites have been in control for 42-years and now there are extraordinarily deep fissures with rival Fulani and Hausa parties – loyal to the late President Ahmadou Ahidjo.

The Minister-Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh with no experience of the Cameroon political story is trying to form a new coalition and breaking with the tradition that government formation and electioneering is simply the prerogative of the head of state.

Southern Cameroonians have already told Francophones to get out of their land and anger is now rising in the West and in the North.

Ngoh Ngoh is taking the last kicks of a dying horse and in doing so; he is attempting to justify the unjustifiable!

Followers of influential Minister Issa Tchiroma were not faced with tear gas and stun grenades during their political rally in Garoua recently but there’s nervousness about where this issue could lead.

The Southern Cameroons-Ambazonia crisis continues to ravage the country but the threats coming from the North and the Bamilekes seems to be intra-sectarian. The spectre of further violence hangs heavy.

In many ways, what is presently going on in Cameroon is really a power play for the spoils that come from the levers of government. It’s not a spontaneous people’s uprising.

National Assembly speaker Cavaye Djibril is appealing for restraint and de-escalation but what is happening in La Republique du Cameroun reflects the profound instability of a political system of government that was set up to serve one man-92-year-old President Biya.

Cameroon is at a dangerous crossroads.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai