2025 Presidential Election: Hon JOSHUA OSIH Unanimously Nominated SDF Flag Bearer

Osih says: “I accept this nomination with humility, with gratitude, and with an unshakable determination to fight for a better future for all of us”

“Cameroon is not just in crisis – It is in pain”

“The truth is, we are not a poor country – We are a country made poor by bad leadership.  We are not a divided people – We have been divided by a system that profits from our pain”.

The day and date were Saturday, March 1, 2025, the venue was the Yaounde Multi – Sports Complex, and the event was the Extra – Ordinary Convention of Cameroon’s frontline opposition party, the Social Democratic Front, SDF, that will be 35 years old on May 26, 2025.

Meanwhile on that blessed day of March 1, 2025 at the Yaounde Multi – Sports Complex, delegate that came in from all the 10 regions of the country for the Extra – Ordinary Convention of the SDF, unanimously nominated Hon JOSHUA NAMBANGI OSIH, as the party’s candidate for the 2025 presidential election.

Worthy of note that Joshua Osih is also the current National Chairman of the SDF, and a member of parliament (MP) from the Wouri Centre Constituency (Douala 1 and Manoka Sub – divisions). It should also be noted that SDF kept to its tradition to organize an Extra –Ordinary Convention to select its flag bearer for the presidential election.  In fact the SDF is the only political party in Cameroon that constantly respects this democratic tradition, of letting the grassroots militants of the party across the country, to be involved through their delegates, in the selection of  the party’s candidate for the presidential election.

Osih’s Acceptance Speech

Meanwhile in his acceptance speech following his nomination as the SDF candidate for  the 2025 presidential election, Hon Joshua Osih, who humbly accepted the nomination, expressed profound gratitude to the militants of the  party across the country, for  the confidence once more bestowed on  him, and reassured that he will never fail them.  Osih pointed out that he has travelled the length and breadth of this country, has seen all, and knows as well as understand the real problems of the people.

 “Peace Does Not Come From Guns, From Fear, Or From Silence”

Hon Osih asserted that Cameroon is not just in crisis but in pains, and decried the fact that for long the CPDM or Biya regime has tried to manipulate the people, and create the wrong impression, that what has been happening in the country is normal. “That corruption is normal. That war is normal. That suffering is normal”. Osih was blunt that he refuses to accept this. Hear him: “The truth is, we are not a poor country – We are a country made poor by bad leadership. We are not a divided people – we are people divided by a system that profits from our pain. Enough is enough! The time has come to turn the page”. Osih said the time for division is over, and that the time for peace has come. But he cautioned that peace does not come from guns, from fear or from silence. “Peace comes from justice, from respect, from listening to another”, he asserted.

The Cameroonian People Have Two Choices

Hon Joshua Osih, the SDF candidate for the 2025 presidential election, once more stressed to fellow Cameroonians that the fight for genuine change in Cameroon is not an SDF affair alone, but that of all Cameroonians. He urged that this is the time to stand up for the right thing or for the right choice, cautioning that the Cameroonian people have two choices at the 2025 presidential election.  “We have two choices before us. We can continue down the same path – of corruption, of suffering, of injustice, or State capture, of lies, of greed. Or we can rise, vote, and take our country back”, he explained.

Osih said he was not asking Cameroonians to vote for him because of his name or his party. “I ask you to vote for yourself, for your children, for your future. I ask you to join me in a movement of hope, of courage, and of change. The road ahead will not be easy. The fight will be tough. But I promise you this: If we stand together, we will win”, the SDF candidate for the 2025 presidential election assured.

BELOW IN ITS ENTIRETY, IS THE ACCEPTATION SPEECH OF HON JOSHUA NAMBANGI OSIH, FOLLOWING HIS NOMINATION AS THE SDF CANDIDATE, FOR THE, 2025 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION:

 ACCEPTATION SPEECH

                                      2025 EXTRA – ORDINARY CONVENTION

                                       YAOUNDE MULTI – SPORTS COMPLEXT

                                                    01 – 03 – 2025

                                                    JOSHUA OSIH

My fellow Cameroonians, my brothers and sisters,

I stand before you tonight as a son of this land, as a servant of the people, as your candidate for the presidency of Cameroon. I accept the nomination with humility, with gratitude, and with an unshakable determination to fight for a better future for all of us.

But tonight, I do not speak to you as a politician. I speak to you as a father, a brother, a son – just like you, a Cameroonian who dreams of a country that works for its people.

I have travelled this nation – from the crowded markets of Douala to the farms of the West, from the fishing ports of Kribi to the dry lands of the Far North, from the grieving streets of Bamenda to the hopeful hearts of Yaounde – I have seen the tears of mother burying their sons, the frustration of young graduates with no jobs, the exhaustion of fathers who cannot feed their families, the agony of communities destroyed by war and neglect.

• In the North – west and South – west, I met parents who have not seen their children in years – either because they were killed or because they fled the country in search of safety.
• In the Far North, I stood with families who wake up every day wondering if Boko Haram will strike again.
• In our cities, I see and exchange with young people who have studied hard but have no future, locked out of opportunities by corruption and broken system.

Cameroon is not just in crisis – it is in pain. And then guess what? It does not have to be this way.

For too long, we have been told that this is just how things are. That corruption is normal. That suffering is normal. But I refuse to accept this.

The truth is, we are not a poor country – we are a country made poor by bad leadership. We are not a divided people – we have been divided by a system that profits from our pain. Enough is enough! The time has come to turn the page.  The time has come to build a Cameroon, where:

• A child in Kousseri, or Yokadouma has the same opportunities as a child in Yaounde of Douala.
• An Anglophone can rise to the highest office without fear of discrimination.
• A mother does not have to sell everything she owns, including her body, just to afford hospital bills for her baby.
• A young graduate does not need to bribe his way into a job.

This is the Cameroon we deserve. This is the Cameroon we will build – together.

So Dear Friends,

For years, we have been told that we are too different to live together. That we must choose between Anglophone or Francophone, North or South, West or East.

But I have seen the truth with my own eyes: When a mother loses her child, she does not cry in French or English – she just cries. When a farmer struggles to sell his harvest, he does not suffer as a Northerner or Southerner – he just suffers.

The time for division is over. The time for peace has come.

And peace does not come from guns, from fear, or from silence. Peace comes from justice, from respect, from listening to another.

My fellow Cameroonians, this is our moment. This is our fight. This is our time to stand up.

We have two choices before us:

• We can continue down the same path – of corruption, of suffering, of injustice, of State capture, of lies, or greed.
• Or we can rise, vote, and take our country back.

I do not ask you to vote for me because of my name or my party. I ask you to join me in a movement of hope, of courage, and of change.

The road ahead will not be easy. The fight will be tough. But I promise you this: If we stand together, we will win.

So, I say to the young people: This is your moment – own it.

To the women: You are the backbone of this country – we will empower you. To the workers, the farmers, the entrepreneurs: We will build an economy that serves you, not the elite.

 To the diaspora: Your country needs you – come back and rebuild with us. To every Cameroonian, wherever you are: Your voice matters, your vote matters, your future matters.

Yes,

We will seize our nation back through this election. We will bring back Power to the people,

Because,

Together, we rise. Together, we win. And only together, can we rescue our nation and change Cameroon forever.

Long live the SDF,

God bless Cameroon. God bless Africa,

And long live Cameroon.

Thank You.