2025 Presidential Election: New Members Registered At Second Meeting Of The New Opposition Coalition For A Consensual Candidate

The Opposition Coalition Which Is An Initiative, Of The CDU leader And Mayor Of Foumban, Hon PATRICIA TOMAINO NDAM NJOYA,  Was  In fact In The Pipeline Since 2024.

8 Out Of The 13 Candidacies That Were Validated By ELECAM For The October 12, 2025 Presidential Election, Are Already Onboard The New Opposition Coalition

Mrs Ndam Njoya’s Initiative Is Making Progress, And She May Succeed, To Do For The Opposition, And Cameroon, what The Several Male Opposition Leaders Have Failed To Do For Decades

The National President of CDU, Hon Patricia Hermine Tomaino epse Ndam Njoya, Mayor of Foumban, on Saturday, August 2, 2025 hosted in the historic town of Foumban, in the West Region of Cameroon, the second meeting of the new opposition coalition that has the important objective of designating a consensual candidate for the crucial October 12, 2025 presidential election.

The second meeting of the opposition coalition, registered new members that included: Barrister Akere Tabeng Muna, the Founder of the NOW Movement and presidential candidate of the ‘Parti Univers’ for the October 12, 2025 presidential election. Serge Espoir Matomba, the leader of PURS and candidate for the October 12, 2025 presidential election. Jacque Hagbe Bougha, the candidate of MCNC Party for the October 12, 2025 presidential election.  Dr  Balenguel  Nkot Pierre, Secretary General of a faction  of the UPC. Worth noting, that Balenguel Nkot is actually the one recognized by a court ruling as the leader of UPC. It should also be noted that the real leader of the UPC is the Secretary General, as the post of President is more of a ceremonial post.

   First Meeting Of The Coalition Held In Yaounde

   It would be recalled that leaders of six opposition parties that included UDC, FSNC, MP, USDP, PAL and UMS, and some of their close collaborators, silently planned as well as silently participated, at an important meeting which lasted six hours, in a hotel in the nation’s capital, Yaounde, on Saturday, July 5, 2025. The meeting ended with the creation of what is now considered as the first veritable coalition of opposition parties, for the 2025 presidential election. The leaders of all the six political parties, of the opposition, personally participated at the July 5 meeting in Yaounde. They included Hon Hermine Patricia Tomaino Ndam Njoya of CDU, Issa Tchiroma Bakary of FSNC, Dzipan Halaire Marcaire of MP, Prince Ekosso Michael Ngwesse of USDP, Celestin Bedzigui of PAL, and Hon Pierre Kwemo of UMS.

Almost all of the six opposition parties that participated in the first meeting, are parties that have a base, as five of them are represented in municipal councils. The five parties are Pierre Kwemo’s UMS, Celestin Bedzigui’s PAL, Issa Tchiroma Bakary’s FSNC, Hilaire Dzipan’s MP, and Patricia Tomaino Ndam Njoya’s UDC. Also, three of the six political parties are represented in the National Assembly. The parties include Patricia Ndam Njoya’s CDU that has 4 MPs, Issa Tchiroma Bakary’s FSNC that has 3 MPs, and Pierre Kwemo’s UMS that has 2 MPs.

Members Of Coalition To Select Consensual Candidate For Presidential Election

As aforementioned, the new opposition coalition is working towards the designation of a consensual candidate for the October 12 presidential election. Emphasis need to be placed on the fact that the members of the new opposition coalition, are talking about a consensual candidate of the coalition, and not about a single (‘unique’) opposition candidate, as some people erroneously seem to think. The CDU leader, Mrs Ndam Njoya, in her conception was realistic, considering that from all indications, the idea of a single (‘unique’) opposition candidate in Cameroon for now is a pipedream.

According to Hon Adamou Koupit, a very close collaborator of the CDU leader,  and who accompanied his party leader, Hon Patricia Tomaino Ndam Njoya,  to the July 5 meeting in Yaounde,  the newly created opposition coalition is open to all opposition parties that are interested to come onboard the platform. He explained that the presidential candidate of the coalition will be designated by members, or better still, by political parties that are members of the coalition.  One of the things that were accomplished by the July 5 meeting was that, the participants adopted the criteria that would be used to select or designate the candidate of the opposition coalition, for the 2025 presidential election.  Members of the new coalition also fixed a calendar of their meetings, with the possibility of modifications whenever the need arise, considering that the country is already in the election period.

 Declaration Of August 2, 2025 Meeting In Foumban

Meanwhile the second meeting of the new opposition coalition for the 2025 presidential election which took place in Foumban on August 2, 2025, and which was attended by a number of political leaders and candidates of the October 12, 2025 presidential election, at the end issued a declaration, which however did not say much about what they really discussed. The new opposition coalition in the declaration stated that the upcoming presidential election, that is, the October 12 presidential election, will not be just another election, for it will be a decisive moment for the survival of the country.

Considering the stakes involved for the country, the coalition declared unity in action, a new vision for Cameroon, as well as their determination to mobilize all Cameroonian youths, women, men, civil society, and the diaspora to rise or stand up as one, for change. “Aware of the people’s expressed will for change, we commit ourselves to the choice of a consensual candidate, around a common programme, and we invite the people to play the role of citizens by voting massively. A people that is united will always win”, the one page declaration concluded.

Presidential Candidates

Meanwhile, it would be recalled that on July 26, 2025, the Electoral Board of Elections Cameroon, ELECAM, validated a total of 13 candidacies for the October 12, 2025 presidential elections. 8 of the 13 candidacies that ELECAM validated are as of today, August 5, 2025, members of the new opposition coalition for a consensual candidate. They are: 1) ATEKI SETA CAXTON of PAL. 2) JACQUES HAGBE BOUGHA of MCNC. 3) HILAIRE MARCAIRE DZIPAN of MP. 4) ISSA TCHIROMA of FSNC. 5) KWEMO PIERRE of UMS. 6) SERGE ESPOIR MATOMBA of PURS.  7) AKERE TABENG MUNA of ‘Parti Univers’.  8) HERMINE PATRICIA TOMAINO NDAM NJOYA of CDU.

The New Coalition Was In The Pipeline Since Last Year

It should be noted, that the newly created opposition coalition, which is the initiative of the CDU leader and Mayor of Foumban, Hon Patricia Tomaino Ndam Njoya, a former member of the National Assembly, was in the pipeline since last year. In fact sometime last year, the CDU leader travelled to Douala and silently convened a closed door meeting with some opposition leaders, and proposed a political project to create an opposition coalition for the 2025 presidential election.  She however never talked to the media about her proposal to create an opposition coalition for the 2025 presidential election. It was rather the Douala based leader of MP, Hilaire Dzipan, who was one of those that was invited to the meeting, that later made the disclosure to the media. But since then, nothing was heard again about that initiative by Mayor Patricia Tomaino Ndam Njoya. However, Madam Ndam Njoya, and a number of persons, silently, working, on the political project.