2025 Presidential Election: Opposition Continues To Reduce Its Chances As Nkou Mvondo Leaves ATP To Create Another Alliance With Akere Muna

 The Cameroon opposition continues to excel in the politics of disunity, ego, selfish interest, division, arrogance and blame game, to the advantage of the ruling CPDM and its natural candidate.

At a time that Cameroonians that are really concerned with the State of the country, have been calling on opposition parties and movements to close ranks and form a bloc for the crucial 2025 presidential election, opposition leaders have instead continued on the path of EGO, DIVISION, ARROGANCE, SELFISH INTEREST, DISUNITY and BLAME GAME that they excel in.  But all these things only help to weaken the opposition and reduce the chances of an opposition victory at the 2025 presidential election. Of course the beneficiary of the persistent disunity in the opposition rank, is the ruling CPDM and its natural candidate.

Political Alliance For Change

At the beginning of this year, two opposition alliances for the 2025 presidential election saw the light of day. One was the Political Alliance for Change (Alliance Politique pour le Changement) whose Interim National Coordinator is Hon Jean Michel Nintcheu of FCC.  There has been some controversy about this alliance, because it was not created to rally other opposition parties to form a bloc and designate a candidate for the 2025 presidential election. Rather, the alliance commonly known as AP, was created to support the candidature of the presidential candidate of MRC, Prof Maurice Kamto, who is also the National President of the party, for the 2025 presidential election.

Anywhere there is nothing really wrong in creating a coalition of political parties to support a candidate. Just that in Cameroon, it frustrates the idea for the opposition to form a bloc, because other major opposition parties in the country would not like the idea of getting into any alliance or coalition, that already have a presidential candidate and a programme.

 Alliance For Peaceful Transition 

Meanwhile, the other political alliance that also emerged in the country in January 2024, that is,  the Alliance for a Political Transition (‘L’Alliance pour une Transition Politique’, ATP), now known as Alliance for a Peaceful Transition, was more appreciated by Cameroonians, because  the alliance talked of a transitional government.

The alliance was presented as a political platform to bring together opposition parties and movements, as well as civil society organizations, to work on a programme, adopt it, and designate a candidate for the 2025 presidential election. If the candidate wins the election, he will create a government of transition, to work on the programme adopted by the alliance. The transitional government will be in power for a fixed period of time, during which important reforms like a good Electoral Code that will be able to guarantee a free, fair and transparent election will be done. At the end, a democratic presidential election will be organized with the President of Transition not being a candidate. After the election of a new President of the Republic, the President of the Transition will hand over power, and return to his home. This opposition platform commonly known as ATP is the initiative of Prof Olivier Bile, the National President of ‘Les Liberateurs’ (former UFP).

Union For Parliamentary Majority

But while concerned Cameroonians were calling on the two opposition coalitions, APC and ATP, to try to see how to close ranks to form  one opposition bloc, another opposition coalition known as Union for Parliamentary Majority was launched in Yaounde by Samuel Bilong,  the National President of ‘Reformateurs’. Bilong argued that the alliance was necessary because according to him, the other opposition alliances were only interested in the presidential election, whereas the parliamentary election which is also very important, was supposed to hold before the presidential election. He further argued that if the opposition could mobilize and win majority seats in the National Assembly, they would start bringing change, even before the presidential election.

The Government’s postponement of the legislative election that was supposed to hold in February 2025, to February 2026, crippled Bilong’s Union for Parliamentary Majority. It should however be noted that  Bilong was not being honest to say that the other two opposition alliances were not interested in parliamentary election, because the ATP of Olivier Bile had stated that the alliance was  also to work together in the parliamentary election.

Nkou Mvondo Leaves ATP TO Create Another Alliance  

Concerned Cameroonians who have continued to call on ATP and APC to try to close ranks and form a bloc, were instead taken aback on Saturday, September 28, 2024, with  the emergence of yet another opposition alliance for the 2025 presidential election. The alliance, which apparently has no name as yet, is led by Prof Nkou Mvondo Prosper and his Parti UNIVERS.  The alliance which came public on September 28 as aforementioned, also announced that it has designated Barrister Akere Muna, Leader of the NOW Movement, as its presidential candidate.

What is troubling about this new opposition coalition is that Nkou Mvondo, or his Parti UNIVERS, was one of the frontline members of the Alliance for a Peaceful Transition in Cameroon led by Prof Oliver Bile. Nkou Mvondo (a frontline member of Eto’o’s FECAFOOT), in fact appeared on TV a  number of times and talked of how the Alliance for Peaceful Change  was the best thing that has happened in Cameroon. He talked of how the alliance was going to transform Cameroon into Paradise on earth, when they win the 2025 presidential election. Now he has left ATP and created his own alliance with Akere Muna as presidential candidate. There is no doubt that the two men struck a deal. It should be noted that Muna too was at one time a civil society member of the Alliance for a Peaceful Transition.