Joe Dinga Pefok (Uncle Joe)
Whenever President Biya Appoints A CPDM Militant To A Post That Would Have Been Good For An Independent Personality, CPDM Elites Jump To Defend It, By Arguing That There Is No Independent Personality In Cameroon. That Is Definitely NOT True. But What Happened At The 2025 Presidential Election, Only Gives More Force To The CPDM Argument.
Independent personalities are members of the civil society. A member of the civil society normally does not belong to any political party. It does not mean that the person cannot talk politics, but rather that he or she does not have to take a partisan position. The person has to stay neutral while talking politics. Independent personalities have the civic rights to vote at elections, thus they have personal choices as regard candidates at elections. But the choice or candidate of an independent personality at an election remains with him or her. It is kept secret.
The Case Of Barrister Agbor Balla
In the last appointment of members of the Shadow Cabinet of the Social Democratic Front, SDF, that the Pioneer National Chairman of the party, Ni John Fru Ndi (now of blessed memory) made, Buea based Barrister Felix Agbor Nkongho popularly known as Agbor Balla, Director of the Center for Human Rights and Democracy, was appointed a minister in the Shadow Cabinet. But in a release , Agbor Balla turned down the appointment, saying that he wants to maintain his position as an independent personality and member of the civil society, and thus neutrality in politics, or non- involvement in partisan politics. The neutral position in politics also tied with activities he is carrying out for humanity and society, with his Center for Human Rights and Democracy
. The SDF leadership was embarrassed, because it looked as if they appointed Barrister Agbor Balla without consulting him. SDF sources however insisted that the party allegedly contacted Agbor Balla, and he gave his accord. To be precise, the contact was alleged to have made by then 1st Vice National Chairman of the party, Hon Joshua Osih, in consultation with the National Chairman of the party.
Whatever the case, The Mentor News appreciated the fact that Barrister Agbor Balla turned down the appointment. There are very few real independent personalities in Cameroon today, and as one of the few Anglophones that is well known in the country, we thought it was better for Agbor Balla to stay on as an independent personality or member of the civil society. More so, as the former leader of the defunct Anglophone Consortium, we also thought it was better for Agbor Balla to stay on as an independent personality, so as to continue to have the moral authority, to talk in the name of Anglophones of this country, as he was doing. For one thing, the CPDM regime plays this game whereby once somebody is identified with a political party or a political figure of the opposition, any criticism he makes against the CPDM party or government, is dismissed as coming from a ‘bias opposition’.
Agbor Balla Publicly Supported Issa Tchiroma’s Candidature
Meanwhile at the 2025 presidential election, The Mentor News was rather surprise that the same Barrister Agbor Balla flew to Garoua, the of the FSNC leader and presidential candidate, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, former member of the Biya regime, and publicly declared his support for the candidature for election, which held on Sunday October 12. And what immediately followed was a crash like a pack of cards under the flick of child’s finger, the image of an Independent personality and an Anglophone leader, that, Agbor Balla had painfully built over several years, and even spent months in detention at the Yaounde Central Prison commonly known as the Kondengui, for that.
Now, when an article written by Barrister Agbor Balla is posted in a forum on social media, some people write under the article provocative stuffs like “President – elect”, “President – elu”, “Tchiro”. That is, they attach him to Issa Tchiroma, or they consider him as a Tchiroma supporter.
Dr Fridolin Nke Supports Biya’s Candidature At Presidential Election
Barrister Agbor Balla, was not the only well –known face in public, among independent personalities or members of the civil society, that surprised the public at the 2025 presidential election, by publicly taking side with a candidate. A University don, Dr Dieudonne Nke, who was a s well – known for his acerbic criticism of the Biya regime in TV debate programmes, sent shock waves to his followers, when he declared support for the candidacy of incumbent 93 yearPaul Bya, at the 2025 presidential election.
If there was one member of the civil society from the Lekie Division in the Centre Region, whom political observers could easily swear would never support the CPDM regime led by Paul Biya, it was Dr Nke. Dr Nke often had problems with the security, over allegations that he often paraded against some CPDM elites like Prof Jean Fame Ndongo, the Minister of Higher Education.
And then, when Dr Fridolin Nke decided to openly support a candidate at the 2025 presidential election, he did it in the most confusing way, as if he was looking for the highest bidder. He first indicated that he was getting out of his way, to declare his support for the candidature of Issa Tchiroma Bakary at the October 12, 2025 presidential election. But then, a picture soon appeared on social media, showing Nke being received by the leader and presidential candidate of UNDP, Bello Bouba Maigari. At the end of the day, Dr Nke declared his support for 93 year incumbent, Paul Biya.
Dr David Eboutou Supports Biya At Presidential Election “On Certain Conditions”
The youthful Dr David Eboutou hails from Vina Division, in the South Region of Cameroon. He worked before at Vision 4 TV where along the line he had serious problems with the proprietor, and it ended up so badly. Suffice to say that David Eboutou later embark on further studies, during which he became an activist and critic. David Eboutou continued in the line after his wrapped up with his studies, and became a member of the civil society. He became popular as a critic especially of the CPDM regime, in his social media posts. He was at one time suspected of leaning towards Maurice Kamto and MRC, but he did not join the party, and insisted that he was an independent personality,
But close to the October 12, 2025 presidential election, Dr David Eboutou, took everybody by surprise when he announced that he and a number of guys had come together and created a platform, and had presented a list of demands focused mostly on reforms and development, as conditions to support President Biya ‘s candidature.
Suffice to say Dr David Eboutou and his group supported the candidature of the 93 year old incumbent, Paul Biya, at the October 12, 2025 presidential election. The so called conditions they gave to support Biya’s candidature looked more like a game. He had as an activist repeatedly said that there was no way that change could ever come through the Biya regime that has been in power, since 1982, that is, before he was born. David Eboutou had always cried scandal that since he was born, he has known or seen only one person as President of Cameroon.
Endless Explanation
It should be noted since after the October 12, 2025 presidential election, the youthful Dr David Eboutou has been spending quite a lot of time trying to explain or justify why he and his group decided to support the candidature of President Biya, at the election. But no seems to be convinced. During the popular weekly programme, Canal Presse, over Canal 2 International on Sunday, March 29, 2026, David Eboutou, spent the time trying to again explain or justify the reason why he and his group decided to support the incumbent, 93 year old Paul Biya, at the 2025 presidential election, instead of focusing on the topics of discussion for the day. Some members of the panel discussion repeatedly gave him japs for the position he took a the 2025 presidential election, as he continued to insist that he remains a member of the civil society, and still sees himself as an independent personality.
The Case Of Dr Aritide Mono
Another surprise at the 2025 presidential election came from another son of the Lekie Division of the Centre Region, Dr Aristide Mono, a well- known critic of the Biya regime, and an activist. The Yaounde based Dr Aristide Mono had often been accused by CPDM militants of being MRC, but he had always strongly rejected the accusation, insisting that he was of the civil society, and was in fact an independent personality.
But during the official campaign for the October 12, 2025 presidential election in Cameroon, people were surprise to see Dr Aristide Mono lead a big group of youths, dressed in yellow tee shirts, that travelled in hired busses to a number of towns like Douala, to support the campaign of Issa Tchiroma Bakary, the leader and presidential candidate of FSNC.
No Independent Personality!
It should be noted that among all those well-known or popular ‘independent personalities’ that supported certain candidates at the 2025 presidential election, Dr David Eboutou is the youngest, and still has much of his future ahead of him. That is why he looks so worried. But the problem is that David Eboutou wants to eat his cake and have it. You cannot take a partisan stand in an election, and still claim to be neutral.
Meanwhile, whenever President Biya appoints a CPDM militant, or a member of his regime, to a post that is good for an independent personality or a member of the civil society, and the opposition tries to criticize the appointment, the CPDM elites and the party’s communication officers, would jump to defend it, with the claim or argument that there is no independent personality in Cameroon. That s however not true, as there are real independent personalities in Cameroon, even though they are quite few. But what people like Barrister Agbor Balla, Dr Fridolin Nke, Dr Aristide Mono, and Dr David Eboutou did at the 2025 presidential election, only help to give more material to the CPDM elites and communication officers, to use in their argument that there is no independent personality in Cameroon.
