Joe Dinga Pefok (Uncle Joe)
But DONGMO And His Team Have A Very Difficult Task Ahead. Already, The Presumed Former President Of MANIDEM, DIEUDONNE YEBGA, Has Declared That The Designation Of DONGMO As President Of MANIDEM Is Illegal. YEGBGA Claims He Is Legal President Of MANIDEM, And Has Announced The Holding Of The Party’s Congress Before The End Of This Year.
The former Vice President of the MANIDEM Party, Valentin Dongmo, has been designated as the new President of the party, to fill the vacant post that was left with the passing away of Anicet Georges Ekane, the President of the party.
It would be recalled that Anicet Ekane who was also a Co – Coordinator of the political platform, Union For Change, that supported the candidature of Issa Tchiroma Bakary, FSNC National President and party’s presidential candidate, at the October 12, 2025 presidential election, was arrested in Douala on October 24, 2025 by the Gendarmerie, and whisked off to the nation’s capital, Yaounde, for detention. Ekane unfortunately died in Gendarmerie custody on December 1, 2025, and was buried in his native Bomono –Gare, Bonaguem Village, Dibombari Sub- division in Mungo Division of Littoral Region, on May 9, 2026.
Designation Of New Executive Bureau
Meanwhile, the information that Valentin Dongmo, who was the Vice President of MANIDEM, has been designated as the new President of the party, was disclosed at a press briefing that the party organized at its headquarter in the nation’s economic capital, Douala, on July 30, 2026. It was made known at the press briefing that the designation of Valentin Dongmo as the new President of MANIDEM, was done at meeting of the ‘Comite de Direction’ (Committee of the Directorate ) of the party, which held on June 13, 2026. In fact the committee did not only designate a new President of MANIDEM, as it designated members of a new Executive Bureau of the party, also making an innovation with the party now to have two Vice Presidents.
The new National Executive Bureau stands as follows:
National President – Valentin Dongmo
Vice President – Mbappe Tato
Vice President – Evariste Diabe
National Secretary for Organization – Justin Noel Zambo Nkoto
National Secretary in charge of Training and Culture – Jean –Baptiste Ketchateng
National Secretary for Communication – Bedimo Kouo
National Secretary in charge of Finance – Titcho Florence Aimee
National Secretary in charge of External Relations – Marianne Simonne Ekane
Members – Louis Rudolph Bamou, Yves Dzouali, Charles Ngah Nforgang, and Clement Jou.
Liberation Of All ‘Political Prisoners’
Meanwhile, speaking at the July 30 press briefing in Douala, the new President of MANIDEM, Valentin Dongmo, outlined the party’s immediate plan of action which among other things include the fight for the liberation of all ‘political prisoners’ who were arrested during the post – election crisis, that rocked some towns in the country like Douala, Garoua, and Dschang among others. Dongmo said MANIDEM will fight to see that the controversial cases going on at some military Tribunals against the arrested persons, are stopped, and the detainees released unconditionally.
Dieudonne Yebga Rejects New Executive Bureau Of MANIDEM.
But there are already indications that the task ahead for the new President of MANIDEM, Dieudonne Yebga, and his team, will be quite difficult. Already, there is a challenge to the designation of Dongmo as the new President of MANIDEM, by the presumed former President of the party, Dieudonne Yebga. It would be recalled that Yebga was so much in the news at the 2025 presidential election, when he was reportedly ‘used’ by the regime, to cause the rejection of the candidacy of the frontline opposition leader, Prof Maurice Kamto (National President of MRC), who wanted to run in the election on the ticket of MANIDEM.
In a reaction to the designation of a new Executive Bureau of MANIDEM with Valentin Dongmo as President, as was announced at the July 30, 2026 press briefing in Douala, Dieudonne Yebga has rejected the designation as illegal. He argues that first of all, there is no provision in the Constitution of MANIDEM that authorizes the ‘Comite de Direction’ (Committee of the Directorate) of MANIDEM, to designate an Executive Bureau of the party. He insists that the President of MANIDEM is in line with the Constitution of the party, elected by the party’s congress, and not designated.
The presumed former National President of MANIDEM, Dieudonne Yebga, also claims that he is the legitimate and legal President of the party. To substantiate the claim, Yebga has disclosed that documents in MANIDEM’s file at the Ministry of Territorial Administration, clearly shows that he is the legal President of the party. He has further disclosed that he will in his capacity as the legal President of MANIDEM, convenes the party’s congress to hold before the end of this year.
