Joe Dinga Pefok (Uncle Joe)
At The 2025 Presidential Election, We Saw Some ‘Independent Personalities’, Campaign For Some Presidential Candidates. In Cameroon Today, We See Some Personalities, Like Dr HILAIRE KAMGA, And EDITH KAH WALLA, Pass, As Leaders Of The Civil Society, And Political Parties, At the Same Time. However, There Are Still A Few Real Independent Personalities In The Country.
In Cameroon, it is increasingly becoming difficult to say who is a real independent personality or a genuine member of the civil society. Somebody is considered or seen as an independent personality or member of the civil society today, and the next day the person is seen in partisan politics. There is however no problem with somebody deciding to leave the civil society for a political party. An individual has a righty to make a choice of where to belong, or to change where he belongs.
There is for example the case of Prof Eric Mathias Owona Nguini, initially a well –known independent personality and a prominent member of the civil society, but who later decided to join the ruling CPDM. The good thing with Owona Nguini is that since he joined the CPDM, he has never claimed, or pretends, that he is still an independent personality or member of the civil society. This is unlike some other personalities, who start off as independent personalities or members of the civil society, but along the line they dabble into partisan politics, but still claim to be independent personalities or members of the civil society.
In Cameroon today, there are several members of the civil society, who at the same time are actually militants or supporters of political parties, but who swear they are not. In Cameroon today, there are cases of personalities who are civil society leaders and leaders of political parties at the same time. It is only in Cameroon, where one can see such a situation.
CPDM’s Claim That There Is No Real Independent Personality In Cameroon
The situation in Cameroon plays to the advantage of the CPDM or Biya regime. When the regime maliciously wants to discredit a civil society group for one reason or the other, it dishonestly accuses the group of supporting the opposition, or of even being an opposition political party in disguise. When President Biya appoints a CPDM militant or supporter to a post that is good for an independent personality, CPDM elites and communication officers would jump to defend the appointment, by questioning whether there is an independent in Cameroon. To them, there is no real independent personality in Cameroon. That certainly is not true.
But when we increasingly find situations where some individuals that were considered as independent personalities, suddenly swing to publicly campaign for some candidates at elections, as was seen in the 2025 presidential election, it only gives CPDM elites and communication officers, materials to use in their argument that there is no real independent personality or genuine member of the civil society, in Cameroon.
Civil Society Leaders / Political Party Leaders, At The same Time – The Case Of Hilaire Kamga and Edith Kah Walla
Yaounde based Dr Hilaire Kamga is a prominent civil society leader in Cameroon. His civil society organization focuses much on issues like human rights and governance. But along the line, Kamga’s civil society group and some others, created and registered a political party known as ‘Offre Orange’, with him as leader. They tried to claim that the political party was like the political arm of the struggle they have been carrying out as a civil society organization. It is in fact difficult to understand them. But the fact of the matter is that Dr Hilaire Kamga is both the leader of civil society organization, and at the same time the leader of a political association. Worth recalling, that Hilaire Kamga was a candidate at the last legislative elections in the country which took place on February 9, 2020. He headed the list of ‘Offre Orange’ in his native Koung – Khi Division in the West Region.
Edith Kah Walla is indisputably one of the most formidable female civil society leaders that Cameroon has, as well as had ever had. From the view of many observers, the real place of Kah Walla is in the civil society. But along the line, Kah Walla also ventured into politics, first into the Social Democratic Front (SDF). After sometimes, Kah Walla left the SDF, went and took over the Cameroon People’s Party, CPP, in 2011. In that same 2011, Kah Walla was a candidate in the presidential election. Today, Kah Walla is the National Coordinator of a powerful civil society group known as Stand Up For Cameroon, and at the same time she is the National President of the CPP.
In fact, it is only in Cameroon, where we can see this type of cacophony. But the fact is that such a situation only helps the CPDM regime in its claim or allegation that civil society groups in the country are opposition parties in disguise, though that is not true.
There Are A Few Real Independent Personality
Meanwhile, despite what CPDM elites and communication officers are saying, there are a number of real or genuine independent personalities, at least for now, in the country, though in reality they are quite few. Examples of some of the few female independent personalities in the country today are Prof VIVIANE MADELEINE ONDOUA BIWOLE, university don and National Coordinator of PSRDREN, and ESTHER OMAM, Executive Director of Reachout Cameroon. As for the examples of the few male independent personalities in the country, we have the International Peace Crusader, Sir Dr Barrister Nico Halle, Prof LOUISOM ESSOMBA (a university don and civil society actor), Dr NAMANGA NGONGI (retired former Senior Official of the United Nations and expert in conflict resolution), PHILIPPE NANGA (Coordinator of ‘Un Monde Avevir’), Prof WILLIBROAD DZE – NGWA (Founding President of Heritage Higher Institute of Peace and Development Studies), Prof HENRY NAMME LUMA (Director General of Douala General Hospital), Prof VICTOR MBARIKA (Founder of ICT University), Prof Barrister CLAUDE ASSIRA, and a few others.
