Only One Person Has Left The SDF, Created His Own Party, And Succeeded At Elections

Only One Person Has Left The SDF, Created His Own Party, And Succeeded At Elections

A lesson of caution to Nintcheu and other members of G 27+

Hon Fopoussi Evariste once disclosed how he was embarrassingly treated as a nobody in his native Bandjoun politics, when he left SDF before

It is a different thing for a militant of a big party to be a candidate in an election, and for the same person to create his own party and be a candidate at the same election. Many people will definitely agree that a large majority of people that have become MPs and councilors (including mayors) in this country, since the rebirth of multi- party politics in 1990s, did not win the elections on their individual merits. In fact there are very few cases where a party has won an election in a locality in this country, based on the force or capacity of the candidate.
Most Cameroonians vote for their political parties or for the leaders of the political parties, and not for candidates. There are many militants of the CPDM, SDF, CDU, UNDP and so on, who go to polling stations on election days, and cast their votes for the lists of their different parties, without even knowing the candidates on the lists. They think that as militants of those parties, they have the duty to vote for the lists of their different parties. There are also many people who vote at elections basing their decision on the party leader, instead of the candidates. That is why for example, CPDM campaign teams go out for legislative and municipal elections campaigns, and talk more of President Biya, the party leader and Head of State, than the candidates on the party’s lists in those constituencies.

It Is Easy For A Militant To Win An Election In Party’s Fief

There is also the aspect of the fiefs of political parties. Candidates that run for municipal or legislative elections, in the strongholds or fiefs of their different parties, know that they stand a big chance of winning the elections. Most of the fiefs are based on tribalism or regional considerations. In Cameroon’s economic capital, Douala, for example, tribalism plays so much in elections. So when somebody looks at the composition of the populations of the five municipalities, the person can easily know the parties that can perform well at elections in each of the different municipalities.
In Douala III and V (Wouri East Constituency) for example, where the Bamileke community dominates in terms of population, parties close to the Bami tribe perform well in elections. In Douala IV (Bonaberi), with a very large Anglophone community, any party that is close to Anglophones stands the chance of performing well in elections.
Talking about the fiefs of major political parties, any candidate for example that goes in for the legislative or municipal elections on the ticket of the CDU in Noun Division, is likely to win, even if the local population do not know him or her. It is the same thing for candidates who run for legislative or municipal elections on the ticket of the CPDM in the Centre, South and East Regions. Some even start celebration, before the day of the election, because they are sure to win. For many years, anybody who had to run for elections on the ticket of the SDF in most parts of the Northwest Region had an easy ride to victory. Worth noting, that in reality there is no real political ideology in Cameroon politics. It is the same thing in other African countries.

MPs, Mayors And Political Big Wigs That Create Their Own Parties

In such a situation, things become different when an MP or a mayor for example, leaves the political party on whose ticket the person became an MP or a mayor, and creates his own party. It is the same thing when a bigwig in a big political party, leaves the party and creates his own. In most cases, things don’t work out well. This is when they come to terms with the fact they did not become MPs, mayors or political bigwigs because of their individual capacities, but rather that it was their former parties that made them to be mayors, MPs or political big wigs.
That is why there are many cases of former SDF MPs and mayors, as well as the party’s bigwigs like members of the National Executive Committee, NEC, who over the years left the party for one reason or the other, and created their own parties, but have never succeeded to win an election. Even besides elections, most of them have never even succeeded to firmly implant their party in any locality, where the parties can be considered as parties to reckon with in those localities. Most of them are people that were light weights or nonentities in politics before they joined the SDF, and the party made then to become big, and they forget where they came from.

Pierre Kwemo – The Only Big Boy So Far

In fact since the SDF was created in 1990, only one person is known to have left the party, created his own party and be able to win an election. He is Hon Pierre Kwemo, a businessman from Bafang , Upper Nkam Division in the West Region. Kwemo was at one time the 1st Vice National Chairman of the SDF. He was also an SDF MP. When Kwemo was in the SDF, the party won the legislative elections in his Upper Nkam Constituency, as well as won the Bafang and Kekem Councils.
After leaving the SDF, Pierre Kwemo demonstrated political maturity. He did not spend his time talking about the party or attacking the party and its leadership as Jean Michel Nintcheu is doing. Kwemo was quiet. He was out of politics for a while, and then went on to create his own party, UMS. He is also the Founder of the First Division football club, UMS Loum.

2013 Legislative And Municipal Elections

The first participation of the UMS Party in elections was the 2013 Legislative and Municipal Elections. Kwemo headed the UMS list for legislative elections in Upper Nkam Constituency, which has 3 parliamentary seats. Other parties that ran in 2013 legislative Elections in the Upper Nkam Constituency included the SDF, CPDM, UFDS and MCRN. The UMS list headed by Kwemo won the legislative election by simple majority, and thus took 2 seats while the CPDM that came second had 1 seat. The SDF and the others had zero seats.
As for the 2013 Municipal Elections, the UMS list for the Bafang Council was also headed by Pierre Kwemo. The CPDM, SDF, UNDP and MRC also put up lists for the Bafang Council. Again, the UMS list headed by Kwemo won the municipal elections for the Bafang Council. UMS also won the Kekem Council. Kwemo opted to be Mayor of Bafang than to be an MP. His alternate candidate in the legislative election was thus fortunate to become an MP.
At the 2020 Legislative and Municipal Elections, Pierre Kwemo and his UMS did the same thing like in 2013. The UMS list that he headed won the legislative election in the Upper Nkam Constituency by simple majority, and thus again took two parliamentary seats, while the CPDM that again came second had one seat. At the 2020 Municipal Elections for the Bafang, Kwemo again headed the UMS list, which again won the elections. This time around however Kwemo opted to go to the National Assembly, and thus left post of Mayor of Bafang to another militant of UMS.
Hon Kwemo has by his action and not by making noise, proven that he was a big asset and not a liability in the SDF. He has proven that it was thanks to him that the SDF before won the Legislative Elections in Upper Nkam, as well as won the Bafang and Kekem Council. Kwemo has proven by action and not words, that he is a real big boy in politics. There is the adage that action speaks louder than words.

The Case Of Former SDF MP, Jean Nkouobite Monthe

Meanwhile, in Pierre Kwemo’s Upper Nkam Division, is Hon Jean Nkouobite Monthe, another former SDF MP who left the party and created his own party, MCNC. Like Kewmo’s UMS, Monthe’s MCNC participated in elections for the first time in 2013. Monthe headed the MCNC list for the legislative election in Upper Nkam Constituency, and lose. He also headed the MCNC list for the municipal election in his native Banka Municipality, and loose.
As for the 2020 Legislative And Municipal Elections, a group of disgruntled CPDM militants in Banka, headed by a businessman, negotiated with Monthe to use his party, MCNC, for the February 9, 2020 Municipal Election. Monthe was seemingly so discouraged with the results of the 2013 Legislative and Municipal Elections, that he personally was not a candidate in the 2020 Legislative and Municipal Elections.

A Lesson To G 27+ Members

The former SDF MP, Jean Nkouobite Monthe, should have come to grip with the reality that, he did not become a member of the National Assembly in the past because of his capacity, but rather because he was a member of the SDF and ran for the legislative elections on the ticket of the SDF. That is the crude reality. And this should be a lesson to members of the so called G 27+, that were dismissed from the SDF last February 25, and who thought that they had become too big.
Even adopting G 27 + as the name of their group, clearly shows how they considered themselves to be so big. They had become so full of themselves. They thought they had become indispensable. They even forgot that the posts they occupied in the SDF were occupied by other people before them. And so would other people occupy those posts after them. Before joining SDF, most of them were little or nothing in politics in their different localities. Now that they are no longer members of the SDF, most of them will face the crude reality that nobody would consider them as anything in local politics in their different areas.

Former MP And National Communication Secretary

Let the other members of G 27+ asked one of theirs, Hon Popoussi Fotso Evariste. The former SDF MP as well as former National Secretary for Communication of the SDF, left the party at one time, and said never again. But Fopoussi said it himself that after leaving the SDF, he came to realize that he was no longer considered as a political elite in his native Bandjoun by the local population, the administration, and political parties. At local meetings, nobody respected him again. The former MP and former SDF NEC member became uncomfortable and embarrassed with the situation that he decided to go and apologized to the SDF leadership and return to the party. Unfortunately Fopoussi later joined the group of dissidents who called themselves G 27+, apparently hoping that they could hijack the SDF. But then they were dismissed from the SDF by NEC on February 25, 2023.
So the advice to somebody like Hon Jean Michel Nintcheu, who has revived his political party after being dismissed from the SDF, as well as other members of G 27+ that will follow Nintcheu to his FCC, is that they will have to work very hard to be able to succeed, especially in elections. They should not for example think that because they became MPs, senators or mayors when they were in the SDF, it will be easy to win elections in their new party.