The History Of YANGO Parties In Cameroon: The First Deal To Hire A YANGO Party Was Struck At The 2011 Presidential Election By A Female Presidential Aspirant

YANGO Parties Have Also Been Hired By CPDM Militants For Municipal Elections in Yabassi, Nkam Division (2013) and Banka, Upper Nkam Division (2020)

 The 2025 Presidential Election To Hold On October 12, Has Registered The Highest Number of YANGO Parties’ Participation In A Presidential Election   

After the rebirth of multiparty politics in Cameroon in the years 1990 -91, the first multiparty legislative and municipal elections took place on March 1, 1992, followed by the first multiparty presidential election in October 1992. Then, followed, the 1996 municipal elections, the 1997 legislative and presidential elections, the 2002 legislative and municipal elections, the 2004 presidential election, and then the 2007 legislative elections. The candidates in all these elections were real militants of the different parties that participated in the elections.

2011 Presidential Election

It was at the 2011 presidential election that started in the Cameroon political scene, the phenomenon of somebody that has not been a militant of a certain political party, suddenly becomes a militant and the party’s candidate for election at election period, and then leave the party after the election. Interestingly enough, it was a woman who started it. Her name, Esther Dang, the former General Manager of the National Investment Company commonly known in the country by the French abbreviation, SNI. The lady initially wanted to run as an independent candidate, but realized that it would be difficult for her to meet up with the requirement of getting 300 signatures of personalities, who were almost all of the CPDM.

Madam Esther Dang then struck a deal with the National President of the BRIC Party, Ernest Pekoubo, to run on the party’s ticket at the 2011 presidential election. But the real terms of the deal, that, was struck between the two, especially the monetary aspect, was never made known by the National President of BRIC, even to his close collaborators. So BRIC, which is more of what is mockingly referred to as a one man party, was the first Yango Party in Cameroon.

Conflict Over Money   

Meanwhile according to the official result of the 2011 presidential election, Esther Dang emerged the 11^th out of 23 candidates that took part in the election.  When the result of the presidential election was officially published, it was over between Esther Dang and BRIC, as she went her way, considering the deal with BRIC to be over. But a scandal erupted over money. The few collaborators of the National President of the small party (BRIC), had been expecting to get their own share in the deal that their leader struck with Madam Esther Ndang. Apparently the party leader had told them that their own share will come from the campaign funds, that, the State would allocate to each of the presidential candidate.

But the National President seemingly kept playing games, until the election took place without his collaborators having received the money. And then before they realized, Madam Esther Dang was gone.    The collaborators got furious and started running their mouths against Madam Esther Dang and their National President of BRIC, Ernest Pekoubo, who was defending the lady.  More so, the men said they were those that went to the field for campaigns, and that the candidate, Madam Dang, never went down to the field. When the issue became a public scandal, the leader of BRIC, Ernest Pekoubo, told the media that it was true that some people in the party were trying to raise dusts over campaign funds, but that they were wrong. The fact of the matter as observers, saw it, was that the BRIC leader chopped alone.

2013 Municipal Elections  

At the 2013 municipal elections in the country, there was a serious internal problem in the ruling CPDM Party in Yabassi, Nkam Division of the Littoral Region.  Some CPDM external elites from Yaounde, tried to impose a CPDM list for the municipal elections in Yabassi, ignoring the concerns of the grass root leaders and militants. One of the elites that stood firmly in support of the concerns of grass roots leaders and militants was,   Maboula Mboya Jacques. Suffice to say when the group of elites that had prepared the CPDM list, insisted on imposing the list intact, Maboula secretly discussed with many of the grass root leaders in the Yabassi CPDM, and they agreed to put up their list and run for the municipal election, on the platform of another party.

The CPDM elite, Maboula Mboya Jacques, contacted Prof Olivier Bile, the leader of the then UFP Party, today known as, ‘Les Liberateurs’.  By then, the UFP was not known in Yabassi or the entire Nkam Division. A deal was struck between Mabouya and Bile, for the indignant CPDM militants in Yabassi to put up a list and run for the municipal elections on the platform of UFP. Maboula himself decided to head the list, which interestingly went on to beat the CPDM list at the municipal elections. And that was how UFP, or a Yango Party that did not exist anywhere in Nkam Division, before, suddenly appeared and took over the Yabassi Council from the CPDM.

Deputy Mayors, Councilors And Others, Abandon UFP And Return Home (CPDM)

Another interesting thing that happened later was that before the next municipal elections in the country which was in February 2020, the CPDM elites of Nkam Division, that created the problem in 2013, humbly approached the CPDM militants that angrily left the party for UFP in 2013, for reconciliation. The reconciliation effectively took place, and the militants, including the councilors and Deputy Mayors of Yabassi, all abandoned the UFP and returned to the CPDM. Only the Mayor, Maboula Mboya Jacques, refused to return to the CPDM. But then he could not remain alone in UPP. He left and later created his own party.

It should be noted that the UFP of Olivier Bile, which ran the Yabassi Municipal Council from 2013 to 2020 with CPDM militants as Mayor, Deputy Mayors and councilors, was unable to put up a list at the 2020 municipal elections in Yabassi, because the irate CPDM militants that hired the UFP for use at the 2013 municipal election, had abandoned it and returned to their real party. This is one of major problems that Yango Parties face. The persons that hire Yango Parties are not real militants of the parties, and so leave the parties after they finish using them.

2018 Presidential Election – Two Yango Parties

There were two candidates of Yango Parties at the October 7, 2018 presidential election, among the total of nine candidacies were validated by the Electoral Board of Elections Cameroon, and the Constitutional Council. Coincidentally, all the two candidates of Yango Parties were Anglophones.  There was FPD, on whose ticket Barrister Akere Muna went in for the presidential election. Three days to the October 7 election, Akere Muna announced his withdrawal from the election, and declared support for Maurice Kamto. After the election, it was over between Akere Muna and the Yango Party, FPD.

The other Yango Party was MCNC of Monthe Nkouobit Jean, a former SDF MP, who hails from Banka in the Upper Nkam Division of the West Region. MCNC had a few councilors in the Upper NKam Division.  By the time of the 2018 presidential election, the man –of God, Prophet Frank of Kingship International Ministries Bonaberi, Douala, whose names were Ndifor Afanwi Franklin, had just registered his political party, NPPC. But he could not use the party for the 2018 presidential election, since his party was new, and thus was not represented in parliament or in the municipal council. The party thus could not give investiture to a presidential candidate. Suffice to say Prophet Frank met the National President of MCNC, Monthe Nkouobit Jean, and they struck a deal, and Prophet Frank was given investiture as the candidate of MCNC at the October 7, 2018 presidential election. After the election, Prophet Frank returned to his newly legalized party, NPPC, as the deal with MCNC was over. Prophet Frank unfortunately died in 2020, from COVID -19.

2020 Municipal Elections

Meanwhile, the same scenario that happened in the Yabassi CPDM, at the 2013 municipal elections, also happened in the Banka CPDM at the next municipal elections which came up in early 2020, after it was postponed twice by President Biya.   Banka Municipality is near Bafang, in the Upper Nkam Division of the West Region.

It happened that CPDM external elites imposed the party’s list for the municipal elections in Banka, ignoring the concerns of the party’s youths in the locality, who were actually those that were doing the work for the party in the field, or at the grass root. The youths were bitter, and vowed that unlike in the past, they would not accept the imposed list. But the external CPDM elites on their part insisted that there could be no modifications in the list they had adopted. They probably did not imagine that what happened in Yabassi at the 2013 municipal elections, could happen in Banka.

But then what happened was that the a Douala based business man and CPDM elite from Banka Sub –division, Joseph Clovis Nguessieuk, who supported the position of the party’s youths in Banka, after discussing with  some of the youth leaders, took them along  to meet  the National President  of MCNC Party, Monthe Nkouobit Jean, who also hails from Banka. After a discussion, a deal was struck, and the disgruntled CPDM youths put up a list for the municipal election in Banka, to run on the platform of MCNC. The list was headed by the Douala based businessman, Joseph Clovis Nguessieuk. And just like happened in Yabassi at the 2013 municipal elections, the angry CPDM militants that put up an MCNC list in Banka for the February 9, 2020 Municipal Elections beat the list that a group of CPDM external elites imposed, at the election, and thus won the municipal election. The MCNC (Yango Party) thus took over the Banka Council from the CPDM, though in reality MCNC was only in name.  And also just like happened in Yabassi after ‘CPDM beat CPDM’ at the 2013 municipal election where Mabouya Mboya Jacques became Mayor, Joseph Clovis Nguessieuk also became Mayor of Banka after ‘CPDM beat CPDM’ at the 2020 municipal elections.

2025 Presidential Election

With one Yango Party at the 2011 presidential election, two Yango Parties at the 2018 presidential election, the number of Yango Parties to participate at the 2025 presidential election which will hold on October 12, has doubled to four. This is an indication that a steadily increasing number of presidential aspirants, are going in for Yango Parties. These presidential aspirants are either persons that are not militants of any political party, or are persons who are militants of parties that are not represented either in parliament or in the municipal council, and so do not meet up with the condition laid down in the Electoral Code, to give investiture to a candidate for the 2025 presidential election.  The condition is that for a party to qualify to give investiture to a candidate for the presidential election, it must either be represented in parliament (National Assembly or Senate), or in a municipal council.

The four Yango Parties that have candidates at the 2025 presidential election to hold on October 12, are the following: 1) Nkou Mvondo Prosper’s ‘Parti Univers’, whose presidential candidate is Muna  Akere Tabeng.  2). Denis Emilien Atangana’s FDC, whose presidential candidate is Iyodi Hiram Samuel. 3) Celestin Bedzigui’s PAL, whose presidential candidate, is Ateki Seta Caxton. 4) Monthe Nkouobit Jean’s MCNC Party, whose presidential candidate, is Bougha Hagbe Jacques.  It should  be noted that the President of PAL, Celestin Bedzigui, initially declared his candidacy for the 2025 presidential election, but ended up giving the investiture of his party, to Ateki Seta Caxton.

There Were Even Supposed To Be More

There were even supposed to be more than four Yango Parties at the 2025 presidential election. It would be recalled for example, that the National President of MRC, Prof Maurice Kamto, whose party is neither represented in parliament or in the municipal council since it boycotted the last legislative and municipal elections in 2020, temporary resigned from his party in late June 2025, and moved to MANIDEM, a Yango Party, in bid to get investiture from the party, for the 2025 presidential election. He was given the investiture by the supposed National President of MANIDEM, Ekane Anicet. But unfortunately, Kamto’s candidacy was rejected by the Electoral Board of Elections Cameroon, as well as by the Constitutional Council, over what was termed, multiplicity of investiture from MANIDEM Party.

It was the same thing with the legalized faction of the UPC, which joined the list of Yango Parties. The legalized faction of UPC gave investiture to the businessman and political activist- turned- politician, Abdouraman Hamadou Babba, to be the party’s candidate at the October 12, 2025 presidential election. It should be that Abdouraman announced his candidacy for the 2025 presidential election as late as in early July 2025. He said he would run as an independent candidate. But then definitely knowing that he would not be able to meet up with the conditions partly due to time constraint, Abdouraman quietly contacted the President of the legalized faction of the UPC, and struck a deal. He got the investiture to be UPC candidate at the October 12 presidential election, but then his candidacy was rejected by both ELECAM and the Constitutional Council, for “multiplicity of investiture from UPC”.

MCNC Holds Record Among Yango Parties

Meanwhile as can be seen, the MCNC Party of Monthe Nkouobit Jean of Banka, Upper Nkam Division in the West Region, tops the ranking of Yango Parties in Cameroon. MCNC was a Yango Party at the 2018 presidential election. MCNC was a Yango Party at the 2020 municipal elections. MCNC is a Yango Party at the 2025 presidential election to hold on October 12. Hmmmmmmm!