Vice National Chairman Of SDF, LOUIS MARIE KAKDEU, Says The Idea That A Single Opposition Candidate Is An Assured Victory At Presidential Election, Is A Mirage

Bluntly asserts that one of the reasons that the opposition has not been winning presidential elections, is that opposition parties are implanted only in some parts of the country

 Says as a result, opposition parties are unable to have polling agents in most areas in Grand North during presidential elections, leaving the CPDM and its allies to easily falsify PVs

 Insist that what he calls “Coalition of Zeros”, or coalitions of parties that have nothing to put on the table, is in reality of no use  

Stresses the importance of the project adopted by the new SDF leadership headed by Hon Joshua Osih, to expand the party’s base by effectively implanting the party in the whole country

 The 2^nd Vice National Chairman of the SDF, Louis Marie KAKDEU (MPA, PhD, HDR), has dismissed the idea of a single opposition candidate in Cameroon for the 2025 presidential election, as a mirage, arguing that the debate on the issue is rather a distraction. In an article posted on social media, Kakdeu insist that that it is a mirage or an illusion for some people to think that a single opposition candidate at the presidential election is an assured victory for the opposition at the election.

It should be noted that the SDF Vice Chairman, Louis Marie Kakdeu, often writes articles on topical issues and post them on the social media. So he is a well known name on the social media. The headline of his latest social media post, is:  “L’Idee  de la candidature unique de l’opposition est un mirage”, which means, “The idea of a single opposition candidate is  a mirage”.  Louis Marie Kakdeu argues that though the idea of a single opposition candidate may be seducing, it is in reality deceitful and is not enough to beat the CPDM at the presidential election.

Number Of Reasons Why The Opposition Has Been Failing To Win Elections

The 2^nd Vice National Chairman of the SDF, Louis Marie Kakdeu, in the article highlights a number of reasons that he thinks have been responsible for the failure of the opposition in presidential elections, putting the blame first on the shoulder of the opposition. He asserts that major opposition parties in the country, including his own SDF, have over the years been effectively implanted only in some parts of the country.  And so when it comes to the presidential election, these parties are unable to have representatives at polling stations in parts of the country where they are absent or are not effectively implanted.

Kakdeu pointed out for example that the major opposition parties that have been sending in candidates for the presidential elections, are mostly absent in the total of 89 municipalities of Grand North (Adamawa, Far North and North Regions), during the presidential elections. They do not have polling agents or representatives at many polling stations. He said the CPDM and its allies then take advantage of the absence of the representatives of opposition parties, to falsify the PVs, and give the CPDM candidate a big victory out there. He expressed the view that the officials statistics that give very high voters participation rate in the Grand North especially in the Far North Region, and that also gives the impression that the people of the Grand North vote massively for the CPDM candidate at presidential elections, are from PVs falsified by the CPDM and its allies of the Grand North He stressed that the CPDM and its allies take advantage of the absence of polling agents of the opposition to do that. He said this ugly situation does not only happen in the Grand North, as it happens in some other regions or localities where the opposition does not have an effective presence.

So Kakdeu said while it is right to say that the CPDM has been using electoral fraud to win presidential elections, the opposition also stands to be blame for being absent at polling stations in many areas of the country, and thus making things easy for the CPDM and its allies in those areas of the country to  falsify PVs.

Opposition Also Mostly Absent In Mixed Commissions

The 2^nd Vice National Chairman of the SDF, Louis Marie Kakdeu, as well stated that besides the absence of representatives of opposition candidates in most polling stations across the country, the representatives of opposition parties are also absent in many Mixed Commissions on Voters’ Registration, and even in the Mixed Commissions that compile the result of the presidential election at the Divisional level. He explained that in reality it is the Mixed Commission on Voters’ Registration that is in charge of voters’ registration, and not ELECAM.

But Kakdeu regretted that when one looks at things on the ground across the country, one sees the disturbing situation where opposition parties that send in candidates for presidential election, are absent in many of these Mixed Commissions, and yet turn around to complain about voters’ registration.  He said it is the same situation with the Mixed Commissions that compile results at Divisional levels, after the presidential election. The representatives of opposition parties or presidential candidates, are absent in many of the Mixed Commissions across the country, meaning that there are no representatives in those commissions to protect their interests. And many wrong things happen in those commissions in the absence of the representatives of the opposition parties or candidates.

Abstention Rate Remains High

The 2^nd Vice National Chairman of the SDF, Louis Marie Kakdeu, also blames the high abstention rate of voters at presidential election, for part of the difficulties that the opposition has been facing at presidential elections. He notes that many Cameroonians of voting age do not register on the voters’ list, and that worse of all, many of those that register do not turnout on voting day to perform their civic responsibility. He says abstention rate at presidential elections in Cameroon is always about 50 % or above, and that the opposition is the one that is affected most by this high abstention.  The SDF Vice Chairman stresses that when Cameroonians register, and many of them do not go out to vote, it is the CPDM that benefits.  He regrets that many people do not vote, and ironically complain about the election result,  or complain of how the opposition was unable to do this or that.

Kakdeu also partly blames the high abstention rate at presidential elections in Cameroon, on the negative complaints that some people or groups raise during the election year in the country. He says some people for example, only wait for the election year to start shouting all over the place about the Electoral Code, saying that there is no way that the opposition can win the presidential election with such a bad Electoral Code. Kakdeu says it is indisputable that the Cameroon Electoral Code is bad, and that SDF has repeatedly said that. He however explains that his problem is with the timing to raise the complaints.  He argues that when the complaint about the Electoral Code is taken up during the election year, it has a negative effect on some registered voters, who conclude that the opposition cannot win the presidential election with such a bad Electoral Code, and so see no need to go out and vote. He recalls that the Pioneer National Chairman of the SDF, Ni John Fru Ndi, won the 1992 presidential election, with an Electoral Code that was worse than the current Electoral Code.

High Abstention Rate At 2018 Presidential Election

It should be noted that at according to official statistics of the 2018 presidential election in the country, a total of 6,667,754 Cameroonians registered across the country and in the Diaspora, but only the total of 3, 590,681 persons voted, putting the participation rate at 53.85 %. Even at that, the opposition claimed that the real participation rate was lower.

 A Serious Opposition Coalition

Meanwhile the 2^nd Vice National Chairman of the SDF, Louis Marie Kakdeu, makes it clear in his article  that he is not against  the idea of an having an opposition coalition for the presidential election, for an opposition coalition does only have to be created for the project of single opposition coalition. An opposition coalition can also be created for collaboration in the presidential election.

Kakdeu insists that a serious coalition or alliance of opposition parties, for the presidential election, should be based on what each party brings or puts on the table, and not on the number of political parties in the coalition.  He strongly argues that if a group of opposition parties come together in the name of a coalition, each part has to put something concrete on the table. A party can for example put on the table two or three regions where it is well implanted, and where it can thus effectively have serious polling agents for all the polling stations in those areas.

Kakdeu explains that if all members of the opposition coalition seriously put something concrete on the table, the coalition can then examine the possibility of the members effectively collaborating at the presidential election, by sharing responsibilities for the coverage of the 10 regions of the country, to the members. For example a party that is well implanted in the Centre and South Region, can be assigned by the coalition to provide serious polling agents for all the polling stations in the two regions. The polling agents will protect or defend the interest of all members of the coalition. He said this is the type of coalition that is good for the opposition, a type of coalition that takes the opposition forward.

Worth noting that there are currently some 26,000 polling stations across the country for the presidential election. This means that each party with a presidential candidate, is supposed to find some 30,000 polling agents across the country.

“Coalition Of Zeros”

Meanwhile, the SDF Vice Chairman says what he is rather strongly against, is what he terms the “Coalition of Zeros”, because such a coalition is a pure waste of time, as it cannot take the opposition anywhere. He explains that a ‘Coalition of Zeros’ is a coalition or alliance that is based or focused on the numbers of political parties that are members, rather than on what each party brings to the table. Worth noting, that Cameroon scandalously has as many as 369 registered political parties.   Kakdeu said if a coalition has 20 political parties as members, with all the 20 parties having nothing to put on the table, it is in reality a ‘Coalition of Zeros’, and it is a waste of time as it cannot achieve any concrete thing. He also argues that if a political party that can put something on the table, gets into a coalition with 50 parties that have nothing to put on the table, it is a pure waste of time and resources, as nothing will change.

The Expansion Of The SDF

The 2^nd Vice National Chairman of the SDF, Louis Marie Kakdeu, hailed the efforts of the relatively new leadership of the SDF headed by Hon Joshua Osih, that have adopted as well as embarked on a project to expand the base of the party, by working to see to the effectively implantation of the party in parts of the country like the Grand North, where the party in reality was not effectively implanted. It should be noted that an SDF delegation from the party headquarters led by the National Chairman of the party, Hon Joshua Osih, undertook a tour of the Grand North throughout the first week of this month, during which they met with militants and local communities in the Far North, North and Adamawa regions. The visit was part of the project to effectively implant the SDF in the Grand North.