SDF Elective Convention - Who Will Take Over Fru Ndi?

For the first time since the party’s inception in 1992, its National Chairman, John Fru Ndi, will not be standing in as the party’s Presidential candidate.

Even though Fru Ndi has not openly declared his decision not to stand, SDF’s legal counsel, Tsapi Lavoisier, assured Cameroonians, during a political debate on state broadcaster, CRTV, that the chairman was no longer in the race. “I can confirm it here officially. Fru Ndi will not be candidate for the party primaries, for the nomination of the presidential candidate” said Tsapi Lavoisier.

With just a few months into Cameroon’s 2018 Presidential polls, three candidates within the party have declared their intentions to take over Chairman Fru Ndi. The potential candidates; Hon. Joseph Mbah Ndam, Hon. Joshua Osih and Hon. Fobi Nchinda Simon, have all declared their various ambitions to emerge as the party flag bearer in this year’s Presidential race.

As more than two thousand delegates gather today in Bamenda, North West Region, to designate the party’s next leader under the SDF National convention, journalducameroun.com sought to find out who is who among the three candidates.

Hon. Mbah Ndam; Chairman’s favorite?

He is considered one of the most loyal party chairman, Ni John Fru Ndi. The lawmaker who announced his intentions to stand as Chairman in Batibo, has since received backings from SDF militants in Momo Division.
An SDF militant for almost 20 years, the former President of the SDF Parliamentary group in the National Assembly was particularly in the limelight in 2017, during the Anglophone crisis. Many irate youth had on September 23, 2017, beckon on the lawmaker to resign from parliament in the bid to show his loyalty with the Anglophone population. A plea which Mbah Ndam accepted publicly. “I will not go back to Yaoundé. I will not go to parliament if the situation does not change”, Mbah Ndam had declared.

SDF Elective Convention - Who Will Take Over Fru Ndi?

When quizzed on why he did not put his worlds into action, the lawmaker said his statements were taken out of context. On his Presidential ambition, Mbah Ndam says: “Our National Chairman is manifesting his intention not to stand as a Presidential candidate; as such I am putting in my candidature.”

Hon. Joshua Osih, the young guard?

His supporters consider him the future of the Cameroonian opposition. In just a short time, 50-year-old Joshua Osih has emerged as an important figure in the SDF, becoming the party’s 2nd Vice President in 2012.
Hon. Joshua Osih is a member of the Finance and Budget Committee. He is very present in the media and on social networks, which gives him a certain popularity with national and international public opinion. Will this media popularity be enough to convince the delegates of his party that he is the one? Nothing is sure.

Apart from his media popularity, the SDF 2nd Vice Chair also enjoys the support of many in his electoral base, Douala.

Hon. Simon Forbi Nchinda, a builder eyeing Etoudi?

Hon. Forbi Nchinda is an SDF MP from Bamenda III. He is the third person to have declared his intention to take over Fru Ndi. At 71, Forbi who is a member of the Finance Committee in the National Assembly, is seen by some analysts as the least popular of all the candidates vying for Fru Ndi’s sit. The fact remains that the architect, has on several occasion declared that he has the ground and grasp to solve the current crisis rocking Cameroon’s English speaking regions.

He is one of the founding member of the SDF and had pit off against Fru Ndi in 2011 during the primaries for the Presidential race. Simon Forbi Nchinda is an activist and political pundits hold that he could be the surprise among the others. SDF Elective Convention- Who Will Take Over Fru Ndi?