Atanga NJI, warns Maurice Kamto and Jean Michel Nintcheu against the announced coalitions.
The Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, has banned two political associations led by main opposition leader Maurice Kamto and former SDF parliamentarian Jean Michel Nintcheu. In a press released on March 12, he asked the 10 regional governors to repress activities carried out under the banner of the Political Alliance for Change and the Alliance for a Political Transition in Cameroon.
Atanga Nji indicated that the two associations are illegal movements and that they are led by certain political leaders “in search of notoriety and distrust of the laws in force”.
He then banned them from holding public meetings, press conferences and consultations to recruit new members. This measure could be linked to a recent visit by the Kamto-Nintcheu coalition to Kondengui central prison, where it met with English-speaking separatist leaders. Among those visited was Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, president of the Ambazonia separatist movement in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions, who is serving a life sentence alongside nine others. Although Kamto and Nintcheu made no official communication about their meeting in Kondengui, media reports suggested that it was aimed at gaining support from separatist leaders for the coalition.
The government sees this as an affront to its attempts to silence the separatist movement and its promoters.
“More serious, the promoters of these clandestine movements went to meet in prison terrorists definitively convicted of serious crimes planned and orchestrated in the North-West and South-West regions with the aim of forging a political alliance. They go so far as to impose unacceptable conditions on the Government in favor of these dangerous terrorists,” indicates the press release from Atanga Nji. In an attempt to thwart the political coalition, Atanga Nji declared: “The movements called “Political Alliance for Change” and “Alliance for a Political Transition in Cameroon” are not political parties within the meaning of Law No. 90-56. from December 19. , 1990, relating to political parties. Having no legal existence, these clandestine movements cannot exercise any political activity throughout the national territory. He added that only legalized political parties have the right to request authorization and obtain receipts for meetings, demonstrations, conferences or public meetings from administrative authorities. Even if the minister’s press release does not mention the names of the political leaders at the origin of these « clandestine » movements, it is certain that they include the former presidential candidate Maurice Kamto and the deputy of Wouri, Jean Michel Nintcheu. Kamto, who believes he won the 2018 presidential election, promotes a movement called Political Alliance for Change (PAC).
When he ran against President Biya in the 2018 elections, he ran under the banner of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM), of which he is president. But his recent outings suggest he may not represent the MRC in the 2025 elections.
Sandrine N
