It’s John Fru was elevated to the title of Grand Cordon of Cameroonian Merit posthumously by the President of the Republic, during the official funeral which was decreed in his honor. In recognition of the man’s fight for democracy. The “courage” unanimously hailed by the first president of the Social democratic front (SDF) in the return of the multiparty system in 1990. Putting himself in front of a march of the founders of his party in Bamenda on May 26 of that year, to force the regime to accept the creation of political parties to challenge the Democratic Rally of the Cameroonian People (CPDM).
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But John Fru Ndi leaves the scene disappointed. Without giving an end to the Suffer don finisf, a concept merging with the name of the party, and which translated the objective and the mission that the young leader gave himself in the conquest of power. And yet, the Chairman was very close to getting there. The man carried by a coalition of opposition parties and civil society movements missed out on the presidential chair in 1992. At the end of the first pluralist presidential election, Ni John Fru Ndi obtained 36.9%, behind Paul Biya (39.3%). In a mess where the Supreme Court recognizes multiple frauds, but considers that it does not have the necessary evidence to cancel the ballot. On the opposition side, we are convinced that we have won the election. It is said that the results have simply been swapped. The opposition launched a protest campaign through marches and the operation “Dead Cities”. The country is paralyzed, the man of the Renewal bent without breaking; and succeeds in giving the country oxygen to live again. While his supporters want a march to the presidential palace, Fru Ndi, who was under house arrest for two months, retracted in the face of a power that released the soldiery. ” I will not walk on the corpses of Cameroonians to take power“abdicated the opposition candidate. End of fight.
While hopes rested on him, until the international. In the wake of these disputes, the United States seems to have taken up the cause of the leader of the SDF. In 1993, the country of Uncle Sam invited the unsuccessful candidate who continued to claim his stolen victory, to the investiture of Bill Clinton newly elected at the head of the First Power of the world. Nothing will change. Ni John Fru Ndi will find it difficult to digest this frustration. It was the beginning of the end of the Fru Ndi myth.
In the aftermath, the man who escaped assassinations several times, including during rallies, urged his party to boycott the 1997 presidential election. A fatal mistake, as the hope for change faded further. When he returned in 2004, the Chairman could only glean 17.40% against 70.92% for his rival. In the legislative and municipal elections, the SDF continues to lose ground. The demand for the transparent ballot box will find a favorable echo within the regime in power, but the electoral results are not improving. 2011 is the last attempt to lead Cameroon. While the eternal second cherishes the dream of familiarizing himself with a less tough candidate, Paul Biya modified the constitution in 2008, to present himself as much as possible from now on. John Fru Ndi collected only 10.71% while his eternal executioner climbed to 77.98%. Seven years later, his strength fails him and the charismatic leader gives way to a younger one: Joshua Osih. The colt, who did not have the support of all the executives of the first hour, bites the dust and for the first time, the SDF loses its second place and is positioned in 4th place, behind Cabral Libi’i et Maurice Kamtotwo new men on the electoral field.
Paul Biya, Jean Nkuété and the SDF
When he leaves the land of men, Ni John Fru Ndi has lost his former verve and authority. Suspected of making a pact with the power of Yaoundé, the founder of the SDF denies, without convincing. Moreover, investigations including those of fire Xavier Luc Deutchouajournalist of late memory and of the Catholic Committee against Hunger and for Development, conclude that the former bookseller in Bamenda has been enriched, including ” the fortune is valued at more than 125 million dollars, 70% of which comes from his deals with the Cameroonian head of state“. This between 2005 and 2007. While the freedom fighter and his associates are fighting to deny these allegations, Léopold Ebene, a former police commissioner in exile, declares having accompanied the former director of the civil cabinet of the presidency, Edgard Alain I’m Not Afraidto deliver a briefcase containing a sum of 500 million FCFA in a hotel in Yaoundé in 2004 to the leader of the opposition, for ” break the dynamic of the opposition » which was looking for a single candidate to face Paul Biya. Subsequently, Fru Ndi will challenge the choice made on Adamou Ndam Njoya and will run for president.
Born July 7, 1941 in Baba II in the department of my graveNorth-West Region, Ni John Fru Ndi was first active in the Rdpc, before helping to found the SDF, after losing the internal elections to his eternal rival Simon Achidi Achu. Carried by a people who were thirsty for change, the former bookseller of the commercial avenue in Bamenda will have carried the hope of a change of regime for ten years, before losing coast, breathless by a party in power which does not hesitate to use state resources to neutralize its adversaries. The SDF weakened, the Chairman will spend his last months on earth preparing his succession. Arduous task. Joshua Osih is opposed by the hard wing of the party. And even if the father managed to clean the stables of Augeas, the man who died on June 12, 2023, left a party plagued by succession struggles. The choice made on Jean Nkuete Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Rdpc to represent the President of the Republic at the funeral of the Chairman, fed criticism.
