John Fru Ndi and the SDF may already be jittery shortly after they announced that the party would open up for reconciliation with dissident party supporters who were either dismissed or left the party on their own.
The SDF chieftain said at a press briefing in Yaounde, Saturday, that the party will not approach anybody to negotiate for his or her return to the party.
“Do you expect Fru Ndi to run after individuals and plead with them to come back to the party?” The chairman retorted when our reporter asked to know the approach the party is using for the reconciliation process. Fru Ndi said, just by opening up its doors for reconciliation, the party has done enough.
The rendezvous with journalists was organized as part of activities to mark the silver jubilee of the SDF which shall be commemorated on May 26 in Bamenda.
However, Joseph Mbah Ndam, legal adviser to the party stroke a little more conciliatory tone than Fru Ndi on the subject of reconciliation. He suggested that the exercise will only be intensified after the May 26 celebrations.
“We have gone a long way but we think that the issue of reconciliation would be looked into more seriously after the anniversary on May 26,” Ndam said. He, however, argued that they once tried the reconciliation option but realized that most of those who came in merely wanted elective positions. “When they lost the elections, they backed out again,” he said.
But a supporter of the SDF who preferred anonymity who talked to our reporter shortly after the press conference, differed with the position of the party’s hierarchy. “I think that when you request for reconciliation, you walk towards whosoever you intend to reconcile with. So I think that our party should have delegated some officials to meet those they think can still be of some importance to the party and negotiate for their return.”He said.
In his mind, he said he was thinking of militants like Prof. Asonganyi, Andrew Akonte, Chop Samuel, Nyah Margaret, Noumba and others.
Fru Ndi, addressing other issues, vent frustration at the fact that there has never been a level playground for fair elections in Cameroon. He said results of elections are always known before time.
“Do not forget that in Cameroon we work from the results to elections, but the struggle shall continue,” said Fru Ndi. He was reacting to a reporter’s question that since 1990 the party has failed to win power, yet not ready to give up the struggle.
Asked why he continues to cling onto the chairmanship of the SDF but proceeds to slam Biya for not leaving power, Fru Ndi said Cameroonians should be able to differentiate between a political party and a state. He argued that the politics of a political party is different from that of a state and so his stay at the helm of the SDF should not be compared to Biya’s stay at the helm of the state.
The 25th anniversary of the SDF party would also feature a book launch titled “The Untold Truth.” The book, Fru Ndi said, will constitute revelations about the founding of the party in 1990, its founding fathers and the road the party has so far covered.
