“Field accomplishments distinguish political parties”

Dr Peter Sakwe Masumbe, Senior Lecturer in Public Policy and International Relations, University of Buea, explains the rising number of political parties in Cameroon.

What explains the huge number of political parties (297 as at October 2014) in the country?

With the re-introduction of multiparty politics in Cameroon in the early 1990s, there was great yearning by citizens to embrace the vote in order to use it responsibly; and for the broadening of the political horizon in what the state authorities termed ‘large political participation.’ This provided the impetus to allow by law (and financial assistance), the creation of several political parties.

Unfortunately, not all of these parties actually represented the core interests of voters or even the larger political spectrum. Having met the criteria to be registered, many of the parties ab initio failed to meet the requirements that provide for viable politicking. So, not all political parties in Cameroon are real, irrespective of their number.

When I talk of real, I mean in the sense of politics and their legality in the Cameroonian context. Definitely, political parties in a global sense have turned out to be very useful political, economic, social and even cultural instruments in a variety of tasks that require control or communication for the emancipation of citizens. In Cameroon, some of those who thought of registering political parties imbibed terrible misgivings as what they stood for.

However, political parties are created, besides aiming at obtaining and maintaining periodic political power, to conscientiously mobilise the masses towards good citizenship, political, socio-economic and above all, electoral education and awareness; including personal and collective assertiveness. A political party must cause the recruitment and socialisation of young and old leaders. It is through political parties that political and even economic leaders in society are created.

It is the strong absence of these and other characteristics that have provided the impetus for the creation of several political parties. Few or no political parties in Cameroon appear to concern themselves with fulfilling all or some of these conditions. Hence, any person who owns a suitcase, or is able to read and write a few quasi and lopsided documents, can demand the creation of a political party. And since government is desirous to showcase its ambition to render democracy to Cameroonians, the creation of political parties suffers little or no setbacks.

How different are these parties from each other?

One can identify multifaceted differences in the multitude of political parties; mainly from the egoistic tendencies of their founders, families, friends or followership. Despite the presence of 297 political parties in Cameroon, it is very difficult to identify their headquarters, militants, outputs, philosophies, etc.

The actual difference of a genuine political party radiates not only from its manifesto, but principally from the work it does in the field - amongst the population. Except for the ruling CPDM, very few political parties hold seminars or field education for supposed militants. Even the ruling party needs to do a lot in order to infuse highly dynamic contents into its educative capacity for its militants to ensure sustainability.

Do these parties meet the aspirations of the public/voters?

No, they do not meet the aspirations of the public or voters because they cannot give what they do not have.

What should be done to ensure that the number of parties does not continue to rise unnecessarily?

In fact, several factors must interplay in order for Cameroonians to come to terms with the entire political sphere. Many people are typically uninformed about politics and political outcomes. Thus, the society, and not necessarily the government, must ensure the streamlining of its peoples’ political excesses and gullibility. It does not matter how many political parties Cameroon possesses. Norway has eight, Israel 11, and the US two main parties. What matters is how politically, economically and socially viable the founders and followers of a political party are.

Cameroonians must gainfully understand who, why, how and when to seek and use political power. Political power is both very sweet and bitter. The public must be informed of the basic tenets of a political party to know whether its founders are worth the salt. Although a political party must always seek to rule, there must be adequate moderation in searching for rulership.

Cameroonians must lay the groundwork for political organisation; be it the ruling or non-ruling parties, and then seek the political kingdom and all other things will be added unto them. They must acknowledge that parties are essentially instruments for socio-economic and political cohesion.

Unfortunately, their existence and organisation in our context appears like ad-hoc set-ups desirous to eat and disappear only to timidly re-surface. Certainly, this is not a healthy political setting for citizens in a country that must compete in globalisation that requires high degree of meritocracy.