The Guardian Post Newspaper, Cameroons most read leading English News daily within the last two weeks have been conducting a poll from all Cameroonians regardless of their political leanings on who they think could be the best to lead the Social Democratic Front, SDF 2018 Presidential list. In their lead story on Friday, July 22nd edition, they reported that Joshua Osih, First Vice National President of the SDF won the poll to lead the SDF in the 2018 Presidential elections.

Just last week Cameroon Journal, an English online tabloid and the Guardian Post Newspaper reported on a purported group of wise who are campaigning and lobbying the SDF Chairman, Ni John Fru Ndi to support Joshua Osih as the SDF Presidential candidate. The paper went as far as saying the SDF has within the scene endorse Osih as the SDF candidate in the next election. However, in a rebuttal to the media, the SDF Shadow Minister in charge of internal affairs disregards such moves and said they are only meant to destabilize the main opposition party. Part of the Minister’s rebuttal reads ” The mechanism for choosing the party presidential candidate is stated in the party’s constitution and has been applied since the creation of the party. The S.D.F Constitution has no provisions for natural candidates, presumptive candidates nor candidates through the “lifting” of hands. Candidates for the presidential election is selected during an extraordinary party convention convened for that purpose. The party will have an Ordinary Convention next year. Conventions offer occasion per excellence for the evaluation and codification of party policies. It also permits the renewal of leadership at NEC level. This issue of the presumptive candidate is a serious distraction geared to destabilize the party and news organs have been solicited for that purpose..”

However, BaretaNews in an earlier publication said that we of this platform hate the notion of handing power to anyone just like that as the purported report claims. We went on to say that the SDF should have a free and fair process void of any favouritism so that party militants can freely and democratically elect their Presidential candidate. We also did say that there is nothing, absolutely wrong with lobbying, but anything which falls short of opening the process to everyone who is eligible is tantamount to a coup. BaretaNews still maintains that Fru Ndi is still very popular within the SDF and it seems a large portion of the SDF militants still wants him to be their leader but it is evident that independents and other party militants who are hopeful that SDF can shake Etoudi in 2018 believes otherwise in a younger candidate and may have seen that person in Joshua Osih.

We of this platform heavily thinks that the support base of the SDF party is solid and cannot be shaken easily, the party’s militants see the party as a religion which they love and must support, however, we think if SDF must win the Presidential election or gain more seats in the Parliament and Senate, the SDF must expand her current support and militant base to woe away independents and draw back other party militants to their fold. BaretaNews currently thinks that the SDF need a new approach, a new message, a new leader, a new strategy if it must expand its base. There must be a political revolution within the SDF to rejuvenate the people. If the SDF does not expand her current support base, it would be very difficult for them to see Etoudi. BaretaNews will just like to make it clear that, we want to see a change in leadership in the SDF through a democratic process as enshrined in their constitution. We DO NOT have preference to any candidate. We just go where the news takes us.

God is still saying something.