Power alternation:

Opposition Envisages Single Candidate To Flush Out Biya

-But will Fru Ndi join in?

Will Fru Ndi Retain his Chairmanship of the SDF?

Presidential elections in Cameroon aren’t expected before September 2018 but the political scene is already heating up. Supporters of long-serving President Paul Biya are urging him to seek another term, as part of the country’s fractured opposition is trying to unite behind a single candidate.

                Recently, hundreds of youth sang in the streets of the capital Yaounde, urging President Biya to be their candidate in the upcoming elections. The youths argue that the 85-year-old is still healthy enough to rule for seven more years.

                Ruling CPDM party bigwig, Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, insists demonstrations of support to the sitting president are emerging naturally.

                "Our national chairman and president of the republic has created lots of educational facilities. We began with one state university, but today we have more than eight public universities and more than forty private universities. The youths have all kinds of professional educational facilities now,” Ngolle argued.

President Biya has not said if he will be a candidate or not, but it is widely believed he will run.

                Meanwhile, the country is grappling with an unprecedented number of challenges – the war against Boko Haram in the north, uprisings in the two Anglophone regions, and large numbers of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) due to both Boko Haram and instability in the Central African Republic.

                About a dozen opposition parties are negotiating to back Akere Muna, a prominent lawyer who specializes in fighting corruption.

                Muna has pledged a non-partisan platform to catalyze transformation.

                "For too long, we have lived in a country without any clear future, where the people have no voice," he said. "For too long, we have lived in a country where the poor and underprivileged have no chance. The days of waiting are over. We must begin here, now and today, in our march towards a new republic."

Cameroon’s main opposition party, the SDF, has not weighed in on any alliances.

2017 saw Angola’s longtime president, Dos Santos, step down, as well as more tumultuous leadership changes in Gambia and Zimbabwe.

                Some civil society groups in Cameroon are urging Biya to pass the baton.

                Pierre Obama, the president of a coalition of groups promoting decentralization and good governance, said they are inviting the government of Cameroon to take appeasement seriously and agree to sit on a historic negotiating table with all political parties and the civil society to discuss the future of Cameroon.

                Biya has ruled Cameroon since 1982 and is Africa's second longest serving president, after his neighbor Theodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea.