SDF Silver Jubilee: Will Fru Ndi Step-down as Natural Candidate, NEC, NAC, Investiture Chairman?

NI John Fru Ndi

The National Executive Council of the Social Democratic Front-SDF met last weekend in Bamenda to plan for the Silver Jubilee of the party whose activities are expected to start on May 16, 2015. Allegedly, a colossal budget of FCFA 100 million has been budgeted to enable SDF militants to celebrate the event with fanfare. Since politics as they say is a serious business, The Eye got a hint that a caucus has been put in place to pressurize SDF National Chairman Ni John Fru Ndi to step down from the positions of chairman of National Executive Committee-NEC, National Advisory Council-NAC, Investiture Committee and SDF natural candidate. The Eye is aware that there is an urgent need for structural changes in the SDF and there is also the need to change the way party issues are managed. But the bone of contention has been how to go about it given that Ni John Fru Ndi heads all the organs of the party making self the Alpha and Omega.  Former SDF scribe, Dr. Elizabeth Tamanjong in her resignation letter recently did frowned at concentration of powers in the hands of the Chairman, which apparently is blocking the other aspirants to leadership positions and so on. It should be recalled that Siga Asanga, Ngwasiri, Ben Muna, Kwemo, Paulinus Jua and others were “scape-goated” for challenging Ni John Fru. These critics hold have contributed enormously to SDF losing touch with the grassroots. More importantly, skeptics are of the opinion that if Fru Ndi rejects the proposal to decentralize power, Mbah Ndam’s commission which seeks to reconcile disgusted SDF militants will yield no fruits.

However, Cameroon Concord quotes SDF Chairman to having said in one of his press briefings early last year that he will not be standing as the party candidate in the next presidential election come 2018. Yet a school of thought holds that Ni John Fru Ndi should remain as National Chairman of the SDF and nothing more.

Nonetheless, popular opinion continue to hail the man of May 26,1990 who took the courage to launch  the SDF in Bamenda against the backdrop of a heavy deployment of troops and skirmishes between security forces and ordinary, unarmed, citizens leading to the loss of six innocent lives.

As Chris Fomunyoh once put it, he said “that, indeed, was a moment of courage”. And like the late Robert Kennedy once said, speaking in Capetown, South Africa in 1966..."It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance".
When Fru Ndi will arrive the United States, many of these speeches will be pronounced. The Eye is aware that the key message will be a clarion call for Fru Ndi to relinquish the position of NEC, NAC and Investiture chairman. No one doubts the fact that Chairman Ni John Fru Ndi made history, and there too comes the extra load to make sure that in the next century the story can be told of how the success began. Power sharing is therefore very necessary for the SDF to hope. More so, Fru Ndi relinquishing from some of these positions is a cause for concern. As SDF National Chairman is expected to visit USA, it is hoped that SDF militants in the diaspora will also use the opportunity to tell him the truth. 

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