Dear Militants of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement,
Dear sympathisers,
Five years ago, political parties and various other civil society organizations merged to form the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM). The ban of the conference announcing the launch of the party on 12 August 2012 at the Hilton Hotel in Yaoundé followed by the interdiction of the first national convention held at our headquarters in Odza on 29 September of the same year were symptomatic of the fever that this parturition engendered. In spite of these numerous political and administrative manoeuvres to discourage us, we braved difficulties to implement the idea of setting up a political organization serving aspirations of Cameroonians.
Affirming that day, in the darkness of the conference hall of the said Hotel that “the night precedes the day”, I saw the breath of hope placed in every compatriot willing to work for the advent of change in Cameroon. Since then, together we have faced obstacles of all kinds: Prohibition of meetings, summon of leaders, arrests, open threats, sequestration of militants, insidious sanctions, and so on. All this did not prevent us from making the journey. On the contrary, this adversity, a consequence of multiple vexations, has forged our character and solidified our determination to maintain our course until the achievement of the high objectives of our party for our people and our Nation.
This September 2017, we will live with enthusiasm efforts of these five years of our collective trajectory on the Cameroonian political scene in order to better ramp up our work for the upcoming elections.
I think it is important to remember that the CRM is a rainbow party, bringing together Cameroonians from all regions of the country driven by a desire for progress and development, with a memorandum articulated in 5 pillars, namely: the republican pact, the education and youth pact, the productive pact, the social and national solidarity pact, and the patriotic and strategic pact with the diaspora and the international partners of our country. These five pillars are, of course, a summary of the overall vision of our party for the Cameroonian community that puts women at the centre of each of the sectors considered. As you know, this vision, underpinned by the political doctrine of social liberalism, was adopted at the first Convention of our party in 2012.
The history of our party is marked by unprecedented moments, results of your various efforts and sacrifices. Having opted for change by the ballot, by democratic conviction as much as by political clear-sightedness, we have from the creation of the party, launched a campaign for the registration of Cameroonians on electoral lists. On 30 September 2013, a year after the creation of the CRM, we held the twin legislative and municipal elections in our country. As you know, our party took part in these elections. Thanks to the strong support of our compatriots of all origins of our ideals and proximity policy, our party came out with a seat in the National Assembly and nearly twenty municipal councillors. At the end of the vote, whose entire process was called into question, the CRM has established itself as an avant-garde party.
This broad support, amplified by a strong wind of sympathy throughout the country, has placed the CRM since its creation at the heart of the political debate in our country. On the strength of this, we continued with more vigour the campaign of mobilization of Cameroonians for registration on electoral lists. This campaign has never stopped since then and will continue until the next election.
In light of the massive and savage frauds that seriously tainted the September 2013 elections, and in order that future elections do not plunge our country into disorder or even a post-election crisis, we have made proposals to amend our Electoral Code in the form of a legislative draft submitted to Parliament since 2014 through our Member of Parliament. I reiterate that the best way to avoid a post-election crisis is to proceed with a consensual amendment to the Electoral Code, which, all political parties agree, has weaknesses. This is the only way to ensure the organization, at the right time, of free, transparent and credible elections.
The plan to change the future for our peoples and especially for the young people and women of our country is more timely than ever because of looming dangers to which we are exposed as a result of an arrogant and frightening regime, whose contempt, improvisation, amateurism, unpreparedness are the principal characteristics of all its action. 2018 will be a new era for our people. This will be the year of all elections. The CRM wants a prosperous and bright future for our country. It will soon present an electoral program to Cameroonians. I invite all Cameroonians to mobilize to accompany our country in this renaissance. We must together defy our fears to take our destiny into our own hands. The renaissance of our nation will be through elections in which all Cameroonians must participate and ensure that their votes are protected.
The CRM National Caravan has already been in Bafoussam, Bertoua, Bamenda, Ngaoundéré, Nkongsamba. It will continue in the other regions of the country and even at the level of divisions. This Caravan contributed to remind us throughout these years that the party counts on an unprecedented popular mobilization of Cameroonians for the realization of the change for which our people have made so many sacrifices since the return of the multiparty system in 1992 and after which it is still running. Together we will have an unmistakable historical opportunity in 2018 to say that those who paid the highest price for Cameroon as those who fought for freedom and the advent of democracy in our country had not made so many sacrifices in vain.
Dear militants
Dear sympathizers,
In the CRM memorandum presented in 2012, the problem of coexistence between anglophones and francophones was one of our focal points and the party was already asking for dialogue at the time. In April of the current year, through a press conference, I drew the attention of the national and international community to what is now agreed to name the anglophone crisis, resulting from this problem that some have tried to deny in vain. I made it clear that the CRM “says and reiterates that claiming a particular form of state, in this case federalism, is not a crime. Nothing prohibits us, as a nation, from speaking frankly, in a sincere and constructive dialogue, where it would also be possible to convince everyone of the legitimacy of regionalism provided for in the Constitution in force. We then formulated proposals for solutions to emerge from the crisis in two parts. We are asking the government to implement them.
Faced with this crisis that our country is experiencing in the North-West and South-West regions and which continues because of the zeal of a few compatriots stripped of the true sense of living together, I would like to exhort our civilian compatriots not to provoke men in uniform, just as I invite the police to play their role as protectors of the population.
For a few years our country has experienced a new barbarism orchestrated by the BOKO HARAM sect. The CRM has never stopped encouraging our law enforcement agencies in their hard mission to fight these barbarians of another time and to support the people of the regions affected by wild and murderous attacks. I would like to repeat my sincere condolences to families of soldiers who fell on the front lines and our hard-hit northern populations and renew the call for national solidarity for our soldiers and compatriots from these regions to come to the end of this scourge.
Dear militants, dear sympathizers,
The anglophone crisis has exposed the shortcomings of current leaders of our country, thus confirming that arrogance and amateurism, notorious incompetence and improvisation have become their mode of government. But this calamitous governance is not confined to the mismanagement of this serious crisis. It concerns various other sectors of activity as shown by:
- the imbroglio in the preparation of 2019 AFCON, and even the organization of the 2016 Women AFCON;
- the disapproval of the FECAFOOT normalisation committee by FIFA and the appointment of a new normalisation committee,
- return to the IMF and placing Cameroon under structural adjustment for the second time under the same government;
- errors in the search for solutions to the energy crisis which plagues development and undermines the quality of life of citizens;
- the inability to supply citizens with running water despite the exceptional hydraulic wealth of the country;
- the opacity, confusion and patrimonial management of the mining sector;
- the trial and error in the launch of the national airlines, CamairCo and its corrupt management which deepens its debt and hence the public debt;
- the lack of programming for the current and long-term maintenance of road and railway infrastructure, the poor condition of which contributes significantly to traffic accidents which regularly affect families;
- etc.
Suffice it to recall that in the month of August 2017 alone, Cameroon recorded more than 130 deaths from road traffic accidents without any announcement from the government for a plan to reduce this carnage if they cannot stop it; without affecting public authorities in any way.
Dear militants, dear sympathizers,
Today our party is crystallizing hopes of change of many compatriots. It is a real chance for a change in power and a credible alternative to anti-democratic drifts and the economic and social disaster in which our country was led. It is therefore necessary to continue working and to gather more widely all those who have lost faith in the political thing. You must show, in your actions and in your words that the CRM is the wind of Hope expected.
Social networks are today an essential communication opportunity. Many use it to destroy the image of our party by spreading false information about it. Although I understand the caustic reaction of our militants and often our sympathizers, I would like to invite all those who share the ideals of the national Renaissance to more tolerance and understanding on these platforms. You have strong arguments to respond to all hateful attacks and campaigns: they are in our memorandum for a new society, a society of trust and of a harmonious living-together, of collective progress and of republican fraternity, which we want to build together with all Cameroonians of goodwill and for Cameroonians of all backgrounds.
The time has come for me, through this message, to congratulate you warmly and renew my encouragements for the many sacrifices you have been making every day to spread the ideals of the national Renaissance since 2012. It is also an opportunity for me to salute the memory of our comrade YIMAFFOUO Thomas, who died on 10 May 2016 as a result of a traffic accident on 28 April 2016 while on mission for the preparation of the party rally in Bertoua.
Our adversaries multiply manoeuvres on the field in order to destabilize us, to disorganize us. These manoeuvres will increase and their blows will be harder as we move closer to the crucial elections of 2018. That’s why I call you to mobilize and stay vigilant at all times. Stay confident persuading those of our compatriots who are still hesitant and be determined in the face of adversity; the victory is at that price.
Happy fifth birthday!
Long live the CRM
Long live Cameroon
