There was much surprise when Cameroon’s electoral commission announced the 12 candidates for the October 12 presidential election. For the third time in Cameroon’s political history, one of the contenders for the country’s highest office is a woman.
The fact that Tomano Hermine Patricia Ndam Njoya was also allowed to run is notable, given that the initial list included over 80 candidates in Cameroon. Kahwala, who made history as Cameroon’s first female presidential candidate in 2011, was not successful in defeating President Paul Biya. Nor did Esther Dang, who also ran in 2011.
But this time the prospects of a future woman President are looking better than before. This is not just because Africa has more women politicians, ministers and presidents.
With the adoption of the first women’s conference in 2021, more than 81 women’s organizations across the country have gained influence that would have been unimaginable in previous elections.
In this Central African country, equality before law prevails. Women make up more than half the population. But standing with 11 male presidential candidates is still rare.
Mayor with presidential ambitions
Tomano Ndam Njoya is not new to active politics. She is the mayor of Fombon and president of the Democratic Union for Cameroon (UDC).
The 56-year-old politician’s election campaign slogan is: “Freedom. Justice. Progress.”
Ndam Njoya told DW that Cameroon is at a “crossroads.” He said, “This is clearly a matter of the sovereign people leading the Republic of Cameroon, which has been weakened and endangered by anarchical rule for too long, into a new era that we all deserve.”
He’s not fazed by the fact that some people believe he has a chance. She intends to fight until election day. Traveling across the country, promoting on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, she is using all channels to draw attention to herself.
In doing so, he has to endure some derogatory comments. Her male competitors call her “her late husband’s wife”. The fact is that in 2021, she took over the presidency of the UDC from her late husband, Adamou Ndam Njoya, a prominent opposition figure who was Cameroon’s education minister in the late 1970s and also served as mayor of Fombonne for many years. Adamou Ndam Njoya ran for president in 1992, 2004 and 2011, but he lost to Paul Biya, who has ruled the country for four decades. The 92-year-old president is seeking an eighth term in office.
Seeking votes among NRIs
Ndam Njoya has set ambitious goals for herself. Before the elections, he visited Germany, Italy and France to encourage NRIs to vote for them. Unlike the Cameroonian diaspora in France, the Cameroonian community in Germany largely supports Biya’s CPDM party.
To convince them to support his candidacy, Ndam Njoya met with the Cameroonian-born mayor of the German municipality of Heubach, Joe Allemazung, the Cameroonian-born SPD local politician Steve Komogne, and other Cameroonians.
But that wasn’t his only European stop. In September, he spoke about the urgency of peace and solidarity at the annual meeting of the World Brotherhood in Rome. Pope Leo was present during his speech.
Shortly afterwards, in Gabon, he outlined his ideas for better neighborly relations on both sides of the Cameroon conflict. The Anglophone crisis has been prevalent in the North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon since 2016. Furthermore, Cameroon has also been the target of an Islamist insurgency, especially along its northern border.
As a Member of Parliament, she was a member of the Forum of Women in Africa and Spain for a Better World and a member of the African Parliamentary Union.
The fact that, despite his wide contacts, he has chosen to fight for his country’s future rather than pursue an international career has also gained him the goodwill of other opposition politicians.
Endorsements from former presidential candidates
A dozen former presidential candidates who failed in their bids in July have thrown their support behind him.
Among them is Shewa David Damuel, an entrepreneur nominated by the Patriotic Movement for a New Cameroon (MPCN) and former member of the Social Democratic Party (SDF). “The opposition should work together,” he told DW. “Cameroon is at a crossroads. The opposition is divided; it is weak, so we must stand behind Ndam Njoya.”
Like Tanzania, Liberia, Malawi and Namibia, Cameroon could join the growing number of African countries led by women.
And Ndam Njoya has big plans. She wants to fulfill her husband’s goals of unifying Cameroon as a federal state and ending the Anglophone crisis. She also wants to tackle youth unemployment and improve conditions for investment.
Her candidacy has also attracted attention in Germany because she advocates the rotation principle when it comes to the restitution of looted cultural properties. Ndam Njoya is convinced that Cameroon’s cultural wealth and its colonial history should remain accessible to German museum visitors.
Unlike the sultan of the traditional Bamoun kingdom, who wants to return the throne of Foumban, which has been housed in Berlin since 1907, to the Sultan’s new museum, Ndam Njoya is fighting to ensure that rare cultural artefacts become the property of the people.
This article was originally written in German
Correction: An earlier version of this article was misspelled Steve Komogne’s first name was Steven and he was an SPD member of parliament. Steve Komogne is a local SPD politician. The article has been corrected. DW apologizes for the mistakes.