When Cameron’s Election Commission announced 12 candidates for the October 12 presidential election, he was very surprised. For the third time in Cameroon’s political history, one of the contenders for the highest position in the country is a woman.
The fact is notable that Tomaino Harmine Petricia Nadam Nadoya was also allowed to run, given that the preliminary list included more than 80 candidates in Cameron. Kah Walla, who created history as Cameron’s first woman presidential candidate in 2011, did not succeed in defeating President Paul Biya. Nor Easter Dang, who ran in 2011.
But this time the possibility of future woman President is looking better than before. This is not just because there are more women politicians, ministers and presidents in Africa.
With the adoption of the first Women’s Conference in 2021, more than 81 women’s organizations across the country have gained impact which would have been unimaginable in the previous elections.
In this Central African country, equality is prevalent before the law. Women create more than half the population. But standing with eleven male presidential candidates is still rare.
Mayor with ambition of presidential
Tomano Endam Najoyya is not new to active politics. He is the Mayor of Fombman and Chairman of the Democratic Union for Cameron (UDC).
The election of 56 -year -old politician is the slogan of the campaign: “Freedom. Justice. Pragati.”
Nadam Najoya told DW that Cameron was on a “Dorahe”. He said, “This is clearly a matter of sovereign people who lead the Republic of Cameron, who have long been weakened and in danger by chaotic regime, in a new era we are entitled to all we entitled.”
He is not surprised by the fact that some people believe that he has a chance. She intends to fight till the day of election. Traveling across the country, promoting on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Ticketkocks – she is using all channels to draw attention.
When doing so, he has to bear some derogatory comments. His male competitor calls him “the wife of his late husband”. The fact is that in 2021, she headed the UDC from her late husband, Adamau Nadam Najoyya, who was a major opposition person, who was the Education Minister of Cameroon in the late 1970s and also served as the mayor of the fombs for many years. Adamou Nadam Najoyya ran to the presidency in 1992, 2004 and 2011, but he lost to Paul Biya, who ruled the country for four decades. The 92 -year -old is demanding an eighth term in the President’s office.
Ask for votes among diaspora
Nadam Najoyya has set ambitious goals for himself. Prior to the elections, he visited him to encourage overseas Indians in Germany, Italy and France. Unlike the Cameronian migrants in France, the Cameronian community in Germany supports Bia’s CPDM party on a large scale.
To convince him to support his candidature, Nadam Najoyya met the Cameroon Born of the German Municipality Hubac, Mayor Joy Elemazung, Cameroon Born in Cameroon, SPD Parliament Member of Parliament Steven Komogne and other Cameron dwellers.
But he was not his only European stop. In September, he talked 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 thereafter, in Gabon, he outlined his ideas for better neighboring relations on both sides of the Cameroon struggle. The Anglophone crisis in the northwest and south-west regions of Cameroon prevails since 2016. In addition, Cameroon has also been aiming for Islamic rebellion, especially on 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 Association.
The fact is that, despite his extensive contacts, he has opted to fight for the future of his country rather than creating an international career, which has also received the goodwill of other opposition politicians.
Support from former presidential candidates
A dozen former presidential candidates who failed in his dialect in July have given their support behind them.
Among them are Sheva David Damuel, an entrepreneur nominated by Patriotic Movement for a New Cameron (MPCN) and a former member of the Social Democratic Party (SDF). “Opposition should work together,” he told DW. “Cameroon is at an intersection. The opposition is divided; it is weak, so we must stand behind Nadam Najoyya.”
Like Tanzania, Liberia, Malawi and Namibia, Cameron may also include the increasing number of women -led African countries.
And Nadam Najoyya has large plans. She wants to meet Cameron as a federal state and end her husband’s goals of ending the Anglophone crisis. She also wants to deal with unemployment of youth and improve conditions for investment.
Her candidature has also attracted attention in Germany as she advocates rotation theory when it comes to restoration of the robbed cultural properties. Nadam Najoya is convinced that Cameron’s cultural property and its colonial history should be accessible to visitors to the German museum.
Unlike the Sultan of the traditional Bamon Empire, who wants to bring back the throne of the fombon placed in Berlin from 1907 to the new museum of the Sultan, Nadam Najoya is fighting to ensure that rare cultural artifacts become the property of the people.
This article was originally written in German