The president of Cameroon Renaissance Movement, CRM party had planned to meet with his supporters in the economic capital last Sunday but later postponed the gathering for yesterday Monday. Sources say he further called off the Monday gathering without giving clarification although many suspect the move was provoked by the multiple stumbling blocks he has faced since revealing his plans to hold the rally.
The president of Cameroon Renaissance Movement, CRM party is back to the nation’s capital in Yaounde after holding a mega rally in Paris in France late last month and aborting a similar gathering that he had planned for Douala in the Littoral Region. The 71-year-old who is expected to be the lead challenger of long-serving leader, Paul Biya in the forthcoming presidential election, arrived Yaounde yesterday evening, according to sources.
The CRM party’s Littoral Regional Secretary, Christian Massoma told Cameroonian English language daily newspaper, The Guardian Post yesterday that the firebrand politician moved to the nation’s capital after he was escorted out of Douala where he had spent the last 48 hours planning to meet with his supporters in the economic capital. The regional scribe however did not reveal if the security escort accompanied the CRM boss from Douala to Yaounde or ended the mission halfway. “He decided to leave, he was not forced.
The situation was tensed and he was not here to stay forever. Normally, he was supposed to leave around midday on Sunday,” the Littoral Regional Secretary stated.
Over 50 CRM supporters arrested in Douala
Christian Massoma further revealed in his interview yesterday that security officers arrested some CRM party’s supporters in the Littoral Region as fallouts of the failed rally. He said the party is doing everything at its level to fix the mess. “We are looking forward to securing the release of those arrested. They were arrested this morning (yesterday). Everything will be okay. Those arrested will be released very soon,” the CRM chief Littoral regional scribe said. Kamto was expected to hold a rally in Douala on Sunday June 8 but later postponed the meeting to yesterday Monday June 9.
He reprogrammed the meeting for 10am yesterday but ended up calling off the gathering without giving any clarifications on the reasons behind the move. Kamto initially blamed the decision to push forward the meeting on what he described in a video on Sunday as acts intimidation meted on his supporters by officials in the Littoral Region. The CRM boss stated in the video that he felt mistreated after seeing thousands of his supporters that had showed up to meet him at the CRM head office in Deido in Douala being blocked from accessing the headquarters.
He said he had used interlocutors to demand the Governor of the Littoral Region to produce a copy of any administrative order banning him from being in Douala and not accessing the country through the region in an attempt to get clarifications on the treatment. Kamto also debunked claims that suggested that he said were made by authorities, insisting that he did not declare his planned meeting with his supporters on Sunday but was instead going to hold a brief meeting with his supporters at the CRM headquarters in Deido.
The movement of the CRM leader who had earlier gathered thousands of his supporters in Paris in France late last month, remains unclear. If remains unclear whether or not he will proceed to organize rallies in other parts of the country in the weeks or days ahead despite the setbacks faced in the Douala leg.
