The President of the Cameroon People’s Party, CPP, and leading voice of the Stand Up For Cameroon movement, Edith Kah Walla has declared that Cameroon’s salvation lies not in electing a single opposition figure, but in demanding a political transition that rewrites the nation’s foundations.
The president of the Cameroon People’s Party, CPP and leading voice of the Stand Up For Cameroon movement, Edith Kah Walla has called on citizens to abandon personality-driven politics and instead rally around a unified opposition front focused on systemic change. Speaking as political tensions escalate ahead of the next electoral cycle, Kah Walla declared that Cameroon’s salvation lies not in electing a single opposition figure, but in demanding a political transition that rewrites the nation’s foundations.
Her message, posted widely on social media and political platforms, has sparked renewed debate about the future of opposition unity and democratic reform. “The current debates and discussions around the persons of presidential candidates are not only useless and futile, they are detrimental to the fundamental systemic change we need in our country,” Walla stated. The CPP leader argues that the existing system dominated by the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, CPDM, is structurally incapable of delivering free and fair elections. According to her, the state’s crackdown on opposition meetings and political expression proves that any attempt to win power through elections alone is naïve. “To imagine that people who will not let you hold a political meeting will somehow hold an election… and not win it, is the height of absurdity,” she said.
Walla’s movement, Stand Up For Cameroon, has long advocated for a transitional phase before any elections, with a focus on restoring democratic norms, rewriting the Constitution to ensure equality and inclusion, and establishing an electoral process that truly reflects the people’s will. The CPP president warned that continuing to idolize individual opposition candidates, whether Maurice Kamto, Cabral Libii, or Joshua Osih, without holding them accountable to democratic standards, could result in merely replacing one authoritarian regime with another. “If we begin ‘not criticizing’ leaders before they are even in office, we will be exchanging one authoritarian for another,” she warned.
She rejected any form of tribal shielding of political figures, stating clearly that constructive criticism is not tribalism but a cornerstone of democracy. “Kamto must not be protected from criticism because he is Bamileke, Libii because he is Bassa, or Osih because he is an Anglophone. These are not arguments. We must evaluate leaders based on their programs and behavior,” she emphasized. Walla also reminded Cameroonians that historical change around the world has come not from solo leaders, but from people-powered movements united around shared goals. She believes the same can happen in Cameroon if the public demands a common agenda for political transition, not a popularity contest. “This is work that cannot be done by any one political party.
It’s a fight for the people, by the people,” she stated. As President Paul Biya’s rule continues into its fifth decade, Walla’s message is a striking challenge not just to the regime, but to opposition forces as well. Her call: drop egos, form a coalition, and lead the people into action.
