Cameroon’s Democracy Champion John Fru Ndi Interred

By Boris Esono Nwenfor

BUEA, July 29, 2023 – Veteran Cameroonian opposition leader John Fru Ndi, a towering figure who for decades fought to topple President Paul Biya has been laid to rest in his native Baba II, North West Region of Cameroon.

The 81-year-old who dominated the opposition in the Central African country for a generation had been suffering from a long illness, the Social Democratic Front (SDF) said in a statement.

On Friday, July 28, hundreds from different political backgrounds, ages and walks of life from home and abroad, attended the Final Rally of the States Man in Bamenda. Despite a three-day lockdown imposed by separatist fighters operating in Mezam to frustrate the funeral ceremony, the population despite all odds came out in their thousands from Santa to Bamenda town to pay their last respect to the person they consider their hero.

Starting his career as a bookseller in Bamenda, he later entered politics in the late 1980s, running as a candidate for the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) after losing to another CPDM candidate. Ni John Fru Ndi’s political career spanned over three decades, during which he played a pivotal role in shaping Cameroon’s political landscape.

In 1990, Fru Ndi and others founded the Social Democratic Front (SDF), an opposition party that would become the main opposition force in Cameroon. He was elected the SDF’s National Chairman at its First Ordinary National Convention, held in Bamenda in May 1992. Fru Ndi’s establishment of the SDF marked a new era in Cameroon’s political sphere, challenging the status quo and creating a platform for alternative voices.

"Fru Ndi ushered in and contributed to the democratic process that we have in Cameroon today. Fru Ndi was fearless. In the 90s what Fru Ndi did for this country, nobody in this country has ever done, even to date; to fight against the regime, to be that fearless with the launching of SDF is something that will always be in the annals of the history of this country," said barrister Nkongho Felix Agbor “Balla”, human rights activist and founder of the Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa, CHRDA.

My Father was never a man of Violence

“You are all aware of what happened to our father when he came back from hospital. Armed men came and held everyone hostage at gunpoint. Even when he shouted, “I am not well, I am not well, I am just coming back from the hospital,” Benjamin Fru Ndi, the son of the last SDF Chairman said as he narrated the ordeal his late father went through when armed men stormed their residence.

“They grabbed and slapped him, pulled him down on the floor and took him outside without shoes, nothing warm to wear. No respect and consideration for someone who has given his life for the people of Bamenda and the country at large.”

Conflict in Cameroon, a majority French-speaking nation, broke out in October 2017 when anglophone militants declared an independent state in the North West and South West Regions.

The International Crisis Group has said the death toll since the start of the fighting had topped 500 for civilians and more than 200 for members of the security forces. Around 530,000 people have fled the fighting, according to the United Nations.

Nicknamed "the Chairman", Fru Ndi's SDF is periodically plagued by internal crises and in recent years had his position contested by a faction of senior party officials. His house was torched and he was kidnapped briefly in 2019 by an armed group, which demanded he pull his MPs out of parliament. Both the army and armed groups are regularly accused by the United Nations and international NGOs of crimes against civilians in the Anglophone regions.

''In 1992 under house arrest with over 100 people, our grandmother of blessed memory, Ma Suzanna Ango brought food to the compound and was molested by a gendarme officer who asked her to go back but she refused. She told the gendarme officer that 'you can't stop me from going into my compound,” Benjamin Fru Ndi who is also the National Coordinator of the Socialist Youths added.

“An argument ensued, and the uniformed officer pushed our grandmother into the gutter. All the young boys and girls around rushed to protect their grandmother and were called back by Ni John Fru. That was someone who was under house arrest, still, his mother was being molested yet he found it in his heart to prevent others from exercising jungle justice on the soldier who maltreated his mother. He has never been a man of violence."