YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon — 15 September 

SDF presidential candidate Joshua Osih has accused the presidency at Etoudi of covertly funding opposition coalition schemes, dismissing them as a manipulation designed to insult voters’ intelligence ahead of the 12 October election.

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1. Osih: Etoudi Funding “Fake” Opposition Coalition

2. SDF’s Osih Slams Etoudi’s Coalition “Trap”

3. Osih Accuses Presidency of Rigging Coalitions

4. Etoudi Behind Coalition Push, Says Osih

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Osih: Etoudi Funding Opposition Coalition Talks

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SDF candidate Joshua Osih accuses the Etoudi presidency of bankrolling opposition coalitions to confuse voters ahead of Cameroon’s Oct. 12 election.

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Joshua Osih says Etoudi is secretly financing opposition coalitions to dilute real challengers. Read our breakdown of his claims and what it means for 2025.

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YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon — 15 September 2025

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SDF presidential candidate Joshua Osih has accused the presidency at Etoudi of covertly funding opposition coalition schemes, dismissing them as a manipulation designed to insult voters’ intelligence ahead of the 12 October election.

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Coalition or Control? Osih Says Voters Are the Target

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The Social Democratic Front (SDF) tried to change the 2025 conversation this weekend—from backstage plots to policy—in a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting at party headquarters in Yaoundé. Emerging from the session, party leader and presidential candidate Joshua Osih leveled one of the campaign’s bluntest charges yet: the Etoudi palace is “financing” the sudden wave of opposition-coalition chatter.

The allegation cuts to the core of how Cameroonians view this election. In French remarks we translate here, Osih said: “Tous ceux qui parlent de faire une coalition sont commandés depuis le palais d’Etoudi. C’est eux qui financent cela à tour de bras pour faire croire aux uns et aux autres que les Camerounais sont tellement bêtes qu’ils ne peuvent pas faire le choix eux-mêmes.”
Translation: “Everyone pushing a coalition is being directed from the Etoudi palace. They are financing it heavily to make people believe Cameroonians are so foolish they cannot make their own choice.”

Osih’s message is calculated and confrontational. It rejects the current narrative—“merge or lose”—and reframes it as a trap that serves incumbency. According to him, genuine opposition work looks very different: door-to-door mobilization, poll-agent deployment, and a campaign anchored in a social contract with voters. “I am not in this race for individuals,” he insisted. “I am in it for the country.”

Voters, Not Brokers

Osih’s second line of attack targets what he calls a culture of elite deal-making. He argues that reducing millions of Cameroonian voters to spectators, waiting for a clique to decide their candidate, is contemptuous. “Vouloir réduire les électeurs à des gens sans maturité… c’est une insulte,” he said.
Translation: “To reduce voters to people without the maturity to choose is an insult.”

By centering voter agency, Osih tries to move the SDF beyond nostalgia and internal fatigue. The party once embodied national opposition under Ni John Fru Ndi, then struggled with defections and stagnation. Osih’s gambit—naming Etoudi as the architect of “coalitionism”—seeks to paint the SDF as the only major contender refusing palace choreography.

The Mechanics of Manipulation

Osih did not publish financial proofs on the spot, but his claim aligns with a familiar pattern: the regime cultivates controlled fragmentation, sponsors spoiler formations, and feeds media cycles with unity talk that never matures into a coherent program. The result is distraction during the narrow window that actually matters—agent training, tally protection, and turnout operations.

He also warned candidates tempted to fold at the last minute. In his words: those “not ready” have the right to endorse someone else, but such moves should not dominate the race. The job of a candidate, he says, is to “tell Cameroonians what you will do when you are president”—not to chase palace-funded mirages.

What the SDF Says It Has Done

Inside the SDF camp, the priority is vote security: recruiting, training, and deploying agents across the 10 regions. Osih said he is “proud” of fieldwork completed so far, stressing that campaign energy will focus on door-to-door contact rather than rallies that photograph well but convert poorly. The SDF’s tactical bet is clear: in a system where the playing field is tilted, meticulous agent coverage is the only leverage.

The Stakes on 12 October

Cameroon is entering a consequential ballot with institutions widely viewed as captured, media space constrained, and civic trust eroded. Against that backdrop, Osih’s accusation aims to harden scepticism about any late “unity show” blessed from above. Whether the charge sticks will depend on two questions voters will ask in the next three weeks:

1. Who can actually protect the vote?

2. Who presents a credible program beyond survival politics?

Osih ends on an overtly democratic note—promising to accept the people’s verdict. But the sting remains: if the public believes Etoudi is shaping the opposition menu, then “coalition” becomes the regime’s tool, not its undoing.

Editor’s note: We translate quotes from French to English for clarity and have preserved Osih’s substance without embellishment. Etoudi had not responded at press time.