The story of the event that marked the launching of the social Democratic Front SDF twenty five years ago is one of sorrow and joy married together in what has become memorable to those who give value to history.

As tragic as it might have sounded on the fateful day in Bamenda, it none the less threw open the floodgates of the pluralism in an erstwhile tight and static political set up. Lives were lost no doubt in the process, which of course invokes sorrow in the mind of those who care. It was a sacrifice worth the purpose.

However, whatever followed in the course of the last twenty years of the existence of the Social Democratic Front, SDF, in Cameroon today, with the record number of more than two hundred registered political parties, most of them mushroom, the SDF remains the vanguard in our search for social justice.

The party also goes on record as a child of circumstance, produced by a single political error in the calculation of the regime at a time. At a time when there was a burble underground by some determined Cameroonians, focused on overturning trends, the regime made certain arrest under the cover of enforcing a law that forbids the holding of what was termed as illegal gatherings.

But when the regime attempted to justify itself that the arrests had nothing to do with the setting up of political parties, the founding fathers took advantage of this loophole and launched the SDF.

Related issues included the arrest of Barrister Yondo Black in Douala and Albert Mukong, to name but a few, added some weight to what turned out to be massive street action. The trial of Barrister Yondo Black seemed to have provoked an unusual rage amongst Cameroonians, which at the time, was seen to have defeated the fear of the mighty hand of the regime.

Street protests took their turn in the melodrama that ensued. And as if the regime soon realized their error in declaring that it was forbidding, the creation of rival political parties, the Head of State ordered the Minister of Territorial Administration to open a register for political parties.

It is obvious that no matter how much argument the regime is capable of putting up, it cannot change the fact that it was the unilateral launching of the SDF that pushed the hand of the regime to the switch on the light in the room, the room being Cameroon, and the light being the semblance of democracy we enjoy today.

With time however, all this has become history and the SDF can as well claim the credit for this. Today 25 years after this commendable roll of the SDF in the process of establishing a pluralistic political society, it is not enough to hang on the past glory now consumed by history.

It is pertinent for the party to look back at these twenty five years, which have also been twisted by one alleged rigged election or faulty electoral system. Twenty five years which have been inundated by the one accusation or the other that the party chairman has been wining and dining with President Biya.

Twenty years of criticism that Fru Ndi at his age has outlived his stay as party’s leader, criticism which the chairman has always eloquently debunked with the argument that the SDF is the only party that conducts primaries in all levels of elections, including that of the post of chairman of the party, and that in every elective convention of the party, such primaries are conducted and he has always been challenged.

If we insist that the SDF as the frontline opposition party in Cameroon should look back at the ground it has covered so far within this one quarter of the century, we mean to say that it should break loose from its proclaimed intention to charge the regime in place without a convincing programme.

The party ought to, by now realize that their wish to oust Biya is certainly not like horses to ride so easily. It is this wish that has since become the elections manifesto of the party that whipped up such high hopes in the party’s supporters at the beginning , but which after 25 years, the incumbent is still glued to his seat; it becomes disappointing to those who believed that the SDF will rise to power the next day.

The result is that many, even those holding top positions in the party have dropped. Detractors, even in the media are quick to publish list of those who have decamped to the ruling party. In religion it is called faith. In politics, it may be narrowed down to the lack of commitment to a course. That is how to describe such drop outs.

There is no doubt that the SDF, by the very nature of its founding 25 years ago, it provoked the rage of the regime and those who benefited from it under the one party disposition. With this in mind, there have been diverse means of either silencing the leadership through overt cohesions, or bringing the party on board the regimes band wagon, through corruption or persuasion. The regime has succeeded in this by wooing other mushroom parties who form the so= called {presidential majority} , whatever that means in our political context.

In spite of all this challenges, the party has been able to put its head above the water, and this is where the party deserves commendation. At least it is a reflection of an opposition party that is determined to uphold the tenets of democracy. In one way or the other it has been able to prevent the regime from going the wrong direction.

This in our opinion however, is not enough. While we wish the party a happy 25th anniversary, we would strongly suggest that the party’s {think tank} should start the 26th year with new programmers that will endear the electorate to the party. Such programmes which should spell out how the party intends to deal with issues such as unemployment. In fact programmes that will change the lives of Cameroonians.

We strongly believe that a majority of Cameroonians have since realized the weakness of the regime, its inability to get hold of the substance rather than the shadow. Its sole ability to do everything possible to sustain itself in power.

If issues that will change the lives of Cameroonians for the better are presented to the electorate during elections campaigns, it will make quiet a difference for the good of the party. The time is now for the SDF to prove that it can be a better alternative to the regime in place.

The party shadow cabinet which we want to believe is the party’s {Think Tank} and alternative government, should from now on start preparing an economic programme that will embody all that is necessary for our economic emergence. This is what Cameroonians expect from the SDF not just the wish for an undefined change.