Ahead of October Polls: Joshua Osih Rules Out Alliances with Issa Tchiroma, Bello Bouba

Hon. Joshua Osih, SDF Chairman and Presidential Candidate.

 

Social Democratic Front (SDF) National Chairman and presidential candidate Joshua Osih has categorically ruled out any possibility of forming a coalition with politicians such as Issa Tchiroma Bakary or Bello Bouba Maïgari, arguing that their past roles in government disqualify them from credible opposition partnerships.

Speaking to supporters and journalists during a campaign stop recently, Hon. Osih was emphatic about his stance on alliances:

“Anyone who played a part in allowing the crisis in the North West and South West to fester, or who downplayed the Boko Haram insurgency in the Far North, is not someone I can join forces with. Even if they request a coalition, I will refuse not out of arrogance but because of the values I defend.”

The SDF leader went further to criticize former regime insiders who, according to him, are attempting to rebrand as opposition figures after benefiting from the system for years.

“If a candidate served in this regime, contributed to our poverty, to our lack of infrastructure, and only left because the regime no longer favoured them, should I accept their support? Should I support them? No. That cannot happen,” Osih stated.

       Bello Bouba                Issa Tchiroma.

Osih’s comments appear to be a direct response to calls from some civil society actors for a united opposition front ahead of the October 12 presidential election. His stance highlights ongoing divisions among Cameroon’s opposition parties, despite repeated calls for collaboration to challenge the ruling CPDM.

Political analysts say Osih’s uncompromising position may resonate with voters seeking a clean break from the past, but it could also risk fragmenting the opposition vote.

The SDF, once Cameroon’s main opposition force, is seeking to regain lost ground after years of internal rifts and declining influence. Osih has positioned his campaign on restoring trust in political leadership, advocating decentralization, and rebuilding the country’s economy, which he says has been undermined by decades of poor governance.

With less than three weeks to the polls, his message appears to be one of principle over political expediency: “We cannot build a new Cameroon by recycling the same politics that got us here,” he told supporters.