Cameroon's Political Class: Tragedy of Power Without Legitimacy

In every nation, leadership should be a sacred trust — a duty to serve the people, to safeguard their dignity, and to uphold justice. Yet in Cameroon, as in many parts of the world, this ideal has been eroded by politicians who cling to power through fraudulent means. The obsession with power for its own sake has become a national tragedy, breeding corruption, inequality, and disillusionment.

The first flaw of those who cling to power deceitfully is their fear of accountability. Leaders who rise through manipulation and rigged elections know deep down that they have betrayed the will of the people. They dread the day when their actions will be judged, not by sycophants, but by the very citizens they silenced. This fear drives them to tighten their grip, to stifle dissent, to muscle the press, and to weaken every institution that could expose their illegitimacy.

Secondly, such leaders suffer from a moral blindness born of arrogance. They begin to believe they are indispensable — that without them, the nation would crumble. This self-deception becomes a convenient excuse to override the constitution, manipulate electoral bodies, and corrupt the judiciary. They forget that true leadership is not about how long one stays in power, but about how deeply one transforms the lives of citizens.

Thirdly, those who cling to power by fraud are incapable of envisioning renewal. Their regimes stagnate because they fear the emergence of capable successors. Innovation, meritocracy, and youthful ambition become threats to their fragile authority. The result is a generation disillusioned with politics — one that sees public service not as a noble calling, but as a path to enrichment and impunity.

In Cameroon, the effects are visible everywhere: economic decay, institutional rot, and the slow death of national hope. The same faces dominate the political scene decade after decade, while poverty and unemployment rise. Elections have become rituals devoid of meaning, where outcomes are known long before the ballots are cast.

Yet history is unkind to those who build their power on deceit. No matter how strong the machinery of manipulation may seem, it eventually collapses under its own weight. Legitimacy cannot be manufactured indefinitely. The people’s patience, once exhausted, becomes a force of reckoning that no regime can suppress.

Cameroon deserves better — leaders who earn power through integrity, who understand that service, not survival, defines greatness. The future of the nation depends on rejecting the politics of fraud and fear, and embracing the politics of truth and accountability. Only then can the country’s immense potential be set free from the chains of deceitful power.

Steve Nfor (Retired Senior Journalist) 

---