This English-language bookseller embodies the radical opposition to President Paul Biya in the 1990s. John Fru Ndi was born in 1941 in Baba II, a village in Mezam, near Bamenda, in what is now the North-West Region, then North Cameroon, an area administered by the United Kingdom under a mandate from the League of Nations.
After leaving Nigeria to study there, he returned to Bamenda, where he worked in various professions, including bookseller. At the end of the 1980s, he paved his way into politics on a CPDM list, at that time still a single party.
He was almost 50 years old when he took part in founding the Social Democratic Front (SDF). While not first choice, he agrees to take the presidency despite the risks. On May 26, 1990, the opening rally of the new party was bloodily crushed in Bamenda.
John Fru Ndi paints the image of a brave leader who doesn’t back down. His aura then extends beyond the English-speaking world. It is growing in popularity in the western and coastal regions where the economic capital of Douala is located.
Runner-up in the 1992 presidential election
In the years marked by the ghost town movement of 1990 and 1991, up until the first pluralistic presidential election in 1992, he embodied hope for those who wanted change, centered around the slogan “Biya must go / Biya must go”.
John Fru Ndi, the declared loser, disputes the official figures that give him second place. He boycotted the 1997 presidential election and ran again against Paul Biya in 2004. Then again in 2011, his last campaign.
Over the years and the contentious decisions within their formation and electoral base, their political clout dwindles.
Because he wants dialogue with power, because he wants to be the official leader of the opposition, “the chairman” is no longer seen as radical enough. Militants are deported to the MRC. The Anglophone crisis disrupts the mobilization of the SDF electorate.
John Fru Ndi remained leader of his party for 33 years until his death. He dies unaware of the change he sought to lead his country.