Cameroon opposition party elects Joshua Osih as its new leader

Cameroon’s main opposition Social Democratic Front, on Sunday elected Joshua Osih as its new leader.

Previously its vice-president, he succeeded the movement's founder John Fru Ndi, who died in June after presiding over the SDF since its creation in 1990.

Osih, who won with 62 per cent of the vote during the party’s elective convention, will now lead the SDF into the 2025 elections.

Although it is a leading opposition party, it has only five seats in the current 180-seat parliament, down from 18 in the previous legislature.

Osih was the party’s candidate in the 2018 presidential election, but came fourth with just over 3 per cent of the vote.

Parliament has been dominated for decades by the all-powerful Cameroonian People's Democratic Movement.

It is led by 90-year-old incumbent President Paul Biya, who has ruled the country since 1982.

Biya is regularly accused by the United Nations and international NGOs of repressing the opposition, journalists, and civil society leaders.