According to texts governing the current electoral campaign, officials at the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation say the sum of FCFA 30 million has been earmarked for each of the political parties going in for the poll. Half of the amount is being given to the political parties now while the rest will be given after the election.
Be it complaints of late arrival of campaign funds from the public treasury or plans to return the said funds, there are difficult questions that must be asked. The first has to do with the way political parties get their finances. Who foots the bills of the many political parties in the country? Are the 23 candidates for the office of President of the Republic in search of money or they are people with concrete political manifestoes for the country?
Of course, no one can be naive enough to underestimate the political ambitions of anybody vying for such a high-office. Some of the candidates even declared their intentions to run for the post before looking for political parties that could present their candidature.
Understandably therefore, some of them were said to have wanted the campaign funds paid into their personal accounts. Although the law requires that public funds be placed at the disposal of political parties that have candidates campaigning for such an elective office, there is need for political parties to create enough internal dynamism to raise funds in order to carry on their activities freely.
Moving across the country to seek for votes can in itself be costly. The production of campaign gadgets and other propaganda material also demands that political parties have enough money to succeed. More so, it cannot be through election campaigns that party leaders should hope to raise funds. Otherwise, it will be a pipe dream going in search for votes without the means to do so.
Whatever the case, it is increasingly clear that most political groupings in Cameroon need to find a lasting solution to the financing of their activities. Counting on state funds can only go as far as the law guarantees. But such support cannot cover the entire cost of an electoral campaign in a country like Cameroon where the terrain is at times so rough, with difficult access to campaign areas. Party leaders must have known before now that going in for the office of Head of State cannot be dependent solely on outside support. Their own sense of initiative and determination to forge ahead does matter a lot for such an exercise to be successful. Failing which, the end of the campaign could mean the political demise of most of the candidates who must have either ruined themselves financially or those who spent too much time counting on providence to get voters endorse their candidature.
