Key members of the Union des Populations du Cameroun (UPC) from different factions are expected to chart the way forward for the party during a consultation meeting in Yaounde on January 17, 2012. The Yaounde meeting comes after the death of UPC Secretary General, Augustin Frederic Kodock on October 24, 2011, leaving a gap that had already been created with the death of the Chairman of the Political Bureau, Ndeh Ntumazah and the First Vice President of the Political Bureau, Omar Meklandi.
Efforts to unite and keep alive the flames of the UPC, the oldest political party in Cameroon that was created in 1952, were announced during a press conference in Yaounde on December 21, 2011. The press conference was granted by Adolphe Papy Doumbe, the UPC National Secretary for Communication and Propaganda. He further announced that during an enlarged political bureau meeting of the party in Yaounde on December 19, 2011, he was designated the representative of the UPC till the next congress and Ouandji Bernard designated First Vice President. Papy Doumbe and other UPC political bureau members used the press conference to refute claims of factions in the party. They stated their intention to bring UPC supporters, sympathizers and lovers of Cameroon to the negotiating table for the party to regain its original place, take part in upcoming elections and contribute to the building of Cameroon.
The new vision of the UPC, Papy Doumbe said, is for everyone who claims to be of the party to work together, have a common objective and jointly define the way forward. “Time was against the UPC yesterday. Time seems to be in favour of UPC today”, he said, calling on all UPC supporters to get to work; starting from the grassroots.
