The Rassemblement Democratique du Peuple Camerounais (RDPC) is preparing to mark the 44th anniversary of the National Renewal, the party's annual celebration, according to a circular the party issued. The document places young people and women at the centre of the party's communication, describing youth as the "force vive et majoritaire de la Nation" and women as "piliers de la stabilite". The anniversary falls as the party says it is refining preparations for upcoming elections, without specifying which elections or on what timetable.
Mamadou Mota, former vice-president of the Mouvement pour la Renaissance du Cameroun (MRC), published a statement on his Facebook page on 21 October 2026 attacking the circular. He wrote that reading it left him hesitating "entre le fou rire nerveux et la nausee politique". Mota accused the RDPC of abandoning the youth it now courts, citing unemployment, precariousness and the departure of young Cameroonians abroad. He said the party treats women as "betail electoral" while official responses to violence against women and access to care remain insufficient. He also questioned the record of the Renewal and the relevance of political celebrations amid insecurity in some regions. "Ce texte n'est pas une circulaire politique, c'est une insulte a l'intelligence des Camerounais," he wrote. He called on the party's leaders to retire from political and professional life.
The RDPC has not responded publicly to Mota's statement. The party's circular frames the anniversary as an occasion to mobilise supporters and to prepare for electoral deadlines. The RDPC has governed Cameroon since 1985, when President Paul Biya succeeded Ahmadou Ahidjo, and has held the presidency and a parliamentary majority since. The party's national investiture of candidates for the next legislative and municipal elections is expected at a date the party has not announced. The anniversary event itself is scheduled for a date the party has not published.
The immediate test of the party's electoral preparation will be the publication of the final candidate lists for the next legislative and municipal elections, which the electoral commission, ELECAM, will receive from parties. The RDPC's national investiture session, where those lists are adopted, will show whether the circular's emphasis on youth and women translates into candidacies. Mota's statement is one opposition voice; the MRC's own position on the anniversary and on electoral preparations will be set out in its own communications. The anniversary celebrations will take place on a date the party has yet to announce, and the party's next national investiture session will be the first concrete indicator of its electoral strategy.