It was during the tribute ceremony to the national “Martyr” Anicet Ekane, a ceremony organized online on March 15, 2026.
The president of the Front for National Salvation of Cameroon (FNSC) pays tribute to his companion Anicet Ekane, who died on December 1st, 2025, in detention. During a ceremony organized online and bringing together various speakers via videoconference, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, former candidate of the Union for Change 2025, spoke to recall the journey with Anicet Ekane and emphasize the legacy he leaves behind.
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Indeed, since their rapprochement within the framework of the coordination of opposition parties in the 1990s, the two fighters have never been separated. They were sometimes on divergent sides, sometimes on the same sides. And even when Issa Tchiroma joined the government, the two politicians visited and exchanged with each other. The president of Manidem then declared to the president of the FNSC that he “was one of the great manipulators of history.”
The ties grew even closer when, as the presidential election of October 12, 2025, approached, Anicet Ekane had the idea of launching the Douala Group, then the Union for Change. In the quest for a good candidate to carry the chances of change, Anicet Ekane approached Tchiroma to tell him “get ready, I am going to entrust you with the governance of Cameroon.” Having proposed the conditions of the Union for Change, candidate Tchiroma “did not hesitate for a single moment.” He agreed to adapt the project that FNSC militants designed for the presidential election to the UPC 2025 program. What followed led to positioning Issa Tchiroma at the head of the Cameroonian opposition according to the contested official ranking.
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For Tchiroma, “Anicet Ekane is no longer here physically, but he remains present spiritually.” The legacy he leaves is the change of Cameroon. The same project continues, as mentioned by Issa Tchiroma, who reassures that a team of people is working to make this effective. In the same vein, he notes that the other challenge is to fight violence so as not to admit it anymore and so that such a situation does not prosper in Cameroon.
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