“My Political Thinking Is Essentially Dynamic”

Mr President, a new version of your book, “Communal Liberalism” has been published; may we know why you have revised your book, which was first published in 1987?

I chose to republish my book for a number of reasons, some of which I will mention here.

Firstly, my political thinking is essentially dynamic. Without yielding to the pressures of being trendy, it is in an ongoing dialogue with our times. Accordingly, I deemed it appropriate to take another look at the current issues at stake and the challenges of globalization, the digital revolution, environmental protection, consolidating democracy and security, gender empowerment, greater youth engagement in public life, and fast-tracking Cameroon's emergence drive in peace, unity and democracy.

Secondly, in our society, there has been an ever-growing collective and individual quest for meaning. In response, I am proposing Communal Liberalism as an appropriate answer to the fundamental issues of our national identity, that is faced with the flaws of globalization, to ethnicism and clanism; to our democracy, the entrenchment and consolidation of which remains an ongoing challenge; to our living together, of which social justice is a pillar requiring constant strengthening; to our development, which hinges on capacitating all and sundry, as well as equal opportunity; and to Cameroon's role and standing in Africa and in the world.

Thirdly, the success of the previous edition of Communal Liberalism generated much feedback and comments which I have factored in so as to deepen my thinking and continue the dialogue with Cameroonians on building and consolidating a society of collective and individual fulfilment, shared progress, enjoyment of all rights, assertion of the cultural and historical particularities, communing around shared ideals, values and models, and exalting work ethics, social justice and excellence.

Many Cameroonians would have expected but another publication, why did you republish an already renowned book instead of writing a new one?

The real issue here is the relevance and topicality of Communal Liberalism for Cameroon’s development, to face present day challenges, to meet the expectations of Cameroonians, the demands and hopes of our fellow citizens. Furthermore, while indeed Communal Liberalism is a benchmark for many of our compatriots, it remains that knowledge thereof needs to be increased in the light of national, regional and global changes. In these times when meaning is lost and there are increasing questions about our future, it is important to have solid benchmarks, better still, a compass that can help us find our way, in other words, the direction of our action towards progress, national unity, security as a whole and, democracy: that is what Communal Liberalism means.

More than a mere republication, it was a rewriting of Communal Liberalism, taking into account the new context; the outcome has been a deep dive into my ideas and my proposals for our country. What we are referring to is the consistency and deepening of reflection devoted to Cameroon’s development, to the welfare of its citizens without discrimination, to the fulfilment of its youth, to the dynamism of its private sector, to the transformation of the State and the public sector, to the shaping of destiny by the people and for the people.

That gives us the opportunity to want to know from you the philosophy behind is Communal Liberalism.

Communal liberalism is both a thought and a practice based on the wisdom of our traditional societies and the realities of the so-called modern world, to achieve the development of Cameroon and of the human being based on the principles of freedom (political and economic), solidarity (all for one, one for all and all for all), social anchoring and the interaction between freedom andsolidarity. It is dynamic thinking dedicated to achieving human security, i.e. political security, economic security, environmental security, health security, food and nutritional security, cultural security, legal security, digital security, military security and so on. In short, Communal Liberalism is a harmonious combination of the individual and the collective in order to make the Cameroonian dream a tangible reality in every sphere.

With this revised edition coming at the approach of campaigns for the 12 October, 2025 Presidential election, is this an election campaign book?

Communal Liberalism transcends the scope of an election campaign. It is a thought and a development strategy, an approach and an art for managing ethnic, linguistic and religious diversity to promote national integration. It is an advocacy and a pedagogy to rally human resource...