The 54-year-old MP won the election at the 10th congress of the Social Democratic Front held in Yaounde last October 27 and 28.

The convention opened last Friday with the question of who would succeed Ni John Fru Ndi, the first national president of the SDF, who died last June 12. On Sunday 29th October 2023, Joshua Osih became the new national chairman of the party. He defeated his two challengers, Godden Zama and Jester Shewa, by a wide margin.

On the night of 28-29 October, 1,565 of the 2,400 delegates eligible to vote cast their ballots. When the count was completed on the morning of 29 October, Joshua Osih had 985 votes to Jester Shewa‘s 363 and Godden Zama‘s 217. Upon learning of their defeat, the latter two cried fraud, claiming that some voters were not eligible to vote.

It is now up to the former vice-president to lead the party to new horizons. The first task is to restore peace and unity within this historic opposition party. To contain its militants and regain the position of leader of the opposition it acquired in the 1990s.

In the next five years of his mandate, Joshua Osih will have to demonstrate the first results of his actions. The municipal, legislative and presidential elections of 2025 and the senatorial elections of 2028 will be the first tests of his effectiveness at the head of a party he has been a member of since its creation in 1990.

Born in Kumba in the South West region, he will have climbed several rungs within the SDF before reaching the top. A municipal councillor in Wouri-Centre in 2003, he was elected SDF deputy in 2013 and re-elected in 2020 after the postponement of the parliamentary elections scheduled for 2018. His election opens a new chapter for the Social Democratic Front.