Marcel Niat Njifenji was never the loudest voice in Cameroon’s politics. He wasn’t a street mobiliser. He wasn’t an opposition figure.
But for decades, he remained at the heart of the system, quietly shaping, sustaining, and representing it. He became one of the symbols of the decay that had eaten deep into Cameroon’s governance circles. For the last few years, he was unwell and could barely walk, yet he hung on for dear life. He refused to honourably quit, so a more active person can take over and help steer the country forward. For someone who started his life as a technician, hoping to build, Niat ended it as a man doing everything to remain part of a system that is tearing down the fabric of the Cameroonian state.
Now that he is gone, a bigger question emerges: was he simply a product of the system… or one of the men who ensured it never changed?
And more importantly, what happens to that system now?
Cameroon’s former Senate President, Free At Last
