The secrets of the rivalry between Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute from Southern Cameroons and Laurent Esso, the Minister of Justice who hails from the Littoral region in French Cameroun two key figures of the Biya regime is now making headlines in Yaoundé.

It is not an ‘entente cordiale’ reported the Paris based Jeune Afrique as the senior French Cameroun political figure Laurent Esso has blatantly refused to attend cabinet meetings held at the Prime Minister’s Office ever since Dion Ngute was appointed Head of Government in 2019.

Cameroon Concord News understands Minister Esso has simply been ignoring the convocations from Joseph Dion Ngute. The Esso-Dion Ngute conflict took a dramatic turn for the worse recently when Minister Laurent Esso again refused to travel to Douala as assigned by the Prime Minister for a planned meeting with the Inter-Patronal Group last April. Dion Ngute braved the bad roads to Douala and participated in the atelier that grouped the largest union of employers in Cameroon. 

The trade unions reportedly submitted their proposals for a peaceful resolution of the Southern Cameroons crisis and announced a huge financial contribution to the reconstruction effort of towns and villages ravaged by the conflict in Ambazonia.

Dion Ngute is opposed to Laurent Esso who prefers the use of force against the people of Southern Cameroons. The two men are however among the most senior members of the current cabinet.

Ngute is 67 years old while his rival, Esso is 78.

By Rita Akana in Yaounde