He did not come to the podium with pleasantries. Tandong Iris Zoum, President of the YCPDM Mezam II Santa Section, came with a message, precise, urgent and addressed directly to the young militants sitting in front of him on the occasion of the CPDM's 41st anniversary celebrations.

Forty-one years, he reminded the gathering, is not merely a number. It is a timeline of continuity stretching from the founding congress in Bamenda on 24 March 1985 to the horizon of 2055 that the party has set for itself as a long-term vision. A journey, he said, that every militant in Mezam II Santa is part of, whether they realise it or not.

The national theme for the anniversary, he noted, was not a slogan designed for Yaoundé's grand amphitheatres. The watchword "Let us prepare to further consolidate the strength and position of the party behind the National President" is a task for every sub-section and every cell, including those in the hills and valleys of Santa. For the youth, he argued, that task is both a privilege and a responsibility.

He pointed to what had happened just days earlier at the Mezam II Santa Joint Section Conference as proof that the party's appeal is living and not abstract. More than 70 militants from the SDF and UNDP had crossed the floor to join the CPDM, publicly putting on the blue and white shirts bearing the portrait of President Paul Biya and the party motto Grandeur et Espérance. That moment, he said, carried three lessons. First, the CPDM's house is attractive because it offers peace, stability and a concrete platform for development. Second, the youth are the vanguard, and when young men and women step forward as they did in Santa, they prove that the party's future is already marching. Third, consolidation is work, not ceremony. It is voter registration, neighbourhood vigilance and explaining to peers why the CPDM remains the only organised national force capable of carrying Cameroon to emergence by 2035.

He then laid out what consolidation looks like in practice for the youth of Mezam II Santa, organising his call to action around three pillars. On organisation, he called on every cell to maintain an updated membership list and ensure that every young person of voting age is on the electoral register. Citing the Secretary General's circular for the 41st anniversary, he reminded militants that recent electoral victories demand not complacency but redoubled vigilance and agility. On education, he urged youth leaders to hold ward-level discussions on the achievements of the New Deal, particularly decentralisation and the Special Status granted to the North West and South West regions, arguing that local governance represents the most immediate doorway through which young Cameroonians can exercise real political power. On mobilisation, he called for a different kind of recruitment, one built on listening rather than shouting, on demonstrating that the CPDM is a home for ambition and not merely a vehicle for allegiance.

His closing was both historical and personal. The Bamenda Congress Hall, he reminded the crowd, where the CPDM was born 41 years ago, stands just a few kilometres from Santa. That proximity is not incidental. It is a responsibility. The children of that legacy, he said, owe it to those who built the party to stand firm, reject division and keep the flame alive.

Tandong Iris Zoum sat down to applause. But the nature of his speech suggested he was less interested in applause than in action. The youth of Mezam II Santa have their instructions. What they do with them before election day will be the measure of everything he said on Tuesday morning.