By Hans Ngala
The year 2024 has been described as an ‘electoral super cycle’ because it saw the election of 13 African heads of state. According to observers, democracy seemingly passed the test, with new governments emerging in Botswana, Liberia, Ghana, and Senegal – and for the first time, a governing coalition in South Africa.
However, the story was not the same in Cameroon, where Paul Biya stifled all democratic institutions and processes to secure a controversial “victory”. According to renowned Cameroonian journalist and commentator, Gwain Colbert “ Low voter turnout, internet disruptions, and security deployments are part of Cameroon’s election rigging playbook, and although more young and first time voters turned out during the last presidential election, their confidence and choices were marred by widespread vote tampering and truncated results” Gwain argues “This only goes a long way to reinforce apathy as youths who were yearning for change finally went home with the impression that in Cameroon, it’s not casting the vote that matters. It’s counting the votes”.
Biya claimed victory with 53.7 percent of votes while his former minister turned opponent, Issa Tchiroma, came second with 35.2 percent according to the electoral commission.
Tchiroma quickly denounced the announcement of Biya’s win, telling AFP that “there was no election; it was rather a masquerade. We won unequivocally”.
Tchiroma had claimed victory against the incumbent two days after the October 12 election and called for demonstrations.
Post-election violence left scores dead, and several others were detained as Biya clung to power by using state machinery.
Gwain Colbert believes that the government’s handling of the post-election crisis has weakened trust in democracy in Cameroon:
“Cameroon’s handling of post-election violence has cowed everyone into submission and has further eroded trust in democratic institutions,” he told CNA.
“Dissent has been weaponized, truth twisted, silence rewarded, and language made to convict long before the courts are inconvenienced; trust in what remains of our democratic institutions can only be lost. The October 12 presidential election actually gave democracy a bad name,” Gwain says.
Professor Victor Julius Ngoh, a respected scholar on Cameroonian history and current affairs,s sees the issue a bit differently. Ngoh holds that “The electoral code which manages elections in Cameroon is so loose that any person can jokingly and clumsily walk into being a presidential candidate despite the fact he or she may lack what it takes to be a candidate for a presidential election. The CPDM regime’s most feared political opponent was Maurice Kamto. The regime walked an extra mile, in collaboration with Elecam and the Constitutional Council, to bar Kamto from being a candidate,” Ngoh explains. He adds that “Very illegal means were used by the officials of the Ministry of Territorial Administration to keep him (Kamto) out of the race. The Ministry had to ensure that its own database was not hacked and documents relating to MANIDEM (Kamto’s party) were not altered to prevent Kamto from running under the banner of that political party. The illegal means used to bar Kamto, along with the Ministry of Territorial Administration’s refusal to acknowledge that its database in political parties had been hacked, and the fact that the only file tampered with was Kamto’s, is mind-boggling. The barring of Kamto from that perspective was very illegitimate”.
Biya’s regime used every trick in the book to ensure that Kamto, who was seen during the campaign as Biya’s strongest opponent, was kept out of the race. However, the regime didn’t realize that keeping Kamto out was instead paving the way for Issa Tchiroma, who emerged again as Biya’s strongest opponent post-Kamto.
This shift in support from the Cameroonian masses showed that the public was tired of Biya and longed for change, regardless of who would help bring forth this change.
Tchiroma himself had been a staunch supporter of Biya during his more than 20 years as minister in Biya’s government. However, he won the admiration of many within the Anglophone community when he apologized for some of his incendiary comments during his term as minister. This came after Tchiroma announced his resignation from government in July 2025 to run as an opposition candidate.
So even though Biya claims to have won, this leaves Cameroonians in a space which Prof. Ngoh describes as electoral continuity without alternation. “Electoral continuity without alternation” is an insult to the democratic process in Cameroon. All the principal actors who are responsible for the electoral process, from organization to proclamation of the results, are appointed solely by the Head of State, who is also the chairman of the ruling CPDM party. It goes without saying that ” he who pays the piper determines the music,” the acclaimed historian says. “Secondly, government financial, human, and material resources are used exclusively by the ruling CPDM party to organize and run its presidential campaigns. The degree of election corruption, rigging, and fraud is revolting” he regrets.
However, both Ngoh and Gwain note that Biya is so adept at keeping his opponents in check by giving them something in return, which helps reduce the likelihood of dissent.
“The regimes of Ahmadou Ahidjo (Cameroon’s first president) and Paul Biya respond to elite dissent by intimidation, arrest, co-option into the system, political bribery such as appointment of political rivals into ministerial positions, assassinations, financial rewards (bribes) to political opponents most of whom are too weak-minded to refuse the bribes, while some elites are too gullible or are in politics for selfish financial and political gains” Ngoh explains.
Since the media is often seen as the Fourth Estate of democracy, Gwain Colbert explains that part of the reason the whole process from campaign to Biya’s almost predictable “win” was that the media in Cameroon failed to report more critically and help voters make more informed choices.
“Many Cameroonian media and journalists were successfully cowed into submission by the excessive threats and intimidation of the Territorial Administration Minister, who had presented himself as the “moulinex” (destroyer) and sheriff of the Cameroon government,” Gwain explains. “Apart from a few daring ones, virtually all Cameroon media chose self-censorship over critical and investigative journalism that could hold the powers that be to account. Few questioned the balance sheet of Biya’s last seven years, and a majority reduced themselves to just reporting on the campaign activities and declarations of President Biya’s ministers, hook, line, and sinker. This unfortunatel,y left very little access to opposition voices,” he opines.
“The situation, unfortunately, spiraled into the post-election scenario, where the tense atmosphere made journalists complacent. The once-vibrant media reduced itself to focusing on which elite delivered the most votes for President Paul Biya and who might earn a cabinet seat in his new government”.
