The Minister of Territorial Administration (MINAT), Atanga Nji Paul in recent weeks has sharpened his rhetoric against anyone who dares to organise or participate in street protests. Known for styling himself as the “sheriff” of the government and the Head of State , Atanga Nji has repeatedly issued stern warnings as October 12 draws closer.
As the country awaited the publication of the list of presidential candidates by ELECAM, the MINAT boss warned on national television that “no form of protest will be tolerated”.
“What I am telling political actors is that when candidates will be validated and known, if your name is not among them, it is finished for 2025. You wait for 2032,” he said during a July 20 broadcast on CRTV, adding that “They (eliminated candidates) should cry quietly. There is no need to cry in public… cry at home, not on the road”.
On the eve of ELECAM’s publication of the official list of candidates, as pre-electoral litigations were still ongoing, major towns were heavily militarized.
In a press release issued on July 25, Atanga Nji stated:
“Any threat, insult, or smear campaign against the institutions of the Republic, those who embody them, or members of their families particularly when disseminated via social media will be strictly prosecuted. The perpetrators of such abuses will be apprehended, identified, and brought before the competent courts.”
The following day, July 26, after ELECAM released the official list of presidential candidates, Atanga Nji met with administrative authorities in the Centre Region, including SDOs and DOs, to reinforce his message. He stressed that the only legal channel for dissatisfied candidates is the Constitutional Council “and no other means.” He instructed the local administrators to organize patrols to monitor people’s movements and actions.
” Demands will be made in homes,” he insisted.
After the disqualification of opposition leader Maurice Kamto from the race, following Constitutional Council hearings on August 5 , Atanga Nji told French radio, RFI:
“The law has been established, and we bow to it. Those who feel remorse or want to cry can do so in peace in their rooms.”
Heavy security had been deployed in major towns during the Constitutional Council’s review of ELECAM’s rejected candidate files. When young people protested being denied entry to the Council, authorities responded with tear gas and arrests, swiftly shutting down the demonstrations.
Mamadou Mota, acting president of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM), denounced these actions as violations of fundamental rights and citizens’ right to peaceful protest, stating that dozens of party supporters were arrested.
These crackdowns have deepened Cameroonians’ fear of street protests and could explain why public dissent remains rare and risky.
A Climate of Fear
The memory of the post-electoral protests of 2019 still haunts many Cameroonians. Peaceful demonstrations organized by CRM to contest alleged massive irregularities in the electoral process, ended in mass arrests, torture and prolonged detentions. Amnesty International called for their immediate release, citing violations of freedom of opinion.
This happened after hundreds had earlier on been arrested in connection with the unrest in Anglophone regions. The pattern has been consistent – those who dare to voice dissent are silenced, often brutally.
Oppressed but Silent
Today, Cameroonians have largely been tamed into silence. Decades of repression have instilled fear deep into the national psyche. Only a handful of courageous citizens attempt to protest, and when they do, they are swiftly crushed by heavily-armed police or gendarmes.
Justice has failed them repeatedly. Institutions that are supposed to act independently have shown clear bias in favour of the regime. Meanwhile, online campaigns, many orchestrated supposedly by government seek to intimidate citizens into submission.
Cameroonians watch as people in countries not very far away like Côte d’Ivoire, rise up for democratic change, while at home they endure in silence. What began subtly years ago is not brazenly on display.
The message from those in power is clear: what can the oppressed can do nothing to us?
Cameroonians have often been passive partakers in their own destiny, preferring to comment strongly on foreign politics like in the recent US election, but remaining mute on their own domestic politics. Paul Biya’s trigger-happy forces have understood this and their deployment has often helped to deter Cameroonians from speaking up. It is a democratic right to protest peacefully. If Atanga Nji dishes out lectures to Cameroonians after a sham court case as was plainly demonstrated by the Constitutional Council – then Cameroonians have every right to take to the streets. The fact that he preemptively went on CRTV to tell people to “cry in their rooms” is a clear indication that Atanga Nji knows that the Constitutional Council decision to kick Kamto out is not legally or morally right but politically motivated. Cameroonians are not sheep that need to be told to go left or right with a whip to the back. What is Atanga Nji so afraid of that he is trying so hard to contain? It is a mockery to democracy that the Council’s only excuse for kicking out Kamto was “Unfounded”. Cameroonians can see through the lies and the manipulation that Biya-appointees like Atanga Nji are trying to whitewash as “truth”. Maybe it’s time Cameroonians borrowed a page from their Ivorian counterparts since the courts are obviously unable to deliver justice.
