The Director General of Elections Cameroon (Elecam), Erik Essousse, has reportedly called for the identification and punishment of staff members threatening to go on strike. Employees of Elecam are said to be planning industrial action to express their dissatisfaction over what they describe as “unbearable” working conditions, marked by long-standing injustices and suffering.
Essousse’s response, observers warn, risks escalating tensions and pushing employees toward more radical forms of protest.
According to reports from Le Héraut National newspaper, staff members have denounced, among other issues, salary increases granted to the President of the Electoral Board, which they say are disconnected from economic realities and living conditions of the rest of the personnel.
Workers of the independent electoral body, whose mission is vital to Cameroon’s democracy, have also raised concerns over empty payslips, lack of bonuses, and the failure to promote or reclassify employees according to their academic qualifications — issues they attribute to poor management practices. Employees reportedly feel that their contributions are not being recognized and that management decisions favour a privileged few at the expense of the majority.
Some of the workers who spoke to CNA said after the elections their gratification was 140,000FCFA, which they said was very small given the conditions with which they worked on the field.
These internal tensions come barely a month after allegations of electoral fraud following the October 12 presidential election. Presidential candidate Issa Tchiroma Bakary denounced cases of fraud, including attempts at ballot stuffing, supported by civil society reports and videos circulating online.
The International Crisis Group (ICG) has since warned that domestic mediation remains one of the few viable alternatives to end Cameroon’s deepening post-electoral crisis.
