Cameroon: Mass Voter Registration Campaign Underway

Cameroon’s elections body ELECAM, reports that about 7.3 million civilians have registered for future elections of about 15 million potential voters

By Boris Esono Nwenfor

BUEA, Cameroon – With elections on the horizon in the country, some members of Cameroon's Opposition parties, together with Civil Society organizations have embarked on a campaign aimed at getting Cameroonians registered on the electoral roll. This is in a bit to quell the voter apathy that exists in the country.

Cameroon's presidential election is expected to take place in October 2025, though the exact date has yet to be made by the country’s president. The legislative and municipal elections are also expected to take place next year. It is however uncertain if all three elections will be organized next year. In 2008, Biya removed term limits from the constitution, allowing him to serve indefinitely.

"If we are feeling these pains that this government has infringed [inflicted] on Cameroonians for the past 40 years we have to come out in 2025, vote massively and protect our votes,” Mbah Raoul, spokesperson of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement, or CRM, party said. “We should be the ones to choose our leaders. We have to combat electoral fraud by voting massively and protect[ing] our votes."

Cameroon's elections body ELECAM, reports that about 7.3 million civilians have registered for future elections about 15 million potential voters.  The opposition says half of Cameroon's 30 million people are 20 years and older and qualified to register and vote in elections but voter apathy has made many not register. The underlying feeling is that whether they register or not, the result with always go the way of the incumbent president, Paul Biya.

On November 6, 2023, Cameroon's nonagenarian president Paul Biya celebrated 41 years in office. Paul Biya, a former Prime Minister, took the reins of Cameroon on November 6, 1982, following the resignation of the country's first president Ahmadou Ahidjo.

Many voices within the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, CPDM Party have already called for him to vie in the 2025 presidential election for an 8th, 7-year term. Critics of his regime, however, cited corruption, bad governance, and an ongoing succession battle in the country’s North West and South West Regions. 

Elvis Mbowoh, ELECAM’s manager for Cameroon’s English-speaking North West Region told state TV that opposition parties and civil society groups are gradually noticing that the elections body plays a neutral role in polls. He said: "The situation on the ground is changing. I see more politicians running to the field, galvanizing people to come out and register."

"I am already establishing a good relationship with the civil society, not only the civil society but all political stakeholders. That is why we set out an objective to work with all stakeholders and especially the media."

Archbishop Andrew Nkea of the Bamenda Archdiocese said: "Many Cameroonians are sceptical [to register], but we cannot always presume that our votes will not make sense," Neka said. "If people go out massively to vote, their voice will make a difference and it is very important for those who are organizing elections to ensure that the elections are free, elections are fair and that elections reflect the minds of voters."