Cameroon: South West Youths Championing Mass Voter Registration

By Boris Esono Nwenfor

BUEA, Cameroon – With elections in the distance youths across the country have embarked on a campaign aimed at getting their peers 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.

“Elections are coming up next year and there are calls for youths to participate in the process by registering on electoral lists,” said Abwa Takang, South West President of the Cameroon National Youth Council, CNYC.

“For the Cameroon National Youth Council, we are not looking for any partners to support us but we are going to tell our youths to register and if you go around all ELECAM branches in Southwest, in all the subdivisions, you will see that the registration trend has increased massively because we are strongly behind it.”

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.

Abwa Takang added: “We know that it's our civic right, it's our civic responsibility for the change that we want. We can always get it through the ballot box. The change that people have been crying for can come only through the ballot box and it is our duty, it is our responsibility to come out to give support to those who have proven themselves worthy and we can only do that when we are registered. That's why you have seen that we continue to push and push and push till every youth of the Southwest has a voter's card.”

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.