By Boris Esono Nwenfor
BUEA, Cameroon – Barely two months to the end of the 2024 annual revision of the electoral register in Cameroon, officials of Elections Cameroon, ELECAM in the South West have stated that over twenty-three thousand (23,000) potential voters have been registered as of July 5, 2024.
Njoya Sake, ELECAM South West Regional boss stated that there has been an improvement in the registration of new voters in the region. Before the launch of the exercise this year back in January, the number of registered voters stood at two thousand.
The ELECAM South West boss attributed this improvement to the commitment demonstrated by the population and other stakeholders of the electoral process. Archbishop Andrew Nkea of the Bamenda Archdiocese said: “Many Cameroonians are sceptical about registering, 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 organizing elections to ensure that the elections are free, elections are fair and that elections reflect the minds of voters.”
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 were also expected to take place next year, but have now been pushed forward to 2026.
“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 protecting 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.
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.
