2, October 2025

Bishop Lontse-Keune of Bafoussam says democracies must ‘alternate’ leaders ⁰

Bishop Paul Lontse-Keune did not name President Paul Biya, at 92 the world’s oldest leader and after 43 years the second longest ruling president in Africa, who is seeking an eighth term.

Cameroonians must remember that changes in political leadership are essential to healthy democracy, a bishop said ahead of presidential elections on 12 October.

Bishop Paul Lontse-Keune of Bafoussam said alternation of power was integral to the democratic process and should take place through “free, fair and transparent elections”, in a letter on 26 September.

He said that Scripture evidenced not only the necessity for alternation of power, but also the limits of human influence. While Moses had the task of liberating the people of Israel, he said, Moses never stepped his foot on the Holy Land. Instead, God ordered that that authority be handed over to Joshua.

Power also changed hands from Samuel to Saul, and from Saul to David, and all these changes were “for the good of the people”, Bishop Lontse-Keune said. He warned against the temptation to raise leaders to the position of deities, noting that “the reign of a leader must have an end”.

“Change distils its benefits to the people and the nation … it is not an option, it is the living proof that democracy works,” he said.

The bishop said alternation prevents the confiscation of power by a single individual or group, allows citizens to hold their leaders accountable, helps in the fight against corruption, enables the renewal of ideas and the political elite, and above all enhances the credibility of a nation globally, he said, which can potentially attract foreign investments.

His letter did not name President Paul Biya, at 92 the world’s oldest leader and the second longest ruling president in Africa, who has governed Cameroon as president for 43 years and is seeking an eighth term.

Biya is running against 11 other candidates, including two of his former ministers who resigned to challenge him. Bishop Lonste-Keune urged all 12 competing candidates to present their competing visions to voters clearly, by visiting all parts of the country and taking part in a a televised presidential debate.

Source: the tablet.co.uk

2, October 2025

Cameroonian man wanted for drug smuggling caught in Bangkok ⁰

Thai Immigration police arrested a 40-year-old a Cameroonian man wanted by Interpol for international drug trafficking after he evaded authorities for more than a year while living illegally in the capital.

Acting on intelligence that a Cameroonian national was overstaying his visa and potentially involved in drug trafficking, Pol. Lt. Gen. Panthana Nuchanart, Deputy Commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, launched an investigation into a suspect using the alias “Emmanuel.”

Immigration records revealed Emmanuel entered Thailand on a 60-day tourist visa that had expired. Further checks confirmed he was wanted on an Interpol warrant for smuggling 19 kilograms of narcotics via courier to South Korea. He had been living in Bangkok since 2016.

Officers located Emmanuel on Phetchaburi Road near his hotel and arrested him without incident. Speaking fluent Thai, he acknowledged being the person named in the warrant and admitted his visa had expired.

Despite denying drug involvement, a search of his hotel room uncovered drug paraphernalia, one 9mm pistol, two modified blank guns, a modified .38 caliber magazine, and nearly 80 rounds of ammunition in various calibers. Officers also seized over 2 grams of crystal methamphetamine, 1 gram of MDMA, and one methamphetamine pill.

Emmanuel claimed the weapons were pawned by a Thai friend and that the drugs belonged to acquaintances who used his room to consume narcotics. However, a hospital urine test returned positive for methamphetamine. He then admitted to using crystal meth but said he hadn’t consumed it for one day.

He faces charges of overstaying his visa, illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, illegal possession of Category 1 narcotics, and drug consumption.

Source: Khaosod English

2, October 2025

2025 Presidential Elections: Picture set to win ⁰

Presidential elections in Cameroon are scheduled for 12 October 2025 and 92-year-old President Biya who returned yesterday to the country after a 12-day health tourism in Switzerland remains the leading candidate. Mr. Biya has been in power since 1982 and for 43 years, the country has witnessed an escalation in corruption and poverty.

Following the introduction of multiparty politics in the country, the country’s political environment has been dominated by the ruling CPDM which has total control over the country’s electoral institutions.

Biya is frail, unable to walk and most of his recent pronouncements have been through social media platforms. In a recent tweet, the man who has nothing to show for his long stay in power, pointed out that much remains to be done, an indictment of his government and testimony to the fact that he has failed the country.

Biya’s ruling Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement has strong control over the government treasury and control over major media houses in the country. His rivals are disqualified, blocked, or weakened while he goes abroad during election campaigns to enjoy the sweat of other countries. Holiday InterContinental Hotel in Geneva has become Mr. Biya’s office when he issues his infamous and ridiculous high instructions.

Campaigns have started and CPDM militants are holding rallies parading Biya’s photos and some dying in accidents while the old CPDM chairman enjoys himself out of the country.

Issa Tchiroma who successfully emerged as Biya’s main challenger is already speaking of systemic bias while local and international media organizations are already treating Biya as the likely winner not because he is popular but because he is popularly unpopular.

Whatever Biya wants, Biya gets!! He is not involved in any campaign but simply enjoying his private trip in Europe. Cameroon is the only country in the world where if you want to lose an election you campaign but if you want to win, you leave the country while your picture represents you in rallies.

Biya’s complete absent from the campaign trail raises serious doubts about fairness in the electoral process. It also calls into question his patriotism and physical ability to rule a country he has willfully destroyed.

As credible opposition figures continue to face institutional barriers, Biya’s picture on seats during rallies is now set to win the presidential election in Cameroon. Mr. Biya has reduced Cameroonians to desperate clowns who even worship the picture of a dying scammer.

The election governing body, ELECAM, is at the mercy of Mr. Biya and his appointees, with opposition parties citing lack of transparency in the electoral processes.

The electoral drama in East Cameroon is not drawing attention in the two English-speaking regions of the country where Ambazonia Restoration Forces have reportedly shut down the English-speaking regions. Boko Haram has increased its violent activities in the north and there are reports that citizens in this areas will not be able to vote.

Biya’s advanced age and health are a matter of very grave concern. This explains why only his picture has been used to represent him in all CPDM rallies. Senior political figures such as Barrister Akere Muna have pointed out that in the current “set to win” picture situation, Biya may not be able to serve his full term and this may end up creating instability.

The legitimacy of the election has already been questioned by commentators both at home and abroad with many condemning the process as unfair. If Biya’s picture ends up winning the election, his victory will be the first of its kind in the world. Pictures have never won elections in any part of the world but it is becoming clearer everyday that Cameroon is well on the path to setting a new political record.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

1, October 2025

Yaoundé: Ngute commissions Chinese-built headquarters of public works ministry ⁰

Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute on Tuesday inaugurated the headquarters building of the Ministry of Public Works, built by Sinohydro Corporation Limited, a Chinese engineering and construction company.

At the inauguration ceremony in the capital, Yaoundé, Ngute thanked Sinohydro “for professional and good quality work.”

The Cameroonian government is committed to equipping public institutions with modern infrastructure to enhance performance and efficiency, the prime minister said.

According to the Ministry of Public Works, the high-rise complex comprises four interconnected blocks, offering “a modern and functional working environment.”

Source: Xinhuanet

30, September 2025

Former Congo-Kinshasa president sentenced to death for war crimes ⁰

Former Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila has been sentenced to death in absentia for war crimes and treason.

The charges concern accusations that Kabila has been supporting the M23, a rebel group who have wreaked devastation across the country’s eastern region.

Kabila was convicted on Friday by a military court of treason, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, including murder, sexual assault, torture and insurrection. He denied the charges, but did not appear in court to defend himself.

The ex-president rejected the case as “arbitrary” and said the courts were being used as an “instrument of oppression”. His current whereabouts are unknown.

The 54-year-old led DR Congo for 18 years, after succeeding his father Laurent, who was shot dead in 2001.

Kabila handed power to President Félix Tshisekedi in 2019, but they later fell out and Kabila went into self-imposed exile in 2023.

In April this year, the former president said he wanted to help find a solution to the deadly fighting in the east and arrived in the M23-held city of Goma the following month.

President Tshisekedi accused Kabila of being the brains behind the M23 and senators stripped him of his legal immunity, paving the way for his prosecution.

Decades of conflict had escalated earlier this year when the M23 seized control of large parts of the mineral-rich east, including Goma, the city of Bukavu and two airports.

Pointing to overwhelming evidence, the UN and several Western countries have accused neighbouring Rwanda of backing the M23, and sending thousands of its soldiers into DR Congo.

But Kigali denies the charges, saying it is acting to stop the conflict from spilling over onto its territory.

A ceasefire deal between the rebels and the government was agreed in July, but the bloodshed has continued.

Source: BBC

30, September 2025

A Crown of Thorns: The Tragic Irony of Philémon Yang’s Praise for Paul Biya ⁰

As the nation teeters on the brink of collapse, haunted by its own fractured identity, former Prime Minister Philémon Yang has stepped forward not to call for reform or justice but to once again decorate the presidency with laurels. In a recent public declaration, Yang hailed President Paul Biya as the best candidate to ensure peace, stability, and development in Cameroon.

To the average Cameroonian who wakes each morning in a country consumed by war, corruption, and deep institutional decay, such praises land not as reassurance but as salt in an open wound.

After more than four decades in power, President Biya is not just a symbol of continuity. He has become the face of an enduring and painful crisis. Yet from polished podiums and elite gatherings, the political establishment continues to sing his praises while the nation bleeds in silence.

A Tale of Two Cameroons

There is the Cameroon that Philémon Yang speaks of. A land of order, progress, and unity under the steady hand of its long-standing and dictatorial ruler. And there is the Cameroon most citizens live in. A nation where soldiers torch villages in the Northwest and Southwest, where journalists disappear into detention cells, and where mothers grieve over the charred remains of their children!

In this other Cameroon, peace is a myth, stability is enforced through fear, and development has taken a long painful detour.

What Mr Yang calls leadership, many Cameroonians now recognize as survival politics. A regime that sustains itself not through vision but through silence, suppression, and self-preservation.

Samuel Wazizi The Journalist Who Vanished in Custody

Perhaps no story better captures this brutal contradiction than the tragic fate of Samuel Wazizi, a journalist arrested in August 2019 in Buea for reporting on the Anglophone crisis. Daring to speak aloud what others whispered in fear. For months, his family and legal team were kept in the dark about his whereabouts. It was not until June 2020 that the government finally confirmed what many feared. Wazizi had died in military custody, allegedly due to severe torture.

No one has been held accountable

There was no public inquiry, no independent investigation, and no justice. His death sent a chilling message across the media landscape. In today’s Cameroon, telling the truth can cost you your life or exile.

Yet, Philémon Yang invokes stability without mention of the silence that now blankets the press and the country.

Ngabou Ngarbuh and the Memory of Fire

What kind of peace allows the massacre of children?

In Ngarbuh in 2020 and later in Ngabou, families were ripped apart in unspeakable acts of violence reportedly at the hands of state forces. The haunting images of babies burned in their sleep, mothers executed in broad daylight, and entire villages left in ashes are etched into the national memory. These are not the birthmarks of peace. They are the scars of abandonment.

Still, the state’s response has been slow, evasive, and muted. Instead of confronting these horrors, the political elite chooses to elevate a narrative that serves power over truth.

Development Deferred, Justice Denied

While Mr Yang speaks of development, hospitals collapse under the weight of neglect and roads in rural regions are impassable during the rainy season. Unemployment remains high and the wealth gap continues to widen. The COVID-19 pandemic further exposed the fragility of Cameroon’s health infrastructure. A system more responsive to elite interests than public needs.

And what about justice? For many, it remains a phantom. A luxury reserved for those with connections. The poor are left to navigate a system designed to exhaust rather than empower. Victims of abuse from arbitrary arrests to land grabs find little relief in courts where power not law determines outcomes.

A Legacy of Fear Disguised as Stability

What Philémon Yang and others in the ruling elite call stability has in practice become the art of managing fear. Dissent is criminalized. Protesters are jailed. Artists and musicians like Longue Longue have faced harassment and physical abuse simply for daring to speak. Cameroon has become a place where criticism is conflated with criminality and where silence is no longer a choice but a survival tactic.

The Danger of Ritual Praise

The most dangerous lies are not the ones told by dictators but the ones repeated by those who know better.

Philémon Yang, a seasoned politician with decades in public service, cannot claim ignorance. His endorsement is not just political theatre. It is an act of betrayal. A betrayal of the suffering Anglophone mothers, the silenced journalists, the displaced families, and the young Cameroonians who see no future in a country where truth has no microphone.

The Final Irony

In the end, it is not Biya’s rule that shocks the conscience. It is how many in the elite continue to applaud while the country drowns. Their praises echo in marble halls while ordinary Cameroonians bury their dead, walk miles for medicine, or flee their homes under gunfire.

To call this peace is to spit on grief.

To call this development is to mock despair.

To call this stability is to ignore the tremors shaking the nation’s soul

The truth is not convenient but it is necessary. Until those in power begin to speak it, Cameroon will continue to stand as a republic of silence wrapped in empty applause.

By Ntam Charles in Bonn, Germany

29, September 2025

Biya absent as presidential campaigning picks up ⁰

Cameroon’s elderly president Paul Biya was absent from the country on Sunday as campaigning kicked into high gear for October 12 polls to decide who will fill his position.

The 92-year-old — the world’s oldest head of state, in power since 1982 — is seeking an eighth term in office.

But he left Cameroon a week ago on a “private trip” to Europe, according to his office. Diplomatic sources have said the leader, who is rarely seen in public, was in Geneva.

Campaigning started on Saturday and continued on Sunday with Biya’s main rivals holding rallies.

Cabral Libii, candidate of the opposition Cameroon Party for National Reconciliation (PCRN), held his under light rain in the coastal city of Douala.

A former tourism minister, Bello Bouba Maigari, who is also running, roused several hundred National Union for Democracy and Progress party members in his own rally, alongside another candidate, Akere Muna, who has dropped out of the race and given him his support.

A total of 12 candidates were cleared to vie for the presidency, including Biya.

The outgoing president has not directly addressed his fellow citizens since July 13, when he announced his candidacy on the social media platform X.

Biya — who is seen as a favourite to win, given the divided opposition — was embarrassed on September 17 when his daughter Brenda Biya posted a video to TikTok urging her followers to abandon her father.

She later deleted the video and posted an apology.

A 2018 investigation of economic crime by a consortium of journalists found Paul Biya had spent some 4.5 years of his presidency abroad, largely in Switzerland, at an estimated cost of $65 million.

The president failed to show as scheduled at the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, represented instead by his foreign minister.

By Queen Besumbu Agbaw

29, September 2025

Will violence stop people from voting in Southern Cameroons? ⁰

The escalating tensions surrounding separatist movements in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon have raised alarming concerns regarding national security and political stability. On 10 September 2025, along Mile 14 Munyenge on Muyuka Road, a rural stretch in the country’s Southwest region, a routine patrol by Cameroonian soldiers turned into a deadly ambush.

Six soldiers were killed in a single morning without any warning or prior threat, just a flash, a blast, and then silence. Similarly, on 5 September, an incident in Malende, Muyuka, claimed the lives of seven soldiers.

This was not just another isolated act of violence in a forgotten war. Rather, it was a high-profile attack occurring just four weeks before the Cameroonian presidential election, an election in which the 92-year-old incumbent, Paul Biya, is seeking an unprecedented eighth term in office. While the political elite in Yaoundé prepare for the election, the war in the Anglophone regions is also evolving, becoming more sophisticated and deadlier than ever before. The use of advanced explosives demonstrates a level of technical skill that marks a significant escalation from the simple ambushes and kidnappings that characterized the early days of this rebellion. These actions, well executed by the separatists, are not merely acts of violence; they are calculated efforts to undermine the state’s authority and assert a narrative of resistance.

How did the conflict arise? In 2016, lawyers, teachers, and students later joined to take to the streets in towns such as Bamenda, Kumba, and Manfe, among others, to protest the appointment of French-speaking judges and teachers who could neither express themselves in English nor function in their common law courts and English-speaking schools. The Anglophone protesters perceived this as a slap on their identity. The government’s response was to deploy military personnel instructed to use tear gas and live ammunition to disperse the protesters. Unbeknownst to the government, what began as a peaceful protest quickly escalated into a full-scale war and a demand for secession. This brutal crackdown radicalized an entire generation, transforming a moderate call for federalism into a full declaration of independence for the Ambazonia state in 2017.

The attacks on the government military reveal the dangerous reality of state failure brewing in Cameroon. A country already on the edge, these attacks signify that the old guard of power is losing its grip, creating a vacuum where new, more radical forces are now emerging.

The implications for Cameroon are profound, especially during election cycles when political discourse is highly sensitive and can significantly influence public perception. The attacks may trigger a surge in nationalistic sentiments, potentially further polarizing voters. While some individuals might unite in solidarity when facing perceived threats, there is a real concern that the ongoing violence will lead to disillusionment, fear, and apathy among the electorate. When citizens feel unsafe, they are less likely to participate actively in the democratic process, which could result in lower voter turnout, a troubling scenario for any government. Additionally, political opponents may exploit the attacks and the heightened insecurity in conflict-affected regions as a strategic narrative to strengthen their platforms, presenting themselves as agents of change capable of restoring safety and stability. This could foster a chain reaction of political shifts, leaving the current government on the defensive and struggling to maintain the support of its base amid growing public anxiety.

As we approach October 12, 2025, in just a few weeks, the Electoral Committee must develop a framework to ensure the safety of citizens as they head to the polls. Again, leaders should take the initiative to recognize the urgency of addressing the underlying issues fueling separatism while simultaneously reinforcing the pillars of democracy.

Failure to do so could not only jeopardise the upcoming elections, especially in the Anglophone regions, but also lead to an election marred by chaos, further destabilising the nation and undermining confidence in the democratic process.

Culled from Mail/Guardian

29, September 2025

Catholic youth seek to end reign of 92-year-old Biya ⁰

Ahead of contentious presidential elections set for Oct. 12, many young Catholic voters in Cameroon say they’re seeking “generational change,” widely understood as a call to end the 43-year reign of 92-year-old President Paul Biya.

“It defies logic for someone of such advanced age to lead a predominantly young population,” said Omar Yusinyu, a member of the Catholic Men Association at St. Anne’s Parish in Obili, encapsulating a core sentiment driving the youthful dissent.

“In a normal society, aged people give way to young ones, especially their children, to manage most of their businesses,” he told Crux.

Biya is seeking an unprecedented 8th term in office. Should he prevail, he would be almost 100 years old by the time his term ended.

Biya recently left the country for what his office has termed a private visit to Europe. The trip comes a week after his daughter, Brenda, urged Cameroonians not to vote for her father, accusing him of causing enormous suffering for the country’s people. She has, however, since walked back on that statement.

Biya faces competition from 11 other candidates, including two former ministers who resigned to challenge their long-serving boss.

Catholic youth interviewed by Crux are increasingly vocal in their opposition to extending the tenure of the world’s oldest leader and Africa’s second-longest-serving president, after Equatorial Guinea’s Obiang Nguema.

Yusinyu said he has not yet made up his mind on who to vote for, but Biya isn’t among those he’s considering.

“Biya seeking another 7-year term is an insult to the youth,” he said.

“It’s sometimes shameful to see a young man in Cameroon claiming that a 92-year-old man is the best Cameroonians can have. For more than 40 years in power, there is no single achievement that his government can boast of. This is a man who took Cameroon from somewhere and has brought the country to its knees,” he said.

But it is not only the President’s age that has become a major turn-off for youth. Decades of poor governance are also driving Catholic youth to seek alternative leadership.

“The country is not well-governed, and it is so because of the current president,” said Divine Kwansu.

Yusinyu starkly states that after more than 40 years in power, “there is no single achievement that his government can boast of.”

Many young Cameroonians believe the nation has been brought “to its knees” by leadership which, according to Divine, has increasingly been ruling by proxy, with decisions made on the president’s behalf that have not benefited citizens. This growing frustration among youth reflects a broader desire for accountability and effective governance that has been absent for decades.

While youth have not identified the candidate they want to vote for, Yusinyu said he is cautiously considering Biya’s former minister who resigned earlier this year to challenge the incumbent for the top job, Issa Tchiroma.

Tchiroma had served as Biya’s minister for about 20 years, but Yusinyu believes that of the 11 candidates challenging the incumbent, Tchiroma remains “the lesser evil.”

“It’s clear that Issa Tchiroma Bakary seems to be the lesser evil that people should go in for. He has made some interesting steps since his candidacy was [approved] by the elections management body. If he stands the promises he’s made, there could be some significant change,” he told Crux.

Yusinyu explained that despite Tchiroma’s 20-year history with the same regime he now opposes, his calls for opposition unity and apologies for past actions as Minister of Communication are attributes of leadership that should guide the electorate.

“Giving him a chance, even if just because Cameroonians are tired of hearing the name Biya for over four decades, will be good for me,” Yusinyu said, reflecting a pragmatic approach rooted more in desire for change than absolute confidence in the opposition candidate.

The emerging political consciousness represents a significant challenge to the established order, as young Cameroonians demand the opportunity to shape their nation’s future beyond the shadow of a presidency that has spanned most of their lives.

Catholic bishops in the Central African nation have been calling on the electorate to actively take part in the presidential polls.

In a September 26 pastoral letter, the Bishop of Bafoussam in Cameroon’s West region urged Christians not only to vote, but also to “defend” their vote.

Bishops of the Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province in August described voting as “an act of grave moral responsibility” and called upon the electorate to be guided by principles of truth, justice, and the common good.

“Elections represent significant moments that engage the attention of all citizens, while at the same time, an occasion for the people to assert their sovereignty through the free and deliberate choice of their leaders,” the bishops said.

“The exercise of the right to vote is an act of grave moral responsibility,” they added, before urging “all duly registered voters to exercise their civic responsibility during the presidential election by voting in accordance with the dictate of their conscience.”

Source: Crux

29, September 2025

Presidential election campaign kicks off in Cameroon ⁰

Cameroon’s presidential race officially began on Saturday, with 12 candidates, including one woman, vying for the country’s highest office.

The campaign will last for two weeks, culminating in the presidential election on Oct. 12.

Incumbent President Paul Biya, leader of the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, is seeking to extend his 43-year rule by winning another seven-year mandate.

Issa Tchiroma Bakary and Bello Bouba Maigari, former ministers and ex-allies of Biya, are among the main opposition contenders.

Joshua Osih, candidate of the leading opposition Social Democratic Front, launched his campaign in Bamenda, the chief town of the English-speaking Northwest Region, which has been ravaged by an armed separatist conflict since 2017.

Separatist fighters have imposed a month-long lockdown to disrupt the election in the war-torn English-speaking regions of the Northwest and Southwest, where they are seeking to create an independent nation.

Source: Xinhuanet