11, September 2025
Cameroon signals urgency on biometric voter ID collection as presidential vote nears 0
Calls are multiplying from officials of Cameroon’s elections management agency (ELECAM) across the country for registered voters to take possession of their biometric voter cards in a move that has been considered a race against time.
The election agency is now racing to distribute both backlogged old cards and newly printed ones as the country’s presidential election is just a month away. Some of the uncollected cards date back to 2018 and even older, officials say.
Cameroonians are due to elect a new president on October 12 in an election that has incumbent President Paul Biya and 11 other candidates in the race.
According to ELECAM, hundreds of thousands of biometric voter cards remain uncollected at its decentralized offices across the nation, and officials are said to be using door-to-door campaigns, mobile teams, and council area commissions to get these cards to their owners.
Registered voters without voter cards will not be able to cast their ballot on polling day, ELECAM warns.
In the Littoral Region, for example, officials say there are more than 350,000 cards still uncollected, as officials intensify strategies to make sure they meet registered citizens through proximity methods.
In the South Region, the Regional Delegate of ELECAM told state broadcaster, CRTV, recently that they received more than 115,000 voter cards from the Directorate General of ELECAM covering the period 2021-2024, but that just around 50,000 cards have been collected.
Of the total number of cards collected for distribution in the South West Region, just around 48 percent of them have been handed over to their owners, the ELECAM Regional Delegate for that region, Zofoa Njoya Sake, told Biometric Update in a chat.
He said of the 66,515 cards received, about 31,861 of them have been distributed, while more than 34,000 others remain to withdrawn by their owners. Nonetheless, he said they have received logistical support to enable them clear the backlog of uncollected cards.
In the past weeks, ELECAM’s teams say they have been working in collaboration with members of commissions charged with the issuance and distribution of voter cards in all council areas to ramp up collection.
Their efforts are intended to make sure that all registered voters receive their cards before election day on October 12.
Cameroon’s electoral law states that biometric voter cards issued to registered voters shall be permanent, and can only be replaced in the case of loss or damage.
Apart from voter card distribution, ELECAM says it is also currently in the process of deduplicating the biometric voter registry which has around 8.2 million registered voters.
In May, ELECAM announced that it took delivery of new biometric gear to support voter registration for the presidential election. It also trained some of its staff on the effective use of the devices.
Cameroon introduced a biometric voter registration system in 2012 with a first set of 1,200 kits supplied then by German firm Giesecke and Devrient. Other kits were later purchased from GenKey and Veridos, according to ELECAM sources.
Source: Biometricupdate.com



















11, September 2025
Football: Eto’o implicated in Chelsea agent payments 0
Chelsea have been charged by the Football Association with 74 alleged rule breaches related to payments to agents between 2009 and 2022.
The charges are primarily focused on transfers between the 2010-11 and 2015-16 seasons.
Three deals that form part of the investigation involved Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto’o and Willian.
There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on the part of those players.
Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich was in control of the club from 2003 to 2022, before selling Chelsea to a consortium led by American investor Todd Boehly and private equity firm Clearlake Capital.
The alleged rule breaches concern agents, intermediaries and third-party investments in players.
Chelsea, who said they had reported the potential rule breaches to the FA themselves, have until 19 September to respond.
There are a wide range of options available to sanction Chelsea, including a fine, transfer embargo and points deduction. However, the Blues’ high level of co-operation will be factored in and the club don’t expect to be hit with a sporting sanction.
Sources at Chelsea also say they have no concerns about the impact of any future fines on compliance with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability regulations (PSR) having factored in a potential punishment after the takeover of the club in 2022.
“During a thorough due diligence process prior to completion of the purchase, the ownership group became aware of potentially incomplete financial reporting concerning historical transactions and other potential breaches of FA rules,” Chelsea said.
“Immediately upon the completion of the purchase, the club self-reported these matters to all relevant regulators, including the FA.
“The club has demonstrated unprecedented transparency during this process, including by giving comprehensive access to the club’s files and historical data.”
The Premier League has confirmed to BBC Sport that their investigation remains ongoing.
In 2023, Chelsea were fined £8.6m by Uefa for “submitting incomplete financial information” between 2012 and 2019.
Hazard was signed by Chelsea from Lille in 2012 and, in seven seasons at Stamford Bridge, won the Premier League and Europa League twice, the FA Cup and League Cup.
The Belgian scored 110 goals in 352 games for the Blues before joining Real Madrid in 2019.
Brazilian forward Willian and former Cameroon striker Eto’o arrived at Chelsea from Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala in August 2013.
Willian, who scored 63 goals in 339 appearances, won five trophies with the Blues before leaving for Arsenal in 2020, while Eto’o spent one season at Chelsea before making a switch to Everton.
Source: BBC