8, August 2025

Yaoundé: Is the world’s oldest leader set for an eighth term? ⁰

Cameroon’s constitutional council has upheld the decision by the country’s electoral body to exclude opposition leader Maurice Kamto from the 12 October presidential election.

While the firebrand political figure was sidelined, 92-year-old President Paul Biya whose candidacy also faced opposition, was cleared to run for what would be his eighth term in the oil-rich Central African nation.

If he were elected for another seven-year term, he could remain in power until he was almost 100.

Kamto was ruled out because a rival faction of the Manidem party which endorsed him presented another individual as a candidate, highlighting an internal squabble.

His exclusion sparked outrage, with his lawyers describing the rejection of his petition as more of a political than a legal move.

Who are the main candidates?

Of the 83 candidates who submitted their applications to the electoral body, only 12 have been approved.

The reasons given by Elections Cameroon (Elecam) for the disqualification of the 71 range from incomplete files, non-payment of the required deposit, to multiple candidacies from the same party.

Of all the contestants, six are seen as the main contenders:

1. Paul Biya

At 92, Paul Biya is the world’s oldest serving head of state. He has been in power for nearly 43 years since 1982. Biya leads the ruling CPDM party which dominates the political scene. He is widely considered the favourite, now that his main rival, Kamto, is out of the way.

The veteran politician has never lost an election since the return of multi-party politics in 1990. However, his victories have been marred by allegations of vote rigging – claims which his party and the government have continuously denied.

Announcing his intention to run, Biya said his eighth mandate would focus on the wellbeing of women and young people.

2. Bello Bouba Maigari

Bello Bouba Maigari, 78, is an experienced politician who hails from Cameroon’s vote-rich northern region.

He is the president of the National Union for Democracy and Progress (NUDP) party founded in 1990. He served in the governments of both of Cameroon’s presidents -Ahmadou Ahidjo and Paul Biya.

In fact, he was Biya’s first prime minister between 1982 and 1983. Since 1997, Maigari has forged an alliance with Biya’s CPDM party that helped the latter clinch significant votes from the north.

However, this political marriage ended in June following pressure from within his party to run independently.

While serving as Minister of State for Tourism and Leisure, Maigari announced his resignation and declared himself a candidate against Biya, who he also faced in the 1992 presidential election.

3. Issa Tchiroma Bakary

Another former Biya ally whose candidacy came as a surprise is 75-year-old Issa Tchiroma Bakary. Like Maigari, he is from the country’s north and has been influential in helping Biya secure the region’s votes.

After a 20-year stint in different government roles, Tchiroma finally pulled the plug on his time with the 92-year-old leader, resigning from his role as Minister of Employment and Vocational Training to announce his candidacy.

Tchiroma, who heads the Cameroon National Salvation Front (CNSF) party, criticised Biya’s governance style and hinged his presidential bid on a promise to overhaul the system, which he described as “suffocating”.

AFP via Getty Images A man painted in green and white colours — Supporters of Joshua Osih came out in donned in party colours when he campaigned in the 2018 election, but he came fourth

4. Cabral Libii

Cabral Libii, president of the Cameroon Party for National Reconciliation (PCRN), is a vibrant member of parliament who is making his second attempt at getting the country’s top job.

In 2018, he was the youngest of the nine presidential candidates, aged just 38, coming third with 6% of the vote.

Libii’s candidature in this year’s election was challenged by PCRN founder Robert Kona, who disputed the lawmaker’s legitimacy to lead the party.

However, the Constitutional Council rejected Kona’s petition and upheld the electoral body’s decision to allow Libii to stand.

5. Akere Muna

Akere Muna was a candidate in the 2018 presidential election but pulled out at the last minute and threw his weight behind Kamto. This time around, Muna, a staunch international anti-corruption lawyer, says he wants to challenge Biya himself.

The 72-year-old is from a family of politicians – his late father Solomon Tandeng Muna served as Prime Minister of West Cameroon after independence, Vice-President of the then Federal Republic of Cameroon and Speaker of the National Assembly.

As Speaker, Solomon Muna swore in Biya when he took over as president after Ahmadou Ahidjo resigned.

Muna is promising to rid the bilingual country of the corruption and bad governance that he says have soiled its image at the international scene.

6. Joshua Osih

JoshuaOsih is jumping into the presidential race for the second time after his first attempt in 2018 proved futile.

He heads the Social Democratic Front (SDF) party, succeeding the iconic late opposition leader John Fru Ndi. The SDF used to be the country’s main opposition outfit, but its influence later dwindled, exacerbated by infighting and the expulsion of several party members in 2023.

Osih, 56, came fourth in the 2018 polls with 3%, but is hoping to defeat Biya through a promise of social and institutional reforms.

AFP via Getty Images A close-up shot of Maurice Kamto. He has short hair and glasses and is wearing a blue jacket. — Maurice Kamto was President Paul Biya’s main challenger in the previous election

Who poses the strongest challenge to Biya?

For many decades, President Biya has succeeded in maintaining a firm grip on power, making it difficult for him to lose elections.

The decision of political heavyweights Bello Bouba Maigari and Issa Tchiroma Bakary to challenge him appeared to make life more difficult, but some analysts believe they do not pose a significant threat to Biya.

Dr Pippie Hugues, a policy analyst with Cameroonian think-tank Nkafu Policy Institute, argues that their alliance with the current regime lessens their credibility with opposition voters.

“Cameroonians need more than just a resignation to trust them,” he told the BBC. “Both have been with the system and watched the nation suffer.”

Dr Hugues further suggested that the two northern candidates might be part of a political plot staged by the regime.

However, ruling party officials have portrayed the rupture as genuine, acknowledging that the CPDM could struggle to obtain as many votes from the north as before.

Given Kamto’s exclusion, Biya’s strongest challenger in 2018, third-placed Libii could arguably claim to be his main threat this year.

Although he got just 6% of the vote, Libii’s political evolution since then has been praised.

He led his party to win five seats in parliament and seven local councils during the 2020 legislative and municipal elections. Since becoming a member of parliament in the process, he has challenged the government on key policy issues, promising sweeping changes if he takes over the reins of power.

However, Dr Hugues says Libii’s vision is opaque, citing Akere Muna as a more convincing candidate with a much clearer project for the nation of nearly 30 million people.

“Muna has a wealth of international experience and diplomatic character, and that is what the nation needs now,” he said, while praising the renowned lawyer’s five-year transition plan to “put the nation back on track”.

Could the opposition unite?

Historically, Cameroon’s opposition has been fragmented especially during elections, with analysts saying this has disadvantaged them.

Ahead of this year’s presidential election, there has been much talk about the need for the opposition to unite and harmonise strategies to take on Biya. But with each candidate prioritising their own interests, it remains unclear if most – let alone all – of them would work together, despite the risk this could help the president.

“It might be the end of their political careers, or their parties, if they don’t come together,” said civil society leader Felix Agbor Balla.

“Kamto and the others must look for someone in the opposition who can carry the baton – and they must put the nation first, rise above their personal ego to look for a consensual candidate that can give the CPDM a run on the 12th of October,” he told the BBC.

Anadolu via Getty Images Protesters gather at Place de la Republique in Paris on May 31, 2025, at the call of the Cameroonian diaspora. Waving flags, holding placards and banners, they expressed their opposition to President Paul Biya, — Maurice Kamato has drummed up support among Cameroonians in the diaspora, as protests in support of him have taken place in Paris, France

Dr Hugues agrees that Kamto should use his influence to drum up support for an opposition coalition since he is now out of the race.

He insists “change must not [only] come with him [Kamto], but change can come through him”.

He added that an opposition coalition is possible and made reference to a meeting attended by opposition figures on 2 August in Foumban town in the West region.

Prince Michael Ekosso, president of the United Socialist Democratic Party (USDP), who took part in the meeting, told the BBC the aim was to lay the groundwork for a “consensual candidate”.

While no specific candidate has been designated yet, the criteria for consideration were laid down.

“We want a figure who is going to be responding to the aspirations of Cameroonians, someone who is flexible to work with others, someone who is bilingual and able to mobilise other candidates and political actors,” Ekosso said.

In the 1992 presidential election, firebrand opposition leader John Fru Ndi was backed by the Union for Change, a coalition of political parties and civil society organisations.

Although he was not the only opposition candidate, analysts say the coalition helped him get 36% of the vote – just shy of Biya’s 40%.

That was the closest anyone has ever got to beating Biya. Fru Ndi even claimed victory, but the authorities rejected allegations of vote rigging and confirmed Biya as the winner.

Many believe if the opposition doesn’t band together as it did in 1992, Biya might have an easy ride to the presidency.

“He has the experience, the human resources and the system to his advantage,” says Dr Hugues.

Source: BBC

8, August 2025

Cameroon’s Constitutional Council: a government that crushes ballots will eventually meet bullets ⁰

In the long, bloodstained ledger of Africa’s democratic betrayals, few chapters are as pungently shameful, or spectacularly tragic, as the travesty recently staged by Cameroon’s Constitutional Council; a body that now stands as a consecrated altar and mausoleum of cowardice and injustice, where the will of the people is ritually sacrificed. The unconstitutional and cowardly exclusion of Maurice Kamto, the most credible opposition leader and MANIDEM’s rightful candidate for the 2025 presidential election, is not only naked provocation and an insult to voters; it is state-sponsored electoral banditry – a daylight mugging of democracy itself. Let’s be clear: this Council is not a legal institution – it is a shriveled coven of Beti tribal jingoists and partisan cronies, comprising one menopausal matriarch and a cabal of tired old men tottering between senility and servility. Lacking spine, vision, or honor, these Judas-hearted charlatans, traded principle for privilege, betraying their solemn oaths with the audacity of sycophants groveling for scraps and crumbs of power. These soulless merchants of betrayal are not judges; they are scribes of a dying regime, dressing Paul Biya’s dictatorship in the robes of law and stamping tyranny with the seal of legitimacy. Their loyalty lies not with the constitution they swore to uphold, but with the decrepit throne of an aging autocrat. Drunken on greed and self-centered pedestrianism, they bent over backwards to crawl where conviction and character demanded they stand tall. The arbitrary rejection of Kamto is shameful, pathetic, disgraceful and devoid of any perfunctory exaggeration. History will brand those traitors as footnotes in the annals of treason and judicial brigandage.

In rejecting Kamto’s candidacy amid the overwhelming evidence of conspiracy and fraud by ELECAM and MINAT, the Council did not just err in law – its members defecated on democracy; trading jurisprudence for sycophancy, and law for lèse-majesté; while reinforcing its image as an uncircumcised appendage and spineless puppet of the ruling CPDM party. What manner of justice crawls on its belly to serve the whims of power? What kind of court builds its rulings not on precedent, but on illegality and political expediency? The Council has now become what every dictatorship requires: a rubber-stamp chorus of cowards, cloaked in legality, but reeking of fear. With counterfeit authority, they mutilated the voters’ right to choose. These court-jesters are not guardians of the republic; they are the undertakers of the republic’s dying breath. This decision will be remembered as a national curse; a scar gouged into the face of Cameroonian democracy.

History Will Name Them

History has never been kind to those who mortgage the future of nations for the fleeting comfort of a tyrant’s approval. The names of these traitors- Clément Atangana, Florence Rita Arrey, Émile Essombe,

Paul Nchoji Nkwi, Jean Baptiste Baskouda, Sanda Bah Oumarou, Charles Étienne Lekene Donfack, Ahmadou Tidjani, Adolphe Minkoa She, Aaron Logmo Beleck, Monique Ouli Ndongo – shall be recorded, not with honor, but with the indelible ink of shame. Their legacy will not be that of learned jurists, but of accomplices to repression, the assassins of a people’s dream. Let them know: robes rot, titles fade, power expires, but betrayal is immortal. No amount of legal contortion will erase the truth. The Council did not interpret the law; they strangled it. They did not deliver judgment; they delivered complacency. They did not uphold the constitution; they cremated it, and then danced around its ashes like jesters in a haunted palace.

The ossified Biya regime is terrified – not of Kamto’s politics, but of his popularity -his ability to mobilize the nation, articulate the frustrations of a destitute people, and to present a vision of a new Cameroon. Instead of defeating him at the ballot box, they have chosen the path of the despot: eliminate the challenger, muzzle dissent, and rig the race before it begins. This is the logic of tyrants. Cameroon today is ruled not by law, but by fear dressed in constitutional disguise. Let us be absolutely clear: Kamto did not lose the 2018 presidential election – he was robbed like Fru Ndi in 1992. And now, the regime is ensuring that he does not even get a chance to contest. This is not just an electoral hold-up. This is a premeditated assassination of Cameroon’s already battered democratic system.

With Kamto removed from the ballot, October 12 is not an election – it is an anointing. A theatrical coronation of an already-entrenched regime, cloaked in the illusion of popular choice. This insult to democracy will not go unnoticed. Cameroonians are not blind. They see the charade and know what is happening. They smell the rot. They feel the betrayal. From Maroua to Bamenda, from Yaoundé to the Diaspora, they know that without a credible challenger like Kamto, the upcoming election is a pageant, not a poll – a coronation masquerading as choice. The message is clear: there is no ballot in Biya’s Cameroon; only bullets, bans, and betrayal.

In a country already buckling under multiple crises, from armed conflict in the Anglophone regions, to spiraling poverty, to corruption so rampant it is practically government policy; this decision is a match tossed onto a powder keg. Already, tensions are rising. Protests are breaking out. People are boiling with rage. The authorities are pushing the country dangerously close to the edge of chaos, and when the violence comes, let no one feign surprise. A government that crushes ballots will eventually meet bullets. Kamto has long stood for peaceful resistance and dialogue. But even his patience cannot pacify a generation that sees no future under a regime that treats their dreams with scorn and arrogance.

Where is the international community that claims to defend democracy and human rights? To remain silent in the face of such blatant democratic sabotage is to be complicit. To accept this travesty is to betray every Cameroonian who still believes in a better tomorrow. Sanctions must be considered. Visa bans on members of ELECAM and the Constitutional Council should follow. And international election observers must not lend legitimacy to a charade they know is rigged.

This Is Not Over

There is a river swelling in the hearts of Cameroonians. It is fed by anger, suffering, and stolen choices. When that river bursts its banks, it will wash away not only the symbols of oppression but those who enabled them with gavel and gown. The Constitutional Council may think itself safe within the marble chambers of privilege. But marble cracks, and chambers echo. When the people rise – and rise they will – no robe will be thick enough to shield them from the storm they helped sow. Kamto may be off the ballot, but he remains the face of the resistance, the voice of a silenced majority, and the nightmare of a regime on life support.

To the Constitutional Council: You have traded truth for tyranny, justice for a bowl of stale porridge, and history will not forgive you. You may silence one man. but you cannot silence a nation that has awakened to its own power. To Biya and his clique: you may block Kamto from the race, but you cannot block the tide of history. The hour is late. The mask has fallen. Every tyrant believes they can cheat time. But every regime that silences its people will, eventually, be silenced by them. The fight for Cameroon’s democracy is not over – it has just begun.

By Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai

6, August 2025

Biya: how an aging despot’s grip on power could unravel Central Africa ⁰

A few weeks ago, 92-year-old Cameroonian President Paul Biya announced his intention to run for an eighth term in the country’s forthcoming election. This announcement, shocking, albeit widely anticipated, is already fueling fear that the country’s stability could be at risk, with wider implications for regional security.

The aged leader, who has ruled Cameroon with an iron fist since 1982, is easily the oldest president anywhere in the world. Indeed, only a few Cameroonians alive remember a time without Biya in power. Yet recent health scares seem to suggest that he may have reached the limit of his natural abilities. In 2008, his regime carried out a constitutional amendment to annul the two-term limit — clearing Biya’s path to rule for life through elections that, although regular, have been neither free nor fair.

Under his 43-year rule, the country of 29 million has gone from a period of relative stability to one of crisis and conflict. Approximately four in 10 Cameroonians live below the national poverty line, while unemployment, especially among school leavers, is high. This is in spite of Cameroon’s rich endowment of natural resources, including oil and natural gas, aluminum and gold.

Since 2014, Cameroon has also come under attack by Boko Haram in the far north while a secessionist insurgency is devastating the country’s Anglophone regions. Cameroon is divided into French and English-speaking regions — a development rooted in the country’s colonial past. The conflict, now in its seventh year, was precipitated in late 2016 by the state’s mishandling of peaceful protests that erupted against the application of the French civil law system by courts in the Anglophone regions. The crisis has led to over 6,000 deaths and the displacement of a million people internally and to neighboring Nigeria.

In the same vein, the Boko Haram conflict has resulted in numerous deaths and the internal displacement of well over 300,000 people, not to mention the disruption of local economies that has led to widespread food insecurity.

To combat the threat, Biya, who is known for a non-aligned foreign approach that has permitted him to play off multiple great powers, recently has had to lean quite heavily on U.S. support for funding and training of the country’s elite Rapid Intervention Brigade (BIR), as well as troops from the Multinational Joint Task Force that Washington established with Cameroon’s neighbors, Nigeria and Chad. U.S. training of Cameroon’s military personnel is valued at $600,000 annually. Washington also has a drone base with approximately 200 personnel stationed in Garoua, a city in northeastern Cameroon, to support the military in its operations against extremism. Cameroon remains one of the diminishing number of former French colonies in sub-Saharan Africa that permits foreign military bases on its territory.

At the same time, Cameroon weighs heavily on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s expansionist aims in the Sahel and West Africa. The country recently renewed a military cooperation agreement with Moscow while playing host to Afrique Média, a Russia-linked news organization generally regarded as Putin’s mouthpiece in the region. Such great-power attention illustrates Cameroon’s potential strategic importance.

In the meantime, the integrity of the October 12 election is already in jeopardy. Out of 83 candidates who submitted applications to run for president, the electoral body, Elections Cameroon, only approved 13, disqualifying Biya’s main challenger, Maurice Kamto, who was the runner-up in the 2018 elections when he won 14.2 percent of the vote. Although those disqualified from the presidential race can file a legal challenge, many Cameroonians don’t believe that anything will come of it.

With Kamto’s exclusion, Biya and his Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (RDPC) party will face less popular candidates, including two of the president’s allies, former Prime Minister Bello Bouba Maigari and Issa Tchiroma Bakary, who resigned in early June as employment minister. Unsurprisingly, their qualification has sparked accusations that Biya and the RDPC are orchestrating another sham election to retain their hold on power.

The resulting situation has heightened political tensions and fueled fears of unrest. On June 12, the U.S. Embassy in Yaounde, the capital, called for respect for press freedom and urged all parties concerned with the electoral process to act in a manner that “promotes peace, respects the rule of law, and upholds democratic norms.” But the situation remains uncertain as security forces have been deployed in the economic hub, Douala, and Yaounde, especially around the headquarters of the electoral council in anticipation of protests.

Biya’s insistence on running is, to put it mildly, bewildering. In a now distant era, Africa’s longstanding aging leaders, such as Senegal’s Léopold Sédar Senghor or Kenya’s Daniel Arap Moi, planned for their succession to both ensure a peaceful transition and preserve their legacies.. Biya’s current gambit suggests he has no such plans. His apparent determination to continue to rule until he nearly turns 100 — presidential terms run seven years — spells trouble to many Cameroonians.

Indeed, in a country where more than 60% of the population is under 25, Biya’s ambition may prove too much for the public and for the ambitions of other members of the ruling elite as they jockey for position in a post-Biya period. To a growing number of analysts, the evolving situation, especially if public protests become widespread and militant, could create a pretext for a military coup. Historically, Cameroon’s army has been loyal to Biya who has only experienced a coup once early in his long rule. Reputed as a master-manipulator of the security forces, Biya has managed to keep ambition in check by keeping the armed forces fragmented and through regular reshuffling.

But as the developments witnessed in Gabon just two years ago show, the specter of coup cannot be fully discounted in a situation of political stasis. In August 2023, Gabonese elite presidential guard mounted a coup that ended the half-century rule of the Bongo dynasty. The irony was that the coup occurred just hours after then-President Ali Bongo had pulled out all the stops to win an unconstitutional third term through an election that all observers, local and foreign, agree was neither free nor fair.

Before matters reach that point in Cameroon, regional bodies, including the African Union, the Economic Community of Central African States, and the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) may be able to exert influence on the upcoming electoral process to ensure greater inclusivity and adherence to basic democratic norms in the runup to the October election. The forthcoming poll is not simply a matter for Cameroonians alone but an important question for the region as well.

Culled from Responsible Statecraft

6, August 2025

Biya seeks alternative treasury funding amid surging T-Bill Costs ⁰

As of end-June 2025, Cameroon’s domestic public debt, excluding arrears, which are invoices pending payment for around three months, and floating debt, stood at CFA3,814.4 billion, representing 11.6% of GDP. The figure was disclosed by the Autonomous Sinking Fund (CAA) in its latest update on Cameroon’s public debt situation.

According to the CAA, 55% of this debt is made up of public securities issued by the government on the BEAC market. This market, operated by the central bank of the CEMAC region (Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, and the Central African Republic), has become one of the Cameroonian state’s main financing sources.

On this market, the Treasury issues two main types of instruments: Treasury bonds (OTA), with maturities between two and ten years, typically used to finance infrastructure projects; and Treasury bills (BTA), with maturities under one year, mostly used to manage temporary cash flow needs.

However, as revealed in the CAA’s latest report, “with regard to Treasury bills in particular, which have increased by 11.6% year-on-year as of end-June 2025, discussions are underway to mitigate the underlying refinancing risk, due to mounting pressure on the domestic market’s capacity.”

In other words, faced with rising BTA issuance costs on the BEAC market in recent years—and the increasing difficulty for CEMAC states to raise targeted amounts because of competition and prudential limits on banks serving as primary dealers (SVTs)—the Cameroonian government is actively considering other financing options.

“It is within this context that the Head of State signed a decree on May 19, 2025, authorizing the Minister of Finance to raise loans on international financial markets, up to a maximum of CFA200 billion, for the purpose of financing 2025 Treasury operations,” the CAA noted.

At the same time, the government is working to secure the full mobilization of the funds it seeks on the domestic market, despite saturation among local intermediaries—mainly the SVT banks. To that end, it has taken steps to attract new investors to the subregional public securities market.

In July 2025, Cameroon raised CFA200 billion on the BEAC market through a bond issuance supported by a swap arrangement that allowed Afreximbank to convert foreign currency into local currency. This made it possible for the bank to subscribe to the public offering.

Thanks to this deal with the Cameroonian government, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) became the first foreign investor to participate in the BEAC public securities market, which has been operational for nearly 14 years.

The transaction also comes ahead of a leadership change at Afreximbank. Starting in September 2025, Cameroonian legal expert George Elombi is set to take over as head of the pan-African institution.

Source: Business in Cameroon

6, August 2025

US demands $15,000 deposit for visa applicants from two African countries ⁰

The US will require citizens from Malawi and Zambia to pay a $15,000 (£11,300) deposit for a tourist or business visa, according to the US state department.

The 12-month pilot programme aims to curb visa overstays “or where screening and vetting information is considered deficient”, according to a notice published by the state department.

Officials say that citizens of countries other than Malawi and Zambia may soon also need to pay a similar deposit, which will be returned at the end of their visit to the US.

The US administration has taken several steps to further President Donald Trump’s agenda of stemming illegal immigration.

Trump signed an executive order on the first day of his second term to this effect.

The state department notice, published on Tuesday, says: “Aliens applying for visas as temporary visitors for business or pleasure (B-1/B-2) and who are nationals of countries identified by the Department as having high visa overstay rates, where screening and vetting information is deemed deficient, or offering Citizenship by Investment, if the alien obtained citizenship with no residency requirement, may be subject to the pilot program.

“Consular officers may require covered non-immigrant visa applicants to post a bond of up to $15,000 as a condition of visa issuance, as determined by the consular officers.”

Figures published in 2023 by the US Department of Homeland Security show that about 14% of visitors from Malawi overstay their visas, compared to 11% of Zambian visitors.

Other countries with high overstay rates include Haiti (31%), Myanmar (27%) and Yemen (20%).

Zambia Foreign Minister Mulambo Haimbe told the BBC that the government was “engaging our counterparts to get a full understanding of the implications and what can be done, if anything, to address the underlying issues”.

Since coming to office in January, Trump has signed orders to roll back humanitarian programmes for migrants from certain countries who are already in the US.

The Republican president has also banned foreign nationals from 12 countries from travelling to the US, and imposed partial restrictions on another seven.

His administration has revoked visas for hundreds of international students and detained several others on college campuses across the US, often without any warning or recourse for appeals.

The state department has said it is targeting those who were involved in activities that “run counter” to US national interests.

Many of those targeted have participated in some form of pro-Palestinian activity.

But there have been other cases where cancellations appear to be connected to those with some sort of criminal record, or legal infractions like driving over the speed limit, immigration lawyers have said.

Source: BBC

5, August 2025

Cameroon’s debt to China now 2.5 times that owed to France ⁰

As of June 30, 2025, China remains Cameroon’s largest bilateral creditor, according to the Caisse autonome d’amortissement (CAA), the country’s public debt agency. China accounts for 65% of Cameroon’s bilateral debt, representing 20.2% of total external debt, officially estimated at CFA2,648.3 billion.

This puts China’s share at 2.5 times that of France, a historic partner, which holds 25.6% of Cameroon’s bilateral debt, or 8% of total external debt. The CAA said China continues to be “a preferred partner in the infrastructure and energy sectors.”

China has become Cameroon’s main investor over the past decade, driven by large infrastructure projects launched in the 2010s. These include bridges, roads, and dams, mostly financed by Eximbank China. The loans are tied to Chinese firms, meaning each agreement designates a Chinese contractor to carry out the work.

Chinese companies remain active in Cameroon’s infrastructure and energy sectors. Major players include CCCC, CWE, CHEC, and Sinohydro in construction, and Huawei and ZTE in telecommunications.

While these loans have funded key infrastructure, they come with high repayment obligations. Chinese loans are typically non-concessional, adding pressure to debt servicing. In the first quarter of 2024, Cameroon repaid CFA148.2 billion to Eximbank China—CFA34.7 billion in interest and CFA113.5 billion in principal. These were the country’s largest repayments to any creditor group during that period.

The size of China’s loan portfolio has created repayment difficulties. In July 2019, Cameroon secured a rescheduling agreement with Eximbank to avoid default. The deal covered 22 projects valued at about CFA150 billion and allowed 70% of the principal due from July 2019 to March 2022 to be rescheduled.

Source: Business in Cameroon

5, August 2025

2025 Presidential Election: if Kamto cannot run at the ballot, millions will run to the streets ⁰

In a calculated act of cowardice dressed in political theater, the electoral umpire, ELECAM, on Saturday, July 26, 2025, invoked the “double investiture” clause, selectively and maliciously, to disqualify Maurice Kamto from contesting the upcoming presidential election. Let us call this what it is: a constitutional coup against the Cameroonian people. The law was not applied; it was weaponized. The investiture pretext – that MANIDEM fielded two candidates – is a ridiculous, electoral farce that is laughable and should attract no further comment. Anicet Ekane was the party’s legitimate leader. The Ministry of Territorial Administration (MINAT)’s website confirmed it; until demons crept in and rewrote digital reality to install a mendicant political jobber, Yebga Dieudonné, as party head. MINAT’s fingerprints are all over this digital crime scene. ELECAM and MINAT have committed a crime against the nation and Cameroon is now teetering on the edge of institutional collapse and civil explosion. By blocking Kamto, the regime is lighting a fuse it cannot control. Repression has never birthed peace; it births resistance. If Kamto cannot run at the ballot box, millions will run to the streets. If choice is denied at the polls, it will be demanded elsewhere. If the Constitutional Council has one atom of independence left, it must annul this grotesque electoral perversion and injustice. But if it too kneels to power, then let the people rise. For when democracy is betrayed from above, it must be reclaimed from below. ELECAM and MINAT have declared war on the Cameroonian people. The Biya regime has set fire to the social contract. And when the flames reach Etoudi, let them not pretend they weren’t warned.

And let us not forget: while Kamto is disqualified over a fabricated procedural excuse, Paul Biya – 93 years old and in power for 43 years – remains a candidate. ELECAM’s own website confirms that the CPDM submitted two candidates: Biya and Onana Leon Theiler. Univers also fielded two: Akere Muna and Membouet Chantale Adelaid. So why were Biya and Muna cleared, but Kamto rejected? Because only Kamto poses a real threat to Biya’s lifelong grip on power. The message is clear: only Kamto must fall, because only Kamto can win. ELECAM is not an electoral umpire; it is a political hit squad. It doesn’t count votes; it butchers hope. It doesn’t defend democracy; it buries it. With MINAT as its accomplice, ELECAM has turned the 2025 election into a funeral for Cameroon’s democratic dreams. Let there be no illusions: this is not democracy. It is gangsterism disguised as governance with a ballot box for a mask. Cameroon is ruled by a cabal of power mongers and their cronies; draining the state and now destroying even the idea of electoral choice.

At the head of this cabal is Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, secretary general at the presidency and the true power behind the empty throne. Unelected and deranged by delusions of grandeur, Ngoh Ngoh suffers from incurable money-mindedness, and he will stop at nothing in his quest for personal financial gain! The palace’s invisible hand, has proven himself the true head of state; Biya is now just the ceremonial ghost of a bygone dictatorship. Ngoh Ngoh rules by proxy, bypassing state institutions and dictating who lives or dies politically; while Paul Biya, the embalmed relic of tyranny, is wheeled out for ceremonial deception. Alongside Ngoh Ngoh is the MINAT boss, Paul Atanga Nji, a political vandal with neither conscience nor competence. In 1997, Atanga Nji, (then head of a money-laundering outfit called Highland Corporation Bank) paid The Herald newspaper FCFA 1,000,000 to run a fake story, alleging Fru Ndi had ordered the kidnapping of the wife of then Ambassador Christopher Nsahlai in Bamenda. The reason was to frame Fru Ndi with bogus charges that will disqualify him from contesting the 1997 presidential election; after his victory in 1992 was stolen. The plan did not materialize because the SDF boycotted the election after their demand for an independent electoral commission was ignored. Today, the same Atanga Nji repeats that script; now with state institutions as his weapon. This is not just déjà vu – this is systemic political cannibalism.

And then, there’s first lady, Chantal Biya, the unelected queen of opulence, who struts through Etoudi like Marie Antoinette with a wig and no throne. Her only credential is proximity to the corpse of power, but she has turned the presidency into a private estate; wielding influence like a scepter showcasing her addiction to conspicuous consumption, primitive accumulation and material aggrandizement. Together with Jacques Fame Ndongo, a Beti ethnic supremacist and pseudo-intellectual mercenary, they have formed a quartet of ruin throttling the soul of the nation- a criminal syndicate, dragging Cameroon deeper into the abyss of lawlessness, tyranny, and impending collapse.Kamto was not disqualified – he was politically lynched. His only crime? Being viable, principled and electable. He represents the last hope of democratic redemption, so they decided to bury him beneath a mountain of fabricated procedure. This must not stand. If the constitutional council; that hollow chamber of cowards and sycophant careerists, dares to rubber-stamp this injustice, it will be acting as an accomplice. And if voters are denied their right to choose, they must reclaim it with every tool of resistance available. For no regime, however entrenched, can survive the fury of a people united in their quest for freedom.

Let it be shouted from every rooftop: ELECAM’s rejection of Kamto’s candidacy, aided by MINAT, is not just a legal abomination – it is a national scandal, and a disgrace. But this is no error; it is a calculated strategy. ELECAM has declared war on Cameroonian democracy, transforming from electoral umpire to regime enforcer and hit man. With a single contrived technicality, it erased not just a candidate, but the hopes of millions who believe in change. Kamto posed a threat to the crumbling oligarchy, which is why he was rejected for the same infraction that Univers and the CPDM were exonerated. Kamto wasn’t eliminated by justice, but by a political death squad masquerading as an electoral umpire. Even more damning is MINAT’s role. Anicet Ekane, MANIDEM’s legitimate leader, endorsed Kamto. Yet overnight, Yebga Dieudonné emerged from the shadows as party leader and presidential candidate. It stretches credulity for Atanga Nji to blame hackers for the name swap on MINAT’s website. Really? This isn’t just administrative incompetence; its fraud, and political treason. What we’re witnessing is a coordinated demolition of electoral integrity and a betrayal of democracy’s core principles; that casts doubts over the credibility of the electoral process.

Let it be clear: Biya’s Cameroon is not a functioning state; it is a prison, where the rule of law lies buried in unmarked graves. Here, law serves power, truth is forged in secret backrooms, and the people are spectators to their own disenfranchisement. To ELECAM and Atanga Nji: your names will be recorded in the book of betrayal, alongside traitors, and enablers who helped murder the dreams of a nation. History will not remember you as public servants, but as arsonists – you drenched the constitution in gasoline and struck the match. When the flames consume what remains of the nation, your names will be written in the ashes. To Cameroonians: do not despair. This is your moment of reckoning. Do not plead for dignity; demand it. Do not wait for justice from compromised institutions; deliver your own verdict. Do not sit idle while democracy is strangled. In 1992, Fru Ndi was robbed and bribed into silence by regime apologists like Enow Abrams Egbe – now ELECAM Board Chairman – who, in the manuscript of his unpublished memoir, admits that as Secretary General at the Northwest Governor’s Office, he received billions of francs from Yaoundé to buy Fru Ndi’s silence, leading to the Chairman’s ultimate betrayal of the cause for change. The monies exchanged hands at Fru Ndi’s farm, sometimes, in the presence of then-Northwest Governor, Bell Luc Rene.

Knowing how the regime operates, Cameroonians must now ask themselves: are we citizens, or captives? Will we watch silently as a vampire elite devours the nation’s soul, or will we rise and reclaim our stolen future? Fru Ndi was silenced. Kamto is being sidelined. Who will be next? Without Kamto, the 2025 presidential poll will not just be a stolen election; it will be a stolen nation. Let us speak plainly: ELECAM and MINAT are now enemies of the Cameroonian people. They have not just failed in their duty; they have betrayed it. The people must now become liberators. To all Cameroonians of conscience and goodwill; let your anger be righteous. Let your resistance be relentless. Let your voices be the thunder that breaks 43 years of Biya’s kleptocratic dictatorship. Cameroon belongs to its people; not to tyrants or their parasitic cronies that defile it. Rise. Resist. Reclaim. A new Cameroon must be born, and those who try to bury it will face the judgment of history.

By Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai

5, August 2025

Cameroonian Passport – A Symbol of Shame and Global Embarrassment ⁰

Cameroon’s passport, once a symbol of national identity and pride, has become a glaring emblem of institutional failure. Ranked a dismal 92nd in the 2025 Henley Passport Index (HPI) – unchanged from 2020 and only slightly improved from 2023 – Cameroon’s passport is among the least powerful in the world, trailing behind even some war-torn nations, and granting visa-free access to a paltry 50 countries; most of them obscure, tin pot shithole countries on the world stage. This places it below dozens of African peers with far fewer resources. The miserable ranking is not just a number. In an era when global mobility defines economic opportunity, diplomatic prestige, and national credibility, this is a public indictment of the government’s chronic inability to project global trust, reform immigration systems, and restore dignity to its citizens.

The HPI ranks 199 passports against 227 travel destinations; based on the number of destinations a passport holder can access without a visa. The data used comes from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). For the past five years, Cameroon has hovered in the 90th to 93rd position globally, offering little to no improvement in mobility for its citizens. Despite the fanfare over the biometric CEMAC passport, this so-called modernization has done next to nothing to bolster Cameroon’s global standing. Instead, it has become part of a corrupt and opaque system riddled with bribery, delays, and inefficiencies. The production of these biometric passports; outsourced to a foreign outfit with a deeply tainted reputation, has only deepened public mistrust. The pipeline from birth certificate issuance to national ID cards to the final passport has become a minefield of graft, where foreigners with the right bribes can acquire Cameroonian nationality, while actual citizens languish in bureaucratic limbo for months or even years. The result? A passport system so compromised that it is no longer trusted by the international community – and rightly so.

Today, the Cameroon passport stands as a bitter reminder of how far a nation can fall when leaders abdicate their responsibility. This is more than a domestic shame; it is a diplomatic liability that has contributed to Cameroon’s failure to negotiate meaningful visa waiver agreements, and to its citizens being treated as second-class travelers across the globe – detained, denied, and humiliated at foreign ports of entry. The implications are staggering. Students miss academic opportunities. Entrepreneurs are cut off from global markets. Families are separated by borders they cannot cross. And the country’s already battered international image sinks further into the mud. How did a nation of such rich resources, vast potential, and proud people become shackled by a passport that increasingly resembles a scarlet letter on the world stage? The answer lies in years of neglect, corruption, mismanagement, and a complete lack of ambition from those entrusted with Cameroon’s image management abroad.

For too long, Cameroonian authorities have buried their heads in the sand, oblivious to the humiliation their citizens face daily at airports, embassies, and border crossings. Students, professionals, and families are forced to jump through endless hoops and endure degrading scrutiny because the Cameroon passport carries little weight. The root cause? The state’s failure to uphold even basic standards of passport security, transparency in issuance, and international diplomatic engagement.

In a globalized world, a passport is not merely a travel document – it is a declaration of a nation’s credibility. And Cameroon’s declaration is loud and damning: we are not trusted. We are not taken seriously. We do not protect the integrity of our identity.

Compare this to African peers. Seychelles, still leading the continent despite a slight dip to 24th globally, enjoys visa-free access to 156 countries – more than three times what Cameroon offers. Even nations with fewer resources –Botswana, Rwanda, and Benin consistently outperform Cameroon in passport mobility, reflecting their relative success in investing in passport security, tightening internal controls, building strong international partnerships and trust with foreign governments, strengthening domestic institutions, and enhancing global engagement. Cameroon, by contrast, has stagnated; content to let its citizens be treated like pariahs abroad while those in power jet across continents on diplomatic or special passports. This is unacceptable.

The global passport rankings are not about printing fancy passport booklets; or reducing passport application wait times; or electronic visa applications. They reflect how the world sees Cameroon – its internal security, governance, diplomatic capital, economic reputation, and respect for human rights. Cameroon’s low mobility score is not a clerical error. It’s a direct result of persistent security challenges, from insurgency, terrorism to kidnapping and banditry. Also, weak identity management systems, raises doubts abroad about passport authenticity. Besides, corruption in immigration processes, fuel visa fraud and human trafficking. In addition, limited diplomatic outreach undermines the ability to forge bilateral or multilateral visa waiver agreements.

Passport power matters; and this is not just a matter of national prestige. A weak passport constrains everything from business and academic exchange, to emergency travel, to diaspora engagement, and tourism development. When Cameroonian professionals, students, or artists are repeatedly denied access to international opportunities due to onerous visa restrictions, the entire nation loses. It also exacts a financial toll. Visa applications for Cameroonians often come with high fees, lengthy processing times, and humiliating scrutiny. Meanwhile, potential foreign investors and partners take note of these signals: a country whose citizens struggle to move freely often seems closed for business.

Cameroon remains entrenched in dysfunction, with its passport system becoming a microcosm of the broader rot in its public institutions. But why has the government failed to act? Why are fraudulent passport rings still operating with impunity? Why are international partners reluctant to extend visa waivers or bilateral travel agreements to Cameroonians? The answers are as obvious as they are painful – a reputation for corruption, weak governance, and little interest in reciprocal diplomacy. Let’s be clear: this failure is deliberate. It is the product of apathy, corruption, and a systemic disregard for the rights and aspirations of Cameroonians. And it must end.

If the ossified Biya regime is serious about transforming Cameroon’s global standing, passport power must become a national priority. The government should, as a matter of urgency, strengthen diplomatic outreach and engage in serious diplomatic efforts to negotiate visa waivers and reciprocal travel agreements, particularly with strategic trade and education partners. Secondly, audit and overhaul the entire passport issuance pipeline, terminate contracts with corrupt vendors, digitize and secure the process to ensure the integrity of records, and cleanse the system of corruption. Third, invest in national security and governance, which boosts global confidence and opens doors for mobility. Fourth, engage the diaspora, whose positive contributions abroad can help rebrand Cameroon and build goodwill. And finally, restore trust in the Cameroon passport by tackling fraud and prosecute passport racketeering. The government must recognize that global mobility is not a luxury; it is a basic element of national development, human capital strategy, and international influence.

The passport is more than just a travel document. It is a symbol of how the world sees Cameroon; and how Cameroonians see themselves. The biometric CEMAC passport is merely a reminder of how far Cameroon still has to go; hence Cameroonians should not settle for mediocrity masked as progress. Cameroonians deserve a passport that speaks of honor, not suspicion. They deserve access to the world, not its locked gates. A nation is only as respected as the value of its documents. Until Cameroon wakes up to this reality, the Cameroonian passport will remain what it has become – a symbol of corruption, a source of shame, and a lock on the aspirations of millions of Cameroonians. It is time to secure the Cameroonian passport; anything less is betrayal.

By Ekinneh Agbaw-Ebai

4, August 2025

Kremlin plays down Trump’s nuclear rhetoric as US envoy set to visit Moscow ⁰

The Kremlin has played down Donald Trump’s orders to move two nuclear submarines closer to Russia, saying Moscow did not want to be involved in polemics.

In the first official reaction since the US president’s comments last Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said American submarines were on combat duty anyway and dismissed the idea that there had been an escalation.

“Very complex, very sensitive issues are being discussed, which, of course, many perceive very emotionally,” Peskov said – though he added that everyone should be “very cautious” with nuclear rhetoric.

US envoy Steve Witkoff is due to visit Russia on Wednesday, according to Russian media.

Last week President Trump ordered two nuclear submarines to “be positioned in the appropriate regions” in response to what he called “highly provocative” comments by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

Trump did not say whether they were nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed submarines.

Medvedev – who in recent years has espoused increasingly extreme rhetoric online – had accused Trump of “playing the ultimatum game” with Russia after the US president set a new deadline for Vladimir Putin to end the war with Ukraine.

Without referencing the Medvedev spat directly, Peskov said on Monday that while “in every country members of the leadership… have different points of view”, Russian foreign policy was dictated by Putin alone.

Medvedev did not react to Trump’s response and has not been active on X since sending the offending post.

Relations between the US and Russia improved significantly after Trump took office in January – although in recent months the US president has signalled he suspects Putin may not be truly committed to ending the war in Ukraine, which began when Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Now Trump has brought forward a deadline for Russia to reach a peace deal, threatening Moscow with severe tariffs targeting its oil and other exports if a ceasefire is not agreed by Friday 8 August.

Still, Washington and Moscow remain in contact and Peskov welcomed Witkoff’s trip later this week.

Source: BBC

4, August 2025

Cameroon is developing its road network ⁰

Cameroon’s paved road network is expanding fast, with over 1,000km being surfaced during this year. The investment in road development is having positive benefits for transport and the economy and at the end of December 2024, Cameroon had 10,575 km of paved roads, according to the Ministry of Public Works. Meanwhile, Cameroon’s road network has grown from 55,000km in 1984 to 121,873km at the end of 2024, reflecting the strong growth for transport.

Work for the road linking Ngaoundéré and Garoua will commence before the close of 2025. And a contractor has won the package of works to build the new link road into Douala, the country’s largest city, economic centre and key port. Specific dates for the commencement of these works have still to be announced.

Timelines for road contracts can vary according to the Ministry of Works, with the rainy season causing work to halt periodically.

New road links between Cameroon and neighbouring nations such as Nigeria, Chad and Gabon are further boosting the country’s trade and economic development. Nigeria’s coastal highway project linking Calabar with Lagos and the highway linking Lagos with Ivory Coast capital Abidjan, passing through Ghana, Benin and Togo, will further develop transport between Central Africa and West Africa.

Culled from globalhighways.com