On 9 October, Cameroon’s Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, issued a communique prohibiting discussion of President Paul Biya’s health in the media and stating that offenders would ‘face the full force of the law’. It also instructed the country’s governors to establish monitoring units to identify the ‘authors of biased comments’ in the private media and social media. The communique came amid growing speculation about the well-being and whereabouts of the 91-year-old Biya, who had not been seen in public since 8 September. He returned to Cameroon from Europe on 21 October. Human Rights Watch noted that the ban is part of a broader pattern of free speech restrictions in the country ahead of the 2025 elections, including a decree issued by a senior local government official in July, threatening to expel anyone from the capital who insulted Biya or state institutions.

Sources: Ministry of Territorial Administration, Africa Confidential, British Broadcasting Corporation, Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon, Human Rights Watch, Prefect of the Department of Mpoundi

On 24 July, via legislation and a presidential decree, President Paul Biya extended the terms of legislators and municipal counsellors by more than a year, paving the way for the postponement of National Assembly and municipal elections from 2025 to 2026. The delay was justified by the government on the grounds that it was necessary to lighten the electoral calendar for 2025. Opposition parties and civil society, however, alleged that the move is an attempt by Biya to exclude opponents from the upcoming presidential election. Cameroon’s electoral code requires political parties fielding a presidential candidate to have representation in parliament or a regional or a municipal council, or secure endorsements from 300 dignitaries. Having boycotted the last elections, several opposition parties lack such representation and delaying the National Assembly and municipal elections until after the 2025 presidential poll deprives these parties of the opportunity to achieve it.

Sources: Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon (1), Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon (2), Jeune Afrique, The East African

In a press release dated 12 March, Cameroon’s Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, declared two coalitions of opposition political parties to be illegal. Minister Nji said the Political Alliance for Change (APC) and the Alliance for a Political Transition in Cameroon (ATP), two new and important opposition groupings, did not meet the legal definition of a political party and were therefore prohibited from carrying out political activities, including holding public meetings and demonstrations. The declaration was contested by activists, who asserted that Cameroonian law did not prevent political parties from forming coalitions. According to Human Rights Watch, an NGO, the ban represented an attempt by state authorities ‘to close down space for the opposition and for public debate ahead of the 2025 presidential elections.’            

Sources: Ministry of Territorial Administration,  Jeune Afrique (1), Jeune Afrique (2),  Human Rights Watch 

After several months in which the level of violence in the long-running conflict between anglophone separatists and the central government of Cameroon had decreased, there was a significant increase in violence in November. In one particularly notable event on 6 November, gunmen identified in press reports as anglophone separatists killed at least 20 people in the village of Egbekaw, in south-western Cameroon. The attack took place on the 41st anniversary of the beginning of President Paul Biya’s rule.

Sources: France24, eNews Channel Africa, Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, International Crisis Group