Agbor Balla Says Electoral Fraud is a “Crime Against Humanity” Amid Clamour for Transparency

By Tata Mbunwe

Human rights lawyer and President of the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Africa, Nkongho Felix Agbor (Agbor Balla), has strongly condemned electoral fraud and malpractice in Cameroon, describing them as “crimes against humanity”.

Agbor Balla argued that the manipulation of elections in Cameroon is not simply political misconduct but an assault on the sovereignty and dignity of the Cameroonian people.

“In every democracy, the ballot is sacred. It is the voice of the people, the instrument of legitimacy, and the foundation of peaceful governance,” he wrote.

“When that ballot is stolen, manipulated, or subverted, it is not merely an act of political misconduct—it is an assault on the sovereignty and dignity of an entire people.”

His reaction comes amid protests across several Cameroonian cities against alleged fraud in the 2025 presidential election, as citizens fear a possible manoeuver to give incumbent President Paul Biya another seven-year term.

Although results of the October 12 election are still awaited, Biya’s former ally, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, has claimed victory and has called on the 92-year-old to concede.

Tchiroma’s supporters, on the other hand, have vowed that their vote will not be stolen. Over the past three days, protests have erupted in Garoua, Yaounde, Douala, Kousserie, Dschang and Limbe and people push for transparency.

Agbor said electoral malpractice in Cameroon spans decades, and often ranges from the manipulation of voter registers to ballot box tampering, voter intimidation, and the exclusion of opposition candidates.

He said these are evidence of a “deliberate and systemic pattern” of electoral subversion.

According to Agbor Balla, when electoral fraud is carried out as a consistent policy of governance—accompanied by arrests, intimidation, and violence—it crosses the threshold from political wrongdoing to an international crime.

“The deliberate denial of a people’s right to freely express their will meets the moral, and arguably legal, threshold of a crime against humanity under international law,” he said.

He warned that normalizing stolen elections undermines the rule of law and erodes public trust in democratic institutions, calling for both national reflection and international accountability.

“Cameroon cannot continue to normalize stolen elections as routine politics,” Agbor Balla said. “To steal an election is to steal a nation’s soul.”

Balla is not the only opinion leader in Cameroon who is raising condemning fraud relating to the 2025 presidential election.

Presidential candidate, Patricia Tomaïno Ndam Njoya, also issued a statement on Tuesday, enumerating several instances of fraud in the just-ended election.

This came after African Union election observers said the election went on without any problem.

As Cameroonians await the final result from the Constitutional Council, pressure is mounting on the election management body ELECAM to present nothing but the people’s will.