Lawyer Christian Ntimbane Bomo delivered a speech to the 11 opposition candidates approved for the upcoming presidential election in October. To ensure that this election is credible, he made several recommendations, outlined below. Do you think these will be followed by the candidates?

“Minister Bello Bouba Maigari, endorsed by the National Union for Democracy and Progress (UNDP).

Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary, endorsed by the National Salvation Front of Cameroon (FSNC).

Mrs. Patricia Tomaino Ndam Njoya, endorsed by the Democratic Union of Cameroon (UDC).

Mr. Cabral Libii Li Ngué, endorsed by the Cameroonian Party for National Reconciliation (PCRN).

Mr. Joshua Osih, endorsed by the Social Democratic Front (SDF).

Mr. Pierre Kwemo, endorsed by the Union of Socialist Movements (UMS).

Mr. Serge Espoir Matomba, endorsed by the United People for Social Renovation (PURS).

Barrister Akere Muna, endorsed by the Univers Party.

Mr. Jacques Bouga Hagbe, endorsed by the National Citizen Movement of Cameroon (MCNC).

Mr. Ceta Caxton Ateki, endorsed by the Liberal Alliance Party (PAL).

Mr. Iyodi Hiram, endorsed by the Front of Cameroonian Democrats (FDC).

The political destiny of our country has made it so that you are today the 11 opposition candidates definitively approved by our country’s jurisdictions and electoral bodies, for the presidential election of October 12, 2025. This comes at a time when the Cameroonian people, in their overwhelming majority, express a deep desire for change after 43 years of Paul Biya’s presidency.

You are well aware that, in going into this election, none of you (even under a consensual single candidacy) will be declared the winner, even if the polling station results are in your favor. Winning the election is one thing; being able to prove your victory is another.

In the current state of our electoral framework, the results of the presidential vote are definitively tallied by an ad hoc administrative body known as the National Vote Counting Commission, composed mainly of officials from the Ministry of Territorial Administration, magistrates who chair it, and political party representatives who serve only as token observers.

Indeed, even if you have monitored the voting process and obtained copies of the minutes from polling stations, in the event of a dispute before the National General Vote Counting Commission, only the official minutes will be considered. You will have no means of challenging them because, as you know, once this administrative commission has finished tallying the votes in its own way, the results are sealed in an envelope and merely read out by the Constitutional Council during a formal session.

There is therefore no possibility of contesting these results before any judicial or legal authority. Electoral result disputes do not exist in Cameroon, unlike in other African countries. The Constitutional Council, whose sole role is to proclaim the results established by the administrative commission, simply reads its report, and the Constitution clearly states that its decisions are final and cannot be appealed.

In such a legal environment, I present to you the proposal I would have made to the other opposition candidates if my candidacy had been submitted and approved. It is, in my view, the only way to finally obtain a truly transparent election in the history of our country.

You, the 11 candidates, hold the solution to what Cameroonians (and indeed some among you and your political parties) have been demanding for years. This proposal carries no risk to the lives of our fellow citizens. Unlike protests, which have often been bloodily repressed, as in 2008 with the use of armed force by security forces, or followed by arrests and summary trials before military courts on falsely alleged charges of insurrection or incitement to rebellion, this approach will not endanger anyone.

With this proposal, Cameroonians will not need to take to the streets and be shot at.

I therefore suggest that you meet together, the 11 of you, to draft a memorandum conditioning your joint participation in this election. You would demand the immediate adoption of a consensual electoral code providing for:

The use of a single ballot paper;

Biometric and electronic voting using fingerprints already recorded by ELECAM during voter registration, or by the General Delegation for National Security;

The complete abolition of administrative vote-counting commissions at both departmental and national levels;

The collation and proclamation of provisional results by ELECAM, as is done in many other African countries;

A hearing before the Constitutional Council to challenge provisional results, held at the same time as the hearing on the regularity of the election;

The appointment, on a consensual basis, of new members to the Electoral Council and new Directors General of ELECAM;

Amendment of the law governing the Constitutional Council and the appointment of new members with a 9-year term;

Automatic voter registration, based on the national identity database held by the General Delegation for National Security, for all Cameroonians aged 20 and above, thereby preventing manipulation of the electoral register and avoiding unnecessary voter registration campaigns;

Postponement of the presidential election to March 2026, to be held simultaneously with legislative and municipal elections.

These demands are legitimate, as they promote electoral transparency — a core value of our democracy, enshrined in our Constitution and desired by all Cameroonians.

Faced with your unity, President Paul Biya will not dare to run in an election alone, for it would be a disgrace. The Cameroonian people would not take part in such a masquerade, and no legitimacy would emerge from it. The international community would not recognize his victory.

Dear fellow candidates, children of Cameroon, enter history. Hear the cries and tears of your compatriots. Feel their deep pain and see the immense hope they place in you. Save our country — your country.

Sacrifice this ambition, noble as it may be, to run in a presidential election merely for the sake of participating. Remember the sacrifice of our resistant fighters and nationalist martyrs, who refused all forms of collaboration, sometimes despite promises of rewards or compensation, so that we could have the Cameroon we have today.

The nation will be grateful to you. Future generations will speak of you, and your descendants will be proud to remind the national conscience of your patriotism.

Thank you.
Long live Cameroon.”