By Tata Mbunwe
Opposition leaders, Hon. Jean Michel Nintcheu and Barrister Akere Muna, have issued strong condemnations of the Cameroon government’s decision to bar presidential candidate Issa Tchiroma Bakary from traveling on July 31, 2025, labeling it a sign of a regime in panic ahead of the October 12 presidential election.
Tchiroma, a former minister and leader of the Front for the National Salvation of Cameroon (FSNC), was removed from an Air Sénégal flight at Nsimalen International Airport in Yaounde, where he was traveling with his daughter, Dr. Rohaya Tchiroma, to pay respects at the tomb of former President Ahmadou Ahidjo in Dakar.
Nintcheu, a parliamentarian and interim coordinator of the Political Alliance for Change (APC), expressed outrage in a statement from Douala on July 31. He called the travel ban “liberticide and illegal.”
He stated, “The Cameroon sinks deeper into arbitrariness and institutionalized brutality every day… This act is unacceptable. It marks a new stage in the totalitarian drift of a desperate regime, incapable of reform but always quick to repress!”
Nintcheu further warned, “This power believes it can maintain itself through terror, but it is mistaken! The Cameroonian people are no longer fooled. They see. They understand. And they will act.”
Nintcheu’s remarks frame the incident as part of a pattern of electoral manipulation and this echoes earlier criticisms over the recent exclusion of Maurice Kamto from the presidential race by Elections Cameroon (ELECAM).
Akere Muna, a renowned anti-corruption lawyer and presidential candidate for the Univers party, also condemned the incident in a statement from Yaounde. He described it as a “blatant violation” of Tchiroma’s fundamental rights.
“Despite having resigned from his ministerial position, returned his diplomatic passport, and vacated his government residence, Mr. Tchiroma was denied boarding without any formal notification or documentation,” Akere said.
“He was simply informed that he needed permission from the Presidency to travel.”
He called the action a sign of “confusion and panic” within the government, adding, “Such behavior undermines democratic principles and the rule of law.”
He urged authorities to “immediately rectify this situation” and respect citizens’ rights to free movement and political participation.
The travel ban follows Tchiroma’s recent calls for the Constitutional Council to reinstate Kamto, whose candidacy was rejected on July 26 due to a rival claim within the MANIDEM party, and his hints at forming a unified opposition coalition.
Analysts see the incident as an attempt to intimidate opposition figures, particularly as Tchiroma’s influence in the vote-rich northern regions and his advocacy for federalism to address the Anglophone crisis challenge President Paul Biya’s CPDM party.
The government’s actions, including a reported ban on Tchiroma’s FSNC party activities in parts of the Far North, have drawn criticism from rights groups, with Human Rights Watch warning that such moves “bury what remains of Cameroon’s democracy.”
