It was election week in Cameroon and silence remains the loudest message.
Billboards still call for unity; yet opposition voices are fading. Weeks ahead of the October 12 vote, authorities barred prominent challengers, detained activists, restricted media access, and blocked rallies in effect, the race was clouded long before ballots were cast.
The electoral body ELECAM insisted the process would be “free and fair.” “Every Cameroonian’s vote will count,” said spokesperson Ernest Ndifor.
Yet on the ground, the sense was different.
Maurice Kamto long-seen as a key opposition figure was barred from standing. Meanwhile, Issa Tchiroma Bakary (a former government minister) declared himself winner just days after the vote, urging the 92-year-old incumbent Paul Biya to concede even as no official result had yet been published.
Voters like Marie Ngalim in Bamenda saw voting as a form of defiance. “Being seen at the polls can be dangerous,” she said. “But staying home feels worse.” The election is happening in a country deeply marked by conflict the Anglophone regions remain ignored, the Far North is destabilized by militants, and youth unemployment grows.
In several towns, protests erupted over alleged result manipulation. Security forces used tear-gas, water-cannons and made arrests. In Douala and elsewhere, local branches of ELECAM and party offices were attacked.
Analysts say this election may matter less for who wins than how the game is played: the true test is whether dissent and participation were tolerated or whether the system simply sought to validate the status quo.
TN Africa’s Take
An election’s legitimacy is measured not by the quiet after the ballots are cast, but by the noise before them: the space given to opposition, the freedom to organise, the ability of citizens to doubt and to challenge. In Cameroon’s case, the question isn’t simply who will lead it’s whether Cameroon has let people lead. And for now, the silence speaks volumes.