Use of technology is key to credible elections - Dr Henry Mekole.

In an interview granted The Guardian Post recently ahead of the October 12 presidential election, the Buea-based journalist who defended his PhD thesis on the role of social media in the 2018 presidential election violence in Cameroon, noted that technology if well used, could ensure fairness and balance in the election.

He said candidates could leverage the media social to market their manifestos and woo voters. He has however warned against some of the dangers of using the social media for campaign purposes citing the potential surge in the spread of fake news, misinformation and disinformation to the public with the intent of misleading them.

He was interviewed by The Guardian Post’s Shing Timothy. It is a compelling interview. Read on…

Firstly, can you provide some background on the October 12 presidential election in Cameroon and how technology is shaping the issues prioritised by candidates and the threats it poses?

There is no way elections can be carried out especially campaigns without technology. The social media provides an easier platform to reach voters and sell their programmes and projects to them. In 2011, technology played a minimal role because though it was used, it was limited. 

In 2018, technology and social media in particular played a very important role, but this 2025, they will be a huge involvement of technology especially social media. This is because both the candidates and voters will make use of social media.

The candidates will use the social media to get to the voters because it is fast and instant and can reach a wider audience. They can also get personal with the voters, which means they can directly send their manifestoes, programmes, projects and activities to the voters, so they can communicate directly with the voters.

Candidates without money to spend on different media outlets can use the social media to campaign because it is cheaper. They can also use the social media to raise money for their campaigns, something they could not do in 2011.

Despite the benefits, the social media will pose several dangers: the number of fake accounts will increase tremendously, which will spread fake news, misinformation and disinformation to the public with the intent of misleading them. 

They will be fake videos, text messages, communiques and photoshop images among others. We will also see a lot of interference from out of the country because foreign bloggers and influencers will have the ability to interfere with our elections.

Candidates will also raise money online, but you do not know where the money is coming from, who is donating and why. So, this can enable money laundering, because we have seen this in many countries where big multinational companies give money to candidates to influence the elections. This ensures that if the candidates win, they give them huge contracts.

Online fundraising is also difficult to regulate, making it for malicious actors to negatively influence the elections.

The law also says the results should be published fifteen days after the voting, but with social media, we will have results on the same day. In 2018, the election took place on October 7 and on October 8; we started having results with people declaring themselves winners.

This will happen with them wanting to support a particular candidate, calls for regime change, violence, insurrection and other forms of interference. We will also witness a lot of manipulation with the help of technology.

How would you describe the way technology has shaped the current political climate in Cameroon leading up to the elections?

Technology has two sides because it has brought a lot of advantages, but also many challenges. In the past for example, people waited for political leaders to make decisions, but now the social media has democratized political power. 

With technology, people can stay in their rooms, make decisions, and manipulate people amongst others. Technology can be used to incite violence. So, while it has helped a lot, it has also brought great difficulties.

What are the expectations surrounding the electoral process, and can technology address concerns about transparency and fairness?

During elections, the expectations are usually that the elections should be free, fair and transparent. Another expectation is that they should end in a peaceful manner, meaning people accept the results. Therefore, we expect the process to be free, fair and transparent with the respect of the law and the people should trust the outcome.

In our case, it will be difficult for technology to address the issues of transparency and fairness in that we do not have the necessary technological tools and equipment to give transparency and fairness because of the absence of a card reader, and a central server. The results have to be carried with the help of a USB drive to Yaoundé.

We do not have a central server where the people vote and the votes go directly to the server. With a card reader, once you vote, the result goes to the central server, which can start processing and aggregating the results, but we do not have such a system here. If we had them, they can help to make the process transparent and fair.

We are not judging the system in place, because Cameroon has not used the card readers or a central server because they believe they have other instruments that can make the elections free and fair. But if we had card readers and other technological tools, it can make the process very free, fair and transparent.

What are the key issues that candidates are focusing on, and how do they plan to address Cameroon's challenges?

The key issues that candidates are focused on include basic amenities like the provision of water, electricity, health centres, and infrastructural issues like roads, construction of schools, universities and health facilities. Others include job creation especially for young people. These are the major issues that the candidates will be focused on addressing, which are the major challenges facing Cameroon, because if these facilities are in place people can create jobs on their own.

In 2006, statistics showed that Cameroon was losing over 400 billion francs because of the lack of energy, because without energy, companies do not come to invest and without companies, jobs are not created.

How can the threats posed by technology be mitigated during elections and what role can key stakeholders like the government, civil society, the media, religious and traditional leaders, political parties, and candidates play in reducing the tensions surrounding the elections?

It is very difficult to handle the threats posed by technology especially in less developed countries like our case, nevertheless, it is a collective fight and every Cameroonian; ELECAM, candidates, voters, lawyers, observers, civil society and others because everyone must come on board to make sure that we use technology in the right way. This is important because if technology is not used in the right way, it can shape the perception voters and the public, which can shape their reactions and actions.

The media must continue educating the public on the threats that technology can incite violence, insurrection and how some stories are fake and the impact they can have on the public.

The candidates must make a pledge on how they are going to behave during the elections by following the law, because if the law says results are published by the constitutional council after fifteen days of the voting exercise, the candidates must wait for the fifteen days.

Candidates must be able to come out, when people use the social media in such a way that is not good to distance themselves from such and denounce such acts. Political parties and candidates must be able to come out and correct misinformation from their supporters.

They can copy from Nigeria because in 2011 and 2015 elections in Nigeria, the Independent National Elections Commission, INEC, created a platform with all the different stakeholders, so that when there is any information that is not true, INEC will alert the press and they can assign someone to correct it. Political parties were alerted if their members were doing something that was not correct. Security official could be informed on the platform that there is insecurity somewhere.

Therefore, the platform really helped in mitigating some threats. Therefore, ELECAM can copy that and create a platform with all the stakeholders, which can help people in real time. They can also use the agency in-charge of politicking the social media to take down threatening posts on their platforms.

The actions of these actors can shape the perceptions, reactions and actions of voters during the election. If the media is responsible in its task of informing the public and politicians are responsible, the voters and the public will believe the results.

The last elections saw chaos and disorder after the proclamation of the results, what measures can the government and its partners implement to limit or minimize such challenges in 2025?

The law governing elections has not changed since 2018, but the candidates, voters and everybody involved at whatever level must be responsible and professional in every domain.

How can the government, ELECAM, the constitutional council, candidates and voters handle potential disputes or challenges to the results?

They are legal structures in-charge of handling disputes like the constitutional council, in other countries, what people do is that they come together to create their own problem-solving mechanism. This is because if there are problems after the elections the ordinary people will suffer more. 

Therefore, community, religious and association leaders and chiefs can create platforms to mitigate challenges and ensure there is no violence. The population must understand that if there is violence, the common man stands to suffer the most.

*Dr Henry Mekole is senior journalist and Editor-in-Chief of CRTV South West, in Buea. He defended his PhD thesis from the Department of International Relations and Conflict Resolution of the University of Buea, UB.

His thesis focused on: "The role of social media in the 2018 presidential election violence in Cameroon". Dr Mekole is also the Chief Executive Officer, CEO of the African Communication Centre for Ethics and Standards, ACCES.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3541 of Friday August 22, 2025