Bishops bite & blow over conduct of October 12 poll.

The outing of the bishops came days after the close of the polls in which opposition candidate, Issa Tchiroma Bakary and incumbent President Biya, emerged as main contenders.

Before citing the irregularities recorded during the election, the men in cassock recalled that: “As the presidential election approached, the National Episcopal Conference, through its National Justice and Peace Service, asked the Minister of Territorial Administration for 307 accreditations to observe the election, and he gave 202”.

They said despite the small number accorded the body, the observers were able to be deployed throughout the country, with the help of the various Justice and Peace coordination teams in the Dioceses.

The group detailed that 202 observers covered twelve thousand two hundred and fifty-seven polling stations out of thirty-one thousand six hundred and thirty-five of those in the country's 10 Regions.

The bishops noted that based on what was observed on election day, the National Episcopal Conference “would like to express its satisfaction with the efforts made by Elections Cameroon, ELECAM, to ensure that the voting took place in a serene atmosphere”.

While commending the example of democratic civility shown by the assessors on duty in most polling stations, the preachers immediately stated that the National Justice and Peace's overall report on the observation of the October 12 presidential election also notes certain irregularities that seriously hinders the country’s progress towards democracy.

“It was noted that the minutes prepared by ELECAM were signed by the representatives of the parties present at the polling station on the first and last pages, but not on the middle pages containing the vote count as published at the polling station,” the group began before noting that their observers noted high abstention rates in parts of the country.

Among other irregularities, the bishops cited the relocation of certain polling stations and failure to update the electoral register, which they said, contained the names of deceased persons.

The bishops said some bins were positioned in such a way as to allow voters to see the ballot papers discarded by the previous voter “which was likely to influence the vote”.

They cited the cases in Douala, Yaounde, Maroua, Garoua and Bertoua, where some voters left with ballot papers for candidates who were not their choice.

“There were also cases of polling stations that existed on the ground but were not included on the official ELECAM list,” the group mentioned, citing “…an incident… in the city of Garoua, where, following an intervention by the police on the convoy of the candidate, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, who was returning from his polling station, clashes between the police and young people resulted in serious injuries to a police officer and the burning of a gendarmerie truck”.

“After the voting day, other scenes of violence in the towns of Dschang and Douala were observed,” they added.

Turning to the counting and publication of the results of the vote per polling station “a step provided for in Article 113 of the Electoral Code, our observers noted that these operations generally began at 6:00pm, in the presence of members of the Local Voting Commissions, scrutineers recruited from among voters registered on the polling station lists, anti a few observers and voters”.

They continued: “The results of each candidate were made public in the 12,257 polling stations where we observed, and since the counting was public, the people recognized themselves in the votes that were counted and left generally satisfied. As the people left, they expressed their hope that they will still recognize themselves in the results that will be published by the Constitutional Council and that nothing will be changed by any authority involved in this exercise”.

“… it is our prayer that, with the help of God and the commitment of all, our country will experience peace and stability in truth, and will emerge stronger, thanks to the contributions of millions of Cameroonians through their daily work and love for the country” the bishops concluded.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3601 of Tuesday October 21, 2025