2025 Presidentials: "Sky could fall" if....

He furthered that the 2025 presidential election would be conducted in peace and order, with the results being respected.

He emphasised that any violations of the law would be met with firm action, while individuals making reckless calls for unrests would be held accountable and stay in the “land of regret” for long.

Minister Atanga Nji used the presser to re-echo President Paul Biya, who in his end-of-year speech to the nation on December 31, 2024, and that to the youth on February 10, 2025, had urged politicians to act responsibly to ensure a peaceful election.

The president had emphasised that 2025 would be a significant political year with both presidential and regional elections, calling for maturity and responsibility to maintain peace before, during, and after the elections. The president also urged eligible citizens to exercise their voting rights freely and responsibly, warning against attempts to incite chaos and disorder.

The emphasis by the Head of State, and members of government, on peace before, during and after the elections at every turn and twist is crystal clear.

Various academic research works such as Rodrick Henry's “How Strategic Violence Distorts African Elections; Elections”, and Electoral Violence in Africa: Causes and Implications,” by Ojighoro Reuben Edafenene and Etchie Peter, just to mention these two, are unanimous that electoral violence is a major phenomenon in Africa. 

Studies reveal that no single election has been held in Africa without incidents of violence. Research provides diverse explanations on electoral violence in Africa and institutional account; particularly the consolidation of democratic institutions, is the most plausible explanation for why electoral violence persists "with those in power willing to die in it".

The authors went further to state that with the "current trend or love for power by Africans, especially the leaders, it is even becoming more difficult for electoral violence to be curbed in modern day Africa. More worrisome is the fact that the great percentage of these conflicts are induced by the election process as election periods in Africa are referred to as a do or die season. From the West, East and North to the Central sub-region of Africa, electoral violence has become a norm rather than an exception as there is barely a state in Africa that has not tasted the bitter pill of electoral violence".

In Cameroon, the complaints are about manipulation, hate speech and tribalism. Minister Atanga Nji didn't fail to underline those viruses that have infested the country's political fabrics.

But times are changing. More Cameroonians have been educated than they were seven years ago. Social media warriors are sprouting up at every angle with lies, misinformation, my truth, your truth, their truth, and “the” truth.

The articulate population knows who is manipulating and who is violating the law, coupled with a dangerous combination of lack of job opportunities, poor economic growth, a growing youth demographic and an aged government that can push generations of people with decades of life ahead of them to the limit.

In Cameroon, the introduction of multi-party politics by President Biya, some would attribute it to the late John Fru Ndi, gave renewed impetus to the antagonism between so-called “autochthons” and “allochthons” or "settlers", and led to an awakening of ethnic stereotypes and xenophobia.

Inevitably, the new dangerous developments are resulting to violence, occasionally perpetuated by the fanaticism of the ruling party supporters, who are not tolerant to people perceived to oppose the regime.

There is also often a blend of jealousy against "setters" like the Bamilekes and Anglophones who appear to be more industrious in their host communities than the indigenes.

This insidious hatred against settlers emanates from factors such as the attempts to recover their sold ancestral land and feelings to annihilate the opposition in their communities so they can boast of 100 percent result in an election.

Such a configuration leaves doubt over the political future of Cameroon as the presidential election approaches. 

The sky surely shall not fall, but it needs literally to be supported with fair, free, transparent and credible elections that do not discriminate and have to support that imaginary sky.

Minister Atanga Nji said his ministry will "accompany" ELECAM to ensure the sky remains high for all to see. 

That should be freedom to vote, freedom to campaign by anybody anywhere in Cameroon, freedom for any Cameroonian to stand for any office, if he/she so qualifies and freedom to vote and observe the vote count to ensure there is no rigging,vwhich should be a remedy for electoral violence.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3384 of Thursday March 06, 2025