The official two-week campaign period for Cameroon’s presidential election began on Saturday, September 27, with incumbent President Paul Biya seeking to extend his 43-year rule by securing an eighth seven-year term. The vote, scheduled for October 12, presents a high-stakes choice for the Central African nation, with Biya, aged 92, facing a field of eleven challengers, including one woman, all vying for the highest office.
The final list of candidates approved to contest the election was set at twelve, including the long-serving head of state who is the leader of the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (RDPC). Amongst the notable opposition contenders launching their campaigns were Issa Tchiroma Bakary of the Front for the National Salvation of Cameroon (FSNC) and Bello Bouba Maigari of the National Union for Democracy and Progress (UNDP). Both Tchiroma and Maigari are former ministers and previous allies of President Biya. Also on the ballot is Joshua Osih, the candidate for the main opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF), who commenced his campaign activities in Bamenda, the chief town of the restive English-speaking Northwest Region. The sole female candidate in the race is Hermine Patricia Tomaïno Ndam Njoya.
The two-week campaign period unfolds against a backdrop of ongoing security challenges in the country. Separatist fighters have reportedly imposed a month-long lockdown in the Anglophone Northwest and Southwest Regions, aiming to disrupt the electoral process in the war-torn areas where they are seeking to create an independent nation. Despite the violence, campaign activities were reported in both the capital, Yaoundé, and in the Southwest Region, where Cameroonian Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute attended a campaign event in Buea on Saturday.
The contest to either extend or end Mr. Biya’s rule, which began in 1982, will culminate in the presidential election on October 12.