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Cameroon

https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/

July 2024

President Biya delays legislative and municipal elections

On 24 July, via legislation and a presidential decree, President Paul Biya extended the terms of legislators and municipal counsellors by more than a year, paving the way for the postponement of National Assembly and municipal elections from 2025 to 2026. The delay was justified by the government on the grounds that it was necessary to lighten the electoral calendar for 2025. Opposition parties and civil society, however, alleged that the move is an attempt by Biya to exclude opponents from the upcoming presidential election. Cameroon’s electoral code requires political parties fielding a presidential candidate to have representation in parliament or a regional or a municipal council, or secure endorsements from 300 dignitaries. Having boycotted the last elections, several opposition parties lack such representation and delaying the National Assembly and municipal elections until after the 2025 presidential poll deprives these parties of the opportunity to achieve it.

Sources: Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon (1), Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon (2), Jeune Afrique, The East African

March 2024

Cameroon’s government bans opposition coalitions ahead of 2025 elections

In a press release dated 12 March, Cameroon’s Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, declared two coalitions of opposition political parties to be illegal. Minister Nji said the Political Alliance for Change (APC) and the Alliance for a Political Transition in Cameroon (ATP), two new and important opposition groupings, did not meet the legal definition of a political party and were therefore prohibited from carrying out political activities, including holding public meetings and demonstrations. The declaration was contested by activists, who asserted that Cameroonian law did not prevent political parties from forming coalitions. According to Human Rights Watch, an NGO, the ban represented an attempt by state authorities ‘to close down space for the opposition and for public debate ahead of the 2025 presidential elections.’            

Sources: Ministry of Territorial AdministrationJeune Afrique (1), Jeune Afrique (2)Human Rights Watch 

November 2023

Massacre in south-western village marks a month of increasing violence

After several months in which the level of violence in the long-running conflict between anglophone separatists and the central government of Cameroon had decreased, there was a significant increase in violence in November. In one particularly notable event on 6 November, gunmen identified in press reports as anglophone separatists killed at least 20 people in the village of Egbekaw, in south-western Cameroon. The attack took place on the 41st anniversary of the beginning of President Paul Biya’s rule.

Sources: France24, eNews Channel Africa, Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, International Crisis Group

May 2023

Increasing violence between separatists and government

Three incidents in May indicated an increasing intensity in the conflict between Anglophone separatists and the central government in Cameroon that has been ongoing since 2017. On 2 May, a group of 15 separatists was reported to have attacked a military outpost in a village 40 kilometres from the city of Douala, killing five soldiers and one civilian. This attack was the closest yet to the country’s major port and economic hub. On 8 May, a journalist named Anye Nde Nsoh was murdered in Bamenda in what the separatists later claimed was a case of mistaken identity. A separatist leader subsequently threatened to arrest any journalist who protested against Nsoh’s killing. This is the third murder of a journalist in Cameroon in 2023. Two weeks later, a group of 30 women who had protested against a rebel group’s collection of taxes from the local population in the Nort-West region village of Kedjom Keku were kidnapped and mistreated. They were released after being held for one week.

Sources: Africa News, Radio France Internationale, France24, Voice of America, Anadolu Agency, Deutsche Welle

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Global ranking per category of democratic performance in 2023

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Representation
129/173
Rights
144/173
Rule of Law
151/173
Participation
108/173
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Basic Information

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Population Tooltip
28 647 293
System of government
Presidential system
Head of government
Prime Minister Joseph Ngute (since 2019)
Head of government party
Cameroon People's Democratic Movement
Electoral system for lower or single chamber
First Past the Post, Party Block Vote, List Proportional Representation
Women in lower or single chamber
33.9%
Women in upper chamber
31.0%
Last legislative election
2020
Head of state
President Paul Biya
Selection process for head of state
Direct election (two-round majority)
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) date
14/11/2023
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) percentage of recommendations supported
75.60%
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Human Rights Treaties

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State Party State party
Signatory Signatory
No Action No action
United Nations Human Right Treaties
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
State Party
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
State Party
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
State Party
Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
State Party
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment
State Party
Convention on the Rights of the Child
State Party
International Convention on Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
Signatory
International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance 
Signatory
International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Signatory
International Labour Organisation Treaties
Forced Labour Convention
State Party
Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention
State Party
Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention
State Party
Equal Remuneration Convention
State Party
Abolition of Forced Labour Convention
State Party
Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention
State Party
Convention concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment
State Party
Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention
State Party
Regional Treaties
African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights
State Party
in
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Performance by category over the last 6 months

Representation neutral Representation
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Representation neutral Rights
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Representation neutral Rule of law
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Representation neutral Participation
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Global State of Democracy Indices

Hover over the trend lines to see the exact data points across the years

Explore the indices
Representation
Representation
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Rights
Rights
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Rule of Law
Rule of Law
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Participation
Participation
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4

Factors of Democratic Performance Over Time

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