Cameroon - October 2024

On 9 October, Cameroon’s Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, issued a communique prohibiting discussion of President Paul Biya’s health in the media and stating that offenders would ‘face the full force of the law’. It also instructed the country’s governors to establish monitoring units to identify the ‘authors of biased comments’ in the private media and social media. The communique came amid growing speculation about the well-being and whereabouts of the 91-year-old Biya, who had not been seen in public since 8 September. He returned to Cameroon from Europe on 21 October. Human Rights Watch noted that the ban is part of a broader pattern of free speech restrictions in the country ahead of the 2025 elections, including a decree issued by a senior local government official in July, threatening to expel anyone from the capital who insulted Biya or state institutions.

Sources: Ministry of Territorial Administration, Africa Confidential, British Broadcasting Corporation, Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon, Human Rights Watch, Prefect of the Department of Mpoundi