Opinion: Cameroon crossroads: The case for transitional government.

This is not merely absurd; it is an insult to the nation’s intelligence. Cameroon, a land alive with youthful energy, remains shackled under the dead weight of relics from another century—an ageing oligarchy whose chief accomplishment has been the perpetuation of its own rule. Must the country endure yet another seven years under a cabal whose only proven skill is clinging to office?

The National Electoral Council has betrayed the Republic with a recklessness bordering on criminality. The political playing field is neither level nor legitimate. Three facts alone strip this exercise of any claim to democratic credibility.

First, the imposition of a 30 million CFA registration fee amounts to political extortion. It effectively excludes much of the younger generation and independent candidates of modest means, depriving the nation of the fresh, visionary leadership it desperately needs. When wealth becomes the price of admission to politics, then democracy becomes a privilege for the rich.

Second, the list of approved candidates inspires little hope of national renewal. Maurice Kamto; once celebrated as the “people’s lawyer” and Biya’s most formidable challenger was unceremoniously defenestrated. He now drifts, politically homeless, after being cast aside by the coalition he believed would elevate him. Rather than rallying his base to take the moral high ground, he has allowed silence and the reckless behaviour of his followers—street brawls and vandalism — thus, handing the regime every excuse to tighten repression. The remaining contenders are a weary assembly of recycled loyalists and political veterans. Some, like Bello Bouba Maigari and Issa Tchiroma Bakary, remain tainted and still reeking of the very regime they claim to oppose. Their careers have been marked less by principle than by opportunism.

Third, the political climate has been anaesthetised. Dissent is crushed, civil liberties curtailed, and the electorate drifts in a fog of disillusionment and uncertainty. There is no anticipation of a genuine contest — only the silence of a foregone conclusion.

This malaise would be troubling enough under a young vigorous leader. Instead, Cameroon is tethered to a fatigued patriarch whose chief political genius has been his ability to survive — survival made possible by the opposition’s chronic disunity.