Tensions Surge in Cameroon: Arrests, Armed Clampdowns, and Legal Threats Shake Pre-Election Climate

Douala, Cameroon — June 9, 2025 — The Biya regime is once again resorting to authoritarian tactics, launching an aggressive campaign to silence dissent ahead of the October 5 presidential election.

The latest target is opposition leader Maurice Kamto, who was forcibly prevented from meeting supporters in Douala this weekend. Dozens of supporters have been arrested, Kamto is being transported under armed escort to Yaoundé, and evidence is mounting that the government intends to place him under de facto house arrest.

The Movement for the Renaissance of Cameroon (MRC) leader had traveled to Douala to assess voter registration progress and reconnect with party militants. Instead, he was met with hundreds of heavily armed police and gendarmes surrounding his hotel in Bonapriso. Security forces barred him from accessing the MRC headquarters, in open violation of his constitutional rights. An emissary from the Governor of Littoral admitted that no legal expulsion order had been signed — yet demanded Kamto leave Douala immediately. Kamto refused, asserting that only a formal, written expulsion would compel him to change his plans.

Police State Measures Amid Legal Chaos

Over 90 MRC militants and sympathizers were arrested between Sunday and Monday across Douala. Observers describe the city as "hyper-militarized" with arbitrary checkpoints, surveillance, and a suffocating security presence. Exams such as the BTS and Probatoire have been disrupted, and key roads remain blocked as the regime escalates its siege against political opposition.

Security forces eventually forced Kamto to leave Douala. According to multiple reports, he is currently en route to Yaoundé, under heavy armed escort. Government-aligned journalist Polycarpe Essomba falsely claimed Kamto left "of his own volition," despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Essomba, known for his connections to former Defense Minister Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo'o, remained silent during Kamto’s illegal detention — further exposing state media complicity with Biya’s regime.

Attempt to Disqualify Kamto from 2025 Elections

The government’s repressive campaign is not limited to physical coercion. Legal maneuvers are underway to bar Kamto from the 2025 elections. On May 14, CPDM Deputy Secretary General Grégoire Owona suggested that Kamto could be disqualified because his party, the MRC, did not win seats in the 2020 municipal and legislative elections. However, the MRC counters that its alliance with elected officials like MP Jean-Michel Nintcheu fulfills the legal criteria for candidacy.

These political gymnastics reveal a desperate ruling party clinging to power. With Paul Biya, aged 91, aiming for an eighth term despite rising internal dissent, the regime appears determined to eliminate all credible opposition — particularly Kamto, whose rising popularity was evident during his recent visit to Paris.

Cameroon’s Deepening Human Rights Crisis

This brutal suppression of peaceful political activity comes amid ongoing violence in the Anglophone regions and the Far North. In May, separatists killed several soldiers in the North West and South West regions, while government forces responded with mass arrests. ISWAP militants also struck in the Far North, killing soldiers and civilians in coordinated raids, underscoring the state’s weakening control over national territory.

Despite these crises, the regime remains focused not on restoring security or democratic governance, but on persecuting political rivals. Kamto’s symbolic stance — refusing to be chased out of Douala without legal basis — is a testament to the courage of Cameroon’s democratic movement. As Kamto himself said in reference to Senegal’s peaceful transfer of power: “You cannot call for change and avoid responsibility. That means guarding your vote — even in the face of a military state.”

A Nation at a Crossroads

The world must no longer turn a blind eye to the criminalization of opposition in Cameroon. The Biya regime’s latest actions — arbitrary arrests, media distortion, and forced displacement of opposition leaders — constitute a grave threat to electoral integrity. Without international condemnation and domestic resistance, Cameroon faces yet another sham election under authoritarian rule.

The Cameroonian people deserve free, fair, and transparent elections — not the tyranny of a regime afraid of its own citizens.