Visionary Reports

Elections Cameroon (ELECAM) dispatched Professor Dorothy Limunga Njeuma, a board member, to the Littoral region on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, to gather pertinent insights from grassroots actors involved in the electoral process.

This occurred at the Douala One Council Auditorium in Bonanjo during the Third Edition of the Regional Platform for Permanent Consultation Between Elections Cameroon (ELECAM) and Other Stakeholders of the Electoral Process at the Local Level. The workshop, which brought together representatives from political parties, civil society organizations, the media, minority groups, religious leaders, and others, was themed “For the Mobilisation of all Stakeholders of the Electoral Process to Ensure Peaceful, Inclusive, and Transparent Elections.”Meanwhile, Serge Bourdoun Otyaa, the Littoral Regional Delegate of ELECAM, highlighted the progress made by his office to meet the needs of Cameroonians. These strides include: The involvement of all members of the state voting commission in the selection of local voting commission members, moving away from sole production by local commissions, A concerted effort to ensure neutrality in the selection of local voting commission chairs,The collaborative development of platform texts with political parties, The provision of sufficient instructional materials to municipal branches to optimize guidance on electoral lists, including the locations of lists and paper records, The effective guarantee of the safety of political party representatives during campaign events, polls, and within polling stations,Addressing the planned electoral reform,The mandatory publication of the national electoral list on a website accessible to all voters,Taking steps to register internally displaced persons and individuals living far from usual registration points, particularly in neighborhoods with transportation challenges, Strict adherence to the schedule of visits by mobile registration teams for voter registration,Facilitating the registration of young people who reach the voting age by election day,Avoiding practices that could demobilize eligible citizens from registering due to fear of being labeled as activists in certain political organizations.

Regarding voter registration statistics for the Littoral region as of December 31, 2024, Mr. Bourdoun Otyaa stated that the total number of registered voters was 2,026,846. He provided the following breakdown;Wouri 905,553 voters,Sanaga-Maritime 97 voters,Mungo;27,683 voters,Nkam; 231,548 voters.He further noted that the revision of the electoral lists for 2025, from January 1 to April 25, had recorded 6,927,713 new registrations. However, it appears there might be a discrepancy or a need for clarification in these figures as the sum of the divisional data does not match the regional total provided for December 31, 2024, and the new registrations seem exceptionally high.Professor Dorothy Limunga Njeuma acknowledged the work done by stakeholders thus far but emphasized the need for further efforts, particularly in the area of voter card collection. She raised key questions for discussion, including:The precise number of registered voters in the region, broken down by division and council area,The distribution of polling stations by division, council area, and for the region as a whole,The status of voter cards, including the initial stock at the beginning of the year, the number of cards added, and the number distributed, The challenges associated with voter card distribution.Professor Njeuma stressed that, similar to national identity cards, voter cards are to be collected individually at the council branch offices of ELECAM. She noted that hundreds of thousands of voter cards remain uncollected.It is hoped that the proposals put forth by the stakeholders will soon yield positive results, contributing to a smooth and successful election in Cameroon

By HENRY WANA