Source : Sahel weather May 2025

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The electoral management agency Elecam and the UN signed a cooperation agreement on 9 May. The aim of the agreement, it is claimed, is to "optimise elections in Cameroon, with a view to strengthening the transparency and inclusiveness of the electoral process". Clearly left out of this process, the MRC (Movement for the Renaissance of Cameroon) party of the opposition leader Maurice Kamto voiced its indignation vehemently, denouncing a "signature on the sly". Maurice Kamto called on therefore "the UN to make public the Convention signed with ELECAM or else to publicly disassociate itself from it, unless it has decided, against democratic values and the interests of the Cameroonian people, and above all against its cardinal mission of conflict prevention, to support the current Cameroonian dictatorship to the very end and come what may".

Although President Paul Biya has not yet officially declared his intention to stand for re-election, since April he has opted for unusually intensive digital communication on social networks and Facebook. In regular posts - each time in French and English - Biya has launched several appeals for national cohesion. On 28 May, for example, he declared: "Peace, unity and democracy are sure values that I never stop advocating and that we must constantly reinforce. They are priceless but fragile". On 12 May: "Together, we must continue to build a healthy society made up of human beings who enjoy each other's company, rather than seeing each other as wolves. Or earlier in the month, on 2 May: "Our objective is the total fulfilment of every citizen, wherever they live and work, without discrimination". This communicative shift is seen by much of public opinion as a way of taking the temperature in the run-up to the presidential election in October 2025. Meanwhile, Cabral Libii has been nominated as the official candidate presidential of the Cameroon Party for National Reconciliation (PCRN). This is the second time Cabral Libii has run for the supreme magistracy - he came third in the 2018 presidential election.

National outcry after a murder

In Cameroon, the murder of Mathis, a six-year-old boy, on 10 May caused a national uproar. According to witnesses, the tragedy occurred after a fight between Mathis' father and the alleged murderer in a Yaoundé bar. The alleged murderer then went to Mathis' parents' house and stabbed the six-year-old boy several times. The security forces had to intervene to prevent him from being attacked by the crowd. The case has sparked a wave of indignation, particularly as the alleged murderer is the father of popular Cameroonian artist Lydol. Moved, the slam artist immediately took to her Instagram account to offer her condolences to the grieving family, cancelling her two forthcoming concerts scheduled for late May and early June out of deference. On Tuesday 27 May, 47-year-old Dagobert Nwafo was charged with "murder" and transferred to Kondengui central prison. He will spend six months in provisional detention there, pending his trial scheduled for 27 November.

On 20 May, the country celebrated its bank holidays, punctuated by military parades and official words calling for national unity. However, the day came against a backdrop of socio-political tensions, with the boycott of Maurice Kamto's MRC and the exclusion of militants from Célestin Bedzigui's Liberal Alliance Party (PAL). In the English-speaking city of Buea, "a police source reported that an improvised explosive device placed near the ceremonial square had been defused a few hours before the start of the parade", reports RFI.

Security challenges

At the end of the month, two terrorist incursions attributed to the Boko Haram terrorist group were recorded in the far north of the country. The first occurred on the night of 18 to 19 May in the Guipéré district of the village of Moskota (Mayo-Tsanaga department) and resulted in the death of one person. The second, on the night of 23 May in the canton of Moskota (Mayo-Moskota district) also killed one person. Several people were injured.

In addition, a report published on 9 May by the NGO Foder (Forêts et Développement Rural) warned of "the consequences of artisanal mining in localities in the east of the country". According to the report, illegal mining in these protected areas seriously threatens the existence of certain emblematic mammals threatened with extinction, such as the leopard, the buffalo, the African golden cat, the pygmy hippopotamus and the derby elk.