Cameroon Learning from Senegalese Democracy

From the Sonko/Faye duo to the Faye/Sonko clash, recent political developments in Senegal have not failed to capture the attention of the Cameroonian public.

Indeed, after being dismissed from his position as Prime Minister by the very man who had long been his loyal ally, Ousmane Sonko was swiftly elected President of the Senegalese National Assembly. This dramatic turn of events comes amid what appears to be the political weakening of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, whose party, Pastef, has largely chosen to rally behind the former Prime Minister.

However, is this a genuine political confrontation or merely a strategy designed to propel Ousmane Sonko to the highest office in the country? Only time will tell.

Nevertheless, the enthusiasm shown by many Cameroonians regarding these developments raises important questions.

It is worth recalling that Cameroon has been governed for more than forty years by Mr. Paul Biya, whose political party maintains a firm grip over nearly all state institutions.

His re-election following the October 2025 presidential election sparked unrest across several regions of the country, leading to peaceful demonstrations that were violently suppressed by security forces perceived by part of the public as being loyal to his administration.

Resigned and powerless, many Cameroonians now seem to prefer admiring the democratic progress taking place in neighboring African countries.

After all, what can be expected when a single individual concentrates most political power in his hands?

It is President Paul Biya who oversees the organization of elections at both the local and national levels. Most officials responsible for administering elections within Elecam are openly affiliated with the ruling CPDM (RDPC) party. Likewise, the majority of members of the Constitutional Council were appointed by the Head of State.

So, is it democracy or a democratorship?

Cameroon clearly has much to envy Senegal, a country that has experienced several democratic transfers of power over the years and whose electoral system is often regarded as more transparent and competitive.

October 2025 definitively tarnished the image of Cameroonian democracy.

Numerous cases of electoral fraud were reported, while several inconsistencies in vote tabulation were identified. Some discrepancies even emerged between the official reports presented by Elecam and those produced by opposition parties. Added to this are allegations of corruption and influence peddling involving certain candidates as well as opposition representatives.

It is also important to highlight the numerous arrests, the exile of Paul Biya's main political opponent, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, the imprisonment of Djeukam Tchameni, a key supporter of candidate Tchiroma, as well as the tragic and still unexplained death in detention of Anicet Ekane, a prominent figure in Cameroon's democratic struggles since the 1990s.

This is a recurring pattern in Cameroon. As early as 2018, following the presidential election, candidate Maurice Kamto, who had declared himself the winner of the vote, was imprisoned along with many of his supporters and activists for several months.

Despite the Cameroonian people's aspirations for change, the regime has consistently used the power of the state to preserve its enduring hegemony. What could be more natural, then, than to regard Senegal as a democratic model, particularly from a Cameroonian perspective?

Had President Bassirou Diomaye Faye embraced "Biyaiste" tendencies, his former ally, Ousmane Sonko, would probably be languishing today in one of Senegal's prisons. Such a scenario had already been witnessed under the administration of former President Macky Sall.

However, the Senegalese people, through their dynamism and refusal to accept fatalism, play a crucial role in safeguarding democratic principles. They exercise their right to protest whenever the nation's higher interests risk being sacrificed for the benefit of a group driven by a quest for power deemed illegitimate.

By contrast, a large segment of the Cameroonian population appears to have resigned itself to the situation, taking refuge in the sadly familiar phrase: "What can we do about it?"

Yet the reasons for public anger are abundant. Between widespread impoverishment, the alarming state of road infrastructure, recurring power outages, limited access to clean drinking water in many regions, inflation steadily eroding purchasing power, massive youth unemployment, and persistent insecurity, Cameroonians have every reason to demand profound and lasting change.

For now, however, the status quo seems to prevail. Cameroonian democracy remains a spectator to its own decline, witnessing without any meaningful reaction the gradual erosion of the very principles that are meant to sustain it.