Cameroonians indifferent towards revision of voters list

A total of 286,733 citizens of voting age were registered in Cameroon at the end of the process of revision of voter lists which ended on August 31, according to figures of Elections Cameroon (ELECAM).

Pending official field conclusions of this public body, some authoritative sources attributed this lack of interest in the loss of confidence vis-à-vis a political staff generally by non populations they considered incredible.

Another regularly invoked reason was lack of guidance of the citizens, both by political parties and civil society, which leads to a timid mobilization.

In its report published in the aftermath of the October 2011 presidential election, the NGOs Transparency International (TI) noted that “the effective participation of citizens in governance involves the rehabilitation of the Electoral Act, which has been severely discredited because of a long practice of Cameroonian frustration.”

To combat voter apathy, it advocated the development of a genuine civic education program in the long term, considered essential to respond to the shortcomings that have always marked the elections in Cameroon since the return to political pluralism.

“Without waiting for the next elections, a massive outreach effort should be conducted to popularize the constitutional principles, the institutions and the civic rights and duties. - Including in the school curricula.”

5 years ago, ELECAM had been presented a list of 5.06 million registered to the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation (MINATD). This is for a country that currently has about 22 million people including 10.2 of voting age.