The colonial regime in Yaoundé has once again proven that elections under Paul Biya’s rule are nothing short of a charade. In the build-up to the October 13, 2025, presidential polls, barons of the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) have inundated every corner of the so-called Republic of Cameroon with giant billboards, posters, and banners of their 92-year-old candidate, Paul Biya.
From Douala to Yaoundé, and even across the occupied territories of Ambazonia, Biya’s face is plastered on buildings, streets, and public offices, suffocating the political space and leaving little to no room for other contenders. The colonial capital has been turned into a shrine of Biya’s personality cult, where every street corner screams his name while other candidates are reduced to mere whispers.
What makes the spectacle even more scandalous is the blatant misuse of state resources to prop up the ailing autocrat. Government cars, administrative offices, and even public workers have been co-opted into the campaign machinery for Biya, in total violation of any principle of neutrality. Colonial governors, divisional officers, and mayors are acting as campaign agents, ensuring that Biya’s dominance is enforced by the very apparatus meant to serve the people.
The result is a political chessboard that is anything but level. Opposition candidates are boxed into corners, struggling to mobilise in the face of harassment, censorship, and intimidation, while the CPDM rides on the back of the state. The military, already notorious for its brutality against Ambazonian civilians, has been deployed not only to terrorise the population but also to guard Biya’s billboards and ensure no dissenting poster dares to compete with the CPDM’s propaganda machinery.
This is not democracy; it is colonial manipulation. The regime seeks to project the illusion of choice while ensuring only one outcome: the perpetual continuation of Paul Biya’s power. The suffocating dominance of his images across cities is not a sign of popularity but a desperate attempt to exert psychological control over a weary population.
For Ambazonians, this spectacle is yet another reminder that the political theatre in La République du Cameroun has nothing to do with justice, fairness, or representation. It is a one-man show, a 42-year dictatorship disguised as elections, with a 92-year-old ruler being forced down the throats of a people who have been stripped of their dignity.
As the CPDM continues to flood the streets with Biya’s effigies, the world must take note: these elections are already rigged by design. Ambazonians cannot and will not pin their hopes on a colonial electoral circus. Our struggle remains for genuine self-determination, away from the fraud and corruption that define Paul Biya’s Cameroon.
By Lucas Muma
