As Cameroon edges closer to the 2025 presidential election, one truth stands out: the debates cannot be business as usual. For too long, electoral campaigns have been dominated by promises and personalities rather than the fundamental issues that determine the country’s future. Hilltopvoices is therefore launching a special editorial series titled “The Presidential Questions: 10 Issues Cameroon Cannot Ignore”, to be published every two days scrutinising the challenges that any serious candidate must address.
From peace and reconciliation to jobs, corruption, healthcare, education and foreign policy, this series aims to shift the conversation towards substance. Cameroonians deserve more than slogans. They deserve concrete answers to the crises shaping their daily lives.
The first test for Cameroon’s next President: Peace and National Reconciliation
The greatest challenge confronting Cameroon today is peace. Since 2016, the conflict in the North West and South West regions has claimed thousands of lives, displaced millions, and paralysed economic and social life. The scars of this armed conflict are visible in burned-down schools, abandoned villages, and a traumatised population that yearns for normalcy.
No presidential candidate can ignore this. The central question is whether the next occupant of the Unity Palace will have the courage to confront the root causes of the crisis and chart a genuine path to reconciliation.
In 2019, government organised the Major National Dialogue, which offered some hope but fell short of addressing fundamental grievances. Many separatist leaders were absent, and several recommendations have remained on paper. Civil society, faith leaders and international partners have consistently called for an inclusive dialogue that goes beyond political symbolism.
A future president must go further. He or she will have to:
- Commit to Inclusive Dialogue: Not just with selected actors, but with all stakeholders, including separatist leaders, diaspora groups, and communities on the ground.
- Address Historical Grievances: From questions of marginalisation to the management of natural resources, and the long-standing demand for federalism or genuine decentralisation.
- Rebuild Trust through Justice: Confidence cannot be restored without addressing human rights violations, arbitrary arrests, and the fate of political prisoners.
- Invest in Post-Conflict Recovery: War-torn regions need reconstruction of schools, hospitals, and roads, alongside psychosocial support for traumatised families.
Peace, in this sense, is not simply the silence of guns. It is the presence of justice, equity, and national healing.
The next president of Cameroon will inherit a fragile state. Beyond the Anglophone crisis, inter-communal tensions in the Far North, disputes over land and resources, and a growing sense of political exclusion all threaten stability. A failure to prioritise reconciliation risks further fragmentation of the nation.
Cameroon’s youth who make up over 60% of the population are watching closely. For them, the armed conflict has meant disrupted education, lost opportunities, and growing frustration. Their patience with political rhetoric is wearing thin.
The international community, too, is observing. Cameroon’s role in the Central African sub-region is critical for stability, yet the conflict undermines its credibility. The United Nations, African Union, and partners like Switzerland have repeatedly offered to mediate. A serious candidate must clarify where he or she stands on these offers.
Ultimately, the first test of any presidential hopeful in 2025 will not be the size of their rallies or the loudness of their slogans. It will be their credibility on peace.
Do they have a clear plan? Are they willing to engage all sides without preconditions? Will they guarantee justice as part of reconciliation? Or will they, like many before, hide behind vague promises while Cameroonians continue to suffer?
In this series, Hilltopvoices will hold candidates accountable not to their slogans, but to the pressing realities. Peace and national reconciliation is the first question. In two days’ time, we turn attention to Electoral Reforms and we ask "Can Cameroon build a credible ballot box?
By Bakah Derick for Hilltopvoices Newsroom
Email: hilltopvoicesnewspaper@gmail.com
Tel: 6 94 71 85 77
Bakah Derick is an award-winning Cameroonian journalist and mediapreneur, serving as Vice President in charge of International Relations at the Cameroon Journalists’ Trade Union and leading Hilltopvoices Communications Group Ltd to amplify community voices and governance issues. With nearly 20 years in the field, his impactful reporting spanning human rights, environmental protection, inclusive development, and sports has earned him prestigious honors such as the 2024 VIIMMA Humanitarian Reporter of the Year and more. Email: debakah2004@gmail.com Tel: +237 675 460 750