Declared presidential candidate and leader of the National Salvation Front (FSNC), Issa Tchiroma Bakary, has been prevented from leaving the country, in an incident that has fuelled political tensions just weeks before the October 2025 presidential election.
Issa Tchiroma Bakary and some of those reacting
The former Minister of Employment and Vocational Training was stopped at Yaoundé-Nsimalen International Airport on the morning of his scheduled flight to Dakar, Senegal. Travelling with his daughter for what he described as a private trip, Tchiroma intended to pay his respects at the grave of Cameroon’s first president, Ahmadou Ahidjo.
Airport security reportedly informed him that an authorisation from the Presidency of the Republic was required before he could travel abroad. This regulation applies to current members of government but Tchiroma resigned from his ministerial position on 24 June 2025 before formally declaring his presidential bid. He retrieved his luggage and returned to his Yaoundé residence.
No official explanation has been provided for the travel ban, though multiple sources suggest the order came from “high places”. The move comes in an already charged political climate marked by disputes over candidacies, alleged restrictions on civil liberties, and mounting accusations of political interference in the electoral process.
Political figures and commentators have reacted sharply. Opposition MP Jean Michel Nintcheu condemned the measure as “an illegal and liberticidal act”, describing it as evidence of the government’s “authoritarian drift” and “institutionalised arbitrariness”. He argued that preventing a citizen let alone a presidential candidate from travelling without legal cause was tantamount to “trampling on the last vestiges of freedom” in Cameroon.
Journalist Xavier Messè suggested the incident might be the result of overzealous regime loyalists or a misinterpretation of regulations, while political activist Guibai Gatama viewed it as a possible “political boost” for Tchiroma, recalling past instances when government pushback was turned into political capital.
The FSNC leader himself issued a statement denouncing what he called “clear proof that the current system fears the truth and the transition we represent”, insisting that “when a presidential candidate is prevented from travelling, it is an entire people that is denied the right to breathe.”
The matter has also taken on a personal dimension. Aminatou Ahidjo, daughter of the late President Ahmadou Ahidjo, accused Tchiroma of “political and moral fraud”, claiming he had never expressed condolences to the Ahidjo family despite their bereavements. She also defended the rule requiring recently departed ministers to seek presidential authorisation before travelling abroad, a rule she said Tchiroma was attempting to ignore.
Tchiroma’s candidacy is seen as potentially disruptive to the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement’s (CPDM) strategy in the country’s Far North region. On the eve of his thwarted trip, he had participated in talks with other political parties seeking to agree on a single opposition candidate for the October poll.
For now, Tchiroma remains in Cameroon and has not announced any new attempt to travel abroad. There has been no clarification from the Presidency or security services, and no formal legal basis has been cited for the restriction. The incident has deepened concerns about the state of political freedoms in Cameroon, adding yet another controversy to an already contentious election season.
By Bakah Derick for Hilltopvoices Newsroom
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