Biya’s Minister Declares War on the People’s Choice

In his statement—published simultaneously in French and German—Atanga Nji labels Tchiroma’s announcement an “irresponsible and arrogant act” and warns that he “will be dealt with firmly when the time comes.” He further compares Tchiroma to “dishonorable candidates” of 1992 and 2018, alluding to Ni John Fru Ndi and Maurice Kamto, whose electoral victories were both crushed by state machinery.

Call It What It Is: A Regime in Panic

Atanga Nji’s communique is not a mere bureaucratic note—it is a political confession.
The Minister’s tone is that of a regime trapped between denial and fear, attempting to intimidate the victor while masking its own collapse. He accuses Tchiroma of trying to “plunge the country into flames,” yet every credible report from across the country shows peaceful citizens celebrating their electoral triumph in defiance of state repression.

Even within the South Region—the symbolic heart of President Paul Biya’s power—the vote tallies overwhelmingly favored Tchiroma. Multiple independent reports, supported by PVs collected at polling stations, confirm that Biya was defeated even in his home constituency.

This, more than any speech or press release, explains the regime’s sudden aggression. The fortress has fallen, and Atanga Nji is trying to shout the walls back into place.

The Breakdown: Words of a Cornered Minister

The 7-page statement, written in unusually defensive language, attempts to justify the government’s control over the electoral process by invoking “public order” and “constitutional authority.” Yet the subtext is clear: ELECAM, the electoral body, is preparing to reverse the people’s verdict through the falsification of procès-verbaux.

Atanga Nji insists that “the election was peaceful, with only minor irregularities not capable of altering the result.”
That sentence alone betrays the truth. If the regime were confident of victory, it would not need to preemptively defend the credibility of an election whose counting is not yet concluded.

The Minister also warns that any “unauthorized publication of results” constitutes high treason—a direct threat aimed at silencing whistleblowers, journalists, and civil society groups documenting irregularities.

The Enablers: When Power Becomes Paranoia

For four decades, the Biya regime has used the same playbook: delay, deny, and repress.
From the 1992 fraud against Fru Ndi, to the 2018 detention of Maurice Kamto, to today’s attempt to erase Issa Tchiroma’s victory, the pattern has not changed.
Atanga Nji’s communique is not governance—it is fear disguised as authority.

By attacking a candidate who has run a peaceful, law-abiding campaign, the regime is signaling to its own base that power, not law, defines legitimacy. This is not statesmanship. It is state panic.

The Callout: The People Have Already Decided

In city after city, from Garoua to Douala, Ngaoundéré to Bafoussam, the people’s voice was loud and decisive.
The original procès-verbaux—captured on video, stamped and signed before transmission—show a nationwide mandate for Issa Tchiroma Bakary.
No communique, however intimidating, can erase that truth.

Cameroon Concord calls on the international community, particularly the African Union, the European Union, and the United Nations, to closely monitor the handling of results and demand transparency from ELECAM.
Democracy cannot exist under siege by its own institutions.

The Closer: History Will Not Wait

Atanga Nji’s threats mark the last gasp of a collapsing regime.
The people of Cameroon have already spoken. Their ballots have replaced fear with courage, and silence with defiance.

If the Biya government proceeds with falsification or repression, it will not only destroy its final shreds of legitimacy—it will confirm what Cameroonians already know: that dictatorship cannot survive truth.

Cameroon Concord stands with the sovereign people of Cameroon.
History has shifted, and no communiqué can reverse it.