“Civil Society Organisations Mobilise People to Register”

Professor Emmanuel Yenshu Vuba, political socialogist at the University of Buea.

How do you analyse the political climate in the country at the start of 2018 which President Paul Biya announced is an electoral year?

The beginning of the year is marked by stability in a sizeable portion of the country. I am talking of North, Adamawa, West, Centre, South, Littoral and East which make up seven regions. There is relative and no call for concern in these seven regions. The three others regions (Far North, North West and South West) have pockets of instability. Take Manyu Division for example; there are parts that are unstable with confrontations between some rebels and the government troops. It has not gotten into escalation that was reported sometime. The reports are no more coming forth. So we just hope the situation has calmed down. But in the North West and South West Regions, there is some uneasy calm. The Far North Region is still suffering from sporadic suicide bombing. I see the sociopolitical situations as one where there is stability for the majority country and some areas where there are problems. In these places, we have the prolongation of the agitations that started in 2016.

What is expected of civil society organisations in the electoral process, taking into account the climate and also the fact the revision of electoral registers for this year has just been launched?

The electoral year has been announced and the electoral registers are opened. What is expected now is that people should register. The campaigns have not yet been opened and the elections themselves have not been called. Elections are always called by an Order. It is the law that announces the elections and the Electoral College is convened. For now there is just an announcement. A civil society is not a political party in essence and there is a wide range of organisational forms that exist between the State and the family excluding the economic organisation. They play a role which is not strictly political although it may have political bearings. On the contrary, political parties that hope to grab votes should be going out to mobilise the electorates to register especially at their own base. The parties should be strategising on how to win the votes, be designing their propaganda, reflecting on the ...