Cameroon Youth Lead Election Protests Amid Political Tension

Photo by BBC

After‍‌‍‍‌ a highly disputed presidential election, protests have broken out in the streets of Cameroon, where youths popularly knowns as GenZ have been leading the protests to challenge the authority of President Paul Biya, who has been ruling for more than 40 years.

The opposition support base, majority youth between 18 and 35 years of age, blocked streets and set on fire car tyres in Douala and Garoua after the first results indicated that Biya, 92, was going to get another term of office. To disperse the crowd, the police used teargas and water cannons and took some of the protesters into ​‍​‌‍​‍‌custody. Whole incident has left 4 people dead and several nursing wounds of gunshots.

The opposition candidate Issa Tchiroma support base maintain strong stand that he won the election held on October 12, but they also accuse the authorities of electoral fraud. In Douala's New Bell quarter, "We want Tchiroma!" was the slogan of the mobs. Numerous arrests, including those of prominent youth activists and dissatisfied young generation

 A 27-year-old protester from Maroua, spoke with pain and displeasure when he said,

“I am prepared to take my life to protect my vote.”

The young man's voice has become a representation of the hopelessness of a whole generation who have lost faith in the ruling politicians due to their old age.

The population of Cameroon is very youthful as the median age is 18, according to Western Sahara Wire. The analysts say that the disappointment of the youth is due to the fact that they are without jobs, there is corruption, and they are not allowed to make the decisions. The 2023 EISA report concluded that the youth of Cameroon aged 18–35 are the most politically engaged but the least represented in the ‍‌‍‍‌leadership.

Some youths have vowed to continue with the fight to social justice even if means dying as a result of gunshot. This is the view of the majority around Cameroon at the moment who seem to have lost  faith in the leaders who have not brought any changes.

President Biya, the oldest leader in Africa, has been in power since 1982. This win, if it is the case, would be a step further in his ruling beyond the age of 99 and, therefore, would be the reason for even more calls for a change of generation.

Tension is still very high while the country is waiting for the final results. The protests led by the youth are a loud cry of the increasing gap between the political elite of the old generation in Cameroon and the rest of other countries that do not see the need of it's young generation getting involved into national conversations, leaving the young majority who are impatient and firmly resolved to be the ones to decide the future of their ‍‌‍‍‌country through