2018 Senatorial Elections in Cameroon: ELECAM Receives a pass mark from observers

They were all together 3723 national and international observers duly accredited who were present in the country on the 25^th of March 2018 to watch closely the second ever organised senatorial elections.

Amongst them 414 were international observers while the rest, 3309 were national observers, both spread across the 58 divisional headquarters in the country where elections were taking place. The men and women from civil society organisations, human rights institutions and religious bodies were watching closely the dispositions put in place by the elections organizing body, ELECAM, the respect of time, transparency, security, availability of voting materials just to name but these.

Most of the observers started the process from the beginning assisting in all the stages right up to the end of the voting and counting exercise. Their observations at each stage were positive.

One of the National Observers, the Network for Solidarity, Empowerment and Transformation for all, (NEW SETA) present at the lone voting center in Yaounde hosting two polling stations saluted the voting exercise at the Government Bilingual Primary School, Bastos where some 286 municipal councilors voted senators from three (3) political parties. According to the Program Director of NEW SETA, Prudence Noutcha, it was an act of professionalism for ELECAM to open the Polling Stations at exactly 8:00 am as prescribed by the law, given that the first voter came in just three minutes later. She praised the quality of voting materials used by ELECAM like the indelible ink which prevents someone from voting twice, the transparent ballot boxes which avoid corruption, the availability of enough ballot papers of all the three political parties, though most if not all the municipal councilors of the division belonged to one political party, the CPDM, the list of voters put up in front of each polling station with their complete identifications including their photos.

Also present at the Yaounde Polling Stations was the Chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms, Chemuta Divine Banda, who was one of the national observers with his organ covering 9 out of the 10 regions of the country. At the end of the exercise, Chemuta Divine Banda was satisfied with his observations and according to him, it proves the maturity of ELECAM in just two Senatorial elections organised in the country. Here is an excerpt of what the Chairman told the press “… as of now we have not noticed any dysfunction of the exercise, everything went on smoothly, the councilors were voting freely and their security was assured, we have tried to reach our colleagues in the other regions and no major incident was recorded apart from small noise here and there…”

Other National Observers present in Yaounde and who made similar positive comments about the organisation of the polls were; Horizon Femmes, the Universal Movement of Human Right – MUDDOH, the network of Human Rights organisations – RECODH, the Catholic and orthodox churches.

International observers were not left out. The civil society organisation from France was present among the 414 international observers accredited to cover the elections. The head of the delegation was impressed with the security dispositions taken by the government as well as access provided to them in the various polling stations where they were watching the polls closely. The international observers were free to visit the polling stations and ELECAMS official were very welcoming to respond to their worries.

The different observers were unanimous that elections Cameroon, ELECAM, has started the election year positively and they are optimistic that the other elections billed for this year including the presidential election would follow in the same positive direction.