By Sama Jonathan
The Chairperson of the Electoral Board of Elections Cameroon, (ELECAM), Dr Enow Abrams Egbe, has lauded the efforts of the Director General of Election and collaborators in mobilizing Cameroonians of voting to register on the electoral list.
Speaking during the First Ordinary Session of the Electoral Board of ELECAM for 2024 in Yaounde on Thursday, March 28, the chairperson of ELECAM said thanks to the efforts of the Director General of Elections and collaborators, the institution has registered some 144,817 new potential voters in the first quarter of this year.
The session at the headquarters of the Poll Management body was devoted to the examination and validation of the financial accounts of the institution for the year 2023, quarterly activity report from January to March: monitoring and evaluation of the 2024/2025 strategic plan and the 2024 training plan. Members also reviewed the situation of voter register nationwide and in the diaspora.
“From the documents and reports submitted by the Director General of Elections, it can be noticed that there has been great strides in the domain of voter registration during the first quarter,” Dr Enow Abrams said explaining figures show a crescendo trend all over the national territory.
“We have thus far registered a total of 144, 817 new electors with 90,124 men, and 54,693 women, 101,848 youths and 129 persons living with disability”, Dr Enow Abrams disclosed applauding field teams for great work and encouraging them to keep the momentum.
Strategic priorities for 2024
For 2024, a pre-election year, the Chairperson of the Board of ELECAM said the institution is focused on implementing strategic priorities in its plan of action for 2024/2025.
He talked of issues such as capacity building for personnel to ensure their optimum readiness for the upcoming 2025 elections and boosting voter registration and deployment of teams to Cameroon’s diplomatic missions and consular services worldwide for voter registration exercises.
“A team of technicians will be dispatched to our diplomatic representations and consular offices to fix faulty registration kits, and conduct training for newly appointed focal points with the view to ensuring the smooth continuation of voter registration,” Dr Enow Abrams announced.
To further put all stakeholders on the same page, Dr Enow Abrams said the second edition of regional consultations with other actors will be organized.
“The positive feedback from the previous event is ample prove that it was the right decision to bring together all the stakeholders in the electoral process around the same table,” he stated.
He equally appreciated other actors who have remained constructive in supporting ELECAM in its activities. He said it is the responsibility of all citizens to contribute to the building of democracy in Cameroon.
“I urge each and every one of us to maintain the same enthusiasm and team spirit, bearing in mind that the elections of 2025 are already knocking on our doors,” he said.
In terms of institutional cooperation, ELECAM, he insisted, will continue to work with partners such as the Commonwealth, La Francophonie and the African Union.
The increase in the number of registered voters constitutes a positive step towards strengthening democracy in Cameroon. However, challenges remain to ensure free, fair and inclusive elections. ELECAM has to thus continue its efforts to ensure the transparency of the electoral process and encourage the participation of all citizens, in order to further consolidate democracy in the country.
