2004 Cameroon Election - Departure Statement

We observed the 2004 Presidential Election at the invitation of the Government of Cameroon and with the support of the political parties.  Our Group comprised 16 experienced observers and nine support staff from the Commonwealth Secretariat; it was deployed throughout the country. We were present at over 260 polling stations, 21 counts and nine district results collation centres. Our team included five senior election managers, five present or former parliamentarians, four influential civil society representatives and other senior figures.

The full Group has been in Cameroonfor two weeks, and was preceded by advance observers, an Expert Team observing the voter registration process and earlier Commonwealth engagement with Cameroonto strengthen democracy. In the last two weeks we have benefited greatly from the meetings we have had with a wide range of people involved in the electoral process. 

We appreciate the invitation of the government of Cameroonto observe this election, and the free and open access we have enjoyed.  We want also to note the enthusiastic welcome that was extended to our observers by the people of Cameroon, when we met them in their villages, and on the streets, and in their polling places.

Over the last few days we have been working hard on our report, comparing and cross-referencing all the information we have gathered. The report is now complete. On the basis of our observations we believe that in a number of key areas, the electoral process lacked the necessary credibility. In particular, we are concerned that many people who wished to vote were not on the Voters' Register, so were denied the right to vote. However, even given the serious deficiency in the management of the register, we believe that the intention of those who voted was reflected in the result. 

We must also stress that, while it is possible to count the number of those who voted, no one can quantify the numbers of those who have become disenchanted and disengaged from the democratic process, particularly young people. This problem needs to be addressed. 

The whole electoral process was run by, and the key decisions were taken by, the Ministry of Territorial Administration and De-Centralisation. It was observed by the National Elections Observatory. While we understand the special circumstances in Cameroon, we believe that an independent election management body to organise all aspects of the electoral system, as occurs in many other Commonwealth and African countries, would bring important improvements to the electoral process in Cameroon. 

Our report will now be sent to the Commonwealth Secretary-General.  He will forward it to the Government of Cameroon, the National Elections Observatory, the political parties and all Commonwealth governments.  The report will be made available to the public by the end of next week. 

We wish to emphasise that one of the main purposes of our report is to provide practical and constructive recommendations that will help to strengthen the democratic process in Cameroon.  These recommendations are based on our observation of the process here and on our Group's extensive experience and knowledge of Commonwealth democratic systems. 

We were pleased to be able to co-operate in our observations with La Francophonie and other international partners. We hope that our report will be useful to the Government and people of Cameroon, the Commonwealth Secretariat and those international partners in their efforts to work together to strengthen democracy in this country. 

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