Battle Lines Now Drawn!

The hitherto suspense is over and Cameroonians now know, at least those who registered and will vote, that the destiny of the country for the next seven years depends on the choice they make when they go to the polls on October 12, 2025 to decide who rules them as Head of State. The decree of the incumbent President, Paul Biya, of July 11, 2025 convening the Electoral College for the upcoming Presidential election thus sets the stage for all actors to fully swing into action. It will be indeed three months of heated political activities nationwide.
The election fever will now certainly get to another level as all and sundry will be striving to live up to expectation. With voter registration over, the independent election management body, Elections Cameroon (ELECAM), will no doubt switch to compiling the electoral register, tallying and subsequently dispatching materials as well as receiving candidature files from aspiring political parties and candidates. In fact, getting all in place so as to guarantee a hitch-free polls that should culminate in a republican and satisfactory choice of him/her to pilot the affairs of the country for the next seven years. 
In the same light, political parties will be boiling with activities to compile files for their flagbearers, draw up their campaign strategies and seek ways of wooing as many electors as possible when the two-week campaign period opens. As a matter of fact, bearing in mind that no election is ever won in advance, the political parties and their candidates would have to come up with clear-cut proposals on how to meet the yearning needs of the population. 
Obviously, the Ministries of External Relations and Territorial Administration will rumble off with the accreditation of election observers from within and without Cameroon. It is therefore an action-packed period in the life of a country which demands attention from all quarters.
With the battle lines now fully drawn, all the parties concerned should strive to play by the rules of the game. The number of candidates to go into the election will be known only after ELECAM receives the files and publishes the lists and the Constitutional Council rules on any litigations. The Presidential hopefuls and their supporters must bear in mind that the election is not and should not be made a matter of life or death. It is not and should not be made war. The election will come and go and the nation will remain. It should therefore stand taller.
The stakes might be higher, looking at the effervescence, but Cameroonians must understand that it is a moment and an opportunity to build a stronger, united and prosperous nation in all its diversity. All must therefore be done...