Cameroon stands on a precipice. On the cusp of its presidential election scheduled for October 12, 2025, the country remains under the long shadow of Paul Biya, who has held power since 1982. At 92, entering what would be his eighth term, Biya is often portrayed as both an institution and an anachronism. Into this complex, polarized, and tightly controlled political environment steps Hermine Patricia Tomaïno Ndam Njoya, the only woman among 13 approved candidates, promising not just change—but a political revolution. Can she break 43 years of incumbency?
Born on January 26, 1969, in Yaoundé, Ndam Njoya has been active in Cameroonian public life for decades. She leads the Union Démocratique du Cameroun (UDC), a party of modest size. Before launching her presidential bid, she served in Parliament from 2007 to 2020 representing the Noun constituency. In 2020, she stepped down from that post to become mayor of Foumban—a city in the Western Region—and more recently regional councilor. Her political pedigree is mixed: legal training, local government experience, strong connections in the Western Region, and long engagement with issues like women’s rights and traditional leadership—which hold cultural weight, especially among Bamoun communities. Her upbringing between Foumban and Yaoundé, combined with her legal expertise, gives her credibility among civil society and among voters who want both change and competence.
Ndam Njoya has carved out a platform that mixes symbolic breakthroughs with concrete reforms. A key pillar is women’s empowerment: she’s pledged to appoint women to major ministries (Defense, Finance, Economy, Territorial Administration, Public Works), revise discriminatory legal language in state documents (e.g., eliminating “housewife”), and overhaul Cameroon’s family code. She frames her candidacy not just as a bid to lead, but as a fight for equality and inclusion in a system long dominated by age, by male elites, and by forces outside local communities, especially in Anglophone parts. Her broader campaign promises include strengthening democratic institutions, tackling corruption, ensuring security (particularly in areas affected by separatist conflict and Islamist extremists), improving infrastructure, and elevating local governance. Her message is “ethics, accountability, and national unity.”
To understand the challenge she faces is to understand Biya’s strengths—and why they have persisted. Biya’s party, the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (RDPC), has woven deep patronage networks, with influence in government appointments, in bureaucracy, and in the security apparatus. This affords him a control over resources and loyalty—especially in rural areas—and an ability to mobilize voters. There is no second round in Cameroon’s presidential system; whoever gets the highest vote count wins, even without an absolute majority. This rule, in a fragmented opposition field, strongly favors the incumbent. The recent exclusion of Maurice Kamto, widely regarded as the most popular challenger, dealt a serious blow to the opposition. Barred from running by the electoral commission and Constitutional Council, Kamto’s absence not only leaves a leadership vacuum but reinforces skepticism about the fairness of the process. Many Cameroonians worry the vote will not be genuinely free.
Ndam Njoya enters this arena with some advantages. She is the only woman candidate, which grants her symbolic capital and potential appeal among youth and women. She has held positions of real responsibility, which could counter the perception that she is simply a protest figure. Her anti-corruption and reform messages could resonate with urban voters, civil society actors, and the international community. And with Kamto out of the race, there’s a theoretical opening for her to consolidate opposition support.
But her candidacy also faces steep structural disadvantages. UDC is a relatively small party with a stronghold in the West, but limited presence in other regions. A national win would require broad coalition-building across ethnic, linguistic, and regional lines. Access to media, campaign financing, and the power to mobilize in hard-to-reach rural areas are all skewed in favor of the ruling party. Cameroon’s media environment is tightly monitored, and state-controlled outlets dominate public perception. The threat of suppression, whether legal or extralegal, remains a real concern for opposition candidates. Her message may be clear, but ensuring it reaches voters far beyond Foumban or Yaoundé will be a logistical and political challenge.
Another major hurdle is voter apathy. After decades of unbroken rule, many Cameroonians, particularly the youth, have become disillusioned with the electoral process itself. Some fear their votes won’t count; others see no viable alternative to Biya’s enduring grip on power. This cynicism benefits the incumbent, who can count on a dependable core of loyal voters, especially in rural areas where opposition messaging rarely penetrates. For Ndam Njoya to build momentum, she would have to overcome not only the system but the psychology of hopelessness embedded in it.
Even so, her platform is ambitious. She has promised a fundamental reboot of governance—strengthening institutions, improving judicial independence, overhauling the educational and healthcare sectors, and reviving the economy through regional investment. Her legal background and experience with municipal management give weight to her policy proposals, but whether she can translate them into a national movement remains uncertain. Her campaign is betting on a deep undercurrent of public dissatisfaction and the symbolic power of change: a woman leader, a new generation, a return to constitutional accountability.
There is also the looming question of post-election stability. Even if she were to perform well, the risk remains that results could be contested, protests violently suppressed, or the state apparatus turned against reformers. Cameroon’s recent history includes contested elections, restricted protests, and limited space for civic dissent. Observers from the African Union and international bodies have often flagged transparency concerns, but with limited consequence.
And yet, even in this difficult environment, her candidacy matters. As the only woman on the ballot, her presence disrupts decades of gendered political exclusion. It sends a signal to younger generations that the presidency is not a closed club. Her focus on legal reforms affecting women and families forces the national conversation to shift beyond mere security and sovereignty—to dignity, equality, and access. If she wins, it would represent one of the most historic political upsets in African electoral history—a peaceful transfer of power after more than four decades of one-man rule, and the emergence of a new political era. If she loses, her visibility could still galvanize future reforms, push other parties to prioritize gender equity, and pressure electoral institutions toward greater fairness.
Most analysts agree that Biya remains the likely winner. His control over the machinery of government, the military, and the electoral commission gives him formidable advantages. Without a unified opposition or mass mobilization, the conditions for his defeat are difficult to imagine. Still, Cameroon is not immune to the tides of change sweeping across parts of the continent. In recent years, voters in other long-standing authoritarian regimes—from Zambia to Senegal—have defied expectations when given even a narrow opening.
Ndam Njoya represents more than a candidate; she represents a question: Is Cameroon ready to change? Her campaign, steeped in discipline, legal reform, and democratic rhetoric, is testing the boundaries of what is possible in a political system long thought to be unmovable.
Regardless of the outcome, Tomaïno Ndam Njoya has already made her mark on the 2025 race. By daring to run, by challenging the status quo, and by putting forward a clear, values-driven alternative, she has opened space—for conversation, for courage, and perhaps, for future change.
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