Cameroon is a multi-party democracy located in Central Africa. In 2015, the country was governed by President Paul Biya, who has been in power since 1982 and is the leader of the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM). During his time in office, President Biya has been credited with bringing stability to Cameroon after years of civil unrest and political turmoil. See ehealthfacts for Cameroon in the year of 2005.
In 2015, Cameroon held presidential elections in which President Biya won a majority of votes and was re-elected for a seventh term. This victory was attributed to his successful economic policies such as encouraging foreign investment, reducing poverty levels, and providing basic services such as healthcare and education to its citizens. The CPDM party also benefited from its strong national security policies which have helped to maintain peace and stability throughout Cameroon.
Despite its successes, President Biya’s government has been criticized for its lack of commitment to human rights such as freedom of speech and assembly. Additionally, corruption remains a major issue in Cameroon with high-level officials frequently accused of abusing their power for personal gain. Despite these challenges, President Biya’s government remains committed to furthering economic development and maintaining political stability throughout the country.
Yearbook 2015
Cameroon. The year was marked by the ongoing fight against the militant Islamist group Boko Haram. This was formed in northeastern Nigeria but is active even on the Cameroonian side of the border. In January, several thousand soldiers from Chad arrived to help fight the Islamists. Despite this, repeated attacks on villages in northwestern Cameroon were reported in which dozens of people were killed at each occasion.
According to COUNTRYAAH, Yaounde is the capital of Cameroon which is located in Central Africa. In February, the guerrilla carried out a revenge campaign against the Fotokol community when some 80 civilians were killed in addition to about a total of 20 soldiers from Chad and Cameroon. In July, at least three suicide attacks by young girls should have taken place, including at a bar in the city of Maroua when 20 people were killed and about 80 injured. According to a June statement by UN Cameroon coordinators, Boko Haram had so far kidnapped 1,500 children in Cameroon. These are used as servants but also as human shields.
- Also see AbbreviationFinder.org for Cameroon country abbreviations, including geography, history, economy and politics.
In August, an international force with troops from Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad began operations against Boko Haram. Cameroon contributed over 2,000 soldiers to the force, which will consist of approximately 8,700 men. During the year, the United States also supported the fight against the Islamists when in October the country decided to send up to 300 soldiers to Cameroon, mainly to help with intelligence work, surveillance and surveillance from the air.
At the end of November, Cameroonian authorities claimed that the country’s army killed hundreds of Boko Haram members and, in connection with this, freed nearly 900 captured people. Among these, however, there were reportedly none of the approximately 200 schoolgirls who Boko Haram kidnapped in Nigeria in April 2014. However, flags with Islamic State (IS) symbols should be seized.
According to a report from Amnesty International in September, the militia is responsible for killing 400 civilians in northern Cameroon since January 2014. However, it was not only Boko Haram that caused suffering among the civilian population. Cameroonian security forces were also reported to have committed a number of abuses against the population. In their search for Boko Haram, they must have carried out violent raids on villages and then destroyed homes, killed civilians and arrested about 1,000 people. The inhuman prison conditions must have caused several deaths. The Cameroon government called the criticism “excessive and unfounded”.
From conflict-ridden neighboring countries – in addition to Nigeria including the Central African Republic – Cameroon received a large number of refugees during the year. According to the UNHCR (UNHCR), there were close to 200,000 Central Africans in Cameroon in January, a figure that was expected to rise to around 230,000 by the end of the year. The number of Nigerian refugees was estimated at between 15,000 and 20,000.
History. – The Republic of Cameroon, formerly a territory entrusted by the UN to the French trust administration, acquired its independence on 10 January 1960 (the constitution was approved on 21 February and the president, A. Ahidjo, was elected on 5 May); it then changed into the Republic of Cameroon on October 10, 1961, following the union with the southern part of Cameroon under British trust (based on the referendum, 232,000 votes against 93,000, held on February 11 under the control of the UN). The majority party, the Union Camerounnaise (UC) of President Ahidjo, who led the coalition government, progressively prevailed over the other political formations, while the guerrilla and terrorism activity (with episodes now limited to the Bamileké region) led by the Union of Populations of the C (UPC), opposition movement operating in hiding since 1956, of Marxist orientation and contrary to the government policy of close collaboration with France (agreements of 13 November 1960 and 6 November 1961).
The elections of March 1965 confirmed A. Ahidjo and John Foncha, who also held the position of prime minister of the western part of the country (formerly British), as president and federal vice-presidency respectively; in September 1966 the Cameroonian National Union (UNC) was formed as a single party in which the UC, already prevalent in eastern Cameroon, some minor formations and the two western Cameroon parties: the Kamerun National Democratic Party (KNDP) and the Cameroon People’s National Convention (CPNC); in the same year – now all activities of the UCP ended, whose last head, E. Ouandié, was captured and executed in 1970 – the exceptional measures in force since 1960 were repealed.
Reached internal stability and achieved a progressive strengthening of federal services (with broader competences in the sectors of economic planning, finance, education, transport, etc. and since 1966 also responsible for local administration and matters relating to leaders traditional), the government consolidated relations with France and extended international relations (in 1966 visit to the Cameroon of the FRG president, Lübke; in 1967 Ahidjo’s travels to the USSR, with which a collaboration agreement had been in force the year before, and in Yugoslavia).
A development favorable to the overcoming of federalism for the constitution of a unitary state was given by the elections of 1970, which confirmed Ahidjo as president and led to the vice-presidency Salomon T. Muna, prime minister of western Cameroon; in the same year the internal situation was disturbed by an anti-government plot, in which the Catholic bishop Msgr. Ndongmo, sentenced to life imprisonment. In 1971 the trade union confederation of the UNC was created, with the abolition of the three existing ones. The tendency towards unity was finally established with the constitution of 2 June 1972 which eliminated all federal institutions; Ahidjo remained president, while Muna became president of the National Assembly.
Ahidjo, supported by the UNC, which increasingly dominates the political life of the country, was re-elected (April 5, 1975) for a fourth presidential term, while constitutional changes were introduced with the establishment of the office of prime minister, which was entrusted certain competences from the president; also benefited from a political amnesty Msgr. Ndongmo. In recent years, the pro-Western orientation of Cameroon’s foreign policy has weakened, which recognized People’s China and North Korea in 1971 and in 1973 Prince Sihanuk, as representative of Cambodia (at the same time he retired from ‘ OCAM and has renegotiated its agreements with France). Despite economic difficulties and some open problems (Ahidjo’s future succession), the regime consolidated national unity.