Voting “an act of grave moral responsibility”: Catholic Bishops of Cameroon’s Bamenda Province to Electorate

Douala, 26 August, 2025 / 10:34 PM

Catholic Bishops of Cameroon’s Bamenda Provincial Episcopal Conference (BAPEC) have emphasized the need for the electorate to actively participate in their country’s presidential election scheduled for October 12.

In a communiqué following their weeklong 78th Ordinary Meeting that concluded on August 22, BAPEC members described voting as “an act of grave moral responsibility” and called upon the electorate to vote guided by principles of truth, justice, and the common good.

The Catholic Bishops, who gathered at Archbishop’s House Bamenda from August 16 recalled the March 28 Pastoral Letter of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (NECC) in which Cameroon’s Catholic Bishops reflected on the moral weight of electoral participation.

“Elections represent significant moments that engage the attention of all citizens, while at the same time, an occasion for the people to assert their sovereignty through the free and deliberate choice of their leaders,” BAPEC members state in their four-page letter dated August 22, the Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

They caution against voter apathy, manipulation, and the temptation of material inducements, underscoring that the Gospel demands discernment when choosing leaders.

“The exercise of the right to vote is an act of grave moral responsibility,” BAPEC members, who include Local Ordinaries of the Archdiocese of Bamenda and the Dioceses of Buea, Mamfe, Kumbo, and Kumba have emphasized.

They have appealed for active participation in the October 12 poll, saying, “We call on all duly registered voters to exercise their civic responsibility during the presidential election by voting in accordance with the dictate of their conscience.”

In the October 12 poll, President Paul Biya, Africa’s second longest serving Head of State after President Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea, is seeking his eighth term.

President since 1982 in the Central African nation, where Presidents have a seven-year mandate, the 92-year-old Cameroonian is the world’s oldest Head of State.

Constitutional amendments that President Biya’s party, Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM), spearheaded in 2008, abolishing the two-term presidential limit, occasioned his “extraordinarily long tenure”. 

“I am a candidate for the 12 October 2025 presidential election. Rest assured that my determination to serve you is commensurate with the serious challenges facing us. Together, there are no challenges we cannot meet. The best is still to come,” President Biya posted on X on July 13.

In their communiqué, Catholic Bishops in Bamenda Province have emphasized their neutrality and reiterated the need for the electorate to vote “guided by conscience”.

“The Bishops of BAPEC, reiterating the exhortation of the Bishops of Cameroon, declare their nonpartisan stance, and remind the faithful that the exercise of the right to vote must be guided by conscience,” they say.

The Catholic Church leaders appeal for spiritual solidarity that the presidential election may realize justice, reconciliation, and peace in the Central African nation.

Referring to the ongoing yearlong Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year, marked under the theme, Pilgrims of Hope, and the Bull of Indiction, “Spes non confundit” (Hope does not disappoint), which the late Pope Francis delivered to solemnly proclaim the Jubilee Year, BAPEC members call for the fanning of the “flame of hope”.

“We must fan the flame of hope that has been given us and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and far-sighted vision,” they say in their nine-point communiqué that BAPEC Secretary General, Fr. Giles Ngwa Forteh signed.

The Catholic Church leaders entrust Cameroon to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother.

Charles Muchiri contributed to the writing of this story