Cameroon’s National Day: Pope Leo XIV Sends Blessings, Wishes for Prosperity “drawing on rich human, cultural heritage”

Cameroon’s National Day marks the country's transition to a unitary state in 1972, following a national referendum. Prior to this, the Central African nation operated under a federal system, with East and West Cameroon functioning semi-autonomously.

Initiated by the then President, Ahmadou Ahidjo, the 1972 referendum led to the adoption of a unitary constitution and the birth of the United Republic of Cameroon.

May 20 has since become a symbol of national unity and a day that brings together and celebrates Cameroon’s unity in the diversity of ethnic, linguistic, and cultural communities.

Cameroon is to hold a presidential Election in October 2025.

President Biya, who has held the seat since 1982, is expected to vie for an eighth presidential term in the Central African nation, where Presidents have a seven-year mandate. His “extraordinarily long tenure” was occasioned by constitutional amendments that President Biya’s party, Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM), spearheaded in 2008, which resulted in the abolition of the two-term presidential limit.

More in Africa

First-ever International Religious Freedom Summit in Africa to Explore “impact” of State Actions, Faith Communities

Read the article

The Cameroonian President, Biya, is Africa’s second-longest-serving Head of State after President Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea.

The Central African nation’s English-speaking regions plunged into conflict in 2016 after a protest by lawyers and teachers turned violent. An armed movement of separatists claiming independence for the so-called republic of Ambazonia emerged following the government’s crackdown on protesters.

School boycotts have become common in the Cameroonian region as have enforced moratoriums on public life known as "ghost towns".

According to a March 2025 report, Cameroon’s Anglophone crisis “has caused over 900,000 people to flee internally and 60,000 people to flee abroad.”

The report indicates that “as of February 2025, more than 500,000 internally displaced people were in Anglophone-majority regions.”

The UNHCR has reported that Cameroon plays host to over 400,000 refugees primarily coming from the Central African Republic (CAR), Nigeria, Chad, and Niger; more than 17,000 asylum seekers; and over 1 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) “with an additional 658,544 returnees.”

More than 3.3 million people stand in need of humanitarian aid in Cameroon.

In January, the President of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (NECC) called on the people of God in the country to take personal responsibility in realizing the development of the country.

“There is a need, therefore, for every single Cameroonian to take his or her responsibility for the construction of our country,” Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya said during the opening ceremony of the 48th Annual Seminar of NECC in the Catholic Diocese of Buea.

The Local Ordinary of Cameroon’s Bamenda Archdiocese reaffirmed the Church’s commitment to its evangelizing mission, saying that NECC members “will continue to serve reconciliation, justice, and peace.”

(Story continues below)

Jude Atemanke is a Cameroonian journalist with a passion for Catholic Church communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Buea in Cameroon. Currently, Jude serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.