President Paul Biya’s message to the nation on 31 December 2012 might have been a tradition but the issues raised were more than routine even if they concerned events that have been ongoing over the years.

One of such crucial concerns raised by the Head of State was the modernisation of the electoral process in the country. To go by what Mr Biya said, 2013 should be another turning point in the democratisation process in Cameroon.

While recalling electoral reforms undertaken in 2012, the Head of State stated a rather clear calendar for 2013 with the Senatorial election that will add to the parliamentary and municipal elections which are already being expected, after the postponement of 2012. Also important is the fact that President Biya announced the putting in place of the Constitutional Council that should follow the Senatorial election in 2013.
With these institutions provided for in the 1996 Constitution and accepted by Cameroonians as some of the pillars of a modern society, the Head of State has over the years demonstrated a determination to get the process on course. For some, the road has been long and slow while others have hailed the approach as the best - depending on the camp where those analysing the political strides in Cameroon find themselves.
No matter the criticisms, the underpinning issues ought to be how the exercise enables Cameroon to move forward in terms of development and the improvement of the living conditions of the people. After all, any government that fails to take into consideration the genuine preoccupations of the governed needs no time keeper to know that they are on the wrong side of history.
On the other hand, the population can only have the government that they deserve because in any democratic system, those who vote carry a big responsibility in decision-making given that the choices they make play a key role in the way society functions. That has been the pivotal complexity in the effort to build a democratic culture in Cameroon. Several people who were offered the opportunity to free establish an identity card, which is a major requirement for the ongoing biometric voters’ registration, have been reluctant to collect the cards from police stations. The Head of State announced again in the last New Year message that the issuance of National Identity Cards will be freely. Surely, such a measure can only be effective if people accept the pain to fulfil their civic responsibility by going to collect their identity cards, register and eventually vote so as to influence the choice of leadership in the country.
Some have attributed the problem either to perceived voter apathy in the country or the fear that the electoral results might not respect popular will. Whatever conclusion that critics draw on such critical political issues, the bottom-line is that a sense of political awareness that generates profound sense of belonging and the need to build a coherent Cameroon must be instilled in the population by those who seek political office.
In the past, the biometric voter registration and even the recompilation of the voter’s list might have been considered as one of the major obstacles to building a democratic society in Cameroon. The recompilation of the voter’s register and the biometric exercise have come with their own realities. It is no longer possible for collective registration of voters as in the past. People must go individually to have their names on the voter’s list. Curiously, that has not been so easy for some who think that Elections Cameroon officials must meet them at home. Such a blockage rather betrays the lack of consciousness on the part of those of voting age who are unaware of their role in the electoral process in the country.
Consequently, the need to improve the democratic strides that Cameroon is making may have to imply that all those concerned should take an active part in getting Cameroonians on board. That efforts have apparently been inadequate this far and the fact that the President came back to the democratisation process in the New Year address to the nation in spite of the strong economic focus of the message, underlines the importance of the political factor. Needless recalling that the political and economic problems of the country are often intrinsically linked. Thus, the people may once more have to face the reality of improving the democratisation endeavours in Cameroon by fully taking part because the people can only have the leaders that they deserve.