When you hear Yaoundé, the capital city of Cameroon and center of its political machinery. Also known as Cameroon’s administrative hub, it’s where decisions that affect millions are made behind closed doors—often far from the public eye. This isn’t just another African capital. Yaoundé is where the government’s grip tightens, where protests flare up overnight, and where the line between dissent and danger gets dangerously thin.
It’s the same city where officials like Nigeria’s Timipre Sylva got raided for alleged coup ties—not because they were alone, but because the pattern is everywhere. In Yaoundé, power doesn’t just shift; it’s stolen, hidden, or violently defended. The Cameroonian government, the centralized authority that controls media, security, and public funds doesn’t just respond to criticism—it erases it. Journalists disappear. Activists vanish. And the world? It looks away until the next headline breaks.
But Yaoundé isn’t just about repression. It’s where people push back. It’s where young activists organize under the radar, where musicians slip coded messages into songs, and where families wait for news that never comes. This city connects to the same networks that brought Ruth First’s anti-apartheid work to life, that fueled the protests in Nigeria over election fraud, and that keep SASSA’s grant recipients in South Africa fighting for survival. The same hunger for justice runs through all of them.
What you’ll find here aren’t just news snippets. These are real stories from the edge of power—where a minister’s home gets raided, where a protest turns into a prison sentence, and where silence becomes the only safe option. The posts below don’t just report on Yaoundé. They show you what happens when a city becomes a battleground for truth.
Opposition leader Issa Tchiroma Bakary declared himself Cameroon's election winner, defying President Paul Biya's 43-year rule and sparking protests, government condemnation, and fears of violence as the Constitutional Council delays official results.
