Tchiroma Calls for Referendum on Cameroon’s Form of State Ahead of National Day

The chairman of the FSNC, Issa Tchiroma Bakary has called for a nationwide referendum to determine the form of state that reflects the aspirations of all Cameroonians, with particular emphasis on the Anglophone regions.

In a prerecorded address released ahead of National Day, the October 2025 presidential candidate said the crisis in the Northwest and Southwest is not only a security issue, but also political, historical, and identity-related.

“To our Anglophone compatriots of the Northwest and Southwest regions… you need to be heard. You need to know that the Republic is your home too,” he said.

Tchiroma proposed a “consultative and transparent process” that would allow Cameroonians to choose by referendum the state structure that best matches their aspirations. He urged citizens to reject tribalism and return to the virtues of the country’s founding fathers. According to him, Cameroon’s inheritance has been distorted by poverty, crumbling infrastructure, and ineffective governance during President Paul Biya’s 43-year rule.

Addressing the defence and security forces, Tchiroma called on them to refuse “illegal orders, especially when such orders emanate from an illegitimate power.” He claimed that more than 70 percent of votes from police stations, gendarme posts, and military barracks went to him in the October 12, 2025 election. He alleged that his victory was rigged by institutions he said are weaponized by the “obsolete regime.”

While criticizing the government, he acknowledged the burden carried by the military in countering the separatist conflict in the Northwest and Southwest, and the Boko Haram insurgency in the Far North.

“A Republican army draws greatness not only from its strength but above all from its loyalty to the nation and to the sovereignty of the people,” he said. He urged the forces to see themselves as serving the people, not an individual.