As the presidential election set for 12 October approaches and the possibility of re-election for nonagenarian President Paul Biya is high, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is publishing its alarming assessment of the press freedom situation in Cameroon, outlining the major obstacles to journalism in ten key points.
“Five journalists killed, one arbitrarily detained for nine years and sentenced to 32 years in prison, a national media regulator subservient to the government, press offences still punishable by throwing journalists behind bars… The 42 years in power of President Paul Biya – who is 92 and running for an eighth term – have been dark for the press. RSF looks at ten major attacks on journalism during his time in office that illustrate the gravity of the press freedom situation in the country – one of the most dangerous in Africa for the profession – and the magnitude of the task awaiting the next president. We call on the future president to make press freedom a priority issue, giving Cameroonians real access to their right to information.
1. Murder of Martinez Zogo (2023)
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The Amplitude FM host was kidnapped, tortured and murdered, his mutilated body found on 22 January 2023 on the outskirts of Yaoundé, the Cameroonian capital, five days after his abduction. After revealing that several members of the Cameroonian intelligence services were involved in this heinous crime, RSF exposed the gruesome details of this state affair. Two-and-a-half years after the opening of the trial against secret services members and a businessman close to the government, the substantive hearings finally began on 2 September 2025. To reconstruct the circumstances of the murder, the Yaoundé military court must now hear all 44 prosecution witnesses. The next hearings are scheduled for 13 and 14 October.
2. Samuel Wazizi’s death in custody (2019)
Arrested on 2 August 2019, in Buea, capital of the English-speaking Southwest Region of Cameroon, Chillen Music Television ( CMTV ) journalist Samuel Wazizi died a few days later under unclear circumstances. The journalist was arrested after he criticised the management of Cameroon’s Anglophone Crisis. Photos taken in Yaoundé on 13 August 2019 show he had numerous injuries, giving a valid reason to believe he had been tortured. His death was concealed for nearly ten months by the authorities, “as a result of severe sepsis,” they claimed. No investigation report has been made public into the circumstances of his death. His case sadly illustrates the opacity of the procedures and the absence of independent justice.
3. Amadou Vamoulké case (since 2016)
The former director of Cameroon’s national radio and TV broadcaster, CRTV, Amadou Vamoulké, has been arbitrarily detained for nine years. He was sentenced in 2024 to 20 years in prison after 178 successive postponements – a world record – and to 12 years in prison in December 2022 — a total of 32 years. Both cases were based on wrongful accusations that lack tangible evidence of “embezzlement of public funds” for the benefit of the media outlet he ran for 11 years. His first conviction came after nearly seven years of pretrial detention, even though the law only provides for a maximum of 12 months, renewable once, for such crimes. The 75-year-old journalist, recognized for his integrity by his peers, suffers from at least six medical conditions requiring advanced care. As far back as 2020, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared itself “deeply concerned” by the “gravity of the journalist’s condition.”
4. Presidential censorship
Any media discussion on President Biya’s health is prohibited in the name of “national security.” A ministerial circular dated 9 October 2024 ordered each regional governor to establish “monitoring units responsible for monitoring and recording all broadcasts and debates in private media and identifying the authors of biased comments”. At the same time, the presidency issued a reassuring statement on the health of Paul Biya, the world’s oldest elected leader, who had not made any public appearances since the beginning of September 2024.
5. A punitive media regulatory body under orders
The National Communication Council (NCC) is issuing a series of suspensions and warnings. The latest example dates back to 23 July, when the satirical newspaper Le Popoli and its editor, Paul Louis Nyemb Ntoogue, were banned from circulation and operation for six months after publishing a caricature depicting a minister. The NCC’s lack of independence is an open secret: its nine members are appointed by decree of the President of the Republic.
6. Harsh laws used against the press
Press offences are criminal in nature and punishable by prison sentences. But beyond this major problem, in recent years, various laws have been widely circumvented to repress journalism explicitly. The 2014 anti-terrorism law has been repeatedly used to prosecute journalists critical of authorities before military courts: in 2017, the Yaoundé military court sentenced Radio France Internationale ( RFI ) correspondent Ahmed Abba to ten years in prison and a heavy fine after his coverage of attacks by the terrorist group Boko Haram; in 2018, Thomas Awah Junior, the northwest correspondent for the private radio station Afrik 2 Radio, was sentenced to 11 years in prison on multiple charges; and in September 2024, independent journalist Kingsley Fumunyuy Njoka was sentenced to ten years in prison for “secession and complicity with armed gangs” due to publications dating from 2020 that took a critical stance on the “Anglophone crisis” in the northwest of the country.
7. Impunity in northern Cameroon
Journalist Anye Nde Nsoh was shot dead in Bamenda, a northwestern city, in May 2023. He was only 26 years old. His murder reveals the extent to which journalists in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions operate in a state of complete insecurity, caught between armed separatist groups and the Cameroonian armed forces. As in many other cases, the investigation remains at a standstill, fueling a climate of fear in a region where the press is increasingly absent. Kidnapping is also among the risks facing the region’s journalists.
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8. Open conflict between the authorities and Equinoxe TV
Founded in 2006, Equinoxe TV is one of the most popular private channels in Cameroon — and most critical of the authorities. This positioning has brought the media various problems, including the suspension of its director and one of its flagship programs on several occasions and accusations and threats against the channel by members of the government. This harassment is part of a context of widespread media repression in the country.
9. Increased pressure ahead of the 2025 presidential election
Ahead of the election scheduled for 12 October, the authorities have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to hinder journalists’ work. The NCC has asked media outlets to suspend political debate programs as of 27 September, replacing them with campaign news programs. Media professionals are subject to a dual accreditation process and are required to present a press card, even though these are almost never issued. Journalists have been repeatedly prevented from covering public events, particularly those organised by the opposition.
10. Serious drop in the World Press Freedom Index
Cameroon ranks 131st out of 180 countries and territories in the 2025 RSF World Press Freedom Index . Ranked 83rd in 2005, the country has fallen 48 places in twenty years. For the past ten years, Cameroon has stagnated around 130th place, reflecting both the authorities’ lack of effort to improve the situation and the hostile climate encountered by media professionals. Cameroon continues to be one of the most dangerous countries on the continent for the practice of journalism.
