As Published on aHis Official Facebook Page, read full declaration below 👇
Proclamation of the National Day of Mourning — Friday, November 21, 2025
Cameroonians, my dear compatriots,
A few days ago, I gave the illegitimate regime a 48-hour deadline to proceed with the immediate release of all political prisoners and arbitrary detainees.
In that time, only a small number among the thousands of detainees (mostly minors who should never have been there) have been released from their cells.
I take note of that. However, this gesture remains very insufficient.
It is merely a charade aimed at deceiving our people. There are still many, far too many, in detention, and arrests continue.
The regime has chosen to disregard this appeal, just as it has disregarded your votes, your voices, and your lives.
Since then, I have remained silent. I have listened. I have observed. It is therefore my duty today to break this silence.
I address you with seriousness, solemnity, and respect.
On October 12, 2025, you spoke. You made your choice. And for daring to defend that choice, some Cameroonians have
fallen — fallen under the bullets of a desperate regime.
They fell in the streets of our cities, hunted down, beaten, tortured.
They fell so that the truth may live.
They were minors, young adults, fathers, and brave mothers.
They were Cameroon. They are our martyrs.
In their memory, in homage to their sacrifice, and in fidelity to our common oath, I invite you to observe Friday, November 21, 2025, as a National Day of Mourning.
This day will be a public holiday throughout the national territory.
No businesses, offices, or administrative services should operate.
This will not be an ordinary day.
It will be a day of silence, remembrance, and reflection.
I invite you to observe a minute of silence at exactly noon (12:00
PM), throughout the national territory and in the diaspora – united in grief but standing in dignity.
I call upon believers of all faiths to gather in their places of worship: To pray, to entrust to God the souls of our lost ones, to sanctify
the memory of the righteous struggle.
This coming Friday November 21 will not only be a tribute.
It will be an act of resistance, a collective offering in memory of
those who have fallen.
Like the heroes of 1955, those of May 26, 1990, or the uprisings of
2008, who never received national recognition, the martyrs of this
electoral crisis will enter the history of a free Cameroon.
We will thus present to the world an image of a united, dignified, and supportive people who yield neither to fear nor to electoral
theft and who continue, in honor, to build the Republic of the sovereign people.
A support fund for the victims will also be established. We will clarify the details in due time.
To you all, I say: This day unites us in sorrow, but also in the promise of a better tomorrow.
A tomorrow where justice will replace impunity, where education, health, and infrastructure will be the priorities of a state reconciled with its mission.
Our action to respect your will is grounded in a clear and structured plan.
New instructions will be given in the coming days, aligning with our strategy of active and passive resistance.
I state this firmly: I will not betray.
I have received a clear mandate from the people: to uphold the truth of the ballot box and to engage in the moral and political reconstruction of Cameroon.
I dedicate the rest of my life to fulfilling this oath of loyalty to the Cameroonian people.
The outgoing regime has chosen to swear on the Bible after stealing an election.
This perjury seals its own end.
It is not our role to save it.
We do not negotiate with dishonor.
We do not legitimize electoral theft through backroom maneuvers.
And I reiterate, so that no one doubts:
I will not back down. I will not negotiate. I will never capitulate.
Long live the Republic. Long live Cameroon.
Issa Tchiroma Bakary
President-elect of the Republic of Cameroon
