Editing Cameroon (section)

===Political culture===
[[File:Statue d'un chef coutumier à Bana.jpg|thumb|right|upright|A statue of a chief in [[Bana, Cameroon|Bana]], West Region]]
Cameroon [[Corruption in Cameroon|is viewed as rife with corruption]] at all levels of government. In 1997, Cameroon established anti-corruption bureaus in 29 ministries, but only 25% became operational,<ref name="IRIN"/> and in 2012, [[Transparency International]] placed Cameroon at number 144 on a list of 176 countries ranked from least to most corrupt.<ref name=Corruption/> On 18 January 2006, Biya initiated an anti-corruption drive under the direction of the [[National Anti-Corruption Observatory]].<ref name="IRIN"/> There are several high corruption risk areas in Cameroon, for instance, customs, public health sector and public procurement.<ref>{{cite web|title=Business Corruption in Cameroon|url=http://www.business-anti-corruption.com/country-profiles/sub-saharan-africa/cameroon/business-corruption-in-cameroon.aspx|publisher=Business Anti-Corruption Portal|access-date=24 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140324190641/http://www.business-anti-corruption.com/country-profiles/sub-saharan-africa/cameroon/business-corruption-in-cameroon.aspx|archive-date=24 March 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> However, the corruption has gotten worse, regardless of the existing anti-corruption bureaus, as Transparency International ranked Cameroon 152 on a list of 180 countries in 2018.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2018|title=2018 – CPI|website=Transparency.org|date=29 January 2019|access-date=26 July 2020|archive-date=13 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200513063746/https://www.transparency.org/cpi2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

President Biya's [[Cameroon People's Democratic Movement]] (CPDM) was the only legal political party until December 1990. Numerous regional political groups have since formed. The primary opposition is the [[Social Democratic Front (Cameroon)|Social Democratic Front]] (SDF), based largely in the Anglophone region of the country and headed by [[John Fru Ndi]].<ref name = "lergai">[[#West|West]] 11.</ref>

Biya and his party have maintained control of the presidency and the National Assembly in national elections, which rivals contend were unfair.<ref name="DeLancey 9"/> Human rights organisations allege that the government suppresses the freedoms of opposition groups by preventing demonstrations, disrupting meetings, and arresting opposition leaders and journalists.<ref name="Amnesty"/><ref name="Freedom House"/> In particular, English-speaking people are discriminated against; protests often escalate into violent clashes and killings.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2016/12/15/world/cameroon-protesters-deaths/ |title=Rights groups call for probe into protesters' deaths in Cameroon |author=Radina Gigova |date=15 December 2016 |publisher=CNN |access-date=17 March 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318083433/http://edition.cnn.com/2016/12/15/world/cameroon-protesters-deaths/ |archive-date=18 March 2017 }}</ref> In 2017, President Biya shut down the Internet in the English-speaking region for 94 days, at the cost of hampering five million people, including [[Silicon Mountain]] startups.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/03/africa/internet-shutdown-cameroon/ |title=Cameroon goes offline after Anglophone revolt |author=Kieron Monks |date=3 February 2017 |publisher=CNN |access-date=17 March 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170318003526/http://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/03/africa/internet-shutdown-cameroon/ |archive-date=18 March 2017 }}</ref>

[[Freedom House]] ranks Cameroon as "not free" in terms of political rights and civil liberties.<ref>Cameroon is rated at six in both categories on a scale of one to seven, with one being "most free" and seven being "least free". [[#House|Freedom House]].</ref> The last [[2020 Cameroonian parliamentary election|parliamentary elections]] were held on 9 February 2020.<ref name=Kandemeh/>