The Cameroonian presidential election on October 12, 2025, took place amidst a campaign that saw incidents of misinformation and the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for advertisements by the incumbent President and a major candidate.
FactSpace West Africa monitored social media activity during and after the election, even as citizens wait for the Constitutional Court’s declaration of the eventual winner of the vote latest by October 26.
In this article, FactSpace analyses four instances of misinformation around the electoral process. An alleged Donald Trump post congratulating the president-elect, an image of Egyptian footballer Mohamed Salah found in the voters register, an alleged projection of a winner by CNN and a disclaimer by RFI, are all dissected in this report.
Has Donald Trump congratulated Tchiroma?
The earliest results from the vote emerged from diaspora polling stations worldwide. According to the results, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, leader of the Cameroon National Salvation Front (FSNC), had taken the lead in major cities.
Cameroonians in the diaspora are allowed to register and vote in the country’s embassies and consulates. The outcomes are collated and factored into the votes back home.
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On the back of initial Tchiroma gains, results were circulated of a strong performance across the country, even though most of these results were provisional – usually tallies reported by individuals at specific polling stations and in some cases, media outlets.
It wasn’t long before an image was circulated on Facebook suggesting that US President Trump had congratulated Tchiroma.
FactSpace West Africa investigated the screenshot and arrived at the following conclusions:
- The screenshot was fake – its font and character spacing were irregular
- The US president hadn’t posted any such message on his social media accounts
- The White House has also not issued any statement on the Cameroon vote
- No official results from the elections management body (ELECAM) had been released at the time this flyer circulated.
Hive Moderator detector, an AI content detector, also returned a result of 61% possibility of AI manipulation of the said post.
Verdict
From the above, the post suggesting Trump had congratulated Tchiroma is False.
Has CNN projected Tchiroma as the winner?
A flyer showing a typical CNN election coverage setting was widely shared on Facebook. It captured anchor Wolff Blitzer in front of a screen that had Tchiroma’s image and a declaration that he was the winner of the election.
We found that the image was a doctored copy from a 2020 New York Times image when Joe Biden won the US election, defeating Trump, who was seeking reelection at the time.
FactSpace West Africa analysed the image and found the following:
- The image was fake
- CNN did not cover the Cameroon elections nor have they published any breaking news on the outcome
- The text under the breaking news label showed signs of having being doctored
- No official results from the elections management body (ELECAM) had been released at the time this flyer circulated.
Verdict
CNN has not projected Tchiroma as president-elect.
Mohamed Salah ‘captured’ in the voter’s register.
Barely hours after polls opened, an image purportedly showing identities of voters in the register went viral on Facebook and X. On the said image, a portrait of Egyptian footballer Mohamed Salah was captured with card identification and other biodata details.
The post that triggered the sharing of the said image was decrying electoral fraud. Some people interacting with the viral shared the sentiment that the process was flawed, while a number of them also expressed doubts about the authenticity of the image.
FactSpace West Africa decided to fact-check the image.
As a first step, we entered the details associated with the image into the digital registry of the Elections Cameroon (ELECAM) portal.
Through the mechanism that allows a voter to check their registration using their ID number, FactSpace West Africa picked the following:
- The details corresponded with a voter with the name QSDFG AZERT
- Both names appeared to be concurrent alphabetical sequence on the French keyboard
- The image component of the display on ELECAM’s page is blank, hence we could not verify that it was indeed that of Mohamed Salah.
Verdict:
The claim is rated inconclusive because the digital copy of the register doesn’t display the voter’s image, yet the registration number and name used by the voter alleged to have used Salah’s image checks out, so we cannot conclusively say his image was indeed in the register.
RFI issues disclaimer on fake reports, hijacked logo
French public broadcaster Radio France Internationale (RFI) is one of the most followed media houses across Francophone Africa. The outlet, on October 13, 2025, issued a disclaimer on images suggesting they had reported a Tchiroma victory following the polls.
RFI captioned its post on X (translation): “Cameroonian Presidential Election: RFI logo hijacked before the publication of results.” The accompanying image suggested that the broadcaster, via its website, had announced that Tchiroma had been elected with over 70% of the votes.
Its full disclaimer, as published on their site, read in part: “The rumour spread just hours after polling stations closed in Cameroon. According to several false screenshots shared on WhatsApp, TikTok, and Instagram, RFI has already published an article about the winner of this election. This is actually false information, since the results of the vote are not yet known.
“Contrary to what this flyer would have us believe, RFI did not publish an article on Issa Tchiroma Bakary’s supposed victory. Someone simply copied our organization’s graphic layout and logo to deceive internet users.”
Issa Tchiroma Bakary declares himself the winner of the election
Barely 48 hours after the vote, Tchiroma Bakary issued a statement declaring himself the President-elect and called on the incumbent, President Paul Biya, who is the leader of the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM), to concede.
“Our victory is clear. It must be respected… The people have chosen. And this choice must be respected,” Tchiroma said in a post on his Facebook page from his hometown of Garoua, located in Cameroon’s north.
“I also thank candidates who have already sent me their congratulations and recognised the will of the people. We have placed the regime before its responsibilities: either it shows greatness by accepting the truth of the ballot box, or it chooses to plunge the country into turmoil that will leave an indelible scar in the heart of our nation,” he warned.
Ruling CPDM and government react to Tchiroma’s declaration
Without naming Tchiroma, the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) on Tuesday condemned the self-declared victory as a “grotesque hoax,” adding that only the Constitutional Council is enabled to proclaim results.
It is “an inadmissible act in a state governed by the rule of law,” CPDM spokesperson Jacques Fame Ndongo said in a statement published on the party’s official Facebook page.
The Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Njie, also criticised Tchiroma in a separate statement and promised to maintain public order and ensure the protection of people and their property during the electoral period.
The minister, shortly after the vote counting started, issued a caution regarding the publication of fake results during a press briefing.
“The administration will take drastic measures to put an end to any attempt of fabricating fake election results and publishing them on illegal platforms.
“Defaulters, regardless of their political status or social rank, shall face the heavy arm of the law,” he said at a press briefing.
Where do we go from here?
Cameroon’s electoral law allows results to be published and posted at polling stations, but final tallies must be validated by the Constitutional Council, which has until October 26 to announce the outcome.
Cameroon’s single-round electoral system awards the presidency to the candidate with the most votes. More than 8 million people were registered to vote in the election.
President Paul Biya, if defeated, will exit power after 43 years in charge, while Tchiroma, who served as a minister and one-time government spokesperson, will be sworn in as the third president of the country.
Researched by Alfa Shaban
NB: The script has been updated with a verdict on the Mohamed Salah claim.
