World · Cameroon · Local power worldwide

Who runs local government in Cameroon?

Cameroon has two levels of elected local government: 360 communes and 10 regions, plus 14 'urban communities' for the big cities. Alongside them runs a parallel state administration of governors, prefects and sub-prefects appointed by the president, who supervise the councils. Traditional chiefs are formally recognised as 'auxiliaries' of the administration, and since 2020 they also sit in regional councils. Local elections have been repeatedly postponed since 2024.

Republic of Cameroon · Unitary presidential republic (decentralised) · Central Africa

The levels of government below the nation

Level	How it is chosen	What it does
Regions (10)	Regional council (90 councillors, five-year term) chosen indirectly; council elects a regional president. A governor appointed by the president represents the state.	Regional development, some education, health and sport functions; first regional councils took office after the December 2020 regional elections.
Divisions (58)	Senior divisional officer (prefect) appointed by the state	Deconcentrated state administration only; supervises councils (tutelle). No elected council.
Urban communities / 'City of …' (14)	Community council made up of councillors from member communes; city mayor chosen from within under the 2019 code	Big-city functions (major works, intercommunal planning) across two or more 'district communes'.
Communes (360)	Municipal council directly elected on party lists for five years; council elects the mayor. A sub-divisional officer is appointed by the state in each matching sub-division.	Local services: civil status records, markets, local roads, primary schools upkeep, sanitation, culture and sport.
Chiefdoms (first, second and third class)	Chief designated by custom, then recognised by the administration	Auxiliaries of the administration at village and neighbourhood level; dispute settlement and mobilisation.

Three questions about local power in Cameroon

Are local leaders elected?

Municipal councillors are directly elected and choose the mayor; regional councillors are chosen indirectly (by municipal councillors) plus traditional-ruler representatives. Governors, prefects and sub-prefects are appointed. Chiefs are chosen by custom and then recognised by the state.

Which laws set up local government?

Communes, urban communities and regions are in the constitution (1996 reform) and Law 2019/024. Chiefdoms are formal too, organised by decree. Hometown associations and church bodies are informal or registered associations without public powers.

Who are local leaders accountable to?

Voters can replace councils at elections (when held). The state, through prefects and the Ministry of Territorial Administration, supervises council decisions and can suspend councils or mayors. Chiefs answer to their communities by custom but also to the administration, which recognises and can remove them.

Traditional and customary authority

Traditional chiefdoms are recognised by the state and graded into first-, second- and third-class chiefdoms. Chiefs (fons in the North West, lamibé in the north, the Sultan of the Bamoun, and many others) are chosen according to local custom but must be recognised by the administration, receive state allowances, and are legally described as auxiliaries of the administration. The CLGF notes that chiefs may, and often do, stand in local elections and help mobilise voters. Since the 2019 General Code of Decentralised Local and Regional Authorities, regional councils include representatives of traditional rulers alongside councillors chosen by municipal councillors, and the two English-speaking regions (North West and South West) have a special status that covers traditional chieftaincy and a House of Chiefs. Chiefs remain influential in land matters and local mediation, but they act under the supervision of prefects and sub-prefects and can be suspended or replaced by the state.

Community and neighbourhood power

Below the commune, villages and urban neighbourhoods (quartiers) are run day to day by village and neighbourhood chiefs. Hometown 'development associations' (often run by people living in cities or abroad) and local committees raise money for roads, schools and water points and work through the mayor and the chief. Churches and mosques run many schools and health centres. In the conflict-affected Anglophone regions, many councils and chiefs have been displaced since 2016, and armed groups have targeted local officials.

Points to know

The Senate partly represents local government: 70 of 100 senators are elected by municipal councillors, and 30 are appointed by the president.
Regional councils only began in 2020, 24 years after the 1996 constitution first promised them.
The North West and South West regions have a special status (2019 law) that includes a House of Chiefs and a 'public independent conciliator', part of the response to the Anglophone crisis.
Two ministries share oversight: MINDDEVEL (decentralisation, created 2018) and MINAT (territorial administration, which runs the prefects).
Deconcentrated state units mirror local government almost one-to-one: 10 regions/10 governors and 360 communes/360 sub-divisions.

Local terms

Commune: The basic unit of elected local government, run by a municipal council and a mayor.
Fon: A traditional ruler in Cameroon's Grassfields (North West and West regions).
Tutelle: French for 'supervision': the state's legal power, through prefects, to check council decisions.

Sources

Cameroon's Constitution of 1972 with Amendments through 2008, Constitute Project, checked 14 October 2026
Country profile: Cameroon, OECD–UCLG World Observatory on Subnational Government Finance and Investment (SNG-WOFI), checked 14 October 2026
The local government system in Cameroon (country profile), Commonwealth Local Government Forum, checked 14 October 2026
Democracy Tracker: Cameroon, July 2024 (mandate extensions), International IDEA, checked 14 October 2026