Cameroon’s 92-year-old president wins controversial eighth time period

Cameroon’s 92-year-old president has gained a controversial eighth time period, in a fiercely disputed election.

Paul Biya, who’s the world’s oldest head of state, gained 53.7% of the vote, in comparison with the 35.2% of opposition chief Issa Tchiroma Bakary, the Constitutional Council declared.

Earlier than the announcement, Tchiroma Bakary – a former Biya ally – insisted he had gained the election, however the ruling Cameroon Folks’s Democratic Motion (CPDM) dismissed his declare.

The election, held on 12 October, has been marred with lethal violence, and in latest days, lots of of Tchiroma Bakary’s supporters have defied protest bans in a number of cities, and clashed with safety forces.

Biya thanked voters for “as soon as once more” trusting him.

“I sincerely hope that, collectively, we resolutely undertake to construct a peaceable, united and affluent Cameroon,” he stated in an announcement.

On Sunday, at the least 4 individuals have been killed throughout protests in Cameroon’s financial capital of Douala.

The regional governor, Samuel Dieudonné Diboua, stated police posts had come underneath assault and safety forces had defended themselves.

The unrest continued on Monday, when quite a few individuals have been shot lifeless close to Tchiroma Bakary’s residence within the metropolis of Garoua, a neighborhood journalist on the scene informed the BBC.

Across the identical time, the opposition chief wrote on Fb that photographs have been being fired at civilians gathered outdoors his house. He later claimed that snipers had been stationed on the home throughout from his, and have been “firing at point-blank vary on the individuals”.

The authorities haven’t but commented on these studies.

Protesters have been denouncing what they stated was a plan by the ruling CPDM, to “steal the victory” from Tchiroma Bakary.

The scenario is so tense within the capital, Yaoundé, that the majority retailers and faculties have remained closed, whereas most civil servants and workplace employees stayed house.

In complete, 10 candidates have been within the operating for the presidential workplace, together with former Prime Minister Bello Bouba Maigari.

Voter turnout was 58%.

A minimum of 10 petitions alleging electoral malpractice have been rejected by the Constitutional Council.

Residents in Yaoundé have been voicing their opinions on Biya’s controversial victory.

“We’re at the start of one other nightmare,” Amungwa Nicodemus informed the BBC.

“The financial system is declining, corruption is endemic, loads of issues are going improper.”

One other resident, Abolo Denis, urged Cameroonians to just accept the end result, saying that peace is of the utmost significance.

“What struck me first, after the proclamation of the outcomes, was the silence – graveyard silence,” stated Vivian Muma, within the northern metropolis of Bamenda.

“The silence tells all of it. Cameroonian individuals determined, however those that [make] the selections, they determined in any other case,” she stated.

The governing occasion has hailed Biya’s victory “underneath the signal of greatness and hope” in on-line posts.

Biya, who got here to energy in 1982, is never seen in public and is understood for spending time outdoors Africa in Swiss resorts. These lengthy absences coupled together with his superior age has, up to now, led to rumours he was lifeless.

Whereas his management has been praised for the enlargement of faculties and public universities, and his dealing with of the Bakassi dispute – which noticed the oil-rich peninsula handed to Cameroon as a substitute of Nigeria – his tenure has additionally confronted criticisms.

A violent separatist insurgency within the English-speaking west has been operating for nearly a decade, unemployment stands at 40% for the under-35s, roads and hospitals are crumbling, and freedom of speech has been restricted.

Analysts have warned in latest days that Cameroon, a as soon as peaceable nation, might descend into political turmoil if the election outcomes didn’t replicate the need of the individuals.

“Biya now has a notably shaky mandate given lots of his personal residents do not consider he gained the election,” Murithi Mutiga, Africa Program Director on the Worldwide Disaster Group, stated in an announcement.

“We name on Biya to urgently provoke a nationwide mediation to stop additional escalation,” he added.