Cameroon Police confront protestors in Garoua after preliminary election results spark nationwide unrest. Image credit: DW
The clashes erupted after local media reported preliminary results from the electoral commission Elecam, which showed that 92-year-old President Paul Biya, the continent’s oldest and longest-serving leader, was poised to extend his 43-year rule. Biya, in power since 1982 through the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM), will be declared the winner on October 27.
Opposition opponents, especially supporters of Issa Tchiroma Bakary, a 76-year-old former Biya ally turned opponent, condemned the result as illegitimate and made victory claims in Sunday’s October 12 vote.
“The vast majority of Cameroonians will never accept that the council legitimizes this historic level of ballot box stuffing,” Tchiroma asserted last week. He accused the Constitutional Council of complicity in what he called a “manipulated result.”
Clashes and Arrests
Demonstrations erupted on Wednesday in Tchiroma’s home town of Garoua, northern Cameroon. Police used tear gas and live ammunition to disperse demonstrators, killing at least two people, including a teacher who was caught in the crossfire.
Security agents swiftly dispersed demonstrations near government offices in Yaoundé. Protesters planted placard messages condemning political marginalization and poverty in Maroua, a second northern Cameroonian city and bastion of Tchiroma.
“All the citizens voted for Issa [Tchiroma], but the government wishes to manipulate it,” read a placard left on the governor’s office door. “It’s better to be with Boko Haram than to remain another seven years.”
More than 20 people were taken into custody and will face trial by military court, Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji stated.
“They are committing serious offences, including inciting rebellion and insurrection,” Nji said on national television, clarifying that the government “will not tolerate acts which infringe on public order.”
Internet services across Douala and several other regions were significantly affected on Wednesday and Thursday. NetBlocks, an internet monitor, stated the disruptions “may limit reporting of events on the ground.”
The state phone operator, Camtel, blamed the issue on a “technical incident with the WACS cable,” but activists accused the government of intentionally shutting down access to stifle protests.
The Constitutional Council on Wednesday denied all the appeals against the October 12 results, bringing Biya’s official confirmation into the ring. Ten opposition complaints of fraud were rejected due to “lack of sufficient evidence.”.
Tchiroma, the leader of the Cameroon National Salvation Front (CNSF), said he had won 54.8% of the vote against 31.3% for Biya, according to his own count of partial results. His claim was called by the CPDM “a grotesque hoax” and “an inadmissible fraud in a state of law.”
Biya, who made a single public appearance during the campaign, should secure another seven-year term easily, tightening his hold despite underlying grumpiness among Cameroon’s youth.
Church Urges Calm
The influential National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (NECC) urged restraint and dialogue.
“It is our hope that our country will find peace and stability in truth,” NECC President Archbishop Andrew Fuanya Nkea stated.
The protests have increased anxieties about broader unrest in a country already struggling with separatist conflict in the Anglophone northwest and southwest and an Islamist insurgency by Boko Haram in the Far North.
As tensions mount ahead of Monday’s official declaration, analysts warn that Cameroon’s fragile stability will depend on the way authorities handle popular discontent and the perception of electoral bias.
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