Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, has strongly condemned the
declaration of Paul Biya as winner of the recent presidential election in Cameroon.
Frank, in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday, described the announcement of the 92-year-old Biya as an insult to democracy and a brazen fraud that must be rejected by all who believe in justice and freedom.
He said: “The so-called results announced by the regime are a fabrication and a clear subversion of the people’s will.
“The world must not stand by while democracy in Cameroon is strangled in broad daylight.”
He lamented that peaceful protesters who took to the streets to denounce the alleged daylight robbery of their votes have been met with gunfire, brutality, and mass arrests.
“Innocent Cameroonians are being killed by their own security forces simply for demanding that their votes count.
“This bloodshed must end immediately. Those who ordered and carried out these killings must be held personally accountable before international law.
“The International Criminal Court (ICC) and the United Nations (UN) must investigate and ensure that justice is done.”
According to Frank, who is the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) Ambassador to East Africa and Middle East, the African Union’s “shameful silence in the face of such blatant electoral robbery is a betrayal of its founding principles.”
He added: “By refusing to speak out or act, the AU is enabling tyranny and helping destroy democracy on the continent.
“It is this silence and hypocrisy that fuel coups and instability in Africa, when the people are denied peaceful paths to change, they are pushed to desperation.
“The time has come for the AU to choose between complicity and conscience.”
He called on the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and all other nations to impose targeted sanctions on Paul Biya’s regime, “including travel bans, asset freezes, and suspension of military assistance.”
He added: “The international community must make it clear that those who rig elections, kill citizens, and destroy democratic institutions will pay a heavy price.
“Anything less would embolden other dictators across Africa to repeat this travesty.”
He insisted that the true winner of the Cameroonian election remained Issa Tchiroma Bakary, whose mandate, he claimed, reflected the genuine will of the people.
“The international community must recognise this fact and pressure Paul Biya to step down,” he said.
He urged Cameroonians not to surrender their future to a regime that survives on repression and deceit.
“To the brave people of Cameroon: your courage in the face of tyranny is a beacon of hope.
“Defend your mandate, stand for your democracy, but remain peaceful and united.
The world is watching, and history is on your side.”
According to him, if the world fails to act decisively now, it would set a dangerous precedent, “one that tells African leaders that rigging elections, silencing opponents, and murdering citizens come without consequence.
“This must not happen. The time to act is now. The world must stand with the people of Cameroon and make it clear that stolen elections and blood-stained power have no place in the 21st century,” he stated.
