Cameroon’s 92-year-old president has won a controversial eighth term in a fiercely disputed election. Paul Biya, the world’s oldest head of state, won 53.7% of the vote, compared to the 35.2% of opposition leader Issa Tchiroma Bakary, the Constitutional Council declared.
Before the announcement, Tchiroma Bakary – a former Biya ally – insisted he had won the election, but the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) dismissed his claim.
The election, held on 12 October, has been marred by deadly violence. In recent days, hundreds of Tchiroma Bakary’s supporters have defied protest bans in several cities and clashed with security forces.
Biya thanked voters for “once again” trusting him, saying, “I sincerely hope that, together, we resolutely undertake to build a peaceful, united and prosperous Cameroon.”
On Sunday, at least four people were killed during protests in Cameroon’s economic capital of Douala. The regional governor, Samuel Dieudonné Diboua, said police posts had come under attack and security forces had defended themselves.
The unrest continued on Monday, when several people were shot dead near Tchiroma Bakary’s residence in the city of Garoua, a local journalist on the scene told the BBC.
Around the same time, the opposition leader wrote on Facebook that shots were being fired at civilians gathered outside his home. He later claimed that snipers had been stationed at the house across from his, and were “firing at point-blank range at the people”; however, the Cameroonian authorities have not yet commented on these reports.
Protesters denounced the ruling CPDM’s plan to “steal the victory” from Tchiroma Bakary.
The situation is so tense in Yaoundé’s capital that almost all shops and schools have remained closed. At the same time, most civil servants and office workers stayed home as supporters of Issa Tchiroma Bakary have recently clashed with security forces.
Ten candidates, including former Prime Minister Bello Bouba Maigari, were in the running for the presidential office.
Voter turnout was 58%, but the Constitutional Council has rejected at least 10 petitions alleging electoral malpractice.
Residents in Yaoundé have been voicing their opinions on Biya’s controversial victory. “We are at the beginning of another nightmare,” Amungwa Nicodemus told the BBC. “The economy is declining, corruption is endemic, a lot of things are going wrong,” he added.
Another resident, Abolo Denis, urged Cameroonians to accept the result, saying peace is paramount.
“What struck me first, after the proclamation of the results, was the silence – graveyard silence,” said Vivian Muma, in the northern city of Bamenda.
“The silence tells it all. Cameroonian people decided, but those who [make] the decisions, they decided otherwise,” she said.
Supporters of Issa Tchiroma Bakary allege the ruling CPDM had a plan to “steal the victory” from the opposition leader.
The governing party has hailed Biya’s victory “under the sign of greatness and hope” in online posts.
Biya, who came to power in 1982, is rarely seen in public and is known for spending time outside Africa in Swiss hotels. These long absences, coupled with his advanced age, have, in the past, led to rumours that he was dead.
While his leadership has been praised for expanding schools and public universities and handling the Bakassi dispute—which saw the oil-rich peninsula handed to Cameroon instead of Nigeria—his tenure has also been criticised.
A violent separatist insurgency in the English-speaking west has been running for almost a decade, unemployment stands at 40% for the under-35s, roads and hospitals are crumbling, and freedom of speech has been limited.
Analysts have recently warned that Cameroon, a once peaceful country, could become a source of political turmoil if the election results do not reflect the people’s will.
“Biya now has a notably shaky mandate given that many of his own citizens don’t believe he won the election,” Murithi Mutiga, Africa Program Director at the International Crisis Group, said in a statement.
“We call on Biya to urgently initiate a national mediation to prevent further escalation,” he added.
