11, October 2018

Crying over spilt milk: Atanga Nji says “Scoring a goal is not winning the match” 0

Cameroon’s interior minister Paul Atanga Nji warned on Tuesday that “scoring a goal” is not “winning the match” after an opposition leader used a football metaphor to claim victory in presidential polls.

Maurice Kamto, candidate of the Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC) party, said on Monday he “was charged with taking a penalty, I took it, and I scored”, proclaiming himself victor of weekend polls.

He gave no evidence for his claim.

Sunday’s vote, at which Kamto headed a partial opposition coalition, was marked by violence in restive anglophone regions, low turnout and difficulties staging the ballot in the conflict-torn areas.

“Even if you score a penalty, you don’t necessarily win the match at the end,” Atanga Nji told AFP, adding that Kamto’s announcement was a “non-event”.

By law each polling station must submit its results, after verification by the Elecam electoral commission, to the Constitutional Court which is responsible for announcing the final, official tally within 15 days of the vote.

But a raft of unofficial results from Cameroon’s almost 25,000 polling stations have already begun to circulate on social media.

News 24