Maurice Kamto, a leading opposition challenger to President Paul Biya, claimed victory on Monday in Cameroon’s presidential election despite a government warning not to announce unofficial results.

The dramatic announcement by the candidate of the Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC) follows Sunday polls marked by violence in restive anglophone regions, low turnout and difficulties staging the ballot in the conflict-torn north.

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.

“I was charged with taking a penalty, I took it and I scored,” said Kamto at a media conference in Yaounde.

“I have received a clear mandate from the people and I intend to defend it until the end,” he added.

But the secretary general of Biya’s ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, Labour Minister Grégoire Owona, accused Kamto of breaking the law.

“It is not right at all to announce this. He hasn’t won anything at all. It’s totally illegal,” he said, adding that it was too early to say if anyone had won.

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

Ahead of Kamto’s declaration, Paul Atanga-Nji, the minister for territorial administration, called on “all the political players… to act responsibly so that the process concludes in the same spirit as it started”.

“Any attempt to disrupt public order will be handled thoroughly,” Atanga-Nji told FRANCE 24 on Monday.

Opposition candidates had called on their supporters to oversee the tallying process to prevent any fraud that might favour 85-year-old Biya’s quest for re-election.

“Times are tough. Rise up and prepare to defend your victory because there are some unbelievable things going on,” said outsider opposition hopeful, Cabral Libii, who at 38 was the youngest candidate.

Ahead of the polls, in which 6.5 million voters were eligible to cast ballots, Kamto warned he would “not accept any” result tainted by fraud.

‘No one came to vote’

Tensions were high during the vote and violence was reported in the anglophone regions that have been torn by a separatist insurgency that erupted a year ago.

After voting began Sunday, security forces shot dead three suspected separatists who had allegedly fired at passersby from a motorcycle in Bamenda, the main city in the English-speaking northwest region, a local official said.

In Buea, capital of the anglophone southwest, three separatists of the Ambazonia Republic were gunned down on Friday.

Gunfire was heard in the largely deserted town throughout polling day and a car belonging to the state-run Cameroon Tribune newspaper came under fire.

The violence in the anglophone regions has killed at least 420 civilians, 175 members of the security forces and an unknown number of separatists, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG) think-tank.

“We’re bored because no one came to vote, people stayed at home because they’re scared,” said opposition election observer Georges Fanang in one of Buea’s polling stations.

Low turnout?

The army also confirmed that voting could not be held in at least one district of the southwest, Lysoka village, because of the insecurity.

“As expected, turnout in the English regions has been particularly low with virtually all the returns we have seen suggesting less than five percent,” said ICG analyst Hans de Marie Heungoup.

The poll passed off without incident in the rest of the country.

“Two weeks! We’ve just finished counting here and I’m already getting news from other polling stations,” complained poll worker Francois, 22, after the ballot finished at one voting centre in Yaounde on Sunday night.

But in the far north region, considered a “key” to the election because of its large population, very few opposition election observers deployed to remote polling stations, witnesses said, raising fears of possible fraud.

The region has been rocked by violent attacks carried out by Nigeria-based Boko Haram jihadists despite US efforts to equip and train Cameroonian forces.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Cameroon’s president-elect, Prof. Maurice Kamto, has finally held his press conference in Yaounde today after the country’s forces of law and order tried to prevent him from talking to the press.

Speaking to a full house of determined Cameroonians, Prof. Kamto said the people of Cameroon had given him the mandate to preside over the country’s destiny for the next seven years and that would be the job he would be doing in the days ahead.

He said he was willing and ready to defend the people’s victory, calling on the out-going president and his collaborators to ensure that the transition is smooth and peaceful.

He promised to provide protection and immunity to the out-going president, Paul Biya, and his family, adding that all administrative officers should continue to do their work to ensure Cameroon is spared the specter of bloodshed.

Prof. Kamto’s press conference comes after he had spoken with officials of some Western embassies who have assured him of their support and determination to see that peace returns to the struggling nation. The U.S.A ambassador has already congratulated Prof. Kamto and he looks forward to working with the new authorities.  

During the press conference, he promised to address the Southern Cameroons crisis, adding that he would be visiting the region very soon to get a full understanding of the situation.

He regretted the loss of life in the region, adding that “the sun will rise and shine again in the North West and South West regions.”

He said he would rebuild the towns that have been burnt down by the Biya regime, adding that all those who have lost their homes would be compensated.

It should be recalled Prof. Kamto had during the campaign promised he would talk with Southern Cameroonian leaders if he won the election and he is keen on being as good as his word.

Meanwhile, the Interim President of Southern Cameroon, Dr. Samuel Sako, has also congratulated Prof. Kamto, adding that he would be working with him to bring peace to Southern Cameroons.

Currently there are negotiations going on between the Biya team and the Kamto team. Mr. Biya is a man under pressure and he has to quit before he gets humiliated.

Cameroonians are prepared to defend their victory and no killing of civilians will change the decision. Biya has to go. He has had more than his fair share of life. He has spilled Cameroonian blood, so he has no place in our country. He belongs to the past and must not be allowed to stay in power. 

 By Kingsley Betek in Yaounde

As results of the presidential poll get known based on the reports submitted, the ruling party has set its crackdown machinery in motion, hoping to stop Professor Kamto from leading the country out of its numerous crisis. Change has come to Cameroon and Prof. Kamto is the country’s next president. The results clearly indicate that Cameroonians need change, even those in areas considered as the president’s stronghold.

After having received all the results reports from our agents in the field, Cameroon Concord News Group has provided a detailed result of the poll and the people are prepared to defend their victory. Early today, thousands of Cameroonians descended onto the streets of Yaounde to express their joy and fear that their victory might be stolen like it happened in 1992.

Last night, the country’s territorial administration minister, Paul Atanga, had issued veiled threats to Prof. Kamto and his team, stressing that nobody was above the law. Of course, the law works well when things are against the incumbent. Mr. Atanga Nji still holds that Cameroonians are scared of the military, even when Southern Cameroonians have demystified the country’s military.

Also, the government had dispatched its security operatives to arrest Mr. Kamto, but he had been duly informed by an informant and he promptly left his home. He is expected to hold a press conference later today where he will be claiming his victory and calling on the people to stand up for democracy. He will also urge the international community to be solidly behind democracy so that it can sprout in a country that has known a veiled dictatorship for more than five decades.

Some of his advisers have been arrested and the destructive regime is already coming up with trumped up charges to intimidate them and the population. Unfortunately, this will not work, as the population is prepared to defend that victory. Mr. Biya’s military cannot kill everybody and it is rumored that there are cracks within the military, with a huge segment seeking real change.

After Southern Cameroonians, it is now the turn of the non-Beti Francophone majority that has been standing on the sidelines for a long time. The majority has to do its job. It must liberate itself. The world knows that Mr. Biya has been running a crime syndicate in the name of a political party.

All opposition parties must come together to defend democracy in Cameroon. This is not Kamto’s victory, it is Cameroon’s victory and it must be defended. Cameroonians must take to the streets to ensure Mr. Biya and his people yield to the people’s demand. 36 years are long enough. The Biya regime has spread death and destruction to all the corners of the country. The people are sick and tired of their mismanagement and ineffectiveness.

It should be recalled that Professor Kamto’s victory was never in doubt, but as a measure of precaution, Cameroonians were just going about their business as if nothing positive was not going to happen. Elections in Africa are usually unpredictable and the winner sometimes ends up in jail, as the loser usually uses the military to his advantage. But this will not be happening to Cameroonians. They have been looking for change for decades and it has finally arrived and it will be defended.

The indicators were already there for all to see yesterday. Cameroon Concord News Group’s exit polls had already pointed out that Professor Kamto would be the next president of the country, though many CPDM – the party that has been in power in Cameroon since independence – members were questioning the results of the exit poll.

But after having received all the polling results from our reporters and undercover agents, it is clear that the man who once served under the incumbent, Paul Biya, will be the country’s next president.

According to the reports sent to our global headquarters, Professor Kamto has a clear lead in the far north, littoral, Center and west regions which are heavily populated regions.  Professor Kamto’s vast victory margin in these four regions makes it hard for the incumbent to narrow the gap, as his victory is only in sparsely populated regions like the south and east regions.

A computation of the entire results gives Professor Kamto slightly over 37%, while the incumbent ends up in fourth position with 18.4%. Mr. Joshua Osih comes second with 22.3%. Cabral Libii, the political novice takes home 19.2%. The other small and unpopular parties share the rest.

In Mfoundi, which is supposed to be Mr. Biya’s stronghold, Professor Kamto took a huge bite out of the votes. He came out with slightly over 39% while Mr. Biya had 36%.  Mr. Biya is being trailed in this precinct by Mr. Cabral Libii who is the youngest among the candidates with 22%.

The poll was marred by irregularities, many of which were designed to favor the incumbent. However, it must be pointed out that it is hard to organize perfect elections in a developing and infrastructure-poor country like Cameroon.

This situation has been made all the more challenging by the Southern Cameroons crisis that is tearing the country apart.

In the two English-speaking regions of the country, due to insecurity, the number of polling stations was reduced, but voters were not given the means to reach their new polling stations.

For example, Prime Minister Yang Philemon was allowed to vote at Up-station in Bamenda while he had registered to vote in Oku which is his hometown since the government could not guarantee security in Oku.

While the Prime Minister voted, his fellow Oku residents were never given a similar opportunity. The same applies to the Senate President, Niat Njifenji, who was allowed to vote in Paris when he never registered to vote there.

It should be recalled that the country’s Senate president was evacuated to a French hospital one month ago and there was no way he could have known that he would be ill before the election.

But the most sickening irregularities took place at the polling stations. In some polling stations in the country, opposition returning officers were not allowed into the polling stations.

There were reports of polling stations being lodged in unofficial locations. Some ballot boxes also arrived already opened and a lady was caught in the Littoral region trying to stuff the ballot boxes with CPDM ballots.

In the south region, some opposition returning officers were beaten and thrown out of the polling station. This actually happened to Cabral Libii’s returning officers and his party is already talking of taking the matter up with the election organizing body and the constitutional council.

The incumbent has gone down so easily. He was popularly unpopular even among his fellow Betis. After 36 years in power with no results to show for, it is just normal that the people look for other leaders that can help clean up the mess created by Mr. Biya and his party.

From the voting pattern, it easy to notice that even in his home region, many people did not vote for Mr. Biya. The South region is still the poorest in the country and it is totally bereft of infrastructure.

This is also true of the East region which is endowed with mineral resources, but has the largest number of poor and illiterate Cameroonians.

For more than two decades, the country’s economy has been in a free fall, with millions of Cameroonians being unemployed. It is common for millions of young graduates to look outwards for opportunities than in their country.

This situation has also been prompted by corruption and nepotism that have become the government’s hallmarks.  Today, it is common to see an entire institution full of people from the President’s ethnic group.

The Beti ethnic group constitutes less than 10% of the population, but it accounts for 70% of the country’s ministers.

The country has about 30 army generals, but the center and south regions, which account for less than 10% of the population, have 18 generals. This has been one issue that has been frustrating other Cameroonians.

Of the 34 state-owned corporations, 21 are run by the Betis and Anglophones have just one managing director although the two English-speaking regions of the country account for 20% of the country’s population.

But it is the management of the Southern Cameroons crisis that has delivered a deadly blow to the incumbent in this election. For over two years since the crisis started, the government has conducted itself as if the two English-speaking regions are not part of the country.

The president just like his ministers has displayed the most annoying form of arrogance that has left the people wondering about the future of the country. Mr. Biya has never addressed the issues and has not laid the groundwork for the inclusive dialogue that the world has been calling for.

On the contrary, he and his government have opted for military violence that has consumed some 4,000 Cameroonians, including some 2,000 soldiers. The region’s economy has also collapsed and more than half a million Southern Cameroonians are refugees in their own country.

It should be highlighted that some 300,000 Southern Cameroonians are currently in Nigeria after escaping from the military violence that the Yaounde government unleashed on innocent civilians who were simply complaining of the pain the system was inflicting on them.

Mr. Biya has been conducting himself as if the country was his personal estate. He has been using the country’s treasury as his personal ATM.

For 36 years, Mr. Biya, who is mockingly known as the monarch, has not built any world class hospital, and he and his political cronies always seek better healthcare abroad and this has been costing the taxpayer a pretty penny.

These and other factors have converged to give the government a very bad name. Mr. Biya should have left honorably, but he felt his rigging machine would deliver the fake results he was used to.

But times have changed. The people need change. The hardship, poor economic situation, the conflict with the country’s rich Diaspora and the government’s arrogance have been some of the mistakes that will linger in the minds of members of the crime syndicate that has ruled the country for decades.

Social media has finally cut down the Biya regime to normal proportions. The lies of the past cannot be cloned in the era of social media. The people have the means to mobilize and Cameroonians are hell-bent on achieving their goal. Mr. Biya will have to kill all Cameroonians to stay in power. 2018 is the year. Enough is enough!

By Kingsley Betek and Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Professor Kamto’s victory was never in doubt, but elections in Africa are usually unpredictable. Cameroonians have been looking for change and it has finally arrived.

The Cameroon Concord News Group’s exit polls had already pointed out that Professor Kamto would be the next president of the country, though many CPDM -the party that has been in power in Cameroon since independence -members were questioning the results of the exit poll. But after having received all the polling results from our reporters and undercover agents, it is clear that the man who once served under the incumbent, Paul Biya, will be the country’s next president.

According to the reports sent to our global headquarters, Professor Kamto has a clear lead in the far north, littoral, Center and west regions which are heavily populated regions.  Professor Kamto’s vast victory margin in these four regions makes it hard for the incumbent to narrow the gap, as his victory is only in sparsely populated regions like the south and east regions.

A computation of the entire results gives Professor Kamto slightly over 37%, while the incumbent ends up in fourth position with 18.4%. Mr. Joshua Osih comes second with 22.3%. Cabral Libii, the political novice takes home 19.2%. The other small and unpopular parties share the rest.

In Mfoundi, which is supposed to be Mr. Biya’s stronghold, Professor Kamto took a huge bite out of the votes. He came out with slightly over 39% while Mr. Biya had 36%.  Mr. Biya is being trailed in this precinct by Mr. Cabral Libii who is the youngest among the candidates with 22%.

Mr. Biya had slight leads in his native south region, the northwest and southwest regions where only the military and a few members of the ruling party were allowed to head to the polling station

Even in the south region, Mr. Biya’s numbers were not that impressive. Mr. Kamto still gave Mr. Biya a good run for his money. It is clear that the ruling party’s bread and sardine approach did not really produce the desired results.

In the East region, Mr. Biya had a slight lead, but not good enough to bring about a major upset. Prof. Kamto and Mr. Libii had actually won hearts and minds in the region by pointing out that Mr. Biya’s 36 years in power had not brought much to the people of this resource-rich region.

WHAT WERE THE IRREGULARITIES?

There were many irregularities designed to favor the incumbent. However, it must be pointed out that it is hard to organize perfect elections in a developing and infrastructure-poor country like Cameroon.

This situation has been made all the more challenging by the Southern Cameroons crisis that is tearing the country apart.

In the two English-speaking regions of the country, due to insecurity, the number of polling stations was reduced, but voters were not given the means to reach their new polling stations.

For example, Prime Minister Yang Philemon was allowed to vote at Up station in Bamenda while he had registered to vote in Oku which is his hometown since the government could not guarantee security in Oku.

While the Prime Minister voted, his fellow Oku residents were never given a similar opportunity. The same applies to the Senate President, Niat Njifenji, who was allowed to vote in Paris when he never registered to vote there.

It should be recalled that the country’s Senate president was evacuated to a French hospital one month ago and there was no way he could have known that he would be ill before the election.

But the most sickening irregularities took place at the polling stations. In some polling stations in the country, opposition returning officers were not allowed into the polling stations.

There were reports of polling stations being lodged in unofficial locations. Some ballot boxes also arrived already opened and this caused a lot of argument.

In the south region, some opposition returning officers were beaten and thrown out of the polling station. This actually happened to Cabral Libii’s returning officers and his party is already talking of taking the matter up with the election organizing body and the constitutional council.

WHY DID THE INCUMBENT FALL SO EASILY?

After 36 years in power with no results to show for, it is just normal that the people look for other leaders that can help clean up the mess created by Mr. Biya and his party.

From the voting pattern, it easy to notice that even in his home region, many people did not vote for Mr. Biya. The South region is still the poorest in the country and it is totally bereft of infrastructure.

This is also true of the East region which is endowed with mineral resources, but has the largest number of poor and illiterate Cameroonians.

For more than two decades, the country’s economy has been in a free fall, with millions of Cameroonians being unemployed. It is common for millions of young graduates to look outwards for opportunities than in their country.

This situation has also been prompted by corruption and nepotism that have become the government’s hallmarks.  Today, it is common to see an entire institution full of people from the President’s ethnic group.

The Beti ethnic group constitutes less than 10% of the population, but it accounts for 70% of the country’s ministers.

The country has about 30 army generals, but the center and south regions, which account for less than 10% of the population, have 18 generals. This has been one issue that has been frustrating other Cameroonians.

Of the 34 state-owned corporations, 21 are run by the Betis and Anglophones have just one managing director although the two English-speaking regions of the country account for 20% of the country’s population.

But it is the management of the Southern Cameroons crisis that has delivered a deadly blow to the incumbent in this election. For over two years since the crisis started, the government has conducted itself as if the two English-speaking regions are not part of the country.

The president just like his ministers has displayed the most annoying form of arrogance that has left the people wondering about the future of the country. Mr. Biya has never addressed the issues and has not laid the groundwork for the inclusive dialogue that the world has been calling for.

On the contrary, he and his government have opted for military violence that has consumed some 4,000 Cameroonians, including some 2,000 soldiers. The region’s economy has also collapsed and more than half a million Southern Cameroonians are refugees in their own country.

It should be highlighted that some 300,000 Southern Cameroonians are currently in Nigeria after escaping from the military violence that the Yaounde government unleashed on innocent civilians who were simply complaining of the pain the system was inflicting on them.

Mr. Biya has been conducting himself as if the country was his personal estate. He has been using the country’s treasury as his personal ATM.

For 36 years, Mr. Biya, who is mockingly known as the monarch, has not built any world class hospital, and he and his political cronies always seek better healthcare abroad and this has been costing the taxpayer a pretty penny.

These and other factors have converged to give the government a very bad name. Mr. Biya should have left honorably, but he felt his rigging machine would deliver the fake results he was used to.

But times have changed. The people need change. The hardship, poor economic situation, the conflict with the country’s rich Diaspora and the government’s arrogance have been some of the mistakes that will linger in the minds of members of the crime syndicate that has ruled the country for decades.

WHAT NEXT?

Mr. Biya and his men will surely not be going down without a fight. Their mismanagement and the anger of the people are making it hard for them to relinquish power peacefully. While results in the field are against them, members of the ruling party have already pushed their plan B into action.

The hastily set up Constitutional Council is their last option. Since this is the body that is authorized to publish results, Mr. Biya and his men hold that the members of this body will be able to reverse things in their favor.

This was exactly the same thing that happened in 1992 when the SDF candidate, John Fru Ndi, won 62% of the votes, but the Supreme Court, which was acting as the Constitutional Council, handed the victory to a barefaced Biya who has continued to lord it over his fellow citizens.

In 1992, there was no social media and the government could easily use the military to intimidate the civilian population, especially the Francophone majority that knew very little about collective action.

Today, the dynamics are different. Southern Cameroonians have demystified the military and this is inspiring the Francophone majority which now knows that through collective action, it can change its own destiny.

Prior to the election, many opposition leaders had called on their supporters to be vigilant, they have advised that in the event of any doctoring of the results by the Constitutional  Council, the whole country will be in the grip of a revolution.

Cameroon is therefore sitting on a keg of gun powder that might go off if the Constitutional Council tries to play pranks that might rob the people of their victory.  The Kamto victory might be good, but it could dump the country into a long spell of insecurity and violence.

The chaos that may play out in Yaounde if the Constitutional Council over-plays its hands and luck might make it easy for Southern Cameroons to finally walk away in peace while Francophones seek to kill each other.

However, if Prof. Kamto takes his place at the Unity Palace, he might find common ground with the separatists. He has already expressed the wish to sit and talk with Southern Cameroonians, but he might have to head to Washington DC or Ottawa for that to happen.

WHO ARE THE BIGGEST LOSERS

Of course, with the changing political landscape, there will be many losers. The ruling CPDM will surely be the hardest hit.

With its hand out of the treasury, it is clear that the free money that has underwritten the expensive lifestyle of members of this crime syndicate will also disappear.

This might herald the demise of this party that has mismanaged the economy and made life extremely hard for Cameroonians for decades.

Of course, a change of government will imply an audit of the country’s accounts and knowing what the CPDM stands for, many government officials will either end up in jail or in exile.

But the SDF will also pay a huge price. Its failure to comply with popular demands for a coalition might also reduce the party’s influence and support base.

Cameroonians might want to punish the SDF for its betrayal of the people. The country’s political landscape is very likely to change and there will be very many victims.

Change has come to Cameroon and it is up to Cameroonians to protect their victory. Cameroonians must learn from Ivorians and they must take to the streets if they want the change they have been hankering after.

The regime will surely want to use the military to intimidate the population, but the people must stand their ground. The military cannot kill everybody and until the Francophone majority understands that, it will continue to live in the invisible chains of slavery.

Francophones have to learn from Southern Cameroonians who have demonstrated that a minority can bring about change in a country. They have to conquer their fear. They have to stand their ground. They cannot let a minority to continue lording it over a majority.

Until they threaten the Yaounde government, they will never come out of their poverty. The Yaounde government has weaponized poverty to subjugate the people. This must be stopped and this election is an opportunity to put an end to the mess that has given Cameroon a bloodshot eye.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai, Irene Nanyongo and Kingsley Betek with correspondent reports from Maroua, Garoua, and other cities across the country.