After throwing out Prof. Kamto’s application for members of the Constitutional Council to recuse themselves because of the numerous conflicts of interest outlined in the applicant’s application, the Kamto legal team put up an impressive show on the irregularities that actually marred the October 7, 2018 poll.

The team’s lead legal expert put the team’s collective effort and determination to expose the ruling party’s sloppy rigging strategy on display. The team outlined cases of massive fraud, with numbers for many polling stations not adding up and some results report signed without being properly verified if they had been signed by the right persons. The reported cases of fraud concerned, in particular, the Far North, the South, and the Northwest and Southwest regions.

In the two English-speaking regions, it was reported that since the population had been chased away by government forces that had resorted to shooting young men, army soldiers voted as many times as they could, oblivious of the fact that everybody was aware that the population had moved into East Cameroon and on voting day, there was no security for those who wanted to venture out to vote.

Some of the result reports did not even have the signatures of the returning officers and where there were signatures, the number of signatures on the first pages did not match the number of signatures on the following pages. Some results reports were produced based on the recommendations of the authorities who, in many cases, were ruling party supporters.

In the Far North region which has been given to Mr. Paul Biya, the number of votes cast was higher than the number of registered voters. The CPDM rigging machine in that region had actually worked overtime and it failed to take into consideration the number of registered voters.

But it was in the South region, which is the president’s region which the ruling party felt that it had a free hand to do whatever it wanted. Its sloppiness resulted in many mistakes, with even dead people voting.  The Constitutional Council session was put off to Wednesday at 9:30am Cameroon time after Council members were totally overwhelmed by the evidence Prof. Kamto’s team provided.

Meanwhile the Constitutional Council had rejected early on Tuesday the application for recusal filed by the Kamto Campaign. It was however said he could challenge the incompatibility of the person who appointed Council members and the person in question is President Paul Biya who himself was also a candidate in the October 7 presidential poll.

Knowing well that the outcome of the application could not be otherwise, Maurice Kamto felt it was necessary for him to follow the legal procedure as the best way to expose the Biya regime to the international community as being the judge and jury in a case on the country’s future and stability depend.

The debates are continuing, but what happened today during the hearing was just a foretaste of what will be playing out in the days ahead. In opening statements by Prof. Kamto’s legal team, the various lawyers called on the chair of the constitutional council to exercise justice, reminding him that the future of the country depended on whatever decision the Constitutional Council would take.

First to fire was Barrister Yondo Black who pointed out that all the members of the constitutional council were also members of the ruling party whose role in the just-ended election had been called to question. He added that the person who appointed them was himself a candidate in the election and it would be challenging to accept that the Constitutional council would be impartial in a case in which members of the constitutional council stood to gain.

For his part, Barrister Akere Muna added that Cameroon had never known a smooth transition as the country switched from a single party state to a single party democracy wherein the ruling party was in control of everything. He urged the President of the Constitutional Council to exercise sound judgment in taking a decision that could make or mar the peace of the country.

Other lawyers also pointed out the inconsistencies and the conflict of interest that would make it hard for the Constitutional Council members to be impartial. It should be recalled that the wife of the president of the constitutional council is a ruling party parliamentarian and the president of the constitutional council is still working as a lawyer and defending state interest with the latest situation taking place on September 30, 2018.

They also pointed out that various members of the constitutional council were either members of the central committee of the ruling party or had been appointed to serve as chairmen of the boards of directors of various state-owned corporation; a situation that made it hard for them to be impartial in addressing the post-electoral conflict in Cameroon.

With the application for recusal rejected, the debates on the various electoral irregularities will therefore continue and Cameroonians are looking forward to justice although many argue the outcome of the hearing is already known. With a Constitutional Council set up by Mr. Biya and comprising mainly members of his party, it is clear that many of the complaint on electoral fraud will be thrown out to give the incumbent another 7-year term.

Meanwhile, as the political crisis in Yaoundé continues, the country has continued with its descent to chaos. In the English-speaking region of the country, the killings have continued and soldiers loyal to Mr. Biya are continuing with their rampage. They have shooting carelessly in major cities in the region and this has led to the death of many young men.

Cameroon’s downward spiral seems to be unstoppable. As the political situation continues to decline due to the presidential election, some people are secretly amassing weapons in preparation for a battle that might plunge the entire sub-region into chaos.

By Kingsley Betek, Sama Ernest and Asu Vera Eyere

Burundi on Sunday accused former colonial power Belgium of ordering the assassination of independence hero and Crown Prince Louis Rwagasore in 1961, a move likely to further poison ties between the two countries.

A government statement said Belgium was the “true backer of the assassination of Rwagasore”, in the first direct accusation over the murder by Bujumbura, which said it plans to probe the six-decade old incident.

The statement said that Brussels “has yet to explain itself” over the killing of Rwagasore, who played a key role in Burundi’s anti-colonial movement.

Rwagasore was named prime minister in the run up to independence, but was shot dead a month later by a Greek assassin accompanied by three Burundian members of a pro-Belgian party at a hotel in the capital — a little over a year before independence was achieved in July 1962.

He is one of Burundi’s most beloved heros, with his name gracing stadiums, schools and roads across the country.

In the statement, the government said it “plans to launch a technical commission to investigate the assassinations … of Rwagasore” and his two young children a few months later.

The Kingdom of Burundi, believed to date to the 17th century, came under German colonial rule in 1890, but was awarded by the League of Nations to Belgium after World War II.

Rwagasore was the eldest son of King Mwambutsa IV.

Burundi has been gripped by political crisis since President Pierre Nkurunziza sought a third term in office in 2015, provoking severe civil unrest that has left at least 1,200 dead and displaced over 400,000 people.

In October 2016, Belgium withdrew its ambassador to Burundi and suspended several development projects, as Bujumbura’s relations with foreign allies worsened over the crisis.

The following month, the executive secretary of the ruling CNDD-FDD Evariste Ndayishimiye accused Belgium of “acting as if Burundi is still under its yoke,” on Twitter, after accusing it of backing the opposition.

 AFP

The United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday elected a new set of representatives to serve three-year terms. In all, 18 countries were elected across the world.

The African representatives who made it were from three regional blocs – West, Central and East Africa: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Eritrea, Somalia and Togo.

The move has however attracted the ire of political and human rights groups who insist that Eritrea, Cameroon and Somalia had no business serving on the Council given their current rights record.

Eritrea is a known jailer of dissidents – political, media, religious. The United Nations rapporteur has repeatedly reported of arbitrary arrests and detention. Asmara has most times remained mute or dismissed such reports.

Cameroon is in the middle of two security crisis – the Boko Haram war in the Far North and separatist face off in the Anglophone regions. The army has serially been reported of using highhandedness in both operations.

Soldiers have been filmed burning down villages in the Anglophone regions whiles videos have exposed arbitrary killing of unarmed civilians in the Far North region.

Over in Somalia, the fight against insurgent group Al-Shabaab has often resulted in government’s arbitrary use of powers to arrest suspects and journalists. State security forces have also been accused of killing people believed to be affiliated with the insurgents with little or no basis.

Toho also has its human rights record tainted in the anti-government protests of 2017 when security forces fired at protesters and were also caught on camera beating protesters.

Togo was also the only African country that voted with the United States at the U.N. in recognizing Jerusalem as capital of Israel. The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system made up of 47 States responsible for the promotion and protection of all human rights around the globe.

Source: Africa News

Tension is mounting in Yaounde as supporters of Prof. Maurice Kamto suspect the election-organizing body is working behind closed doors to doctor the results. Mr. Kamto’s team yesterday held a press conference in which it deplored the government’s tactics aimed at falsifying elections and fomenting violence in the country.

The press conference, which was delivered by Prof. Kamto’s spokesperson, Olivier Nissack, was a moment for Mr. Nissack to state his party’s commitment to legality while at the same time underscoring the fact that MRC would defend its victory which is based on the results sheets available to them.

Meanwhile, Kamto’s treasurer, Okala Ebode, and another member of his strategy team, Engelbert du Bon Datchoua, have been kidnapped and taken to an unknown destination.

Many observers are wondering if Prof Kamto would be kept under house arrest just to ensure he does not achieve his objective. This was the same tactic that was used after the 1992 presidential election.

The government is on edge and it is using all intimidation tactics in the books to preempt a popular uprising.  Yesterday, the city of Yaounde was full of riot police, a means the government wants to prove that it has the right muscles to scare even the most courageous adversary.

The government seems to have been cornered. The crises it has created in the regions over the last 25 years seem to be migrating like a huge dangerous storm to Yaounde, the nation’s capital.  A miscalculation on its part could plunge the country into a long bitter civil war that might result in thousands of deaths and huge property destruction.

The government is already spreading the fake idea that in the event of any conflict in most of the country’s towns and cities, the losers will be the Bamilekes, a huge and hardworking ethnic group that controls the country’s economy.

The government hopes that using such a scare tactic will discourage the people who have brought Prof. Kamto his victory. But this lie is not cutting ice with the youths and rich Bamileke business owners who are sick and tired of the government’s corruption and inefficiency.

In 1992, the government which is also the ruling party, popularly known as a crime syndicate, robbed the opposition of its victory when the SDF candidate, John Fru Ndi, beat Mr. Biya by a wide margin, but the Supreme Court, acting in lieu of the Constitutional Council, handed the victory to Mr. Biya who immediately imposed a state of emergency in the Northwest region just to cage Mr. Fru Ndi.

Even the National Democratic Institute (NDI), an American not-for-profit organization that monitors elections, had recognized the numerous irregularities that had characterized and marred the 1992 poll.

The government might have succeeded in 1992, but it will have to deal with a different beast this time around. Mr. Fru Ndi had been called a bookseller just to belittle him and break him down, but this time around, their strategy is not going to work.

Prof. Kamto is a globally respected legal expert who will not be intimidated and bullied into submission. He has the following and has the potential to make East Cameroon ungovernable.

Despite government threats, Prof. Kamto and his team are simply going about their business without paying any attention to the sideshow staged by the military and the police under the supervision of the overzealous territorial administration minister, Atanga Nji.

Prof. Kamto is expected in Douala on Thursday where he will hold a press conference at the residence of former Bar President, Yondo Black. He will be accompanied by Akere Muna, another legal heavy weight who is hell-bent on bringing real political change to Cameroon.

The press conference will be coming at a time when there are hints of a move by Douala chiefs to manipulate youths to demonstrate against Prof. Kamto, a ploy hatched by the beleaguered regime to contain any political violence that might erupt after the release of the fake election results

Prof. Kamto is expected to raise important issues like the Anglophone crisis at a time when Ayuk Tabe will be appearing in court in Yaounde for trial and the gimmicks the government is playing to rob the people of their victory.

While the government is working over time to come up with more sinister plans to hoodwink the population into abandoning Prof. Kamto  and into frustrating any plan the opposition might be hatching, Prof. Kamto and his team are calm and unfazed, as they have already won the hearts and minds of Cameroonians who are sick and tired of a regime that has been conducting itself like a mafia.

Cameroonians are determined this time around and they will be filing the streets on the day the results will be released. The military will be confronted just like Southern Cameroonians have done in the two English-speaking regions of the country.

The country is already awash with weapons and it will be a lot easier to cut Mr. Biya’s army to normal proportions.  Southern Cameroonian fighters have already demystified the military and every Cameroonian now holds that he can face up to a military that is corrupt and divided.

The fighting in the regions is gradually spreading to the nation’s economic and political capitals and the government is scared that the election results might usher in a situation that might be hard for it to handle.

The signs are not good. Mr. Biya and his men have overplayed their luck and hands. The end may be near. The government might want to tread carefully in order to avoid a situation that might result in the population chasing cabinet ministers and the president in the streets like bunch of common criminals.

It is clear that in the event of any street fighting, Mr. Biya’s ethnic group will pay a huge price. The Betis account for less than 10% of the country’s population, but account for more than 70% of the top positions in government and the military.  This has been a source of frustration to other Cameroonians, many of whom have simply decided to leave the country to seek greener pastures abroad.

Cameroonians are frustrated and many, especially the youths, hold that their fate is worse than death and they are prepared to fight a government they hold has imposed itself on them for 36 years. The regime’s dismal economic record and its poor management of the Anglophone crisis are coming back to bite it where it hurts the most.

After more than 36 years in power, Mr Paul Biya, the country’s president and the ruling party’s presidential candidate has run the country’s economy aground. He has been using the country’s treasury as his personal ATM. He spends most of his time abroad where he lavishes state funds.

His wife’s shopping and lavish lifestyle can only be compared to that of Marie Antoinette, the last French Queen, who together with her husband, Louis XVI, abused the French to the extent that a French revolution was orchestrated in 1789.

Regarding unemployment, the country is witnessing the highest unemployment rates on the continent. Cameroonians have been reduced to beggars in their own country.  Today, to have a job, young men and women have to either pay the employers or have sex with their future bosses.

Homosexuality is on the rise and many young men now see it as a sure path to securing a job. The system has dehumanized its own citizens and this is a huge source of stress and frustration for many young Cameroonians who do not know where to turn to.

Regarding healthcare, the country’s hospitals have been reduced to consultation clinics while the road network has become a sure death trap.

There is still time for the government to understand that its tricks will not always produce the desired results. It must understand that Cameroonians are more determined today than in 1992. With a strong Diaspora and social media, it is possible for many things to be exposed.

Prof. Kamto is the man of the moment. This is his time. It will be wise to recognize this so as to do the right thing to avoid a bloodbath that might destabilize the entire sub-region.

Prof. Kamto has already stretched a hand of friendship to Mr. Biya and his family. It will be wise to accept this gesture in order to end up in history books as a hero and an elder statesman, instead of insisting on playing tricks just to end up as a common criminal at 86.

Americans had already foreseen this ugly situation and they had, through their ambassador in Yaounde, advised Mr. Biya to think about his legacy. But their advice fell on deaf ears. Will Prof. Kamto’s wise counsel also go unheeded? The ball is in Mr. Biya’s court.

By Kingsley Betek and Sama Ernest in Yaounde.

The United States says it remains an impartial party to Cameroon’s electoral process and calls on citizens to patiently await the officially declaration of results from the election body, ELECAM.

The embassy in Yaounde in a Facebook post said they supported Cameroonian voters’ decision to use the polls to make their voices heard.

The statement read as follows: “The U.S. Embassy congratulates all Cameroonians who voted on October 7. Before the election, many stated the long-held view that in a single round election with multiple parties, coalitions improve the likelihood of electoral competition.

“We reiterate our neutrality with respect to the outcome and strongly support the right of the Cameroonian people to choose their leader through the democratic process.

“We call on all parties to wait until the official results are announced before making pronouncements about the supposed winner, and to resolve peacefully any grievances through established legal channels.”

The statement came barely hours after an opposition aspirant, Maurice Kamto, announced that he had earned a decisive victory. Kamto, a former minister of the Paul Biya administration did not give any figures or basis for his declaration.

The government through the Information Minister chided Kamto’s irresponsible illegal declaration, stressing that it was only the Constitutional Council that had the right to declare results.

A Kamto spokesperson justified his announcement with the excuse that he had only made a projection and not usurped the work of any body.

“Maurice Kamto did not proclaim himself president, he claimed victory, it’s not the same thing,” Olivier Nissack reportedly said.

Source: Africa News

Many Cameroonians face being unable to vote in the country’s election on Sunday because of insecurity and fear driven by worsening violence in its anglophone regions.

Paul Biya, the 85-year-old who has ruled Cameroon since 1982, looks set to capitalise on a divided opposition to easily win his fifth election since reluctantly adopting a multiparty system in 1992.

Separatists in the English-speaking regions have announced a boycott of the poll, and many voters there have said they are too scared to go to the polls. At least 400 civilians have been killed in unrest in the past year, and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes.

“Who can vote when our brothers are dying? How can we even vote, when you don’t know how safe it will be?” asked Chimene Ngum, a 23-year-old student in Bamenda, capital of the anglophone Northwest region.

The rebellion that erupted in the country’s two anglophone regions was triggered by the violent repression of a peaceful protest a year ago, after lawyers complained that magistrates were being appointed to their courts despite their poor English. It spread to the regions’ teachers and students, then activists symbolically declared the two anglophone regions the independent republic of Ambazonia.

Biya’s government responded with a wave of arrests and killings.

For years, anglophones have felt deliberately sidelined and neglected, their infrastructure left to crumble. Last year, for instance, Biya’s home region was allocated almost twice the money that the anglophone regions got combined, the public investment budget shows, despite their vital importance to Cameroon’s economy. Much of the country’s oil production is off the coast of the Southwest region, and onshore are its biggest cocoa-growing areas.

Biya was due to visit Buea, the Southwest regional capital, on Wednesday for a rally, but called off his trip at the last minute after the “Amba boys”, as the forces of the Ambazonian separatists are known, issued more threats. It would have been the first trip he has made to the anglophone regions since 2014, in which time he has spent at least 260 days on private trips abroad, many to Geneva.

Teachers who were bussed into a heavily securitised Buea to participate in the ruling party’s rally said they were threatened that there would be consequences if they did not attend. Meanwhile, gunfights broke out between Ambazonian and Cameroonian forces in villages near the city.

It is unclear how many of the 4000 polling stations due to open in the anglophone regions will function on Sunday, though some are determined to cast their ballots.

“I am going to the polls this Sunday, despite the fact that our brothers don’t want us to. They should understand that this is the only way we can get the change we want,” said Judith Mafor, a supporter of the main opposition party. “We have tried with guns and this has taken us to the graves and to the bushes.”

Others said they would not risk voting and described feeling powerless.

“We vote all the time and the outcome remains the same,” said Josephine Ngum, a tailor from Bamenda. “Why do I have to vote again? In a country where real democracy is instituted, when someone’s term of office is over, he steps down for another person to take over. This is not the case with Cameroon.”

Chimene Ngum said she didn’t even have a voter’s card. “Even if I had one, I wouldn’t vote because the results would still be the same. Paul Biya always wins,” she said.

After Robert Mugabe’s fall from power last year, Biya took up the mantle of being Africa’s oldest president, making Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni, 74, and Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari, 75, seem young.

Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang, 76, currently holds the title for the longest-serving president in Africa, having ousted his uncle in a military coup in 1979. Biya, who rules his cocoa and oil-producing country essentially by decree, is second.

Culled from The Guardian

Eight candidates representing a string of opposition parties are vying to oust 85-year-old incumbent President Paul Biya, who has ruled Cameroon since 1982 and is also seeking a seventh term. But unrest in most parts of the country has triggered a serious refugee crisis, forcing thousands of residents to flee to neighboring Nigeria.

On Thursday, President Paul Biya’s campaign team came under gun fire as their convoy was driving top speed through the main highway into Buea, capital of the English-speaking southwest region.

Several supporters of the ruling CPDM party were injured in the gunfire exchange between government troops and armed separatists. Biya himself was not part of the Buea campaign convoy. One of Biya’s party official Gerald Ngalla told DW that “the president was worried that his presence in Buea could lead to further bloodshed.”

Credible elections “impossible”

Prince Ekosso, head of the United Socialist Democratic Party, believes the election will be flawed. “It is impossible for credible elections to take place in the northwest and the southwest,” Ekosso said.

Ekosso’s party, which had maintained a traditional support base in the south, could not hold any rally in the restive region, due to threats by the separatists, who have vowed to stop the elections in the Anglophone areas. “As a matter of fact, the towns and cities of the northwest and the southwest have been deserted,” Ekosso said.

He added that: “It’s already late now for anything to be done for free and fair elections to take place in the two regions.”

Opposition candidates have also been avoiding the restive regions too. FDP candidate Akere Muna was travelling through the English-speaking town of Mutengene and was chased by angry protesters. Four civilians were killed.

Last week, eight CPDM supporters who were planning a campaign rally in Bamenda were kidnapped from a hotel and have not been seen since then.

“They want to provide the solution through their political lenses,” said civil society leader, Willibroad Ze Ngwa urging the ruling CPDM party to call for peace. He said the party should stop giving the impression that it can solve the crisis through war.

“It is only their political party that should be able to provide the solution to the problem and we say no. We are saying that Cameroonians from all works of life should get to the field and talk to the people in a tone of appeasement, keeping their political jackets by the side.”

However, Enow Abrams Egbe, chairman of the electoral commission Elecam, believes otherwise. “I am just coming from the northwest and the southwest, the situation is perturbed but serene in a way that all the material is on the ground,” he told DW.

“The security is working hard, leaving no stone unturned to make sure that voters go to the poll free and fair. I am only assuring them that there will be no fright,” Egbe said.

6.6 million voters will be expected to cast their ballots at 25,000 polling stations all over Cameroon on October 7 to vote their new president. The divided opposition has failed to present a single candidate.

Opposition parties defy separatists

Presidential candidates have been encouraging voters to cast their ballots. Prophet Frank Ndifor Afanui, a candidate for the opposition Cameroon National Citizenship Movement, is the only one to travel to the restive southwest region so far, with a visit to Mutengene.

In Cameroon’s capital Yaounde, opposition Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MRC) candidate Maurice Kamto suggests the separatists should allow people to vote as the only way to change the system they have been fighting.

“They will not win the war, so why continue fighting that war? Is it a solution for a country in crisis just to split into two parts just because we maybe have a government which is not listening to them? Go and vote because it is the only solution. We do not have to sacrifice our people,” Kamto said.

Social Democratic Front (SDF) candidate Joshua Osih said he sees a solution to the conflict.

“The problem is not the secession. The problem is the marginalization and injustices that lead to that secession. The secession will not necessarily solve that problem,” said Osih.

Displaced voters

Elecam has vowed that those who have been “displaced will be able to vote,” according to the organizing body’s regional director Amadou Ali. “They’re not just displaced people – they are voters. The fact that they’ve been displaced will not have any impact on the election.” He added that people without their documents will be able to register to vote in the towns where they have sought refuge.

“It’s not true, I wasn’t able to get a voting card,” retorted Yagana, as she rested on a mat. “I’ve requested it but a local official asked me for 40,000 CFA francs ($70, €60).”

But Cameroonian analyst at the International Crisis Group (ICG), Hans de Marie Heungoup, believes only “one-third of those displaced in the far north are registered on the voters’ roll.” The region is Cameroon’s most populous and it’s poorest and has previously voted overwhelmingly for President Paul Biya.

Army policing polls    

The army has been deployed to the two restive regions to battle separatist fighters since the end of 2017. According to the ICG, the secessionists control “a significant proportion of rural areas and main roads” in the regions. Skirmishes are violent and occur frequently, displacing thousands of local residents.

Around 246,000 people have been displaced in the southwest, according to the UN, while no estimate exists for the northwest region which is largely inaccessible to aid groups and journalists. Some 25,000 others are sheltering in neighboring Nigeria, according to the UN. In the face of continuing clashes, a surge of troops is planned, according to a senior official.

Elecam has also said that some polling stations will be “relocated” in the Anglophone region which has traditionally been a reliable well of votes for the main opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF) whose candidate is Joshua Osih. He has described the planned “relocations” in interviews as “an illegal measure” that could damage his chances.

Source: Deutschwelle

“It was horrible, you have no idea,” says Abdoulaye, 23, whose village in northern Cameroon was overrun by Boko Haram in 2015. Abdoulaye now wanders the streets of the district capital Mora selling small items.

He used to live in Kerawa, a village that was often targeted by fighters from the Nigeria-based Islamist group until army patrols were stepped up, ushering in a return to normality.

Despite not having any identity papers after fleeing and therefore being unable to vote, Aboulaye vocally supports President Paul Biya, who will seek a seventh term at polls on Sunday.

A poster in Biya’s signature blue adorns the trolley he uses to transport his wares, and Aboulaye argues passionately that a vote for Biya is a vote “to expel Boko Haram from the far north region”. Home to more than 1.2 million of Cameroon’s 6.6 million voters, the far north is the country’s most populous yet poorest region — a strategic target for Biya.

Days ahead of the vote, the Elecam electoral commission sought to reassure voters in the region that “there will be a polling station in each community, as planned”, according to the organisation’s regional chief Amadou Ali.

Though the suicide bombers who once terrorised the region are gone, low-key attacks happen almost daily. In September a convoy of the military’s rapid reaction force was targeted not far from Achmide, on the Nigerian border.

– ‘Isn’t a day without an attack’ –

Other sporadic attacks, including looting of shops and food stores, are frequent blights on daily life. “The truth is that there isn’t a day without an attack,” said one prominent figure in the region. “The far north is safe,” responded a senior officer based in Mora.

“No polling station will be relocated,” said Ali, the Elecam boss of the region’s planned 4,062 polling stations. Two other members of the election organising body said however that some polling stations in “danger zones” would be “regrouped” to “protect them from attack”.

Election candidates of all political stripes have headed to the provincial capital Maroua, taking heed of the region’s electoral importance. Biya, who has ruled Cameroon for 35 years, spent several hours in the town on Saturday.

During the campaign rally, parliament speaker Djibril Cavaye Yeguie, who is from the region, said that “100 percent” of the area’s voters would back Biya.

Joshua Osih, tha main opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF) party candidate, held a rally on Friday. Cabral Libii, Garga Haman Adji and Maurice Kamto also made pit-stops in the town.

– ‘More pressing problems’ –

The far north remains a crucial factor in deciding the election, added the prominent figure who declined to be named. “The population is poor and easily manipulated,” said a social sciences researcher in Maroua who alleged that “here, you can buy a vote from someone poor for 2,000 CFA francs (3 euros, $3.50)”. In the far north, 74 percent of people live below the poverty line compared with 37.5 percent nationally, according to the International Crisis Groups (ICG) think-tank.

Biya’s ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) has allegedly been handing out cash incentives ahead of Sunday’s vote.

“Unlike the rest of the country there’s no one here to take control so there’s always a risk of fraud,” the researcher said. Elecam also published a list of some 50 polling stations that were difficult to access because they were near “impassable roads”, “flood zones” or “rugged terrain”.

The researcher said that the absence of observers in some areas could lead to ballot stuffing. Everyone interviewed in the region said that, after four years of conflict, they preferred to concentrate on “more pressing problems” than politics.

Abdoulaye dreams of making enough to pay for his sick mother’s care and to resume his studies. The conflict forced him to curtail his education before graduating from high school. He is now asking, “Will Biya enable me to do that?”

AFP