Cameroon’s opposition continues to contest the result of the latest presidential election. Presidential runner-up Issa Tchiroma Bakary gave authorities a 48-hour ultimatum to release all prisoners arrested in the protests that followed the re-election of Paul Biya.

In a video posted on social media on Sunday, Tchiroma accused the government of “state gangsterism and state terrorism.”

He also asked authorities to stop practices that he said include “ethnic purges.”

“The Cameroonian people no longer want them, the Cameroonian people can no longer tolerate them,” he said.

Tchiroma came second in the presidential election with 35.19% of the vote, finishing behind behind Paul Biya who scored 53.66%, according to official results. But the opposition leader considers himself the president-elect of Cameroon.

Tchiroma is believed to have left Cameroon for Nigeria shortly after the election. He has been calling on Cameroonian people to protest alleged electoral fraud, including through “ghost town” protests.

Cameroonian security forces killed 48 people in a crackdown on post-election demonstrations according to a Reuters report based on UN sources. The government says at least five people died.

Paul Biya was official sworn in on Thursday and called for an end to violence.

“I appeal to everyone’s sense of responsibility. I’m addressing all those who are working to incite hatred and violence in our country, particularly some of our compatriots in the diaspora,” he said.

“Cameroon does not need a post-election crisis with potentially dramatic consequences, as has been seen elsewhere.”

If his ultimatum is not respected, Tchiroma warned authorities that Cameroonian people “will feel free not only to protect themselves but also to do everything possible to protect their children and recover them wherever they are”

Source: Africa News

Cameroon’s 92-year-old leader Paul Biya has been sworn in for another seven years as president in a ceremony at the country’s parliament in Yaoundé.

Biya won a controversial eighth term in a fiercely disputed election last month.

He has been in power for 43 years, and addressed only one campaign rally before the election.

The nonagenarian, the world’s oldest head of state, won 54% of the vote, compared to the 35% of Issa Tchiroma Bakary, according to the official results. Tchiroma Bakary maintains he was the rightful winner of the poll and has accused the authorities of fraud, which they have denied.

The announcement of the result led to deadly protests across the country.

The authorities say at least four people were killed but the Reuters news agency puts the figure at 48, citing two United Nations sources.

Judges on the Constitutional Council had dismissed eight complaints about the election, citing insufficient evidence of irregularities or a lack of jurisdiction to annul results.

Earlier this week, Tchiroma Bakary’s call for a stay-at-home protest was heeded by many people, with streets deserted especially in his strongholds of Garoua and Douala.

The opposition leader was a former government information minister who broke ranks with Biya to challenge him for power.

He has refused to file an official complaint.

Source: BBC

In a post on X, Republican Senator Jim Risch of Idaho criticised the “sham” reelection of President Paul Biya, saying his regime has only made life worse for those living in Cameroon — including Americans.

“The corrupt Biya regime in Cameroon hunts its political opponents, enables Wagner’s illicit activities, and has created conditions for jihadist groups like Boko Haram and ISIS to thrive and fuel the Anglophone crisis,” Risch wrote on November 4.

The US senator was referring to the Wagner Group, a Russian state-funded paramilitary organisation, and the Boko Haram, a jihadist militant group that has troops in Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Mali.

While Washington has had diplomatic ties with Yaoundé since 1960, Risch asserted that Cameroon “is not a US partner.”

“It’s time to reassess this relationship before the blowback gets worse,” he said.

A former French and British colony, Cameroon has always struggled with managing the divide between its Anglophone and Francophone regions.

This age-old conflict has caused separatist groups to mushroom, further intensifying the instability of the Central African country.

While criticisms of the 92-year-old Biya are not new, Risch’s comments are significant as the US has a formal allyship with Cameroon. Its president, Donald Trump , has also been keen on peacemaking during his second term.

In an archived page in the US Department of State Website, Cameroon was described as a “key” player in regional stability and a “regional partner in countering terrorism in the Lake Chad Region and anti-piracy efforts in the Gulf of Guinea.”

The two countries have had a bilateral investment treaty in place since 1986, and Washington has provided nearly $1.7 billion in foreign assistance since 2001.

Source: MSG

Cameroon’s security forces killed 48 civilians as they responded to protests against the re-election of President Paul Biya, the world’s oldest ruler, according to data shared with Reuters on Tuesday by two U.N. sources.

The majority of the victims were killed by live rounds although several died from wounds sustained when they were beaten with batons and sticks, the two U.N. sources said.

Biya’s government has not provided a death toll for the protests and a government spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

Biya was named winner of the election by a comfortable margin last week, receiving 53.66% of the vote against 35.19% for opposition leader Issa Tchiroma Bakary, a former government spokesperson who resigned from his ministerial post in June.

Tchiroma had declared himself the winner shortly after the October 12 election, and protests erupted in various locations as early results showed Biya, in power since 1982, would get an eighth term.

A civil society group known as Stand Up for Cameroon said last week that at least 23 people had been killed as a result of security forces cracking down on protesters.

Nearly half of the deaths recorded by the U.N. occurred in Cameroon’s Littoral region, which includes the port city of Douala where election-related protests last week were most intense.

Three gendarmes also died in Douala, according to the U.N. data.

There were 10 deaths recorded in the North region, the capital of which is Garoua, Tchiroma’s hometown.

Protests have died down considerably this week. Tchiroma called for a three-day national lockdown starting Monday, urging supporters to suspend activities and remain at home to show dissent at the election results.

Biya is expected to be sworn in on Thursday.

Source: Reuters