Judges in Cameroon have decided to dismiss calls for a partial or complete annulment of the highly contested presidential election. The Constitutional Council stated that the official results will be announced this coming Monday. This development follows protests in major cities across the country, with opposition supporters claiming the election held on October 12 was marred by irregularities, including ballot stuffing.
The Constitutional Council rejected eight petitions submitted, citing a lack of sufficient evidence for irregularities and insufficient jurisdiction to annul the results. Opposition figure Issa Tchiroma Bakary had previously declared himself the winner, a claim that has been refuted by allies of the incumbent 92-year-old President Paul Biya, who is seeking another seven-year term.
President Biya, who has been in power for 43 years, held only one campaign rally prior to the election. Tchiroma Bakary, a 76-year-old former government spokesman, broke away from Biya’s party to challenge him. He chose not to submit his complaints to the Constitutional Council, whose judges were appointed by President Biya, instead declaring himself the “legal and legitimate president.” In a social media video, Tchiroma Bakary asserted he had won with approximately 55% of the vote, based on returns representing 80% of the electorate.
He warned that if the Constitutional Council announced “falsified and truncated results,” it would be complicit in a breach of trust. Tchiroma Bakary also cautioned that if the people’s backs were against the wall, they would “take their destiny into their own hands and seek victory wherever they can find it.” Biya’s ruling party dismissed Tchiroma Bakary’s victory claims, with officials deeming them illegal as only the Constitutional Council has the authority to declare official results. The influential Catholic Church has urged the judges to ensure the verdict reflects the voters’ will. The escalating tensions have raised concerns about potential post-election violence in a nation already grappling with an Anglophone separatist conflict and the Boko Haram insurgency in the Far North region.
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