Supporters of Cameroonian opposition presidential candidate Issa Tchiroma Bakary protest after the Constitutional Council declared Paul Biya the winner of the presidential election, in Douala, Cameroon, on Monday. Mr. Tchiroma's supporters have been protesting the expected outcome for the past week.Zohra Bensemra/Reuters
Angry protesters have attacked election offices and blocked streets with burning barricades across Cameroon after the authorities declared victory for the 92-year-old President, Paul Biya, in an outcome widely seen as rigged.
Mr. Biya, the world’s oldest head of state, has dominated Cameroon for the past 43 years and can now govern to the age of 99 if he stays alive. He was so confident of victory that he spent 10 days at a luxury hotel in Switzerland in the middle of the election campaign.
To ensure his triumph, the authorities disqualified one of his strongest opponents, Maurice Kamto, who was runner-up in the last election in 2018 and was imprisoned for more than eight months for refusing to accept the official results of that election.
Cameroon is among the growing number of African countries where elections are increasingly manipulated by authoritarian regimes to prolong their rule. A near-silence from international leaders has given a free hand to incumbents to entrench their dominance.
President Paul Biya casts his ballot at a primary school in Yaounde, Cameroon, on Oct. 12.The Associated Press
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump issued a directive in July requiring its State Department to merely congratulate the official winners and “avoid opining on the fairness or integrity of an electoral process.” Other Western governments have been nearly as muted. Regimes have been quick to seize the opportunity to ban opposition candidates and extend their terms.
The Trump administration’s order “signifies an important U.S. foreign policy shift from prioritizing democratic values and electoral oversight in Africa to focusing on strategic interests and commercial deals,” the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a report last week.
In Tanzania this week, authorities have assured victory for President Samia Suluhu Hassan in Wednesday’s election by banning the main opposition parties and placing the top opposition candidate in prison on treason allegations.
In Ivory Coast, two of the most popular opposition candidates were excluded from the ballot, paving the way for victory by 83-year-old President Alassane Ouattara, who on Monday was declared the winner of Saturday’s election with almost 90 per cent of the vote.
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In other African countries – including Uganda, Rwanda, Djibouti and Zimbabwe – election rules have been modified, or are in the process of revision, to allow presidents to extend their terms in office beyond the normal limits. Of the world’s 10 longest-serving political leaders, more than half are in Africa, with none showing any willingness to step down.
In Cameroon, Mr. Biya was declared the winner on Monday with 54 per cent of the vote, compared to 35 per cent for a former cabinet minister, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, whose supporters have been protesting the expected outcome for the past week.
Security forces have launched a crackdown across the country. Mr. Tchiroma, who claimed victory in the election, alleged that gunshots were fired at a crowd of supporters at his house on Monday, killing two of them. Four others were killed during opposition protests on Sunday in the main commercial city, Douala.
In the urban centres of Bandja and Bertoua, protesters attacked and looted the offices of Cameroon’s electoral commission on Monday. In Douala, demonstrators reportedly attacked the mayor’s house and set fire to barricades in central streets.
Supporters of Mr. Tchiroma gather materials from the streets to build barricades following the announcement of presidential election results in Yaounde, Cameroon, on Monday.-/AFP/Getty Images
In the capital, Yaoundé, anti-riot police with helmets and shields were deployed at major intersections, while police trucks with water cannons were parked nearby. Businesses and schools were shut down, and normally busy streets were empty, but sporadic protests still erupted in some neighbourhoods.
“The national spread of these protests suggests deep-rooted mistrust of the electoral process,” said Arrey Elvis Ntui, senior analyst for Cameroon at the International Crisis Group.
“Cameroon is entering a period of dangerous political crisis,” he told The Globe and Mail.
Millions of voters used their cellphones to record the voting results at local polling stations, allowing them to challenge the official national declaration, he said. It has meant that “the official figures would come under intense scrutiny from voters who were eyewitnesses.”
Murithi Mutiga, Africa program director at the International Crisis Group, said the official results have given “a notably shaky mandate” to Mr. Biya.
Mr. Biya, in a brief statement on social media, said the people of Cameroon had “once again placed their trust in me.” He said he mourned “all those who have unnecessarily lost their lives” in the violence.
Oxford Economics, a global advisory firm, said the protests might topple the Biya government. “Government officials and soldiers have to weigh up whether to follow orders coming from Biya’s entourage as it tries to repress escalating protests,” it said in a note on Monday.
Clement Atangana, president of constitutional council, confirms Monday in Yaounde that incumbent President Paul Biya has won the election, remaining in a position he has held since 1982.Angel Ngwe/The Associated Press