By Ayomide Otitoju
Cameroon’s President Paul Biya, 92, has been re-elected for an eighth term, securing 53.7 percent of the vote, the Constitutional Council announced Monday.
Rival candidate and former government minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary came second with 35.2 percent, according to official results.
The announcement follows deadly clashes between security forces and supporters of Tchiroma, who claims to have won the October 12 election. Authorities reported that four people were killed during unrest ahead of the official results.
Tchiroma, who had challenged Biya’s 43-year hold on power, urged his supporters to march peacefully despite a ban on public gatherings. Since the election, his supporters have taken to the streets in major cities, asserting that Tchiroma won 54.8 percent of the vote compared to Biya’s 31.3 percent, according to his tally.
In Cameroon’s largest city, Douala, regional authorities reported that demonstrators attacked a gendarmerie brigade and police stations in two districts on Sunday. Samuel Dieudonne Ivaha Diboua, the regional governor, confirmed that four civilians were killed and several security personnel were injured. Protesters showed journalists bullet casings, saying security forces had fired live ammunition following tear gas volleys.
Biya, the world’s oldest serving head of state, will serve another seven-year term. Critics say Cameroon’s electoral system has become increasingly rigged and allege that Biya maintains power through repression of political opposition, social control, and management of separatist violence.
Since gaining independence from France in 1960, Cameroon has had only two presidents, with Biya holding office since 1982. His tenure has been marked by the suppression of opposition voices, widespread economic disparity, and ongoing conflict with separatist groups in the country’s Anglophone regions.
