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Agence France-Presse

Cameroon’s President Paul Biya has been declared the winner of October 12 elections that were marred by the disqualification of his main challenger, and is set to rule the central African nation until the age of 99 if he completes his eighth term.
The country’s top court on Monday said Biya, 92, the world’s oldest president, who held one election rally, had got more than half of the votes cast.
Presidential candidate Issa Tchiroma Bakary rejected the official results by the Constitutional Council.
“There was no election; it was rather a masquerade. We won unequivocally,” Tchiroma said, after the council said he came second with 35.2 per cent of the vote against Biya’s 53.7 per cent.
Tchiroma also said two protesters were killed in demonstrations outside his home in the northern city of Garoua. An Agence France-Presse reporter saw one person shot but could not confirm whether he died.
Weekend clashes with security forces left at least four protesters dead as opposition supporters rallied to demand credible results.

Biya has led the central African nation since 1982. His advanced age and sporadic public appearances have sparked concerns about his health and raised questions about who would run the country should he die in office.
He barely campaigned and in September spent over a week in Switzerland where he had previously sought medical care.
Just 12 of 83 presidential hopefuls were allowed to run in the election, sparking accusations by the opposition and civil rights groups that the contest was neither free nor fair.
Tchiroma had said he had won 54.8 per cent of the vote, but most analysts expected Biya to win an eighth term in a system critics say has been increasingly rigged.
More than 100 protesters were arrested in one region amid clashes. Hundreds stormed the streets in several cities on Sunday following days of unrest and in response to protest calls by Tchiroma.
He had called on supporters to march peacefully, despite a ban on public gatherings.

In Cameroon’s largest city, Douala, the regional governor said demonstrators “attacked” a gendarmerie brigade and police stations in two districts on Sunday.
“Four people unfortunately lost their lives,” said Samuel Dieudonne Ivaha Diboua, adding that several members of the security forces were also injured.
Sunday’s shooting with “live ammunition” began after a volley of tear gas, another demonstrator said on condition of anonymity.
“They fired, three people, three bodies fell in front of us,” he said.
One protester, Oumarou Bouba, a 27-year-old trader in the northern city of Maroua, said, “I am ready to stake my life to defend my vote. I voted for Tchiroma because I want change.”
Earlier Sunday, police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of people in Tchiroma’s northern stronghold of Garoua, where activists carried Cameroonian flags and banners reading “Tchiroma 2025” and chanted “Goodbye Paul Biya, Tchiroma is coming”.
For several days, dozens of supporters gathered around the home of the opposition leader, who claimed in a video on Sunday that military personnel had tried to take him away.
In the capital Yaoundé, the call to protest did not seem to have been followed amid a heavy police presence.

But in Douala, before the reported clashes, an Agence France-Presse journalist observed dozens of people gathered near the airport, defying the ban on demonstrations.
On Friday, two opposition figures from a coalition that endorsed Tchiroma as a candidate were arrested in their homes in Douala, the coalition said.
Significant disruptions to internet access were also reported in recent days, which according to monitor NetBlocks “may limit coverage of events on the ground”.
Biya’s sole election rally was held in his political stronghold in the northern city of Maroua on October 7.
Speaking in a shaky voice, he pledged to create jobs, foster entrepreneurship and step up security - key issues in a country where 40 per cent of the population live in poverty.
Northern Cameroon has been plagued by terrorism and kidnappings, while a secessionist war in the country’s two English-speaking regions, the Northwest and the Southwest, has claimed an estimated 6,500 lives since 2017, according to the International Crisis Group.
There has also been a succession of corruption scandals during Biya’s tenure, and the government has remained silent on all of them, said Victor Julius Ngoh, who teaches history and political science at the University of Buea in southwestern Cameroon.
Additional reporting by Associated Press, Bloomberg


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Cameroon

Cameroon court declares Paul Biya, world’s oldest president, winner of latest election

Protesters run after Cameroonian police officers disperse them in Garoua on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Cameroonian President Paul Biya, 92, who has won an eighth term in an election seen as rigged by many. Photo: Reuters

A supporter of Cameroon’s presidential opposition candidate Issa Tchiroma Bakary shows a campaign sticker in Yaoundé on October 9, ahead of the election. Photo: Reuters

Members of Cameroon’s Constitutional Council read out the election results on Monday. Photo: AFP

World’s oldest president, 92, could extend his rule as Cameroon heads to polls

Cameroonian President Paul Biya, 92, reacts on Sunday after he casts his ballot during the presidential election. Photo: Reuters

Voters look at the electoral list before casting their votes in the presidential election, in Yaounde, Cameroon, on Sunday. Photo: EPA

A general view of a main road in Cameroon’s capital city, Yaounde, on October 8. Photo: AFP

The President of Cameroon Paul Biya, right, who is hoping to continue ruling his country, meets other world leaders during the 2007 French-Africa Summit in France. He came to power in 1982. Photo: AP

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Chinese companies are expanding into West Africa after discovering large mineral deposits. Photo: Shutterstock

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News

World

Africa

Second-place candidate rejects official results that left 92-year-old Biya still in power, after fatal weekend protests


Second-place candidate rejects official results that left 92-year-old Biya still in power, after fatal weekend protests.


Protests around the world

Crime

Paul Biya

Cameroon court declares Paul Biya, world’s oldest president, winner of latest election

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Second-place candidate rejects official results that left 92-year-old Biya still in power, after fatal weekend protests

Second-place candidate rejects official results that left 92-year-old Biya still in power, after fatal weekend protests