Cameroon’s 92-year-old president wins controversial eighth time period

[ad_1] <img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/71a4/live/727d78b0-b34b-11f0-ad84-99ce12c6004d.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/71a4/live/727d78b0-b34b-11f0-ad84-99ce12c6004d.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/71a4/live/727d78b0-b34b-11f0-ad84-99ce12c6004d.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/71a4/live/727d78b0-b34b-11f0-ad84-99ce12c6004d.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/71a4/live/727d78b0-b34b-11f0-ad84-99ce12c6004d.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/71a4/live/727d78b0-b34b-11f0-ad84-99ce12c6004d.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/71a4/live/727d78b0-b34b-11f0-ad84-99ce12c6004d.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/71a4/live/727d78b0-b34b-11f0-ad84-99ce12c6004d.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="Reuters Biya putting his ballot into the box, with his wife standing behind him. There is a bright blue background." class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Reuters Paul Biya, 92, posts his poll as his spouse Chantal, 54, watches on

Cameroon's 92-year-old president has gained a controversial eighth time period, in a fiercely disputed election.

Paul Biya, who's the world's oldest head of state, gained 53.7% of the vote, in comparison with the 35.2% of opposition chief Issa Tchiroma Bakary, the Constitutional Council declared.

Earlier than the announcement, Tchiroma Bakary - a former Biya ally - insisted he had gained the election, however the ruling Cameroon Folks's Democratic Motion (CPDM) dismissed his declare.

The election, held on 12 October, has been marred with lethal violence, and in latest days, a whole bunch of Tchiroma Bakary's supporters have defied protest bans in a number of cities, and clashed with safety forces.

On Sunday, at the very least 4 individuals had been killed throughout protests in Cameroon's financial capital of Douala.

The regional governor, Samuel Dieudonné Diboua, stated police posts had come underneath assault and safety forces had defended themselves.

The unrest continued on Monday, when numerous individuals had been shot useless close to Tchiroma Bakary's residence within the metropolis of Garoua, a neighborhood journalist on the scene instructed the BBC.

Across the similar time, the opposition chief wrote on Fb that pictures had been being fired at civilians gathered exterior his dwelling. He later claimed that snipers had been stationed on the home throughout from his, and had been "firing at point-blank vary on the individuals".

The authorities haven't but commented on these studies.

Protesters had been denouncing what they stated was a plan by the ruling CPDM, to "steal the victory" from Tchiroma Bakary.

The state of affairs is so tense within the capital, Yaoundé, that the majority outlets and faculties have remained closed, whereas most civil servants and workplace staff stayed dwelling.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/8a2d/live/e405fce0-b33d-11f0-8c7d-e3b2a8158887.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/8a2d/live/e405fce0-b33d-11f0-8c7d-e3b2a8158887.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/8a2d/live/e405fce0-b33d-11f0-8c7d-e3b2a8158887.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/8a2d/live/e405fce0-b33d-11f0-8c7d-e3b2a8158887.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/8a2d/live/e405fce0-b33d-11f0-8c7d-e3b2a8158887.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/8a2d/live/e405fce0-b33d-11f0-8c7d-e3b2a8158887.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/8a2d/live/e405fce0-b33d-11f0-8c7d-e3b2a8158887.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/8a2d/live/e405fce0-b33d-11f0-8c7d-e3b2a8158887.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Reuters A man holds a sign as supporters of Cameroon opposition candidate Issa Tchiroma clash with security forces, after the Constitutional Council declared President Paul Biya the winner of the October 12 presidential election, in Douala, Cameroon" class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Reuters Supporters of Issa Tchiroma Bakary have clashed with safety forces in latest days

In complete, 10 candidates had been within the working for the presidential workplace, together with former Prime Minister Bello Bouba Maigari.

Voter turnout was 58%.

No less than 10 petitions alleging electoral malpractice have been rejected by the Constitutional Council.

Residents in Yaoundé have been voicing their opinions on Biya's controversial victory.

"We're at the start of one other nightmare," Amungwa Nicodemus instructed the BBC.

"The economic system is declining, corruption is endemic, numerous issues are going mistaken."

One other resident, Abolo Denis, urged Cameroonians to simply accept the end result, saying that peace is of the utmost significance.

"What struck me first, after the proclamation of the outcomes, was the silence - graveyard silence," stated Vivian Muma, within the northern metropolis of Bamenda.

"The silence tells all of it. Cameroonian individuals determined, however those that [make] the choices, they determined in any other case," she stated.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/0267/live/1d193b30-b34a-11f0-ad84-99ce12c6004d.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/0267/live/1d193b30-b34a-11f0-ad84-99ce12c6004d.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/0267/live/1d193b30-b34a-11f0-ad84-99ce12c6004d.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/0267/live/1d193b30-b34a-11f0-ad84-99ce12c6004d.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/0267/live/1d193b30-b34a-11f0-ad84-99ce12c6004d.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/0267/live/1d193b30-b34a-11f0-ad84-99ce12c6004d.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/0267/live/1d193b30-b34a-11f0-ad84-99ce12c6004d.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/0267/live/1d193b30-b34a-11f0-ad84-99ce12c6004d.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="MARCO LONGARI/AFP via Getty Images Three men, smiling and gesturing, dressed in bright and pattered matching blue outfits, hold up a sign in support of the opposition leader. There are many people behind them, in a rally." class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> MARCO LONGARI/AFP by way of Getty Photographs Supporters of Issa Tchiroma Bakary allege the ruling CPDM had a plan to "steal the victory" from the opposition chief

President Biya, who got here to energy in 1982, has but to publicly handle Cameroonians after his re-election on Monday, however the governing celebration has hailed his victory "underneath the signal of greatness and hope" in on-line posts.

He's not often seen in public and is thought for spending time exterior Africa in Swiss accommodations. These lengthy absences coupled along with his superior age has, up to now, led to rumours he was useless.

Whereas his management has been praised for the enlargement of faculties and public universities, and his dealing with of the Bakassi dispute - which noticed the oil-rich peninsula handed to Cameroon as an alternative of Nigeria - his tenure has additionally confronted criticisms.

A violent separatist insurgency within the English-speaking west has been working for nearly a decade, unemployment stands at 40% for the under-35s, roads and hospitals are crumbling, and freedom of speech has been restricted.

Analysts have warned in latest days that Cameroon, a as soon as peaceable nation, might descend into political turmoil if the election outcomes didn't replicate the desire of the individuals.

"Biya now has a notably shaky mandate given lots of his personal residents do not imagine he gained the election," Murithi Mutiga, Africa Program Director on the Worldwide Disaster Group, stated in an announcement.