Cameroon’s Constitutional Council has rejected petitions calling for the partial or total cancellation of the country’s heavily disputed presidential election, saying the final result will be announced on Monday.
The decision comes amid widespread protests across major cities, where opposition supporters have alleged that the 12 October poll was marred by irregularities, including ballot-stuffing.
Judges on the Constitutional Council dismissed eight petitions, citing insufficient evidence of irregularities or a lack of jurisdiction to annul the results.
Opposition candidate Issa Tchiroma Bakary has declared himself the winner, a claim rejected by allies of 92-year-old President Paul Biya, who is seeking another seven-year term after 43 years in power.
Biya attended only one campaign rally during the election period. Tchiroma Bakary, 76, a former government spokesman who broke ranks with Biya to challenge him, refused to file complaints with the Constitutional Council, whose judges were appointed by the president.
Instead, he declared himself the “legal and legitimate president.” In a video statement posted on social media, Tchiroma Bakary said he had won the election with about 55 percent of the vote, based on what he described as returns representing 80 percent of the electorate.
“If the Constitutional Council proclaims falsified and truncated results, it will be complicit in a breach of trust,” he declared.
Tchiroma Bakary also warned that “with their backs against the wall, the people will have no choice but to take their destiny into their own hands and seek victory wherever they can find it.”
Biya’s governing party has dismissed his claims as illegal, saying only the Constitutional Council has the authority to proclaim official results.
The influential Catholic Church this week urged the judges to ensure that the verdict reflected the will of voters.
The growing tensions have raised fears of post-election violence in a country already battling a separatist conflict in its Anglophone regions and the Boko Haram insurgency in the Far North.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
