YAOUNDÉ (Realist English). Cameroon’s opposition candidate Issa Tchiroma Bakary declared victory on Tuesday in the October 12 presidential election, calling on President Paul Biya, who has ruled for more than four decades, to accept defeat.
“Our victory is clear, it must be respected,” Tchiroma said in a video statement posted to Facebook, urging Biya to “accept the truth of the ballot box or plunge the country into turmoil.”
The electoral commission and constitutional court have yet to release official results, which are expected by October 26 at the latest.
Biya’s Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) quickly rejected the opposition claim.
“The opposition candidate did not win and has no official results from polling stations,” said Gregoire Owona, CPDM’s deputy secretary-general.
Tchiroma, 76, pledged to publish a detailed regional vote count in the coming days.
Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji warned last week that any unauthorized announcement of election results would amount to “high treason,” insisting that only the Constitutional Council has the authority to declare a winner.
A former government spokesperson and employment minister under Biya, Tchiroma broke with the ruling camp last year to run as an opposition candidate. His campaign rallies drew large crowds and support from a coalition of smaller parties and civic groups.
Analysts, however, predicted Biya would retain power, given a fragmented opposition and the disqualification of his strongest rival in August. Eleven opposition figures were ultimately allowed on the ballot.
At 92, Biya is the world’s oldest serving head of state and has led Cameroon since 1982, nearly half his life. His long rule has been marked by corruption, economic stagnation, and an ongoing separatist conflict in the country’s English-speaking west.
Roughly 8 million voters were eligible to cast ballots in the one-round election, which awards the presidency to the candidate with the most votes.
In the 2018 election, opposition leader Maurice Kamto also claimed victory before official results were published. He was later arrested, and Biya secured another term with more than 70% of the vote in a poll marred by irregularities and low turnout.
