Cameroon’s opposition leader, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, has claimed victory against incumbent President Paul Biya, who has held power for 43 years. Tchiroma announced his victory via a Facebook post, asserting that “our victory is clear” and urging the government to acknowledge the results of the ballot box to avoid potential turmoil. He promised to release detailed results by region.
Official results from the recent election, held on Sunday, are not expected for another two weeks, as they must be announced by the country’s Constitutional Council. Tchiroma’s call for respect of the electoral outcome comes in the wake of a tense political atmosphere, particularly following the 2018 presidential election when opposition candidate Maurice Kamto declared himself the winner and faced subsequent arrests and violence against his supporters.
Despite the government’s insistence that final results must come from official channels, images of tally sheets have circulated widely on social media, fueling claims of victory from both Tchiroma and Biya’s camps. The current electoral climate has seen heightened enthusiasm for Tchiroma, a former employment minister, indicating a significant challenge to Biya’s long-standing rule.
