Cameroon election tensions mount as opposition leader claims victory

Maurice Kamto, the runner-up in the 2018 presidential election, was arrested and detained in the months following that poll for alleging it was rigged. Many Cameroonians, especially young people facing joblessness and economic hardship, had looked up to Kamto. But he was barred from running in this year’s election. So, when a coalition of opposition parties and civil society put forth Tchiroma as a unity candidate, many threw their weight behind him.

His rallies drew exceptionally huge crowds across the country. And most of the unverified results from polling units show him leading.

Tchiroma has promised a referendum on federalism, electoral reform, national dialogue, and security solutions in the conflict-hit Anglophone regions and the Far North Region, which has been ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgency. During his campaign, he also vowed to prioritize youth employment, education, and agricultural modernization.

The ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) party, which has been in power for 43 years, has denied Tchiroma won the election, alleging he used figures prefabricated by a shadowy polling firm to back his claim.

“The CPDM is the only political party able to have representatives in all polling stations in Cameroon and abroad. This means that it is the only political party that can provide reliable and trustworthy information about how the election has been conducted everywhere,” Jean Nkuete, Biya’s national campaign coordinator, said.

The African Union and the EU Election Observation Missions have called on stakeholders to remain calm and wait for the official results. But different political parties have congratulated Tchiroma or Biya on their victory.

In an unexpected move in June, Tchiroma declared that he had resigned from the government as employment minister, and would launch a bid to rupture Biya’s 43-year rule over the cocoa and oil-producing central African nation. He expressed frustration over his inability to meet with Biya one-on-one — a reality Cameroonians are accustomed to as the president rarely makes public appearances.

Tchiroma accused the Biya regime of having “stifled progress, paralyzed our institutions, and broken the bond of trust between the state and its citizens,” and called on Cameroonians to rise up for a peaceful transition of power.

Tchiroma, the founding president of the Cameroon National Salvation Front (FSNC), has apologized for his earlier denial of the existence of the Anglophone crisis, endearing himself to English-speaking Cameroonians as he made the resolution of the drawn-out conflict a priority. He also enjoys strong support in the country’s three northern regions — his home base — which has traditionally delivered strong support for Biya.

Though it is unlikely that Tchiroma could be arrested, the threat hangs heavily over him: His supporters clashed with security forces on Sunday on suspicion that the opposition figure might have been placed under de facto house arrest. A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Semafor that there was an additional preemptive deployment to Tchiroma’s northern stronghold — an indication the government is ready to clamp down should he push ahead with his claim before the official results are announced.

Cameroon’s media regulator, the National Communication Council (NCC), has indicted citizens and political actors publishing unofficial results, particularly on social media platforms like Facebook and X.

“The objective of this often-selective and unverified hasty dissemination is to mislead public opinion while undermining the integrity of the election process,” said NCC President Joseph Chebongkeng Kalabubse. “The Constitutional Council is the sole legally authorised institution with the power to proclaim the final results of the presidential election.”

Vitalise Legenju, a Cameroonian lawyer based in Boston, Massachusetts, said people in the central African nation spoke decisively last Sunday through the ballot box, electing Tchiroma as their next president. He argued that Tchiroma’s declaration of victory was neither premature nor unlawful, citing Section 113 of Cameroon’s electoral code, which stipulates that results are proclaimed at polling stations immediately after counting.

“Cameroon cannot continue in the vicious cycle where the will of the citizens is ignored, and power remains in the hands of a few,” Legenju told Semafor. “The truth of the ballot box must prevail.”