Cameroon has long wait for poll result
Cameroon faces a long wait for results following a weekend presidential election marked by violence in restive Anglophone regions, low turnout and difficulties staging the ballot in the conflict-torn north.
Cameroon faces a long wait for results after a weekend presidential election marked by violence in restive Anglophone regions, low turnout and difficulties staging the ballot in the conflict-torn north.
Sunday’s ballot followed a last-minute attempt by a weak opposition to unite to dislodge President Paul Biya, one of Africa’s longest-serving rulers who is widely expected to win a seventh term.
By law each polling station must submit its results, after verification by the Elecam electoral commission, to the constitutional court, which is responsible for announcing the final, official tally within 15 days.
“Two weeks! We’ve just finished counting here and I’m already getting news from other polling stations,” complained poll worker Francois after the ballot finished at one voting centre in Yaounde on Sunday night.
Unofficial results from Cameroon’s almost 25,000 polling stations have begun to circulate on social media.
Opposition candidates have called on their supporters to oversee the tallying process to prevent any fraud that might favour 85-year-old Biya’s quest for re-election.
“Times are tough. Rise up and prepare to defend your victory because there are some unbelievable things going on,” said outsider opposition hopeful Cabral Libii, who at 38 was the youngest candidate.
Ahead of the polls, in which 6.5-million voters were eligible to cast ballots, one leading opposition candidate, Maurice Kamto, who was backed at the last minute by another contender, warned he would “not accept any” result tainted by fraud.
Tension was high during the vote and violence was reported in the Anglophone regions.
After voting began on Sunday, security forces shot dead three suspected separatists who had allegedly fired at passersby from a motorcycle in Bamenda, the main city in the Englishspeaking Northwest Region, a local official said.