Leader accused of scoring own goal after claiming victory

Cameroon’s interior minister, Paul Atanga Nji, warned on Tuesday that “scoring a goal” is not “winning the match” after an opposition leader used a football metaphor to claim victory in presidential polls.

Maurice Kamto, candidate of the Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC) party, said on Monday he “was charged with taking a penalty, I took it, and I scored”, proclaiming himself the victor of weekend polls. He gave no evidence for his claim.

Sunday’s vote, at which Kamto headed a partial opposition coalition, was marked by violence in restive Anglophone regions, low turnout and difficulties staging the ballot in the conflict-torn areas.

“Even if you score a penalty, you don’t necessarily win the match at the end,” Atanga Nji told AFP, calling Kamto’s announcement a “non-event”.

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 of the vote. But unofficial results from almost 25,000 polling stations have already begun to circulate on social media.

The government has called Kamto an “outlaw” for announcing his own result.

“I have received a clear mandate from the people and I intend to defend it until the end,” he said in Yaounde on Monday. Kamto But of Atanga creating “Nji an unacceptable accused mess”, adding: “He says he’ll go all the way, but he won’t even have time to get going ... and no one will follow him.”

The candidate of the main opposition Social Democratic Front party, Joshua Osih, said it was “a bit premature to be giving results” and called on his seven fellow candidates to “respect the law”.