Cameroon’s elections threatened by violence

Residents scared to vote after candidates abducted by separatists

A surge of violence derailed voting in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions Sunday because residents were too scared to cast ballots in legislative and municipal elections after militant separatists kidnapped scores of candidates and threatened violence.

At least 120 candidates were abducted in the African nation’s North West and South West regions in the past two weeks. About half of them have been released but the separatists warned voters not to participate in the elections.

Residents in the two regions said suspected separatists chopped off the fingers of at least 12 people caught with voter cards in the weeks leading up to the elections.

“They said I did not respect their injunction that no one should be found with the cards,” said Bunui Claudine, who had three of her fingers amputated.

Claudine, a resident of the southwestern town of Kumba, said she fled to the city of Yaounde and would not return home until after the elections “because I am not sure my security is assured.”

The elections were being held with a heavy military presence but few voters showed up. North West Region Gov. Deben Tchoffo urged people to come out and vote.

“No one should intimidate you. You have to vote and decide who manages your future and the military is there to protect you” he said.

Heavily armed gangs suspected to be separatist fighters attacked military vehicles transporting elections material to the northwest town of Jakiri on Saturday night.

“God saved our lives” election worker Margeritte Oum told The Associated Press. “We were told that the fighters had locally made guns but we saw them heavily armed with war weapons. Our lives were saved because we were in armoured cars” she said.

Three soldiers were wounded while fighting back, the military said. Separatists previously claimed responsibility for fires at several offices of Cameroon’s election management body.

Intimidation also kept residents away in the Englishspeaking South West region.

“We hope that before the polls close at 6 p.m., some people would have come out to perform their civic duties,” regional Gov. Bernard Okalia Bikai said. “They should not be scared. The military will protect them and any separatist who tries to disrupt the polls will be killed.”

During Cameroon’s 2018 presidential election, only five per cent of voters cast ballots in the North West region and 16 per cent in the South West region because of violence.

Unrest broke out in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions in 2016, when teachers and lawyers protested the dominance of the French language and French-speaking officials. Rebels took up arms a year later, demanding a separate Englishspeaking state.

Fighting between the separatists and Cameroon’s military has killed about 3,000 people, many of them villagers caught up in the conflict. Some civilians flee the ongoing clashes, saying they don’t believe the government can protect them.