Until June, Issa Tchiroma Bakary was a mouthpiece for the government of President Paul Biya. Then he resigned to run against him in Sunday’s presidential election. Less than 48 hours after the vote, he declared victory on Facebook.

Tchiroma, 79, urged the 92-year-old Biya to choose “greatness” over chaos by accepting defeat. Biya has not commented but government spokesperson René Emmanuel Sadi issued a statement urging Cameroonians to “show proof of maturity, responsibility and calm” while waiting for the Constitutional Council’s results.

Many people didn’t heed Sadi’s call.

In Tchiroma’s hometown of Garoua, clashes between protesters and police began on election day. Demonstrations have since spread to Bafoussam, Douala, and Kousseri. Protesters accused electoral authorities of falsifying results. They erected barricades and burned tyres. Security forces responded with tear gas and water cannons.

In Dschang, protesters set a court building ablaze and burned municipal vehicles. The office of Biya’s party, the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, was also torched.

In response, many civil administrators have banned public assemblies until after the inauguration of the election winner, expected early next month.

But this has done little to silence dissent. “I align with many Cameroonians who are clamouring for change. The fruits of the current regime are not so convincing,” said Yaoundé resident Angabu Noel Umekai.

In the 2018 election opposition leader Maurice Kamto declared himself victor. He was arrested, imprisoned, and barred from this year’s election.

Culled from The Continent