Cameroon’s long-time ruler, Paul Biya, has secured a controversial eighth term in office, extending his 43-year grip on power.
The 92-year-old president, who is the world’s oldest sitting head of state, was declared the winner with 53.7 percent of the vote, according to results announced Monday by the country’s Constitutional Council.
However, his main rival, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, swiftly rejected the results, describing the process as “a masquerade” and claiming that he, not Biya, had won the October 12 presidential election.
“There was no election; it was rather a masquerade. We won unequivocally,” Tchiroma told AFP shortly after the official declaration.
Tchiroma, a former government minister who ran under the Front for the National Salvation of Cameroon (FNSC), had previously proclaimed victory two days after polls closed and urged supporters to demonstrate.
Protests have since erupted across parts of the country. Tchiroma said two of his supporters were killed in the northern city of Garoua when security forces opened fire during a rally outside his home.
An AFP reporter at the scene confirmed seeing one man shot, though it was unclear whether he survived.
Separately, four people were reported dead in the commercial capital Douala on Sunday amid clashes between opposition supporters and security forces.
Witnesses said police initially used tear gas before firing live rounds to disperse crowds.
Following the unrest, authorities imposed bans on public gatherings and restricted movement in major cities, including Yaoundé.
Security personnel were stationed at key intersections and government buildings on Monday as tensions remained high.
Shops, gas stations, and other businesses remained closed in parts of the capital amid fears of further violence.
Official figures placed voter turnout at 46.3 percent.
According to the Constitutional Council’s results, Tchiroma came second with 35.2 percent of the vote.
Other candidates trailed far behind, Cabral Libii earned 3.4 percent, Bello Bouba Maigari 2.5 percent, and Hermine Patricia Tomaino Ndam Njoya, the only female candidate, 1.7 percent.
Eight other contenders secured less than one percent each.
Despite widespread criticism of the election process, most analysts had predicted Biya’s victory in what they describe as a political system heavily tilted in his favor.
Biya has ruled Cameroon since 1982, making him the country’s second leader since independence from France in 1960.
His government has faced growing criticism over corruption, human rights abuses, and an ongoing separatist conflict in the Anglophone regions.
Tchiroma, in his campaign, had promised a three-to-five-year transitional government to rebuild the nation, accusing Biya’s regime of destroying Cameroon’s democratic and economic foundations.
