Cameroon election results: Constitutional Council rejects appeals

Judges in Cameroon rejected calls to partially or fully annul the hotly contested presidential election, saying they would announce the result on Monday.

Major cities across the country have been rocked by protests, with opposition supporters claiming the October 12 election was marred by irregularities, including ballot falsification.

Constitutional Council judges rejected eight petitions, citing insufficient evidence of irregularities or lack of jurisdiction to annul the results.

Opposition candidate Isa Chiroma Bakari declared himself the winner, a claim rejected by allies of 92-year-old President Paul Biya, who is running for a new seven-year term.

Biya has been in power for 43 years and addressed only one campaign rally before the election.

Chiroma Bakari, 76, is a former government spokesman who broke with Biya to challenge him for power.

He refused to file complaints with the Constitutional Council, whose judges were appointed by Biya, choosing instead to declare himself the “legitimate and legitimate president”.

In a video statement posted on social media, Chiroma Bakari said he won the election with about 55 percent of the vote, based on what he expected returns to represent 80 percent of the electorate.

“If the Constitutional Council announces falsified and suppressed results, it will be complicit in breach of trust,” he said.

Chiroma Bakari also warned that “with their backs against the wall, people will have no choice but to take their destiny into their own hands and seek victory wherever they can find it”.

Biya’s ruling party rejected his claims of victory and several officials described it as illegal, as only the Constitutional Council can announce official results.

This week, the influential Catholic Church called on judges to ensure the verdict reflected the will of voters.

Rising tensions have raised fears of post-election violence in a country already rocked by separatist conflict in English-speaking regions and Boko Haram insurgency in the Far North region.