We will not accept a stolen vote, says Isa Chiroma Bakari

Cameroon’s opposition leader Issa Chiroma Bakari, who declared himself the winner of the October 12 election, told the BBC he would not accept a stolen vote, with results due to be announced on Monday.

He says his team has put together the big picture based on polling station results, so there is no doubt.

Chiroma Bakari, 76, is a former cabinet minister who split with President Paul Biya, 92, who is running for another term after 43 years in power.

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

Chiroma Bakari said he urged his supporters to protect their votes, adding: “We will never accept their votes being stolen by anyone.”

He said he wasn’t worried about being arrested or jailed, “but I know I’ve already won the presidential election.”

“There is no doubt, no shadow of a doubt. My victory is indisputable,” he said in an interview with the BBC.

He said the ruling CPDM party had “backs against the wall” and could not accept the reality of the vote and challenged them to show if what they were saying about the election was wrong.

He defended his decision to declare himself the winner, insisting that the law “doesn’t prevent us from doing that”.

Tchiroma Bakary earlier said he had won the election with about 55 percent of the vote, based on results representing 80 percent of the electorate.

Asked if he would accept defeat if someone else was declared the winner, he said he would agree “provided the Constitutional Council announces the results that come from the ballot boxes and not from filling in ballots.”

Tensions over the delayed announcement of election results are rising, sparking 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.

Cameroon’s highly respected and influential Catholic Church this week appealed for calm following fears that violence could break out once the official results are announced.

The Catholic bishops said they hoped the official result would reflect the will of the electorate and “nothing will be changed by any body involved in this exercise”.

Born in the northern city of Garoua, Chiroma trained as an engineer in France before returning to Cameroon to work for the national railway company.

In 1984, he was imprisoned, accused of participating in an attempt to overthrow President Biya. Although he denied the charge and was never convicted, Chiroma Bakari spent six years in prison. There he worked the land with his cellmates and learned to speak English.

After his release from prison, Chiroma Bakari began his political career. He became an MP for the opposition UNDP in 1992, but entered into an alliance of sorts with Biya and served as his transport minister for four years.

Chiroma Bakari also served as Minister of Communications from 2009 to 2019.

As communications minister and government spokesman, he staunchly defended the Biya government during crises such as the Boko Haram insurgency when the army was accused of killing civilians.

But in June, just four months before the general election, Chiroma Bakari dramatically reversed course, resigning from government and announcing that he would run against Biya for the presidency.

He accused the president of becoming increasingly out of touch, saying “a country cannot exist in the service of one man.”

Despite his recent role as government spokesman, Chiroma Bakari drew huge crowds to his rallies, electrifying voters desperate for change.

After four decades of Biya rule, economic development has stalled and challenges such as inflation, unemployment and insecurity abound.

Moreover, residents of Cameroon’s English-speaking western region have long complained of marginalization, and so many there automatically supported Chiroma Bakari against Biya, considered a representative of the French-speaking majority.

At one rally in the economic capital of Douala, thousands of supporters waited for hours in the rain to hear Chiroma Bakari speak. He knows how to command a crowd – a stark contrast to Biya, who spent most of the campaign in Europe and appeared at just one rally.

However, some are not so enamored with the former speaker. In his home town of Garoua, two residents told the BBC that Chiroma Bakari was not their ideal candidate but at least offered a change from Biya’s long rule.

“We cannot continue with the level of backwardness that is crippling Cameroon,” said farmer Benjamin Temunga.

Chiroma Bakari also tried to distance himself from the government by apologizing for his role as its spokesperson.

For example, he defended the military even though he knew they were committing atrocities during the Anglophone crisis, a conflict in which separatist fighters have battled the authorities for more than six years.

“I agree 100% that the military committed atrocities,” he said. “But as communications minister it was my duty to protect our armed forces. Today I speak as a free man.”

Calm and simple, Chiroma Bakari is adamant in his position that the people have given him a vote of confidence. He is the rightful president, he told the BBC.

“The nation knows it, the world knows it.”

Additional report on Basilioh Pages