*Urges President Biya To Accept Defeat
CAMEROUN’S opposition candidate, Issa Tchiroma, declared victory late on Monday, October 13, in the country’s October 12 presidential election, urging President Paul Biya to accept defeat and “honour the truth of the ballot box.”
“Our victory is clear. It must be respected,” Tchiroma said in a speech on his Facebook page from his hometown of Garoua in the north of the country, adding: “The people have chosen. And this choice must be respected.”
Tchiroma, 76, a former government spokesperson and Employment minister, broke ranks with Biya earlier this year and mounted a campaign that drew large crowds and endorsements from a coalition of opposition parties and civic groups.
Biya, 92, the world’s oldest serving head of state, is seeking an 8th term after 43 years in power.
According to Reuters, analysts had expected his control over state institutions and a fragmented opposition to give him an edge in the election, despite growing public discontent over economic stagnation and insecurity.
Tchiroma praised voters for defying intimidation and staying at polling stations late into the night to protect their ballots, noting: “I also thank candidates who have already sent me their congratulations and recognised the will of the people.
“We have placed the regime before its responsibilities: either it shows greatness by accepting the truth of the ballot box or it chooses to plunge the country into turmoil that will leave an indelible scar in the heart of our nation.”
The government was yet to officially responded to Tchiroma’s declaration.
However, Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, warned over the weekend that any unilateral publication of results would be considered “high treason,” adding that only the Constitutional Council has the authority to announce the winner.
The country’s electoral law allows results to be published and posted at polling stations, but final tallies must be validated by the Constitutional Council, which has until October 26 to announce the outcome.
Tchiroma said he would soon release a region-by-region breakdown of vote tallies compiled from publicly posted results, adding: “This victory is not that of one man, nor of one party; it is the victory of a people.”
He also called on the military, security forces and government administrators to remain loyal to the “republic, not the regime.”
Cameroun’s single-round electoral system awards the presidency to the candidate with the most votes. Over eight million people were registered to vote in the election.
Tchiroma’s declaration marks a dramatic turn in the career of a man who for years defended Biya’s policies, including during the country’s most turbulent crises.
His transformation from staunch ally to opposition figurehead and challenger is one of the most striking political shifts in the country’s recent history.
His candidacy had electrified voters who were clamouring for change after over four decades of Biya’s rule, during which economic development in the oil and cocoa-producing country stagnated.
Ahead of the election, a collection of opposition parties and civic groups, known as Union for Change, had backed Tchiroma’s candidacy, with the promise that he would serve as a transitional leader, carrying out audits and overdue reforms of state institutions.
Born in Garoua, in northern Cameroun, Tchiroma trained as a railway engineer in France before returning home to work for the national railway company.
His political career began in earnest in the early 1990s, following a six-year imprisonment over his alleged involvement in the failed 1984 coup against Biya.
He entered parliament in 1992 and aligned with Biya’s Cameroun People’s Democratic Movement, serving as Transport minister before a 10-year stint as Communication minister from 2009 to 2019.
In these roles, Tchiroma was known for his staunch defence of government actions during crises, such as the Boko Haram insurgency, when the Army was accused of abuses against civilians, as well as during the civil conflict in the country’s English-speaking regions.
But in June, Tchiroma stunned the political establishment by resigning from his post of Employment minister and announced his candidacy for the presidency, accusing Biya’s government of mismanaging the country’s resource wealth and failing to deliver basic services.
His campaign had featured fiery criticism of the ruling party, as well as a public reckoning with his own past.
He had, for example, acknowledged his role in defending the government’s handling of the Anglophone crisis, a conflict he once denied existed.
“In my capacity as minister, I did something which distorted, which hurt your mind. Once again, I want you to please forgive me, because I apologise,” he said, while campaigning in an English-speaking part of the country this month.
Tchiroma also said atrocities were committed by the military, whose actions he was defending, adding: “I 100 per cent agree that the military committed atrocities.
“But as minister of Communication, my duty was to defend our armed forces. Today, I speak as a free man.”
He has proposed a national reconciliation process that would include amnesty for political prisoners and Anglophone separatist leaders and dialogue with the separatists.
