By Semafor Africa
Photos: YouTube Screenshot\Wikimedia Commons
Tensions are rising across Cameroon after the Constitutional Council announced that President Paul Biya, the world’s oldest head of state at 92, won the country’s Oct. 12 presidential election.
In recent days, clashes have broken out between opposition supporters and security forces, reaching a tipping point on Sunday, after Biya’s main challenger Issa Tchiroma Bakary called for nationwide protests over alleged irregularities in the electoral process.
In Douala, Cameroon’s economic hub, security forces used water cannons and teargas to disperse thousands of protesters, while close to 100 were arrested.
Live rounds were also fired and at least four protesters were killed, according to official sources.
Biya’s 43-year rule faces unprecedented scrutiny as public frustration grows over economic stagnation, corruption, unemployment, rising cost of living and security challenges, notably the Boko Haram insurgency in the north and the armed separatist conflict in the English-speaking regions in the west.
