Cameroon’s President Paul Biya, aged 92, has been re-elected for an eighth term after securing 53.7 per cent of the votes, according to official results announced by the Constitutional Council on Monday.
His main challenger and former government minister, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, finished second with 35.2 per cent, the council stated.
Tchiroma, however, declared victory two days after the October 12 election, claiming he had defeated the long-serving leader.
Four Dead in Opposition Protests
Ahead of the official results, four people were killed in violent confrontations between security forces and opposition supporters who insisted that Tchiroma had won the election.
Tchiroma, who contested President Paul Biya’s 43-year rule, had urged his followers to march peacefully before the results were made public, despite a ban on public gatherings.
Since last week, supporters of Tchiroma — who claimed to have won 54.8 per cent of the vote compared to 31.3 per cent for Biya — have taken to the streets to defend what they believe is a stolen victory.
However, political observers widely expected Biya to retain power in what critics describe as a deeply rigged political system.
In Douala, Cameroon’s largest city, regional governor Samuel Dieudonne Ivaha Diboua said protesters “attacked” a gendarmerie brigade and police stations in two districts on Sunday.
“Four people, unfortunately, lost their lives,” the governor confirmed, adding that several security officers were also injured.
Protesters showed AFP journalists bullet casings they said were fired by security forces, while one demonstrator claimed that “three bodies fell” after officers opened fire with live ammunition following an initial use of tear gas.
Biya, the world’s oldest serving head of state, will now serve another seven-year term. He remains only the second president to lead Cameroon since its independence from France in 1960.
Throughout his decades in power, Biya has been accused of repressing political opposition, stifling dissent, and maintaining control through intimidation, even as the country grapples with economic challenges and separatist unrest.