By Atia Tilarious Azohnwi
Official results of Cameroon’s October 7 presidential elections have been announced with incumbent President Paul Biya clinching a landslide win. The Constitutional Council in Cameroon has declared Paul Biya, the winner of the October 7 presidential election.
Monday’s proclamation by the President of Cameroon’s Constitutional Council, Clement Atangana was solely in French, with Biya said to have secured 71.28% of votes cast, while his closest challenger, Maurice Kamto garnered 14.23% of the votes cast. Cameroon’s longtime leading opposition party, the Social Democratic Front (SDF) party and its candidate, Joshua Osih finished on a disappointing fourth position with 3.35% of votes cast, behind greenhorn Cabral Libii who got 6.28% of validly cast ballots.
Though amidst court challenges, the outcome of the polls was highly predictable – 71.28% victory for the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) and for the long-serving incumbent president, eighty-five-year-old Paul Biya. But the country’s future is utterly uncertain, though Clement Atangana claimed that the election was free, fair and credible despite a few security challenges in the English speaking regions.
Pockets of resistance in the hours that led up to the proclamation of the results were nipped in the bub particularly in Douala and Yaoundé. It is as though Cameroon’s story is diverging in two radically different directions: one in which past is prologue and citizens and external partners find comfort in familiar faces and continuity; and another in which security is elusive, disintegration persists, and Cameroon becomes unrecognizable to those who knew it before.
The October 7 elections were held against a backdrop of increasing instability as the state battles both Boko Haram in the Far North and separatists in the North West and South West Regions, as well as security challenges in the East. Alarmed by reports of horrific extrajudicial killings and by the displacement of roughly a quarter of a million people, some of Cameroon’s external partners, including the United States, are grappling with tough questions about the wisdom of ongoing security assistance and cooperation. In some areas, voters were too worried about their immediate security to go to the polls. Others have lost faith in the legitimacy of the exercise, and some of the government’s choices, like its embrace of international observers of dubious credibility, suggest there is indeed reason to doubt the integrity of the process.
Those who value a stable partner in Cameroon over the long run should be interested in supporting a third possibility beyond an unsustainable status quo and a descent into chaos – one in which reforms create a more inclusive society, generational change refreshes the ranks of leadership, those responsible for abuse are
held accountable for their crimes, and the connective tissue between government and citizens is strengthened by far more than pro forma electoral exercises. Right now, this third path is far more fantasy than reality. It will take a recognition that these election results settle none of Cameroon’s outstanding questions, and strong internal and external support for real political dialogue, to create space for a better future.
Biya Paul: president for life?
Paul Barthelemy Biya Bi Mvondo, after yesterday’s win may well be consolidating a life presidency project. He has savoured the advantages of incumbency since November 6, 1982, emerging winner of seven presidential elections. He triumphed in the first one party election organised under his tenure on January 14, 1984. He was equally declared winner of the second monolithic election on January 24, 1988.
Paul Biya went solo as the lone candidate in the first two presidential elections organised by his regime. The first time he had a real challenger was in the October 11, 1992 Presidential election. Although the Supreme Court declared him winner of that first multi-party election, observers hold that the real victor was the candidate of the opposition Social Democratic Front SDF and the Union for Change coalition, Ni John Fru Ndi.
President-elect Biya equally walked tall as the winner of the October 12, 1997, 2004 and October 9, 2011 Presidential elections. His campaign slogans over the years have remained amazingly interesting. In the 1992 election, he qualified himself as the Lion Man who was out to devour all other candidates. He actually did amid allegations of electoral fraud. His spin doctors and campaign managers qualified him in 1997, 2004 and 2011 as the Best Choice candidate for Great Ambitions and Great Achievements respectively. They would then bank on his “Force of Experience” in 2018, with which he triumphed.
Biya was born to Etienne Mvondo Assam, a catechist and Anastasie Eyenga Elle in Mvomeka in the South Region on February 13, 1933. He attended Catholic School Nden. After his secondary education, he proceeded to the Edea and Akono seminaries in an attempt to become a Catholic priest.
The man who steers the destiny of Cameroon today enrolled in Lycee-Louis-le-grand, after his secondary education at Lycee General Leclerc in Yaounde. He later read Public Law at the University of Sorbonne where he bagged a degree in 1961.
Octogenarian Biya’s political career began in 1962 when his predecessor, the late President Ahmadou Ahidjo, appointed him Chargé de Mission at the Presidency of the Republic. In 1968, he was appointed Secretary General at Presidency of the Republic. On June 30, 1975, Paul Biya emerged as the Prime Minister of Cameroon. He rose to the helm of the State after Ahidjo resigned on November 4, 1982.
Rebel forces came close to abridging his tenure in April 1984 when they staged a coup that was aborted by the Republican Guards. He is the one person whose tenure, so far, has not been a bed of roses. In the mid 80s, he grappled with economic recession that slowed down development efforts in the country for many years. He equally faced the heat of civil disobedience in the heydays of multiparty politics in the early 90s.
While addressing the nation in December 2007, Biya hinted on his intention to modify the Constitution. The hint came against a backdrop of talk that he was doing his last term in office. In 2008, he tabled a bill in Parliament that delimited Presidential mandate in Cameroon. The incumbent President ran for the October 9, 2011 Presidential election and had a landslide victory of 78.0 per cent votes.
Elections observers said the election was characterised by widespread irregularities. Biya did not budge. On July 13, 2018, he announced his candidacy in a tweet that took the world by storm. As a family man, Biya is passionately attached to his wife, Chantal Pulcherie Biya, and his children, Paul Biya Jr and Anastasea Brenda Eyenga. In his first marriage with the late Jean-Irene Biya, he had his first son, Frank Emmanuel Biya.
Having been in power for 36 years, President Biya, 85, is rated as one of the longest serving and eldest African Head of State. His new mandate expires in 2025 when he would be 92 years old.
The numbers
Biya won in nine out of 10 regions
Overall:
Voters: 6 667 754
Voters: 3 590 681
Percentage of Participation: 53.85%
Blank Votes: 52,716
Cast ballots : 3, 537,965
1- Biya Paul : 71,28
2- Maurice Kamto : 14,23%
3- Caral Libii l: 6,28%
4- Joshua Osih : 3,35%
5- Ndam Njoya : 1,73%
6- Garga Hama Adji : 1,55%
7- Ndifor Afanwi Frankline : 0,67%
8- Matomba Serge Espoir : 0,56%
9- Akere Muna : 0,35%
Adamawa
Paul Biya 80.88%
Maurice Kamto 2%
Cabral Libii 11.30%
Garga Haman 0.27%
Akere Muna 0.21%
Ndifor Frankline Ndifor 0.56%
Serge Espoire Matomba 0.55%
Joshua Osih 1.88
Centre
Paul Biya: 71.10%
Garga Ahman: 0.67%
Maurice Kamto: 15.25%
Cabral Libii: 9.66%
Serge Espoir: 0.39%
Akere Muna: 0.1%
Adamou Ndam N.: 0.10%
Frankline Ndifor: 0.38%
Osih Joshua: 2.11%
East Region
Paul Biya 90.43%
Maurice Kamto 2.63%
Cabral Libii 3.67 %
Garga Haman 1.14%
Akere Muna 0.14%
Ndifor Frankline Ndifor 0.33%
Serge Espoire Matomba 0.41%
Ndam Njoya 0.2%
Joshua Osih 0.91%
Far North
Paul Biya 89.21%
Maurice Kamto 3.45%
Cabral Libii 0.81 %
Garga Haman 1.77%
Akere Muna 0.32%
Ndifor Frankline Ndifor 0.48%
Serge Espoire Matomba 0.62%
Ndam Njoya 0.35%
Joshua Osih 0.98%
Littoral Region
(Maurice Kamto wins in Littoral)
Paul Biya 35.75%
Maurice Kamto 38.60%
Cabral Libii 12.79%
Garga Haman 0.85%
Akere Muna 0.34%
Ndifor Frankline Ndifor 1.18%
Serge Espoire Matomba 0.67%
Ndam Njoya 0.76%
Joshua Osih 9.06%
North Region
Paul Biya 81.62%
Maurice Kamto 4.15%
Cabral Libii 5.77%
Garga Haman 2.92%
Akere Muna 0.84%
Ndifor Frankline Ndifor 1.06%
Serge Espoire Matomba 1.10%
Ndam Njoya 0.52%
Joshua Osih 2.03%
North West Region
Paul Biya 81.74%
Maurice Kamto 3.60%
Cabral Libii 1.18%
Garga Haman 0.41%
Akere Muna 0.83%
Ndifor Frankline Ndifor 1.15%
Serge Espoire Matomba 0.28%
Ndam Njoya 0.3%
Joshua Osih 10.41%
South
Paul Biya 92.91%
Maurice Kamto 2.15%
Cabral Libii 2.75%
Garga Haman 0.21%
Akere Muna 0.04%
Ndifor Frankline Ndifor 0.28%
Serge Espoire Matomba 0.13%
Ndam Njoya 0.53%
Joshua Osih 0.99%
South West
Paul Biya 77.69%
Maurice Kamto 3.54%
Cabral Libii 1.71%
Garga Haman 0.63%
Akere Muna 0.84%
Ndifor Frankline Ndifor 1.65%
Serge Espoire Matomba 0.57%
Ndam Njoya 0.65%
Joshua Osih 12.72%
West Region
Paul Biya 48.19%
Maurice Kamto 30.56%
Cabral Libii 1.44%
Garga Haman 2.50%
Akere Muna 0.53%
Ndifor Frankline 0.76%
Serge Espoire Matomba 0.48%
Ndam Njoya 10.40%
Joshua Osih 5.20%
America
Paul Biya 83.85%
Maurice Kamto 8.46%
Cabral Libii 4.62%
Garga Haman 0.00%
Akere Muna 0.00%
Ndifor Frankline Ndifor 0.77%
Serge Espoire Matomba 0.77%
Ndam Njoya 0.00%
Joshua Osih 10.54%
Asia
Paul Biya 71.91%
Maurice Kamto 8.03%
Cabral Libii 10.03%
Garga Haman 3.78%
Akere Muna 1.00%
Ndifor Frankline Ndifor 1.34%
Serge Espoire Matomba 1.67%
Ndam Njoya 1.34%
Joshua Osih 1.00%
Europe
Paul Biya: 51,97%
Garga Haman: 0,19%
Maurice Kamto: 30,96%
Cabral Libii: 14,41%
Serge Espoire Matomba: 0,19%
Akere Muna: 0,13%
Adamou Ndam Njoya: 0,19%
Frankline Ndifor: 0,06%
Joshua Osih: 1.00%