On Sunday Cameroonians will be voting in a crucial presidential election which is being contested by nine candidates.
Among those candidates is the country’s longest serving President Paul Biya who has been in office since 1982.
Defeating Paul Biya has been a long term agenda of many of the opposition political parties.
That mission has never materialized and just hours before the crucial vote, two opposition parties announced the formation of a coalition.
On Friday the leader of the People’s Development Front (FDP), Muna Akere decided to “withdraw” his candidacy.
That was to improve the chances of Maurice Kamto who is the head of the Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC).
Dear compatriots,
I decided to withdraw my candidacy for the presidential election of October 7th, for the benefit of Mr. Maurice KAMTO.
I firmly believe that the future of Cameroon is the top priority and is worth every personal sacrifice.
With a heart filled with hope pic.twitter.com/PjqmK8yLJG
— Akere Muna (@AkereMuna) October 5, 2018
Biya seeks to extend rule
President Biya is seeking to extend his current 36 year rule. The 85 year old is one of the longest serving leaders of an African country.
Biya came into power in 1982 when his predecessor then retired. He became president after serving as prime minister for seven years.
He supervised over the scraping of term limits from the Cameroon constitution in 2008. That allows him to run again, a decision that sparked violence in the past.
List of candidates.
Candidats retenus par Elecam. #237vote #Crtv2018 pic.twitter.com/D8mRFkheQi— CRTVweb (@CRTV_web) August 7, 2018
The president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo who has been in power for 38 years is leading the chart.
Other longest serving African leaders include Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso (33 years), Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni (31years) and King Mswati III of Swaziland (31years).
Major contenders to Biya
There are two major opponents who could pose a strong challenge to Paul Biya. They are Maurice Kamto and Muna Akere.
Kamto is a former Minister Delegate of Justice between 2004 and 2011. He founded his political party in 2012. He was once a supporter of Paul Biya.
Akere Muna is the former President of the Cameroon Bar and founder of the Cameroonian branch of the anti-corruption NGO Transparency International.
His decision to form a coalition with Kamto’s party in Sunday’s election could be seen as significant in their attempt to unseat Biya.
But still many are uncertain about the future after Sunday’s poll.
Conflicts in Anglophone Cameroon
Continued clashes between security forces and separatists from English-speaking regions has forced many to flee their homes.
There have been agitations with accusations that the Francophone majority is discriminating against English speaking regions.
Their concerns range from not getting job opportunities and having legal systems solely in French language. Those claims have been rejected by the government. There has been a crackdown on dissents with hundreds arrested.
Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect says 400 people have been killed while more than 246,000 people have been displaced in the South-West region.
Cameroon was colonised by Germany but was split into British and French areas after World War One.
Source: Africafeeds.com
