Cameroon opposition candidate says October 7 election was 'apartheid'

Cameroon’s opposition candidate, Joshua Osih of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) has described the October 7 election as ‘apartheid’, arguing that the Anglophone people in the North West and South West regions did not vote.

Osih, who was presenting the SDF petition before the Constitutional Council, urged the court to restore order and save the country from ‘eminent collapse’.

“No election took place in the North West and South West regions…the people could not vote because they are Anglophone and that is apartheid,” Osih argued.

The election in the English-speaking North West and South West regions, was marred by low turnout and isolated incidents of unrest, as separatists sought to prevent participation in the vote.

ALSO READ: Investigate atrocities in Anglophone Cameroon: U.N. genocide expertWhile majority of Cameroon’s 23 million people are French-speaking, about a fifth of the population is English-speaking. The Anglophone minority has long complained about marginalisation which led to protests by teachers and lawyers over a period of time.

Election petitions dismissed

The court on Thursday night, also dismissed a petition by opposition candidate Maurice Kamto, which called for the cancellation of the election, on the basis of massive and systematic fraud.

The court’s president, Clément Atangana declared that ‘debates are over’, after the petitions were deemed “unjustified” by all members of the Constitutional Council “unanimously”.

This official body is responsible for studying post-election disputes before proclaiming the results of the presidential elections of 7 October.

Throughout the election and during the hearing of election petitions that started on Tuesday, Cameroon’s electoral body Elecam defended its organisation of the poll and said it had not seen any proof of fraud.

Government spokesman Issa Tchiroma Bakary also dismissed allegations of fraud.