Cameroon governing party says one of its offices was set on fire as election tensions rise

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YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) — The governing party in Cameroon said Thursday that one of its offices was set on fire as tensions rise over fraud allegations in the Oct. 12 presidential election.

Opposition candidate Issa Tchiroma Bakary claimed victory this week and urged President Paul Biya, the world’s oldest president at 92, to concede. Biya’s party has rejected Tchiroma’s claim of victory and accused the opposition candidate of trying to disrupt the electoral process. The constitutional court is expected to announce the final official results by Oct. 26.

Tchiroma alleged Wednesday that there were signs of vote tampering, echoing civil society groups’ earlier reports of “several irregularities,” including attempted ballot stuffing.

The office of the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement in the western city of Dschang was set ablaze Wednesday night, and videos of the burning building were shared widely on social media and in local news outlets.

The party’s secretary general, Jean Nkuete, said in a statement the party will “initiate legal action against the individuals found guilty of the fire.”

Pockets of protests broke out Wednesday night in several cities over the allegations of election fraud.

Dozens of protesters in the economic capital, Douala, located in Wouri department, erected barricades on the roads and set them on fire while security forces used tear gas and water cannon to disperse them. No deaths or injuries have been reported yet.

Some protested outside the office of Elections Cameroon, or ELECAM, the independent electoral management body.

The Prefect of Wouri, Sylyac Marie Mvogo, said police arrested a score of people who tried to force themselves into the building and allegedly attacked employees.

“We don’t want people taking the law into their own hands. There are competent authorities responsible for handling election matters,” Mvogo, told the state-run radio CRTV.

Analysts have predicted a victory for Biya as the opposition remained divided and his strongest rival was barred from running in August. Eleven opposition candidates were on the ballot.

Tchiroma, who is in his late 70s, was a government spokesperson and employment minister under Biya but quit the government earlier this year to launch his presidential run. His campaign drew large crowds and backing from a coalition of opposition parties and civic groups.

Biya has been in power since 1982, nearly half his lifetime, making him Cameroon’s second president since independence from France in 1960.

During Biya’s decades in power, the Central African nation of nearly 30 million people has struggled with challenges from a deadly secessionist movement in the west and chronic corruption that has stifled development despite rich natural resources like oil and minerals.

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