The 12 candidates and the international community have called for fairness, transparency and peace as the nation heads towards the proclamation of the final result of Sunday’s exercise at the end of this month.
The 12 candidates who are on the starting bloc in Sunday’s presidential election Cameroon have urged fairness, transparent and peace as the country switches its attention to the proclamation of the winner of the presidential poll after yesterday’s election. Over eight million Cameroonians headed to the polls across Cameroon and the diaspora on Sunday to elect the nation’s leader for a seven-year mandate that is expected to run until 2032.
The voting process was largely peaceful both in Cameroon and in the diaspora, according to the government and other sources. Preliminary results that have circulated since voting ended has indicated that incumbent Paul Biya of the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, CPDM is running neck and neck with his former ally, Issa Tchiroma Bakary of Cameroon National Salvation Front, FSNC party.
The preliminary results have provoked an atmosphere of excitement and tension across social media platforms as supporters of Biya who is eyeing an eighth term battle out with Tchiroma, a man who is seeking to unseat his long-time ally.
Candidates, int’l communities demand fairness, transparency
In several declarations before and after Sunday’s polls, the 12 candidates on the starting bloc and the international community both drummed fairness, transparency. International bodies that have joined the call include the African Union and the International Organization of the La Francophonie. While most of the candidates made calls for peace after electing, international bodies like the AU and the La Francophonie engaged with national bodies and candidates to push forward the peace agenda.
The La Francophonie team to Cameroon notably had an audience with the President of the Cameroon Rights Commission, Prof James Mouangue Kobila to chat the way forward. “We have had the honor of having a very frank, very transparent and very enriching discussion with His Excellency the President of the Cameroon Human Rights Commission. We made our observations clear,” the head of the commission, Mohamed Aujjar stated after the audience. “We had objective and legal answers on the ongoing electoral process and especially on the respect of human rights throughout the electoral exercise,” he added.
Speaking in an interview after an audience with the president of the Cameroon Human Rights Commission, the delegation head of the AAU observation mission to Cameroon, Bernard Makuza made similar declarations. The former Prime Minister of Rwanda and current Senate President of Rwanda said the commission was focused fully on ensuring that the sexercise goes on peacefully without any hitches. “The fact that there is an AU commission for human rights in a good thing first of all.
The African Union can only operate within the framework of the laws that exist in a country, but also within the constitution and other legal or regulatory instruments,” the AU commission observation mission leader stated. “We put all the observations together so that the country can take into consideration for a possible improvement. We not only observe what had been happening from the pre-election period and the campaign period but also what will follow after the poll,” Bernard Makuza who is heading a commission comprising some 40 short-term observers to Cameroon, further stated.
