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Cameroon: Polls close, conflict simmers

Voting has closed in Cameroon despite low turnup in Buea, the capital of the
southwestern region. Some administrative officials were seen casting their
ballots after local residents were threatened by separatists.

This means that results from the overall count are questionable, especially
that independent could not get access to polling stations in time. The capital
of Cameroon's southwest, Buea, is a ghost city. Shops, banks, schools and
markets are closed. Public services have been suspended. A town that once
had around 200,000 people has been left deserted by the ongoing conflict.  

Fear is rife here in Buea as anglophones brace for violence after separatist
fighters vowed war on voting day. "Everybody is scared because the
separatists say that Buea is the capital of Ambazonia and they could attack,"
journalist Tilarious Aznohnwi Atia told DW. "Whenever the separatists attack,
the military retaliates and attacks neighborhoods and ransacks houses," Atia
said, adding that ordinary citizens continue to suffer.

Read more: Cameroon opposition teams up ahead of presidential vote

The separatists had vowed that no political campaigns or elections would
take place in their country, which they call "Ambazonia." Only one political
rally was held in Buea, but none of the candidates, including the incumbent
president, dared to meet voters in the volatile region.

Watch video 02:53

DW speaks to Cameroonian separatist fighters

Buea is a heavily militarized zone. Paramilitary forces, along with the

policemen, patrol the city. Several checkpoints have been set up at the main
road between Douala, the commercial capital of Cameroon, and Buea. Police
officers check everyone's ID, while the elite troops of the military's rapid
response brigade guard the stilted stalls of an abandoned market.

"Sporadic attacks are a common occurrence here, and normally the

separatists' attacks target the government forces and ordinary citizen who
go against their orders," a 29-year-old Buea resident told DW.

On the streets, however, few women and children are visible. The number of
men can be counted on two hands. "Some were killed, others are in prison,
and others have joined the boys," a taxi driver tells DW.

"Boys" is the name the anglophones use to refer to separatists, whereas the

French-speaking government in Yaounde calls them "terrorists." With this
characterization, the government has refused to negotiate with the
secessionists, despite increasing calls from the international community to
defuse the situation.

Paul Biya, 85, is seeking his seventh term in office

The International Crisis Group had urged both sides to declare a ceasefire at
least during the election week. The country's most respected Catholic,
Cardinal Christian Wiyghan Tumi, has been trying to persuade President
Paul Biya and the anglophone Cameroonians to sit down and find a solution
to the problem.

"Everyone knows what is happening in the English-speaking part of the

country. The people are not satisfied with the political situation in the
country," Cardinal Tumi told DW from his residence in Douala. So far, his
efforts to bring the warring parties to the negotiating table have been put on
hold because of the presidential vote.

"In a more peaceful climate, the vote could have offered Cameroon the
political renewal it needs," the 87-year-old cardinal said.

Read more: Cameroon: Can elections be held in the restive Anglophone

regions?

Unforeseeable future

Jeffrey Smith, the executive director of Vanguard Africa, agrees with the
Douala-based cardinal priest of the Catholic Church. "Should Biya be
declared the winner, Cameroon will continue on its downward trajectory, with
the very real possibility of increased violence, additional human rights
abuses and the same sort of brazen impunity that has long characterized
Biya's oppressive rule," Smith said.

Vanguard is a nonprofit organization that partners with African leaders and

democracy activists to consolidate democratic gains and advocate for free
and fair elections in Africa.

Read more: Cameroon's youth and their old president

Watch video 03:27

Separatist violence grips anglophone western Cameroon

The conflict in anglophone regions, however, is not the only problem the
country has, said Edith Kahbang Walla, president of the opposition
Cameroon People's Party (CPP). "Living as a Cameroonian is a risk. Because
we don't have hospitals, we don't have roads; we are dying every single day
from the governance of Mr. Biya," she told DW. 

The opposition leader and former presidential candidate in 2011 has vowed

to unseat Biya through protests. Her party isn't taking part in the election,
criticizing the country's "poor electoral process" and an uneven political
playing field that is inherently tilted in favor of the ruling party.
Nevertheless, Walla remains positive and is motivated by recent power
changes in Africa. "If it happened in Tunisia, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe why
not here in Cameroon?" she asked, calling on her supporters to join her
cause.

But Walla's optimism isn't shared by already-broken-hearted anglophones. "I

can't stay here, seriously," a 28-year-old man told DW. "The number of years
I have been in this country, hustling to make a better living — I have
achieved nothing. Maybe I should leave this country."

Edith Kahbang Walla is determined to see a change of leadership in

Cameroon

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Cameroon opposition teams up ahead of presidential vote

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DW speaks to Cameroonian separatist fighters  

Separatist violence grips anglophone western Cameroon  

Cameroon's youth and their old president 06.10.2018

Many young Cameroonians are tired of the 36-year tenure of President Paul
Biya and want change. But how many of them will actually cast their ballot
on Sunday is still an open question.

Cameroon marred by violence ahead of presidential poll

04.10.2018
Cameroonian political parties have crisscrossed the country ahead of the presidential
elections on Sunday. Except for one candidate, no one has been able to organize campaigns
in the restive Anglophone regions.