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CameroonOnline.ORG | Based on reports from various sources, including the Associated Press (AP),two prominent opposition leaders in Cameroon were arrested late Friday as protests intensified over the disputed presidential election results expected to be announced on Monday. According to their parties, Anicet Ekane and Djeukam Tchameni, key figures in the Union for Change coalition, were detained in Douala, the country’s economic capital. The coalition had endorsed opposition candidate Issa Tchiroma Bakary, who has claimed victory over long-time President Paul Biya in the October 12 election. The African Movement for New Independence and Democracy (MANIDEM) party stated that its treasurer and several members were also “kidnapped” by local security forces in what it described as an effort “to intimidate Cameroonians.” The exact circumstances surrounding the arrests remain unclear. Cameroon’s electoral commission is set to release the official results on Monday. However, opposition supporters have been demonstrating across the country, warning against alleged attempts to manipulate the vote. While Tchiroma maintains that his campaign’s compiled results show he won the election, the ruling party has accused him of trying to destabilize the political process. Protests continued Saturday in Bafoussam, the capital of the West Region, where motorcyclists blocked major roads, demanding a fair and transparent vote count. Clashes between protesters and security forces earlier in the week resulted in multiple arrests and the death of one person in Garoua, in northern Cameroon. Authorities identified the victim as Zairatou Hassana, a 30-year-old primary school teacher who, according to her uncle Amadou Adji, was not participating in the protests but was searching for her sister who had not returned from school. “Her death leaves me with a terrible memory of this regime, like all other Cameroonians,” Adji told the Associated Press. In a Facebook post on Friday, Tchiroma suggested that security forces were preparing to detain him, calling such an action “an assault against the entire Cameroonian people.” He urged authorities to “recognize the people’s victory.” The situation remains tense across Cameroon as the nation awaits the official results.
