• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
  • WORLD DEMOCRACY
  • POLITICAL ART
  • more
    • election technology
    • money politics
    • political dissidents
    • THIRD PARTY
      • third party central
      • green party
      • justice party
      • libertarian party
    • voting methods
  • DC INFO
    • author central
    • about
    • advertise with DC
    • contact
    • privacy policy

Democracy Chronicles

Cameroon Deploys Troops Bracing for Anti-Biya Protests

by DC Editors - April 10, 2019

FacebookTweetLinkedInPin

Cameroon Deploys Troops Bracing for Anti-Biya Protests

From Voice of America

Cameroon has deployed troops to crack down on protesters calling for the release from jail of 150 opposition party members, including their leader Maurice Kamto, who says he won the October presidential election, not long-serving President Paul Biya. Kamto has been in jail for more than two months and his supporters say he should be unconditionally released.

It was a quiet but tense Saturday morning in some neighborhoods of Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde, as residents went about their daily activities, watched by combat-ready police. Half a dozen officers have been deployed around the headquarters of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement party of Kamto, who remains in jail and insists he won the presidential election on Oct. 7, even though official results give a decisive victory to incumbent Biya.

Territorial Administration Minister Paul Atanga Nji said security forces are there to protect the population from the opposition political party that he said wants to see the country in chaos.

He said even though President Biya has kept Cameroon democratic and peaceful, with freedoms and liberties, authorities will not accept protests carried out in disrespect of the law and they will not tolerate those who want to use violence to make their voices heard. He said Cameroonians are peace-loving people who reject the violence some opposition parties want to bring.

Nji said Saturday the government banned protests organized by the opposition MRC party until April 13 because the action is provocative and intended to create an uprising in a country that already has Boko Haram terrorism to contend with on its northern border with Nigeria. He pointed out that Cameroon also has suffered from carnage that has spilled over from the neighboring Central African Republic on its eastern border and has had to deal with the separatist crisis that killed at least 1,000 people in the English-speaking regions of the bilingual country that also has French as its official language.

Nji said April 6, which the MRC chose for its protests, remains a painful day for Cameroonians because it is the anniversary of a 1984 coup attempt to oust Biya from power. He said he has instructed all 10 regional governors to arrest anyone who protests.

MRC Party Secretary General Christopher Ndong says members are mobilized and ready to demonstrate their support for jailed members of their party and Kamto, who claims his victory was stolen by Biya.

“Do you expect us to fold our hands and stand. Professor Maurice Kamto won the 2018 presidential election and the president that was supposed to be [in power] was the one caught and locked up. The government does not want him to take over power. Our liberties are infringed, our right to freedom of speech infringed. It is not because the government is clamping down on us that will make the population fear,” Ndong said.

The protesters had asked for authorization to march and asked the government to solve the crisis in the English-speaking regions that has gone on for three years.

Pierre Hubert Mbida of the Cameroon Citizenship Movement said by refusing to authorize the protest and deploying security forces to clamp down on protesters, Cameroon is simply confirming that it disrespects people’s rights and freedoms.

He said the Cameroon government is abusing public liberties and people’s freedoms and expresses joy only when its supporters sing praises about its management of public affairs, governance and its long serving leader Biya. He said it is funny that when people go to the streets to complain that they lack water to drink, they are described as unpatriotic citizens who are a menace to public order. He said it is intolerable that for quite some time now, Cameroon has continued to recruit soldiers to protect its leaders.

Biya, who has led Cameroon for 36 years, won 71.3 percent of the vote, far ahead of Kamto’s 14.2 percent, according to official results of the Oct. 7 poll.

Police arrested Kamto and his supporters more than two months ago after days of peaceful protests turned violent in Yaounde and three other cities.

Kamto is charged with sedition, insurrection and inciting violence in Cameroon and its embassies, including in Paris and Berlin.

FacebookTweetLinkedInPin

Filed Under: International Democracy Tagged With: Africa, Cameroon, Democracy Protests, Dictatorships

About DC Editors

We are your source for news on the all important effort to establish and strengthen democracy across the globe. Our international team with dozens of independent authors are your gateway into the raging struggle for free and fair elections on every continent with a focus on election reform in the United States. See our Facebook Page and also follow us on Twitter @demchron.

Some highlighted Democracy Chronicles topics

Africa American Corruption American Local Elections American State Elections Asia Capitalism and Big Business Celebrity Politics China Democracy Charity Democracy Protests Democrats Dictatorships Education Election History Election Methods Election Security Election Transparency Europe Internet and Democracy Journalism and Free Speech Middle East Minority Voting Rights Money Politics New York City and State Elections Political Artwork Political Dissidents Political Lobbying Redistricting Republicans Russia Socialism and Labor Social Media and Democracy South America Spying and Privacy Supreme Court Third Party Voter Access Voter ID Voter Registration Voter Suppression Voter Turnout Voting Technology Women Voting Rights Worldwide Worldwide Corruption

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Home | ALL NEWS | WORLD | Cameroon Deploys Troops Bracing for Anti-Biya Protests

Primary Sidebar

Advertise button

American democracy: three reasons for resilience

By Ngah Gabriel April 12, 2021

America’s constitution, the separation of powers and federalism are why American democracy is one of the most resilient in the world.

What Does Ranked Voting Tell Us?

By Ted Getschman April 11, 2021

Ranked voting election results reveal little about voter desires. Consider a ranked voting result in a race between four candidates.

democracy chronicles newsletter

DC AUTHORS

Will The Gaetz Controversy Engulf Florida’s Governor?

By Steve Schneider April 8, 2021

All allegations involving “pay to play” corruption in the administration have been denied. So have all sex trafficking allegations naming Gaetz.

Podcast: Reforming Criminal Justice From The Inside Out

By Jenna Spinelle April 6, 2021

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner discusses the promise and peril of institutional reform and how he built a coalition of voters.

Don’t Let GOP Destroy Democracy And Crush Hard-Won Rights

By Carroll G. Robinson April 5, 2021

For the past decades, Republicans across our nation have been engaged in a systematic, and modern era attempt at Interposition and Nullification.

What Is Fascism And What Drives It?

By Jack Jones April 2, 2021

What is fascism and what drives it? Since it is in plain sight we are unable to pin it and its drivers down. But quite simply it is greed.

Podcast: Laboratories Of Restricting Democracy

By Jenna Spinelle March 29, 2021

How Republican legislators are pushing shortened mail-in voting windows, expanded voter ID requirements, and other cumbersome administrative changes.

Time to get MO!

By Ted Getschman March 29, 2021

The MO is what you most desire, what you most want. Not “you” personally, but “you” collectively.  It is what the group, the team, the nation most desires.

Cameroon: Prospects For Democracy, Peace and Stability

By Kenral Simo March 28, 2021

Cameroon’s prospects for democracy, peace and stability are worrying as over-the-counter transfer of power looms in a difficult context.

MORE FROM OUR AUTHORS

VISIT OUR POLITICAL ART SECTION:

dc political art

DEMOCRACY CULTURE

6 Major Ai Weiwei Artworks On Social Issues in China

6 Major Ai Weiwei Artworks On Social Issues in China

April 12, 2021

Ai Weiwei is without a doubt the most well-known living Chinese artist today, but he isn’t given the credit he deserves in China.

Online Art Project Highlights Hong Kong Democracy Protests

Online Art Project Highlights Hong Kong Democracy Protests

April 11, 2021

Two Hong Kong-born artists in Canada are leading a pro-democracy online art project: “be water: collected memories of our hong kong.”

Innovative Election Law Clinic Launches At Harvard Law School

Innovative Election Law Clinic Launches At Harvard Law School

April 9, 2021

Harvard Law School has announced a new Election Law Clinic aimed among other things at providing students with litigation experience.

Celebrity Caitlyn Jenner Explores Run For California Governor

Celebrity Caitlyn Jenner Explores Run For California Governor

April 8, 2021

Caitlyn Jenner, a former reality TV star, is reportedly meeting with political advisors as she considers bid for governor of California.

State Persecution Against Women Journalists

State Persecution Against Women Journalists Rises Globally

April 8, 2021

Legal persecution is now one of the most potent tools to silence the press in many democracies. Women journalists are particularly targeted.

MORE CULTURE

VISIT OUR US DEMOCRACY SECTION:

American Democracy