Cameroon's Constitutional Council has declared Paul Biya the winner of the October 7 presidential election. Even though observers from organisations such as the African Union pointed to severe irregularities, the results were affirmed - 71% of the votes for Biya and 14% for his main competitor Maurice Kamto.
What's most alarming has been an intense militarisation of parts of the country since the results were proclaimed. In Douala, protest activities were blocked. Opposition leaders and followers were harassed. And the terror in Anglophone cities which predated the elections multiplied. The latest of these is the kidnapping of 79 pupils, the headmaster, a teacher and driver from a Presbyterian boarding school in Bamenda in the Northwest Region.
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