KIGALI, Rwanda
Police in Cameroon opened fire Tuesday, killing one person as they dispersed crowds protesting against alleged presidential electoral fraud, local media reported.
The incident occurred in the Poumpoumre district in Garoua city in the far north region, which was the scene of post-election angry demonstrations by supporters of opposition candidate Issa Tchiroma Bakary, who claimed victory in the Oct.12 poll.
The victim, a female teacher at the neighborhood’s Arab primary school, was fatally shot as she was returning from work, according to the local news portal Lebledparle.
Protestors took to the streets of Garoua to demand “respect for the results of the ballot boxes that give Tchiroma the victory.”
The city is Tchiroma’s stronghold. Similar protests took place in the capital Yaounde.
Footage shared on social media platforms showed protesters carrying placards claiming that electoral officials “manipulated the vote count” in favor of incumbent President Paul Biya.
Territorial Administration Minister Paul Atanga Nji in a statement Tuesday said 20 people have been arrested and they will be prosecuted on charges of insurrection and incitement of rebellion.
He called on citizens to be “calm” and “trust” the institutions in charge of the electoral process as the country awaits the results of the presidential election.
Cameroon’s Constitutional Council is expected to announce the final results on Thursday.
The minister warned that the government will not tolerate any attempt of “insurrection or breach of public order.”
Earlier, the national electoral body announced that it had completed tallying ballots and provisional results were ready for submission to the Constitutional Council.
Unofficial results published by local media showed that Biya was leading with more than 50% of the vote.
