Security forces in Cameroon have been cracking down on street rallies protesting the October 7 re-election of President Paul Biya. To avoid beatings and arrest, protesters have taken their message to safer, even holy grounds such as schools and churches.

Opposition protesters sang on Monday in front of the University of Yaounde in the capital of Cameroon.

The lyrics say that opposition leader Maurice Kamto won the October 7 presidential election and that longtime President Paul Biya should hand over power.

A massive deployment of police stopped the protesters from singing on the campus itself.

Twenty-six-year-old teacher Boniface Onana says they will continue demonstrating against Biya’s re-election.

He says Biya should know that the time he was ruling Cameroon with an iron fist, using divide and conquer tactics, is over. Onana says Cameroonians should know that a new nation with a new leader has been born and he will do everything possible to pass on the message.

Police say they detained four of the protesters and are investigating others who ran onto the university grounds disguised as students.

Opposition supporters are seeking safe areas to protest as Cameroon security forces have been cracking down on street rallies since the election.

Tens of protesters on Sunday entered the Our Lady of Victories Cathedral in Yaoundé, interrupting a service to sing that Biya should hand over power.

Sosthene Lipot is the information officer for Kamto’s Cameroon Renaissance Movement party. He says they took their protests to the university and the church because of the crackdown.

He says the military should know that Biya has not even won wars he declared on two fronts — against Boko Haram and against separatists fighting for the creation of an English-speaking state — yet he is sending his military to attack innocent people who are simply protesting for their rights.

Archbishop Jean Mbarga condemned the protesters who entered the church, calling it a desecration of a religious body.

He says the Yaoundé archdiocese is scandalized at the disrespect that some politicians have shown towards the church. He says the church is apolitical and should never be used for any political activity, reason why he totally condemns such acts that are instilling doubts in the minds of Christians as to the neutrality of the Catholic church.

The Roman Catholic church in Cameroon has issued conflicting comments on the presidential election. Mbarga on Sunday saluted Biya as the winner, while the head of the national Catholic bishops conference expressed suspicion at the official results.

Officials said Biya won the election with 71 percent of the vote. Kamto, his main challenger, received 14 percent.

Opposition parties accused Biya’s ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) party of massive electoral fraud.

Culled from The VOA

Now that you are here

The Cameroon Concord News Group Board wishes to inform its faithful readers that for more than a decade, it has been providing world-class reports of the situation in Southern Cameroons.  The Board has been priding itself on its reports which have helped the world to gain a greater understanding of the crisis playing out in Southern Cameroons. It hails its reporters who have also helped the readers to have a broader perspective of the political situation in Cameroon.

The Board wishes to thank its readers who have continued to trust Southern Cameroon’s leading news platform. It is therefore using this opportunity to state that its reporters are willing to provide more quality information to the readers.    However, due to the changing global financial context, the Board is urging its readers to play a significant role in the financing of the news organization.  It is therefore calling on its faithful readers to make whatever financial contribution they can to ensure they get the latest developments in their native Southern Cameroons, in particular, and Cameroon in general.

Bank transaction: Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Banking IBAN: GB51 BARC 2049 1103 9130 15

Swift BIC BARC GB22XX

SORT CODE 20-49-11, ACCOUNT NUMBER – 03913015 Barclay PLC, UK

The Board looks forward to hearing from the readers.

Signed by the Group Chairman on behalf of the Board of Directors

Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

Email: soteragbawebai@gmail.com