The Cameroon government will crack down on anyone who tries to create disorder during next month’s general elections, authorities have warned even as separatists vow to disrupt the poll.

Mr Paul Atanga Nji, Cameroon minister of Territorial Administration, said Monday in Yaoundé that the state “will display its might” against trouble makers regardless of their social status.

“They shall be dealt with firmly and squarely in accordance with the laws of the republic,” Mr Nji said at the opening of the first bi-annual conference of the country’s 10 regional governors.

He said the conference, held under the instructions of President Paul Biya, aims at taking stock of security measures put in place for next month’s election.

In his New Year message to Cameroonians on December 31, 2019, President Biya, who has ruled Cameroon since 1982, declared that the elections must be conducted countrywide including in the restive English speaking Northwest and Southwest regions.

Mr Adolphe Lele Lafrique, the governor of the Northwest, said the security situation in his area is under control and the elections will take place as planned.

Cameroonians will go to the polls on February 9 to elect parliamentarians and municipal councillors amid threats from separatists that the vote will not take place in the English speaking regions. Separatists declared a one-week lockdown on the regions beginning February 7 intended to stop the vote from taking place.

Last week, Yaoundé deployed troops to the Anglophone regions to ensure security for the elections.

Source: The East African