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Cameroon's Biya set for seventh swearing-in

Monday November 05 2018
Biya

Cameroonian President Biya casts his ballot at the Government Bilingual Primary School in the Bastos neighbourhood in the capital Yaoundé on October 7. He will be sworn-in on November 6, 2018, the same day he took power some 36 years ago. NDI EUGENE NDI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

By NDI EUGENE NDI

Cameroon’s re-elected President Paul Biya will be sworn-in for a seventh mandate on Tuesday, November 6; the day he took power 36 years ago.

The 85-year-old Biya was sworn-in for the first time as Cameroon’s second president on November 6, 1982, following the resignation of Ahmadou Ahidjo.

In a message to top officials of the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) party secretary-general Jean Nkuete said the 36th anniversary of Biya’s ascension to the supreme magistracy “coincides with” the oath-taking ceremony of the president, who “the Cameroonian people democratically elected” following the October 7 poll.

Staged a protest

The opposition Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM) party has meanwhile continued protests against President Biya's re-election, in defiance of a government warning against post-electoral disorder.

About 20 CRM supporters were arrested on Sunday as they staged a protest against the poll outcome in Bafoussam town in the west.

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After losing the October 7 presidential election, CRM candidate Maurice Kamto announced a “national resistance programme” –a weeklong protest to challenge the victory and vowed to sabotage President Biya's swearing-in ceremony.

Election results

Prof Kamto insists he won the vote whose official result show he emerged a distant second with 14.23 percent vote. President Biya was declared the winner with 71.28 percent vote.

According to the law; the president-elect takes the oath of office before the Cameroonian people in the presence of Members of Parliament, the Constitutional Council and Supreme Court meeting in a solemn session.

It will be the first time members of the Senate and the Constitutional Council will be participating in the oath-taking ceremony that takes place within 15 days from the proclamation of election results.

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