Opposition CRM vow to sabotage Yaoundé ceremony
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.
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.