Protests erupt in Cameroon over presidential election results

DW (English)

Tensions have been rising in Cameroon since the release of preliminary election results that put incumbent President Paul Biya ahead of opposition leader Issa Tchiroma. Biya, 92, has been heading the Central African country's government since 1982.

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00:00Cameroonian police using tear gas to disperse protesters in Douala, the country's largest city.

00:10Many young people took to the streets to protest what they describe as fraud in the presidential election.

00:21You can still hear tear gas canisters being fired by police. Protesters here have also

00:28thrown stone at police. I asked some of the people that came out to protest. They told me that they

00:33believe that their candidate, Issa Chiroma Bakari, won the Cameroonian presidential election for 2025,

00:40but this victory, according to them, has been stolen. You see, the youth are outside to reclaim

00:47their votes that have been stolen. I agree with them. We can clearly see that Issa Chiroma Bakari

00:55won the election, but the government denied that. Tensions have been rising in Cameroon

01:05since the release of preliminary results that put incumbent president Paul Bia ahead of opposition

01:13leader Issa Chiroma Bakari. Bia, 92, has ruled Cameroon since 1982 and is expected to win another

01:23seven-year term. He has become extremely unpopular in this central African country.

01:32Frankly, people are not happy. And they're right. Because we've been suffering for 43 years.

01:39It's not going well. Children are suffering. Educated youth have no jobs. We can't eat in Cameroon. We

01:46can't get treatment. We're fed up. More than two-thirds of Cameroonians are under the age of 30.

01:56Many young people are unemployed and have no prospects for the future. Some experts believe

02:03that these protests could spread if President Bia continues to cling to power.

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