Longtime Cameroonian leader wins reelection

Cameroon's supreme court Friday declared President Paul Biya as winner of the Oct. 9 presidential election, handing the incumbent another 7-year term. Biya got 77.98 percent of the votes, while his longtime challenger John Fru Ndi of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) since 1991, came far behind with only 10.71 percent, it said. Meanwhile, Garga Haman Adji of the Alliance for Democracy Development (ADD), a former cabinet member under Biya, moved up to the third position this time, scoring 3.21 percent, thereby pushing Biya's former number two challenger Adamu Ndam Njoya of the Cameroon Democratic Union (CDU) to the fourth position with only 1.77 percent. Also emerged in this year's race was Paul Abine Ayah, who resigned from the ruling party last year. Running as candidate of the People's Action Party (PAP) for the first time, he made the fifth place with 1.26 percent of the votes. The other 18 candidates garnered less than 1 percent of the total votes in total. Biya's victory for another seven-year term of office will make him one of Africa's longest serving leaders. The 78-year-old incumbent president to power on Nov. 6, 1982 when Ahmadou Ahidjo, the first president of independent Cameroon, decided to step down for health reasons and handed power to Biya after he modified the constitution to make the then prime minister his successor. Biya, before and during his campaign for the Oct. 9 election, promised to transform Cameroon into an industrial and emerging economy by 2035 by developing major energy and infrastructure projects, and make the country the breadbasket of the sub-region. According to Cameroon's constitution, he is expected to be sworn in within 15 days. His major challenges this time will be to curb widespread poverty and misery - the World Bank says around 40 percent of Cameroonians are living below the poverty line - reduce unemployment which is officially estimated at 30 percent, and fight endemic corruption which he himself has admitted is impeding the country's economic progress. Seven losers of the Oct. 9 election led by Fru Ndi had vowed to take the people to the streets for demonstrations if the supreme court refused to annul the poll which they said was riddled with massive corruption and irregularities. But leading religious leaders have called on the people to accept the official results of election in calm and preserve peace and stability in the country. It is against this background that Friday's ceremony of result proclamation came amidst tight security, as anti-riot police with water cannons, gendarmes and well-armed soldiers could be seen at major road junctions and strategic positions in the capital city. Reports say security was also reinforced in the country's other major towns, including particularly Bafoussam, Bamenda and the economic capital Douala in the opposition stronghold of west and northwest regions.