Published October 27, 2025
Four people were killed in clashes in Cameroon ahead of the announcement of election results on October 12.
Supporters of opposition leader Issa Chiloma rallied on Sunday despite a ban on gatherings and confronted security forces, with results expected to be announced on Monday.
Mr Ciroma claims he won the vote, but incumbent President Paul Biya is expected to be declared the winner, extending his 43 years in power. He called on his supporters to march peacefully on the eve of the announcement.
Chiroma says he won with 54.8%, but most analysts expect the 92-year-old Biya to secure an eighth term in a system that his critics say is increasingly corrupt.
In Douala, Cameroon’s largest city, demonstrators “attacked” gendarmerie and police stations in two districts on Sunday, the regional governor said.
“Unfortunately, four people lost their lives,” Samuel Dieudonne Ibaja Diboua said, adding that several members of the security forces were also injured.
Early Sunday, police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of people in Garoua, the northern stronghold of Chiloma, where activists held Cameroonian flags and banners reading “Chiloma 2025” and chanted “Goodbye Paul Biya, Chiloma is coming.”
For several days, dozens of supporters gathered around the opposition leader’s home and claimed in a video on Sunday that military personnel had tried to take him away.
There have also been reports of significant disruptions to internet access in recent days, which monitor NetBlocks said “could limit coverage of events on the ground.”
Territorial Administration Minister Paul Atanga Nzi said on Saturday that the protests were “creating the conditions for a security crisis” and contributing to the “implementation of an insurgency plan”.
