CAMEROON: A ban on announcement of preliminary results in Cameroon's presidential election means it could take days for the final tally to be published, as incumbent Biya tipped to win in single-round poll
Record ID:
327624
CAMEROON: A ban on announcement of preliminary results in Cameroon's presidential election means it could take days for the final tally to be published, as incumbent Biya tipped to win in single-round poll
- Title: CAMEROON: A ban on announcement of preliminary results in Cameroon's presidential election means it could take days for the final tally to be published, as incumbent Biya tipped to win in single-round poll
- Date: 11th October 2011
- Summary: DOUALA, CAMEROON (OCTOBER 9, 2011) (REUTERS) WOMAN WRITING ON BLACKBOARD NUMBERS VARIOUS OF MEN SITTING AND WRITING VOTING COUNT MAN SIGNING A VOTE COUNTING REPORT (SOUNDBITE) (French) CELESTIN, PRESIDENT OF POLLING STATION, SAYING: "The toll of participation hasn't been as we had thought it would, even you were able to see, with 421 voters on the list, and 116 voters, you can judge yourself the toll of participation hasn't been great, we weren't able to attain the 50 percent we were aiming for. Despite that, we have been able to conduct our work in very good conditions." VARIOUS OF NUMBERS ON BLACKBOARD CARDBORD BOX WITH VOID BULLETINS PEOPLE LOOKING INSIDE FROM WINDOW TAKING NOTES
- Embargoed: 26th October 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Cameroon, Cameroon
- Country: Cameroon
- Topics: Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA1EGPAUO9AUBSBPF0NBCIYCIYE
- Story Text: Cameroon started the long process of counting ballots after voters faced delays and organisational shortfalls in an election on Sunday (October 9) where President Paul Biya is expected to extend his 29-year rule over the central African state against a fragmented opposition.
Opposition leaders and voters in Cameroon have complained of delays at polling booths and other organisational shortfalls in the one-round presidential election. Accounts that some voters cast two ballots while others did not vote at all risk undermining the credibility of the poll in the central African oil-producer, weeks after a poll in Zambia showed change through the ballot box is possible in Africa.
But with Biya, 78, seen keeping his place among the clutch of African leaders in power for decades, the main question in the oil-producing nation is whether the election will pass smoothly after rivals alleged the vote is skewed against them.
After voting ended, a Reuters reporter in Yaounde saw 19 polling stations where ballots were being counted without the required presence of candidates' representatives.
State media hailed a mass turnout but there was little evidence of queues despite the fact that many polling stations failed to open at 8.00 am local (0700 GMT) as scheduled.
There were no official turnout figures but voting appeared sluggish in the capital Yaounde and the commercial capital Douala.
"The turnout hasn't been as we had thought it would, even you were able to see, with 421 voters on the list, and 116 people who actually voted, you can judge yourself the toll of participation hasn't been great, we weren't able to attain the 50 percent we were aiming for. Despite that, we have been able to conduct our work in very good conditions," said Celestin, the president of a polling station.
Many Cameroonians appeared indifferent to the election campaign, feeling the vote was a foregone conclusion.
A ban on the announcement of preliminary results means it could take days for the final tally to be published.
Sunday's polling ended peacefully but power supply problems meant the count in some districts was conducted by candelight, the flashlights of mobile phones or, as at one district in the capital Yaounde, the headlights of a motorbike. Results could take as long as two weeks to emerge.
Aside from its oil, Cameroon is the region's main maritime entry point and breadbasket, supplying Chad, Central African Republic, Congo Republic and Gabon. Yet its economic growth is below average for Africa and critics cite democratic failings.
Biya faces 22 candidates including Fru Ndi, and Adamou Ndam Njoya of the Cameroon Democratic Union (UDC).
In the last election in 2004, Biya scored just over 70 percent, while his closest rival, Fru Ndi, took 17 percent. In 2008 a move by Biya to scrap term limits, and anger over food prices, led to street protests in which more than 100 people died, but for most of the past three decades it has seen relative stability in a turbulent region - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None