DOUALA: Cameroon’s ruling party has won control of nine out of 10 regional councils, according to official results on Thursday from an election that President Paul Biya said was intended to devolve power to local authorities but his opponents boycotted.
Biya, in power since 1982, hoped Sunday’s poll would appease critics who say he has neglected the Central African country’s regions, and end a four-year insurgency in the west by English-speaking separatists who want to create an independent state.
His critics say the vote is just a way for Biya to broaden his reach into local politics. The officials who voted in the election are overwhelmingly Biya supporters and will help enforce his will in the regions, they say.
The vote was marred by scattered violence as separatists killed one regional official in the Northwest region. The Northwest is one of two regions where fighting between separatists and the government has killed more than 3,000 people and forced 500,000 from their homes since 2017.
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