By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Preliminary results from Cameroon’s presidential election have shown that opposition candidate Issa Tchiroma Bakary is making significant inroads in areas traditionally dominated by incumbent President Paul Biya.
Biya, 92, is facing nine challengers, including former allies and cabinet members. Among them are Bello Bouba Maigari, a former Minister of Tourism, and Bakary, who until recently served as Minister of Employment.
Biya cast his vote at a primary school in Yaoundé, the capital on Sunday where he declined to comment on his plans, saying he would wait for the official results.
Early tabulations from several commune councils across the country suggest that Bakary’s party, the Front for the National Salvation of Cameroon (FSNC), is gaining ground against Biya’s ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM).
Daily Trust, which quoted a journalist monitoring the process and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Bakary, 79, was leading in multiple polling booths across Yaoundé’s seven commune provinces.
“From the results coming from various polling booths across the seven commune provinces in Yaoundé, Bakary is taking an early lead,” it quoted the source as saying.
Each commune reportedly contains between 40 to 50 polling booths, making the capital city a critical battleground.
Bakary, who hails from Garoua in the Far North Region, is also said to have outperformed Bello Bouba Maigari in their shared home region.
However, CPDM is still expected to secure strong support in the Far North and the English-speaking Southwest and Northwest regions, collectively known by separatists as Ambazonia.
