‘New low’ for voter registration in English-speaking Cameroon

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‘New low’ for voter registration in English-speaking Cameroon

11:41 CAT | 08 Jun 2018

Cameroon’s Anglophone regions are home to around 20% of the country’s population but, as the Journal du Cameroun news site reports, only 3% of all new voters registered nationwide since January come from those regions.

The central African nation is under scrutiny ahead of October’s general election.

Last month, the US ambassador to Cameroon accused its forces of carrying out “targeted killings” and other human rights abuses in its battle against English-speaking separatists.

President Paul Biya recently appointed a new director at the electoral commission (Elecam) to tackle what its council members called the “opaque use of financial resources and staffing”.

But some in the opposition accuse the new Elecam boss Erik Essousse of leading a “witch hunt”.

French-language news site Jeune Afrique reports that perceived allies of Mr Essousse’s predecessor are being sacked.

Separatists in Cameroon’s two mainly English-speaking areas – the North-West and South-West regions – have been demanding independence.

Tens of thousands of Anglophone Cameroonians fleeing violent clashes with Francophone security forces have crossed into neighbouring Nigeria in recent months.

Source: BBC