Cameroon police arrest 19 opposition protesters

Douala, Cameroon | AFP | Police in Cameroon arrested 19 supporters of opposition leader Maurice Kamto, who disputes the results of October presidential elections, at protests against President Paul Biya on Sunday, local authorities and witnesses told AFP.

The arrests happened at two different places in the town of Bafoussam in the country’s west where Kamto backers were picketing, they said.

Kamto, who according to official results came second with 14 percent of the vote behind incumbent Biya with seven percent, called Friday for an independent vote recount.

He claimed victory in the October 7 polls, and has been declared an “outlaw” by the government.

But Kamto, one of seven candidates seeking to unseat Biya who has ruled the West African country for 36 years, insists the process was marred by widespread fraud.

Members of Kamto’s Movement for the Rebirth of Cameroon (MRC) posted images on social media Sunday of their protest against what they called an electoral “hold-up”.

Sixteen MRC members who had protested the election results in the capital Yaounde, were freed two days after their arrest on October 28.