President Paul Biya has won an eighth term in Cameroon, keeping the 92-year-old leader in power until he is almost 100, according to results announced on Monday by the Constitutional Council.
"Hereby proclaimed President-elect: the candidate Biya Paul," Clement Atangana, president of the Constitutional Council, said during the announcement in the capital Yaoundé.
The results were delivered region by region. Ambassadors from Europe and the United States did not attend the event.
Biya has ruled since 1982 and removed presidential term limits in 2008. He has never lost an election. His new seven-year mandate will allow him to govern until 2032.
Results showed his closest rival, former government minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary, won 35.19 percent of votes. The council said Biya took 53.66 percent, with more than 2.4 million votes.
Bakary quickly denounced the announcement of Biya's win, telling French news agency AFP that "there was no election; it was rather a masquerade. We won unequivocally".
Deadly unrest as Cameroon awaits presidential election result
Deadly unrest
Bakary once served as Biya’s spokesperson and employment minister.
He broke away earlier this year and drew large crowds during his campaign. Before results were released he declared himself the winner and urged his supporters to protest.
Authorities say at least four people were killed in clashes with security forces ahead of the announcement. The deaths happened on Sunday in Douala, the economic capital, as hundreds of people took to the streets in several cities including Garoua and Maroua.
"I am ready to stake my life to defend my vote. I voted for Tchiroma because I want change," Oumarou Bouba, a 27-year-old trader in Maroua, said.
Samuel Dieudonne Ivaha Diboua, governor of the Littoral Region, said several members of the security forces were injured and at least 105 protesters were arrested in Douala.
Videos shared online showed police firing tear gas as protesters barricaded streets.
Cameroon opposition leaders arrested as protests erupt over contested elections
Fraud claims
Dozens of opposition supporters, activists and leaders have been detained in recent days.
Cameroon’s Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, said on Saturday that the government had arrested several people plotting violent attacks. The government said the protests were illegal.
Bakary and his supporters accuse Biya of fraud and gross irregularities. The opposition has also claimed that the president used "state machinery" to manipulate the election in his favour and had a hand in disqualifying his strongest rival.
Biya and his party deny this.
Opposition groups in Europe strongly backed Bakary. He took 62.79 percent of votes cast overseas, compared to Biya’s 22.63 percent. But the winner is the candidate with the most votes nationwide.
Voter turnout stood at 46.3 percent, according to the official results announced 15 days after the election.
Cabral Libii came in third place with 3.4 percent, followed by Bello Bouba Maigari with 2.5 percent, and Hermine Patricia Tomaino Ndam Njoya, the only woman candidate, with 1.7 percent.
The other eight candidates each received less than one percent of the vote.
Analysts warned that Cameroon, once seen as stable, could face deeper political turmoil if many citizens believe the result does not reflect their votes.
Biya remains the world’s oldest head of state. He faced criticism for only appearing at one campaign rally. At that event, he told voters that "the best is still to come".
