9 February Twin Polls:

Elecam Derives Special Strategy for Restive NW-SW Regions

Voting will take place in the two Anglophone regions of Cameroon, despite the secessionist conflict playing out there, state television, CRTV announced Wednesday.

              

  Elections management body, Elecam says several polling stations would be grouped in a single secure location, in order to limit possible infiltration by separatist fighters who have vowed to disrupt the elections in what they claim is their territory.

                In the face of growing tension, the government recently deployed more than 700 additional troops to the two troubled regions, which count some over 1.1 million voters out of a total 6.6 million voters in the whole country, according to Elecam figures.

                In the meantime, several parliamentary and municipal council candidates, mostly from the opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF), in the conflict regions, have withdrawn their candidacies in view of the threats from the separatists. The withdrawal of candidacies is in spite of security guarantees by the government.

                “The security forces will do their job of securing the electoral process in the 10 regions, in general, and especially in the North-West and South-West regions. On the very high instructions of the Head of State, a special contingent of security forces has been deployed in the two regions to ensure security before, during and after the twin polls on 9 February 2020,” the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, said a week ago.

                Speaking in the North-West capital Bamenda, on Tuesday, the commander of the 5th Joint Military Region, Valère Nka, urged the separatists to lay down their arms or they get set to face the wrath of government forces.