In GAROUA, Cameroon, the dim light of Garoua’s northern nights host young men and women taking turns to stand guard outside a modest family home. Some clutch wooden slats, others iron rods, not as weapons of war, but as symbols of vigilance. Inside sits Issa Tchiroma Bakary, the opposition leader and former minister who dared to challenge Cameroon’s long-serving president, Paul Biya.
It has been a week since Cameroonians cast their votes in the October 12 presidential election. Yet, even before official results are announced, both Biya, the 92years old leader who has ruled for 43 years and Tchiroma have declared victory on both ends. The tension that followed has turned Garoua, a bustling river port city, into a stage for defiance and quiet hope.
Hassana Tchiroma, a relative of the opposition figure said – “We are protecting our father, our leader. Minister Tchiroma simply had enough of the hostile rhetoric coming from President Biya’s entourage”. As she watches the shifting crowd outside the gate.
In Garoua, solidarity has become both a political act and a family affair. Residents have created an informal rotation system; one group guards at night, another takes over at dawn. Mothers bring food; students stand watch between job searches. The air buzzes with anxiety and determination. Moussa Iya Mohaman Adama, a young Cameroonian graduate said “Cameroonians are suffering. We are tired. We want change from north to south, east to west. We don’t want war, we just want Papa Biya to hand over power to the people.”
Since the election, protests have erupted across the city, met with riot police and tear gas. Witnesses say security forces blocked access to Tchiroma’s home on election day, forcing his supporters to push through checkpoints to ensure his safety. “It was the people who made the decision to protect him,” Hassana recalls. “Since then, he’s been confined to his residence. Everything he does now and every statement comes from his home.”
Garoua today feels like a city holding its breath. The markets are quieter, the roads tense. Yet amongst the uncertainty, there is a shared sense that something concrete is shifting, a generational impatience is echoing across Cameroon.
From his besieged home, Issa Tchiroma addressed the nation on Monday night, declaring himself the winner of an election still without official results. Outside, the young lookouts nodded silently, their watch continuing under the flicker of streetlights and guarding not just of another man, but one who pivots a hope for change in Cameroon.
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