Paul Biya re-elected President of Cameroon

Paul Biya has been re-elected President of Cameroon to his seventh term with more than 71 percent of votes, Constitutional Council proclaimed on Monday. 

Cameroon's President and head of Cameroon People's Democratic Movement Paul Biya speaks to media after casting his vote at a polling station during presidential elections in Yaounde, Cameroon on October 07, 2018. [File Photo: IC]

The candidate of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement Maurice Kamto ranked second with 14.23 percent of the votes, while Joshua Osih of the main opposition Social Democratic Front won only 3.35 percent of the votes to occupy the fourth place among the nine candidates.

According to official statistics, 3,590,681 voters of 6,667,754 registered voted, making a participation rate of 53.85 percent, compared with 65.82 percent in 2011 and 82.83 percent in 2004.

The turnout was low in the English-speaking zone where less than 10 percent of registered voters voted amid threats from armed secessionists to disrupt the polls. 

Before declaring the results, the president of the Constitutional Council Justice Clement Atangana said that the election was "free, transparent, peaceful, and credible," and the Constitutional Council is "satisfied." 

The victory enables Biya, leader of the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement, to extend his 36 years in office.