disputed

The Gambia hosts Issa Tchiroma Bakary after Paul Biya, Cameroon’s leader for 43 years, wins yet another election.

Cameroon’s opposition leader Issa Tchiroma Bakary has fled to The Gambia “for the purpose of ensuring his safety” in the wake of the recent presidential election that returned longtime ruler Paul Biya to power amid deadly protests.

The Gambian government confirmed in a statement on Sunday that it was hosting Tchiroma “temporarily” in the country on “humanitarian grounds” while pursuing a “peaceful and diplomatic resolution” to post-electoral tensions in Cameroon.

The statement, posted on the Facebook page of the office of Gambian President Adama Barrow, said The Gambia was working with regional partners like Nigeria to “support a peaceful and negotiated outcome” following October’s disputed election.

Official election results showed 92-year-old Biya, the world’s oldest head of state, secured his eighth term in office with 53.7 percent of the vote, against 35.2 percent for Tchiroma, a former government minister leading the Cameroon National Salvation Front.

But Tchiroma, who claimed vote tampering, stated he was the election’s real winner. “This is not democracy, it is electoral theft, a constitutional coup as blatant as it is shameful,” he said at the time.

The opposition leader repeatedly urged supporters to protest against the official election outcome, urging them to stage “dead city” operations by closing shops and halting other public activities.

The Cameroonian government has confirmed that at least five people were killed during the protests, although the opposition and civil society groups claim the figures are much higher.

The government has said it plans to initiate legal proceedings against Tchiroma for his “repeated calls for insurrection.”

Biya came to power in 1982 following the resignation of Cameroon’s first president and has ruled since, following a 2008 constitutional amendment that abolished term limits.

He has ruled the country with an iron fist, repressing all political opposition.

The UN Security Council says further extensions would hinge on real progress between Sudan and South Sudan.

The United Nations Security Council has voted to renew a UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), the peacekeeping mission in the oil-rich disputed region between Sudan and South Sudan, for another year.

A 12-0 vote late on Friday, which saw Russia, China and Pakistan abstain, extended the mission until November 2026, but warned that progress on ending bloody fighting in the region would be crucial to any potential future extensions.

The United States submitted the draft resolution that renewed the mandate, which was due to expire on November 15, and said it “negotiated this draft in good faith, asking only for reasonable and common-sense benchmarks for this mission”.

Friday’s resolution stated that further renewal would be based on “demonstrable progress” by Sudan and South Sudan, including the creation of a joint police force for Abyei and the complete demilitarisation of the region, as agreed upon by the two sides in 2011 when South Sudan gained independence.

The 4,000 police and soldiers of UNISFA are tasked with protecting civilians in the region plagued by frequent armed clashes.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is now tasked with presenting a report by August 2026 on whether Sudan and South Sudan have made any tangible progress, which would also enable the Security Council to assess the consequences of reducing the peacekeeping force.

“These benchmarks will help describe the mission’s impact and provide a critical tool to hold host governments accountable for measurable progress,” said US representative Dorothy Shea.

UNISFA is a small but politically sensitive mission, operating in a region where clashes have displaced thousands and humanitarian access has often been constrained by a lack of security and dangerous road conditions.

Unrest in the disputed area with South Sudan also continues at a time when Sudan is devastated by a civil war that erupted in April 2023, when two generals started fighting over control of the country.

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have been committing atrocities in Darfur and other regions, have also been active in Abyei.