Timi Frank, a former deputy national publicity secretary for the All Progressives Congress (APC), has denounced the announcement that 93-year-old Paul Biya had won Cameroon’s most recent presidential election, calling it “a mockery of democracy” and “a brazen subversion of the people’s will.”
Frank called Biya’s triumph “an insult to democracy and a disgrace to Africa’s conscience” in a statement released in Abuja on Monday.
“The regime’s purported results are a fiction that blatantly subverts the will of the people. He said, “The world cannot watch helplessly as Cameroonian democracy is choked in broad daylight.”
According to reports, Frank accused Cameroonian security forces of killing innocent people and bemoaned the harsh crackdown on individuals protesting the results of the October 12 election.
Because they want their ballots to be counted, innocent Cameroonians are being massacred by their own security personnel. “This carnage needs to stop right now,” he declared.
“Those who ordered and carried out the killings must be held personally accountable before international law,” he continued.
Frank Demands Global Intervention
The activist, who currently represents the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) in East Africa and the Middle East, urged the UN and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to look into the killings and voting irregularities right away.
Additionally, he criticized the African Union (AU) for its “shameful silence” in the face of what he described as overt oppression.
“The AU has betrayed its core values by remaining silent in the face of such flagrant theft. The AU is supporting despotism and contributing to the demise of democracy on the continent by remaining silent or taking no action. Coups and instability in Africa are fueled by this silence and duplicity, according to Frank.
Frank called on the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and other democratic countries to punish Biya’s regime with sanctions. He suggested that these ought to include stopping military supplies to Cameroon, freezing assets, and prohibiting travel.
“The international community needs to make it very clear that there will be severe consequences for those who kill individuals, manipulate elections, and undermine democratic institutions. He said, “Anything less would give other dictators throughout Africa the confidence to repeat this travesty.”
Frank asserts that opposition candidate Issa Tchiroma Bakary, who he claims has the people’s mandate, is still the real winner of the Cameroonian election.
He declared, “The international community must acknowledge this fact and put pressure on Paul Biya to step down.”
Frank encouraged Cameroonians to hold onto their future and commended them for their tenacity in opposing dictatorship.
“To the courageous people of Cameroon: your bravery in the face of oppression is a ray of hope.” Maintain peace and unity while defending your mandate and upholding your democracy. “History is on your side, and the entire world is watching,” he declared.
Frank warned that other African autocrats would gain confidence if the international community did not take immediate action against Biya’s administration.
“If the world does not act decisively now, it would set a dangerous precedent, one that tells African leaders that election manipulation, intimidating opponents, and killing citizens go unpunished,” he continued.
“This cannot occur. Now is the moment to take action. The world must support the Cameroonian people and declare that blood-stained power and rigged elections have no place in the twenty-first century.
