Anti-Paul Biya protest holds in Rome.

A huge crowd of Cameroonians in the European country of Italy have held anti-Paul Biya demonstrations, in April 2019. According to Claudine Mayo from the Italian capital of Rome where the demonstrations took place said the people are tired on the unconcerned attitude of the President to the plight of their people and the unnecessary killings with the international community standing bye and do nothing to stop it. President Paul Biya is a Cameroonian politician serving as the President of Cameroon since 6 November, 1982. He won last Presidential Elections under questionable circumstances and since then, there have been protests in various parts of the world calling on him to step down.

The protesters on the streets of Rome carried dozen of placards, calling for an end to the killings in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon. Unrest in Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions began in October 2016 as a disagreement in language but government mismanaged it, turning it into a demand by majority of Anglophones in the North West and South West for a separate state called Ambazonia.

Gun battles have ensued and the government has been accused of numerous Human Rights violation, including targeted killings and the burning down of entire villages according to credible reports from the US Ambassador to Cameroon, Peter Henry Barlerin, reputable Human Rights Lawyer Agbor Balla and Bishops of Mamfe and Kumbo. Other placards decried what they call; Electoral Holdup while others said thirty-six (36) years is enough. Many have accused Biya 85, in office since 1982 for desperately holding to power, asking him to step down for Kamto. Prof Maurice Kamto, Chair of Cameroon’s main opposition political party, Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM) competed in the Cameroon’s Presidential Elections and went on to declare he won

He later challenged the results at the country’s Constitutional Council where the Council’s ruling was considered by many Cameroonians as jaundiced. Kamto believes the Electoral Commission imputed figures to favour the incumbent especially as elections were boycotted in the North West and South West Regions buried in an armed conflict. On January 26, 2019, at the behest of Kamto, Cameroonians observed peaceful demonstrations in Douala, Yaoundé, Bafoussam and in other cities. A mammoth crowd attended the protests, denouncing what they term Electoral Holdup.

Abroad, many Cameroonians who were protesting invaded Cameroon Embassies in France, Belgium, Britain, and Germany causing material damages. In Cameroon, several protesters were reportedly shot by police, including Michele Ndoki, a famous female lawyer. Authorities reacted by arresting Prof Maurice Kamto, his closest party aides and allies, Christian Penda Ekoka, Albert Dzongang and, several other party activists in Douala before they were ferried to Yaoundé where they’re now standing trial. Kamto is now charged with Rebellion, Sedition, and Insurrection, inciting Violence, Disruption of Public Peace, Complicity, and Association with wrongdoers and Hostility against the nation.