DOUALA: One protester was killed in Cameroon as police and gendarmes put down protests against the veteran President Paul Biya, the country’s main opposition party said on Tuesday, while accusing security forces of laying siege to their leader’s home.
Police and gendarmes fired tear gas and water cannon to break up protests in the commercial hub of Douala, calling for an end to Biya’s near 40-year rule, Reuters witnesses said.
The rally was called by 87-year-old Biya’s closest rival, Maurice Kamto, of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement party, who hopes to spark a popular revolt as seen in other African nations such as Mali and Burkina Faso.
Kamto’s home was “in a state of siege”, surrounded by tanks and heavily armed gendarmes, said Joseph Ateba, a senior member of Kamto’s party, the Movement for the…