The results of Cameroon's October presidential election are expected on Monday, as four people died in the economic capital Douala during demonstrations in support of opposition leader Issa Tchiroma Bakary, who declared victory over outgoing President Paul Biya.

The Constitutional Council will announce the final results of the vote at 11:00 a.m. (10:00 a.m. GMT) in Yaoundé, the capital.

Most analysts expect Paul Biya, 92, to win an eighth term in a system his critics accuse of being locked down during his 43 years in power.

Several hundred protesters defied bans on gatherings and took to the streets at the call of Issa Tchiroma, president of the Cameroon National Salvation Front (FSNC), who claims to have won 54.8% of the vote compared to 31.3% for the outgoing president, according to his own count.

In Douala, "several members of the security forces were injured, and four people unfortunately lost their lives" in clashes with demonstrators, declared Samuel Dieudonné Ivaha Diboua, governor of the Littoral region (west), in a press release published on the night of Sunday to Monday.

Mr. Ivaha Diboua accuses the demonstrators of having attacked the Nkoulouloun gendarmerie brigade and the police stations of the 2nd and 6th districts of Douala.

"Live ammunition"

Protesters displayed ammunition casings they claimed to have collected following gunfire from law enforcement near the Nkoulouloun gendarmerie station in front of an AFP journalist on the scene.

The shooting "with live ammunition" began after a salvo of tear gas, a participant who wished to remain anonymous told AFP.

"They shot, three people, three bodies fell in front of us," he continued.

The governor of the Littoral region called the call for protests "irresponsible" as authorities banned public gatherings and restricted movement in many cities across the country.

Mr. Ivaha Diboua also condemned "in the strongest terms these premeditated acts of violence, which constitute a serious attack on public order, security and national safety of the State."

In Yaoundé and Garoua, Issa Tchiroma's stronghold in the northern region, hundreds of demonstrations were also dispersed.

"Security crisis"

During a press briefing on Saturday, Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji accused the calls for demonstrations of "undeniably creating the conditions for a security crisis and (of) participating in the implementation of an insurrectional project."

Two party presidents, members of a coalition that supported Issa Tchiroma's candidacy, Djeukam Tchameni, president of the Movement for Democracy and Interdependence in Cameroon (MDI), and Anicet Ekane, president of the African Movement for the New Independence of Cameroon (Manidem), were arrested at their homes in Douala on Friday.

There have also been significant disruptions to internet access in recent days, which, according to Netblocks, a cybersecurity monitoring organization, "could limit coverage of events on the ground amid calls to overturn the presidential election results."

The announcement of the presidential election results comes 15 days after the vote, as provided for by the Cameroonian electoral code, after the examination of appeals which the Constitutional Council has all rejected.

The members of the Constitutional Council are considered close to President Paul Biya. In August, they rejected the candidacy of Maurice Kamto, who came second in the 2018 presidential election but declared himself the winner the day after the vote.