Post-election Violence : Beware of Foreigners’ Interference, Involvement!

Cameroon is a sovereign State and according to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961) and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (1963) is fundamentally based on the fact that States are independent and have the right to manage their affairs without external interference. Non-interference means that no State or group of States has the right to intervene, directly or indirectly, in the internal or external affairs of another State. In fact, Article 41 of the 1961 Convention requires diplomats to respect the laws of the receiving State, implying a mutual respect for each other's sovereignty. If diplomats, who enjoy immunity and other privileges are obliged to respect the sovereignty of the State, what more of an average foreigner residing in a country.  
Amongst the internal affairs of a country are the organisation of its elections. Cameroonian just recently went to the polls on October 12 to elect the President of the Republic and on October 27, 2025, the Constitutional Council published the results with Paul Biya being proclaimed President-elect recording a score of 53.66 per cent. Prior to the proclamation of the results and thereafter, there has been some post-electoral violence, leading to the destruction of public and private properties. 
Images and videos that have circulated online have seen hordes of demonstrators rush into public squares in some cities, committing serious acts of violence against honest citizens, looting property belonging to individuals and legal entities, setting fire on public and private buildings, storming security posts, buildings housing public services, political party offices, and committing other acts of violence. Investigations and some of those arrested have shown the involvement of foreigners from neigbouring countries in the acts of violence, especially in the cases of Douala in the Littoral Region and the Northern Regions. In a press conference recently granted by the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, some citizens of a neigbouring State were arrested, in possession of arms and other weapons, intended to spur violence within the post-electoral period. Likewise, the Min...