Rumours, preconceived notions, clichés, superstitions, urban legend: What is real? What is fake?
Yes, foreign observers used a Transparency International platform during the 2018 presidential election

Yes, foreign observers used a Transparency International platform during the 2018 presidential election

Paru le vendredi, 12 octobre 2018 12:04

Although it was not accredited to the October 7 election, Transparency still received the reports from independent scrutineers.

There is some confusion about some foreign observers of the presidential election in Cameroon which was held October 7. The observers supposed to be sent by the NGO Transparency International (TI) have provoked denials from the NGO, both at the international body and the local branch level.

On October 9, two days after election, the NGO Transparency International issued a statement indicating that it had not accredited observers to the presidential election on 7 October. On the same day, the local branch issued a statement signed by Chairman Lawyer Charles Nguini saying “TI sent no observers to Cameroon”.

Yet, investigations helped understand where the supposed link between the observers and the NGO came from. Indeed a video published October 10 featured Mr. Charles Nguini with two ladies (one said she is American while the other is Tunisian). And both revealed they observed the presidential election as “independent observers”.  It was even written on their badge, they said. As well, the two ladies said they were trained by Transparency International and used a web platform of the NGO dedicated to denunciations and other cases of fraud during the election. The Tunisian observer noted that her observation reports on the web platform were “indirectly” sent to TI.

Charles Nguini himself confirmed on the video that these foreigners used the platforms set up by Transparency-Cameroon. In short, they are independent observers who have nevertheless collaborated “indirectly” with TI.

As proof, Mr. Nguini's denial revealed that “citizens have been made aware of the existence of the denunciation platform and denunciation techniques, Cameroonian civil society organizations and some international observers accredited [by the Cameroonian government] have made good use of these denunciation methods. On polling day, 197 polling centers were visited: 163 in the department of Mfoundi, 24 in the department of Wouri and 11 in the department of Fako”.

Thus, TI-Cameroon acknowledged it recorded 315 alerts, 29 received directly on the platform, 164 SMS messages and 122 WhatsApp messages with convincing support.

Sylvain Andzongo

● Fact Cheking




● E-SCAMS