Cameroon will hold its first regional elections in December 2020, President Paul Biya has said.
The election will also be held in the West African country’s English speaking provinces which have witnessed years of fighting between separatists and the government.
Biya, 87, who has been in power for 38 years, signed a decree on Monday authorising indirect elections on December 6 in the country’s 10 regions.
The polls will put in place councils provided for in a 1996 constitution in a move towards decentralisation but not yet implemented.
The regions plans to elect 90 councillors who will have limited powers on local issues. Twenty of them will be representatives of traditional chieftains.
John Fru Ndi, leader of a key opposition party, has declared that he will boycott the election unless there is a ceasefire first in the English-speaking regions.
The 1996 constitution limited presidents to two seven-year terms but Biya’s party scrapped the term limits in 2008, allowing him to run again and extend his rule.
