85 Years Old Tuesday, Paul Biya Loses Control Of Cameroon

Cameroonian President Paul Biya, who is celebrating his 85th birthday on Tuesday, continues to project himself into the leadership of a state he has been managing for almost 35 years, while the security challenges are multiplying in a country that will end the 2018 general election.

"The Cameroon of tomorrow, which is being built before our eyes, will have little to do with yesterday's (...) This is both a chance and a challenge. Seize this opportunity and meet this challenge, "said Paul Biya on Saturday in a speech to young people.

In Cameroon in 2014, according to the latest available statistics, 75% of the population was under 25 years of age and had only known Paul Biya as president.

Biya, who joined Etoudi's presidential palace in 1982, asked them on Saturday to exercise their right to vote in the upcoming elections, including the presidential elections.

85 Years Old Tuesday, Paul Biya Loses Control Of Cameroon

He has not yet decided on his candidacy for a possible seventh term. His supporters present him as their natural candidate, while his detractors see in his age a motive enough to try to seek his succession.

Although several candidates have already been declared, the presidential camp has managed to contain over the years the discordant voices: "Mr. Biya has put into practice the adage + divide and conquer + and thus remain at the top of a system without being able to organize - much less coalesce - the forces that could have challenged his power, "said researcher Stéphane Akoa.
Biya has blocked access to key posts and institutions until the recent creation of the Constitutional Council in early February, composed of eleven members, all from the presidential party, the Rassemblement démocratique des peuple camerounais (Rdpc). In particular, it must validate the results of the elections.

The presidents of the National Assembly - Djibril Cavaye Yeguié, 74 years old, including 26 at this post - and the Senate - Marcel Niat Njifendi, 84 years old and the first president of the institution created in 2013 -, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces - Rene Claude Meka, 79 years old, including 17 in this position - and the director of the national oil company - Adolphe Moudiki, 79 years old, including 25 in this position - are all close to the head of state.

A former Catholic seminarian and a student at Sciences Po in Paris, Biya has "put in place a device around him, which makes the system is him," notes an observer.

Paul Biya, who in fact retains a large control over a country where more than a third of the inhabitants live on less than 2 euros a day, is nevertheless often criticized from Cameroon for his repeated absences, often for several weeks, mainly in Switzerland.

These absences have left questions over the years about the president's state of health. At the end of January, rumors ran on this one, quickly dismantled by an appearance on state television on Saturday.

Paul Biya likes to keep the secret around him and his political agenda, leaving his ministers to communicate. If in the opinion of all, he has the sense of the formula, his appearances are as rare as scrutinized.

Amateur of alpaca suits and other silk ties, the "Sphinx" has drawn up its balance sheet on Saturday: the jihadist group Boko Haram has a nuisance capacity "considerably reduced", the crisis situation in English-speaking regions "calmed down" and the economy has "embellished", according to him.

However, jihadist incursions continue in the Far North while the security situation in the English-speaking West is only getting worse. On Sunday, three gendarmes were killed there, in a crisis that gradually turned into a conflict of low intensity.

The army - which defends itself - is accused by testimonies of inhabitants of abuses, while the attacks against the symbols of the State multiply by armed men claiming "Ambazonia", the name of the independent State they intend to create.

"With the troubles in the English-speaking regions and the persistent threat of Boko Haram, the 2018 elections will be a bigger challenge than the previous ones," said Hans De Marie Heungoup, researcher at the International Crisis Group (ICG).