Ambazonia: This Is How France and The United Kingdom Discreetly Support Paul Biya

Paul Biya, head of Cameroon for 35 years, is often absent from his country, which earned him the title of "absent president".

The president of Cameroon, Paul Biya, has been in power for 35 years. Although his longevity in power is debated in his country, the time he spent outside his country is also a topic of global discussion.

Criticized for his supposed remote management of Cameroon, Paul Biya recently organized a Council of Ministers, the first in more than two years.

The presidential elections are scheduled for October and Cameroonians do not know if the 85-year-old president will seek a new mandate.

Ambazonia: This Is How France and The United Kingdom Discreetly Support Paul Biya

He still has not said anything about it.

Biya came to power in 1982, making him one of the longest serving presidents in Africa.

Cameroon survived an economic crisis and experimented with multipartyism under its rule.

But the country was also marked by endemic corruption and a democratic retreat: the limitation of the mandates was abolished in 2008, which had allowed the octogenarian to seek a new mandate in 2011.
Nowadays, the Africa is changing.

The era of long presidencies seems to be over.

Satellite television and the internet are changing the game.

Urban populations dream of democratic change.

60% of Cameroonians are under 25, they were not born when Paul Biya came to power in 1982.

They demand jobs and a better life.

The opposition party, the Social Democratic Front, has recognized this need for generational change.

Earlier this year, its leader, 76-year-old John Fru Ndi, agreed to give way to the younger generation.

Joshua Osih, a 49-year-old businessman and former pilot, is the party's candidate for the October presidential election.

This is the main challenge of Paul Biya who will decide to stay in power for a fourth decade in a country that is hungry for change.

His repeated absences in the country are the subject of criticism.

His travels abroad have been the subject of a controversy between the national newspaper Cameroon Tribune and an international organization (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project OCCRP), which has calculated the time spent by the Cameroonian president outside his country.

The OCCRP estimated that Paul Biya spent 60 days outside Cameroon on a private visit.

The NGO also stated that it spent one-third of the years 2006 and 2009 outside Cameroon.

The Intercontinental Hotel Geneva is his favorite destination.

In his country, Paul Biya adopts a key style! He remains out of the spotlight and often lives reclusively in his home village.

He leaves the daily management of the country to his prime minister, Philemon Yang, who organizes monthly ministerial meetings.

He has the latitude to manage his team when the president meets key personalities in private in his palace of Yaounde, the capital.

This way of managing is often critical and Paul Biya equated with an "absent president."

However, this relationship partly reflects the double Franco-British colonial legacy

Paul Biya, like his predecessor, Ahmadou Ahidjo, comes from the French-speaking area. that the Prime Minister is always English-speaking

, so when President Biya summons ministers to a rare official ministerial gathering, it is usually for a particular reason.

The most recent was the first official meeting of the new ministerial team after a reshuffle earlier this month. The last Council of Ministers with the President goes back to 2015.

But the 2018 ministerial meeting was important for other reasons.

Cameroon in crisis for a year

For over a year, the Anglophone region of Cameroon in the northwest and southwest is in crisis.

At first, it was a protest by lawyers and teachers demanding a better use of English.

Tensions finally resulted in a confrontation with the security forces; a 93-day internet blackout in the region and the advent of a separatist movement that calls for the independence of Ambazonia.

The government has tried to resolve this issue but the situation is still dangerous.

France and the United Kingdom have quietly supported the dialogue.

Paul Biya responded with a cabinet reshuffle on March 2, signaling a carrot and stick approach.

He remained steadfast on security and the law but yielded with the creation of the Ministry of Decentralization, a promise made to Anglophones.