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10, October 2024
Cabinet ministers, ambassadors are unsure of President Biya’s condition 0
Recent reactions from Etoudi on the bill of health of President Paul Biya have still not dispelled all doubts. Biya’s return to Yaoundé the nation’s capital has been announced “in the very next few days,” according to Minister René Emmanuel Sadi’s terms. But senior officials contacted by Cameroon Intelligence Report today in Yaoundé say they are unsure of the president’s condition.
A Cameroonian diplomat in Geneva with strong ties to Etoudi told our correspondent that it’s a bit difficult to comment, because the information about President Biya is coming from different places and from different sources.
Our source who sued for anonymity furthered that cabinet ministers and ambassadors in Europe are now very careful with what they say.
On June 9, 2004, after being reported dead a few days earlier and having met the rumour with the same silence, Paul Biya reappeared on the tarmac of Yaoundé-Nsimalen airport, arriving—once again—from Geneva.
But his absence this time around comes at a crucial moment for Cameroon, a country that is facing a powerful secessionist movement in the two English speaking regions of the country.
The country’s second in command, Marcel Niat is also a living corpse and he is presently too weak to chair security meetings.
Cameroon Intelligence Report understands that the 91-year-old Biya mandated the Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh to deputize for him. There are questions now about whether Biya has completed the legal transfer of power to Ngoh Ngoh. In short, these are times that require strong leadership, not a lack thereof.
The general political temperature is gearing up and Barrister Akere Muna recently announced his 8-point plan for next year’s presidential election. Muna made a strong presentation but avoided the issue of the president’s health and also who is in charge of state affairs.
The next presidential election is scheduled for October 2025.
By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai