Cameroon’s ailing President Paul Biya, has created jobs for members of his entourage without following proper procedures.

The almost 92-year-old Biya, who has opted to humiliate himself all over the world, has transformed all those around him into caregivers and emergency workers without seeking their opinion.

For many years now, Chantal Biya, the country’s first lady, has been doubling as a professional caregiver. She has developed great care giving skills, which have caused many observers to conclude that she might be preparing to move to the United States to serve as a caregiver since such a skill is in great demand and highly lucrative in the US.

For Samuel Mvondo Ayolo, the director of cabinet at the presidency, moonlighting as a prop to the crumbling 92-year-old Biya has given him much money as he has to work longer hours these days, especially as Mr. Biya is out of the country.

The chief of state protocol, Simon Pierre Bikele, also has a lot on his plate. He has been running all over the place like someone suffering from diarrhea to ensure that cameras do not capture some of the ugly moments when members of Biya’s entourage are doing their second jobs.

It is alleged that Mvondo Ayolo is already complaining of a broken shoulder given that he has to constantly carry the 110 kg heavy Biya whose legs can no longer help him stand upright.

Chantal Biya has continued putting on a brave face but having to change those diapers is already taking a toll on her. It is alleged that she too sometimes grumbles about her job as a caregiver, but many insiders hold that she deserves her fate having unjustifiably benefitted from the chaos Mr. Biya has created in Cameroon.

Speaking to the Cameroon Concord News Group editor-in-chief recently, a senior staff at the presidency hinted that the Unity Palace had actually been transformed into a health facility, adding that what the public is seeing in Paris is just the tip of the iceberg.

“We are sick and tired of this unpalatable drama which Biya and his entourage are staging on a global stage. At almost 92, Biya is completely finished. The level of incontinence is humiliating and diapers cannot stand such a heavy duty,” our source at the Unity Palace said.

“It is not only Biya who is a comedian. At the Senate, Niat is dealing with similar problems and his entourage is already tired. Members of his entourage know that if Niat dies, he might die with their jobs but they think he is better dead than alive,” the angry CPDM member said.

“Even Niat’s assistants have been pinned down by serious illnesses which are not allowing them to be effective. The second vice president at the Senat, George Tabetando, is screaming in pain in his Yaoundé residence as a prostrate problem is robbing him of his happiness. Cavaye Yegue Djibril of the National Assembly now breathes like an old heavy-duty truck whose engine is falling apart.  They are all very sick but yielding the floor to younger people is not on their agenda. Cameroonians must find away to put an end to this crazy drama,” he concluded.

Meanwhile inside sources at the Presidency say that some CPDM members are insisting that those who are calling on Mr. Biya to run in next year’s presidential elections should be redeployed to the presidency for them to see how expired the president is. He has lost his cognitive qualities and the energy is gone. If they join the odd job crew, they will reconsider their ideas. Biya is a difficult job and no one needs such a tasking job now, a source said.

“Cameroon will be a better place without Biya. His continuous presence at the helm will only imply that things will get worse, and, by so doing, strengthening the wave of brain drain that is robbing the country of its youths,” a CPDM militant said angrily.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

French President Macron met with the Cameroonian dictator Paul Biya on Friday July 26, 2024 at the Elysée, during a working meeting.

Emmanuel Macron first thanked President Biya for his presence in Paris on the occasion of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Two years to the day after the state visit of the President of the Republic to Cameroon on July 26, 2022, the two heads of state followed up on the commitments that had been made on this occasion.

Biya and Macron discussed advances in the cultural, economic and agricultural fields which have made it possible to deepen this partnership. They particularly welcomed the important work carried out by the Joint Memorial Commission on the role and commitment of France in Cameroon in the fight against the independence and opposition movements between 1945 and 1971. Macron reiterates the need for researchers to have access, as widely and freely as possible, to the archives to enable them to submit their report as quickly as possible.

Finally, Macron reaffirmed his attachment to the friendship between France and Cameroon, stimulated by the vitality of human ties between the two countries.

Source: Foreign Affairs

The World Bank Group announced on July 23 its commitment to a new Country Partnership Framework (CPF) with Cameroon, covering 2025 to 2029. This strategic partnership aims to support Cameroon’s “Vision 2035,” which aspires to transform the nation into “an emerging, democratic, and united country in its diversity.”

As part of this effort, the financial institution plans to provide over $2 billion (more than CFA1, 210 billion) during the CPF period to bolster the country’s economic development. This funding complements the $4.2 billion in ongoing commitments.

Cheick F. Kanté, World Bank Country Director for Cameroon, emphasized the importance of this partnership in job creation, particularly for the youth. “A key focus of our engagement is to create more and better jobs, particularly for the youth, as a driver for improving the living conditions of the Cameroonian population at large and preserving social cohesion,” he stated, according to the release. Another goal of the new CPF is to create more effective and inclusive service delivery institutions, with special attention to climate and fragility issues.

The new CPF marks a significant step in the collaboration between Cameroon and the World Bank Group institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). This partnership will focus on expanding economic opportunities while laying the foundations for resilient and inclusive growth in Cameroon.

Dahlia Khalifa, IFC Regional Director for West and Central Africa, highlighted the essential role of the private sector in achieving the CPF’s objectives. “The private sector has a key role to play in expanding renewable energy solutions, enhancing agricultural productivity, bridging the infrastructure gap, and increasing financing for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Cameroon,” she said.

Şebnem Erol Madan, Director of Economic Analysis and Sustainability at MIGA, underscored the World Bank Group’s commitment to mobilizing private financing and foreign direct investments to support inclusive and resilient development in Cameroon. “Over the CPF period, the WBG will build on its track record of mobilizing private finance and foreign direct investment in diverse sectors, supporting inclusive and resilient development in Cameroon. This effort will be strengthened by sustained collaboration between the World Bank, IFC and MIGA in joint business development, including through the deployment of the WBG Guarantee Platform housed in MIGA,” she explained.

According to the World Bank, the preparation of the new CPF involved consultations with key stakeholders, including government officials, the private sector, civil society, think tanks, universities, and other development partners.

Source: Business in Cameroon

Condemnation is widespread in Cameroon following government threats to arrest civilians who criticize the country’s president. The threats increased after Cameroon’s political opposition accused President Paul Biya of postponing elections. In a release Tuesday, Human Rights Watch described the threats as censorship of free speech.

Cameroon’s opposition says it is not intimidated by threats from officials who are warning them to stop saying negative things about President Biya.

This week, government spokesperson Rene Emmanuel Sadi said it was unacceptable for people to use irreverent language about the 91-year-old president.

Before Sadi’s statement, Emmanuel Mariel Djikdent, a top local government officer in the unit where Yaounde is located, announced he would expel anyone from the capital who insults Biya or state institutions.

On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch said Djikdent’s announcement should be revoked to ensure the right to freedom of expression. The rights group says it is becoming increasingly difficult to speak freely in Cameroon.

Paul Atanga Nji, Cameroon’s territorial administration minister, says he is surprised that the opposition criticizes Biya, whom he says is the architect of Cameroon’s democracy.

Nji says democracy given to Cameroonians freely by Biya must be constructively used to build and not to destroy. He says all government and administrative officials should be firm in punishing opposition and civil society members why defy and insult state authority.

Nji told state TV on Tuesday that opposition parties that call for protests against state officials will be arrested for rebellion, insurrection and treason.

Cameron’s opposition accuses Biya of ruling with an iron fist and says he is not showing signs he is ready to relinquish power.

Ndah Grimbald, assistant secretary-general of the opposition Social Democratic Front Party, says Biya should emulate the example of U.S. President Joe Biden and hand over leadership to a dynamic civilian.

“Our president, Paul Biya, is 10 years older than Biden. He is 91 years [old] and instead of thinking [of] how to hand over power to the younger generation, his regime is doing everything to impede the rights, the fundamental rights of Cameroonians from assembling and discussing the affairs of their country,” said Grimbald.

Supporters of Biya say he is a democrat and has won all elections since the return of multiparty politics in Cameroon in 1990.

Biya has not said if he will be a candidate in the next presidential polls, but his party supporters have been organizing regular political rallies to urge him to run for re-election.

Opposition groups were angered earlier this month when Biya ordered his majority Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement or CPDM party to pass a government bill extending terms for all 180 lawmakers by 12 months, into 2026.

The law makes it hard for main opposition leaders, including Maurice Kamto, to gain the legislative seats they need to be eligible to run against Biya in the next presidential election.

Kamto says he won the 2018 presidential election but lost it to Biya through fraud. Kamto then boycotted Cameroon’s 2020 local council and parliamentary elections.

Cameroon’s laws make it possible for presidential aspirants who do not have legislative seats to submit 300 signatures from influential politicians, including former ministers, traditional rulers and religious leaders, to secure a spot on the presidential ballot.

But the opposition and civil society say getting the signatures is highly difficult because the leaders are either scared of Biya or are his political partners.

Biya is Africa’s second-longest serving leader after the president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who has been in power since 1979.

Source: VOA

President Paul Biya, was scheduled to leave Yaoundé, the nation’s capital, yesterday in what was dubbed as a private visit to an unknown destination in Europe.

Sources at the Unity Palace in Yaoundé have hinted the Cameroon Concord News Group that Mr. Biya, 91, who is going through tough health challenges, was being rushed to his usual destination for health reasons.

“The head of state is in agony. His usual demons have reared their ugly heads and he is in very bad shape. His wife who moonlights as a care giver is already sick and tired of cleaning him up as even the thickest diapers are not a match for Mr. Biya’s incontinence,” our source at the Unity Palace said.

“Mr. Biya is heading to Switzerland where he hopes to find some relief. His body is failing him. He rarely talks these days and his heart and other organs have joined the fight to bring down the long-serving, incompetent and low-energy leader,” our source, which elected anonymity, said.

“Despite his failing health, Mr. Biya is still holding on to power and it is being rumored that the dying Biya is still insisting that he will be his party’s flagbearer in next year’s election. Why can Mr. Biya not learn from Joe Biden who has thrown in the towel because of age and poor health?” Our source quipped.

Meanwhile, the country’s Senate President, Marcel Niat Njifenji, was also rushed to France in a small bundle for emergency health care.

The 90-year-old is in a critical and unstable situation. He was rushed to France in an air ambulance and many of his collaborators thought he might not make it to France as his health had deteriorated very fast.

A source close to Mr. Niat said he might not return to Cameroon in front of the plane. “He might end up in the cargo section of the plane as his health is very concerning,” our source said.

Over the last couple of years, Mr. Niat has been a colony of diseases but he cannot quit his position because he wants to continue having free health care and other perks which come with his position as Senate President.

More will be yours as our correspondents in Europe provide us details about the two Cameroon strong men.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

BAT Cameroun has condemned the expropriation of its land in the Bastos district of Yaoundé. The seizure was overseen by lands minister Henri Eyebe Ayissi, and several names linked to the president’s office have been cited.

In France, publishing company A Média, which runs news station Africa 24, has been summoned to appear before the Nanterre Commercial Court in the Paris suburbs on 4 June. The indebted company faces compulsory liquidation proceedings, five years after its takeover by the Cameroonian state.

 At the heart of the intrigues at the troubled TV news station is the former owner of the group, Constant Nemale, who never strayed far from the channel.

Culled from Africa Intelligence

The Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Alamine Ousmane Mey, recently signed an agreement with the government of South Korea totalling XAF 23.21 billion (US$38 million) for the execution of five development projects in the country.

Part of the funds will be channeled to the next phase of an ongoing project to upgrade and digitize the country’s civil status registration system.

Ousmane Mey signed the agreement on behalf of Cameroon, while the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Cameroon, Nam Ki-wook, appended his signature for his country.

Cameroon is fully on a journey to digitize its civil status registration system and several actions have been taken in this regard. Already, a pilot using the OpenCRVS platform for birth registration in 20 municipal councils of the country has been completed, and a new course of action is awaited. In May, the country held a national forum of mayors to discuss hindrances to civil status registration.

Ousmane Mey said $4.8 million out of the $38 million grant will be deployed to subsequent activities of the project which seeks to set up a robust, efficient and secure foundational identity system for the country.

A project in Cameroon dubbed the “Support Program for the Modernization of the Civil Registration System” (PAMEC) is supported by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and it is within that framework that this latest grant funding from Korea has been made available, said the Ambassador. The project also has the financial support of the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).

While underlining that the funding agreement underpins the good state of relations between the two countries, the diplomat urged the government of Cameroon to implement the project in a transparent and accountable manner.

Another digital project to benefit from the financing, according to the partners, is the second phase of a program to digitize Cameroon’s public contracts procurement system, known as “e-Procurement System Development Project.” This project, to get $5.6 million from the package, is a continuation of efforts by the country to simplify procurement procedures of public contracts by enhancing transparency and efficiency.

A “Smart Campus” project is also part of the lot, according to Ousmane Mey, and will get $8 million from the grant. He says the project seeks to promote digital government efforts in the public administration and modernize service delivery in the public service.

Apart from these three projects related to digital, the two others to benefit from the Korean financing have to do with the provision of potable water schemes in four council areas, and the strengthening of the country’s emergency medicines management system.

Source: Biometricupdate