To the complete non surprise of anyone watching, 92 year-old President Paul Biya has secured his eighth consecutive term as Cameroon’s leader. As the world’s oldest head of state, his victory with 53.66% of the vote was less a genuine election and more a highly choreographed confirmation of the long standing status quo.
The Price of Perpetual Power
Biya’s seemingly endless reign is widely believed to be sustained by a lucrative system of corruption and patronage that keeps a powerful elite firmly in line. The clearest sign of this alleged rot often manifests in his personal travel budget.
- The Geneva Getaway: Biya is famously the “absentee landlord,” often governing from the opulent Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva. An international consortium (OCCRP) estimated his private trips have cost Cameroonian taxpayers around $65 million (US dollars) over time a colossal sum often paid in cash directly from the state’s coffers.
- A Political Weapon: While his government runs high-profile “anti-corruption” campaigns, many critics view these efforts as thinly veiled tools for eliminating political rivals. Former senior officials who have dared to challenge him, such as Titus Edzoa (who spent 17 years in prison) and Maurice Kamto (who was detained for months after disputing the 2018 results), were swiftly targeted.
Stability at a High Cost
Despite his political trick of acting as a balancing figure across the nation’s many social and linguistic divides (French speaking versus English speaking regions), Biya’s distant approach has allowed major crises to fester. The bloody Anglophone crisis is the most costly example: his slow response to initial protests in 2016 allowed the violence to escalate, rapidly fracturing national unity.
This election, however, proved the depth of public discontent. The main challenger, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, a Muslim northerner, managed to unify opposition support across diverse regions, including the restive English speaking areas. Following the Constitutional Council’s inevitable confirmation of Biya’s win, protests erupted across the country. Reports of security forces shooting at demonstrators in the economic hub of Douala and in the north highlight the high risks and human costs Biya’s continuation in power has brought.
His victory ensures the nation remains tethered to a system defined by political stagnation…
Related Topic: Africa
