Supporters will mark 42 years of the Paul Biya presidency in Cameroon on Wednesday, celebrating with rallies, special broadcasts, and calls for him to seek an eighth term.
Just over two weeks after the 91-year-old leader returned home from a six-week absence amid widespread speculation regarding his health, members of the ruling party received calls to display their unwavering support.
“Let us unite in solidarity behind President Paul Biya to guarantee the stability and advancement of Cameroon,” urged Jean Nkuete, the secretary general of the central committee of the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (RDPC), in a letter to party members.
Released late last month as part of the preparations, the correspondence lauded Biya’s “fantastic record” and called for an end to “malicious speculation and predictions” concerning the leader, who assumed power in 1982 when Ahmadou Ahidjo resigned.
In the western region, numerous activists and supporters endorsed a motion inviting “all Cameroonians, regardless of their political views, to join us in advocating for President Paul Biya’s candidacy.”
During a documentary screening in the southern town of Ebolowa entitled “Paul Biya, a Great Statesman with a Prodigious Destiny,” Jacques Fame Ndongo, the Higher Education Minister and RDPC communications official, also “solemnly requested” that Biya run again.
Consistent with his usual silence on the subject, Biya has not indicated his plans. He has also not named a successor — the topic of who will take his place remains off-limits.
Following heavily disputed elections in 2018, Biya further solidified his authoritarian rule, with dissent met with repression, arrests, and prison sentences, according to human rights advocates.
His long absence after returning from Beijing in early September for a China-Africa cooperation summit raised numerous questions.
Rumours about his health circulated, leading authorities to make the unusual decision to publish a statement on October 8 that the president was healthy, working from Switzerland, and would return home shortly.
Biya — who has previously spent extended periods in Switzerland for medical treatment or leisure — finally appeared back in Cameroon on October 21, receiving a warm welcome from his party.
He was welcomed at Yaoundé airport by Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, the secretary general of the presidency, and his wife Chantal, although assistance for passengers with reduced mobility was available nearby.
Since then, he has issued several decrees, including a series of military appointments, indicating to his supporters that he remains in control.
