Cameron’s «Right Royal President»

Paul Biya who has ruled Cameroon for more than a quarter of a century is more of a «republican monarch»
than an elected leader

By Bangsi Daniel Song in Bamenda

Shortly before the 1997 presidential election, BCC Focus on Africa magazine published a two-page portrait
of Paul Biya titled, A Right Royal President. At the time, Paul Biya had ruled Cameroon for 15 years and
many Cameroonians did not expect him to last in power for much longer.

But the author of the article, Vincent T’sas, who had reported for the BBC in Yaounde for several years,
knew better and presented Paul Biya portrayed more in terms of a monarch than an elected leader.

Ten years after, Paul Biya has modified the constitution to clear his way for a life presidency
and granted himself immunity for any crimes he might have committed or might still commit while in office.

After reigning at that time for 15 years «only», the BBC reporter in Yaounde had seen President Biya behave
and rule like a monarch». In the portrait, Vincent T’sas stated that for 15 years, Biya had been a
«republican monarch», often mixing force and acumen.

T’sas saw in the president a «monarch», in the way he dressed, in the way he moved and waved at his subjects
and at his frequent use of the royal «we» even when he meant himself.

Another factor that made President Biya look like a «monarch» to the profiler was the fact that he was
always heavily guarded by ‘’Isreali-trained guards’’ since the abortive coup d’etat in 1984.

Quoting an unnamed Brazilian diplomat, the BBC reporter stated: «Even in Latin America, I have never
seen a president so heavily guarded».

With recent events in Cameroon, where every move by the opposition and civil society groups is ferociously
repressed (often with the deployment of trigger happy soldiers rather than the police), it has become clear
to many Cameroonians that they are living in a society where democracy is not yet a reality.

Some have even compared the situation to that in fondoms where the fon is always right and any attempts
to defy him often leads to reprisals by the ‘ngumbas’.

In many cases, monarchs resort to repression because of the absence of democracy and the fear of rebellion.
The monarchs are not accountable to anybody and often give themselves immunity for any crimes committed
against their people.

Similarly, the BBC profiler states that Paul Biya and allies were quick to blame the 1987 economic crisis on
falling prices of raw materials in the world market, rather than acknowledging that it was caused by
mismanagement, squandering of resources and a heavy bureaucracy.

After making empty promises to clampdown on corruption, Biya finally started taking action two
years ago, following pressure from international donors. Quite a few regime barons have been arrested
in the anti-corruption crackdown. But as laudable as the crackdown may be, the case files of the culprits
reveal that Biya tolerated or failed to notice massive embezzlement by his collaborators for years.
Like a «true monarch», President Paul Biya left his «nchindas» to their own devices for decades until
Cameroon was classified the most corrupt country by Transparency International several times.

Observers today say the scales have fallen from the eyes of those who could not see the «monarch» in Paul
Biya in 1997 when Vincent T’sas wrote the portrait. Even though there are purportedly three arms of
government, and hundreds of «opposition» political parties, all powers are in the hands of the «royal
president».

President Paul Biya is head of the executive, head of the judiciary and controls the legislature. Despite
his power over the legislature through carefully crafted laws, Biya has also given himself the liberty
of appointing 30 percent of senators.

At a seminar for ruling party MPs last year, CPDM secretary general, Rene Sadi, made it clear to the
supposed lawmakers that their major role was to support the policies of Paul Biya.

During the recent constitutional amendment session of the National Assembly, the president again
demonstrated that MPs are at his beck and all.

Although there are presidential «elections» every seven years, it has now become clear to most
Cameroonians that Biya would always «win». Long live the king!