ALTERED: No, Anguissa, R. Song  have not been appointed as members of the Constitutional Council

By Nfor Hanson Nchanji

This is an altered image with the information digitally manipulated and out of context, alleging that President Paul Biya has ordered Zambo Anguissa and Song to style their hair properly.

This image circulating on social media in Cameroon, precisely on WhatsApp in the early hours of Sunday 21 January 2024, with title “DECRET N° 2024/ 014 DU 18 JAN 2024 portant nomination de deux membres du Coneil Constitutionel” in its  Article 1 claims that the President of the Republic of Cameroon, Paul Biya has ordered Zambo Anguisa of the Cameroon National Football team, and Coach Rigobert Song Bahanag to style their hair properly, “Article 1er – Sont, à compter de la date de signature du présent décret, imposé à se coiffer convenablement les membres de l’équipe nationale dont les noms suivent:

• ZAMBO ANGUISSA
• RIGOBERT SONG BAHANAG “

The title of the Decree and the main Article 1 do not match. They are saying two different things. While the title talks of the appointment of two members of the Constitutional Council, Article 1 rather imposes an order on Zambo Anguissa and Rigobert Song Bahanag to style or cut hair properly.

This is an altered text from the Presidential Decree N° 2024/014 of 18 Jan 2024 appointing two members of the Constitutional Council, as shared on the X account of President Paul Biya, on 18 January 2024.

We used Google Lens to conduct a reverse image search of the image under review and discovered similar images. However, upon consulting the content of these images, we came across this particular image (https://twitter.com/PR_Paul_BIYA/status/1748043265625006177?t=mOetF59WCoz3T6EVvdPSKg&s=19) on the official X (former Twitter) account of President Paul Biya, which is quite similar to the one under verification.

Comparing the two images, we noticed a discrepancy at the level of Article 1 of both images.

Article 1 of the original image shared on the official X account of President Paul Biya reads “Article 1er – Sont,  à compter de la date de signature du présent décret, nommés membres du Conseil Constitutionnel, pour un mandat de six (06) ans éventuellement renouvelable :

• M. MINKO SHE Adolphe.
• M. LOGMO MBELEK Aaron.”

This information is different in line two of the first image. There is inconsistency in the font type, size, ink, and spacing of the information in this section of the Decree. Also, the title of the Decree and its Article 1 do not coin.

After further review, we noticed that other than the differences in Article 1 of the fact-checked image, every other information looks the same as in the authentic image posted by President Paul Biya.

This fake information circulated immediately after the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon were beaten by Senegal 3-1 on day two of the 2023 African Cup of Nations. Our findings suggest that those who have been fed up with the performances of the two as player ( Anguissa) and Coach ( Song) did the editing to either make fun of or ridicule them.