Forty years of Biya: Nothing to Write Home About

By Hans Ngala
Today marks 40 years since Paul Biya took over office as president of Cameroon. Biya had served under his predecessor, Ahmadou Ahidjo as prime minister before taking over the reigns of power when Ahidjo stepped down.
Cameroon’s population is mostly young and below 40 and this means that most Cameroonians have known only Paul Biya as their president. The comparison comes only close to the case of England where most Britons had known only Queen Elizabeth as their ceremonial head of state. The difference is howeber that, Cameroon purports to be a “democracy” and it is hard to comprehend how or why one man should rule for so long.
Regime supporters have ceaselessly touted the claim that Mr. Biya is “the people’s choice” when in reality, the facts speak to the contrary.
Cameroon gets poor ratings on the international stage on many issues during Biya’s 40-year rule. Cameroon was ranked as the most corrupt country on earth in 1999 by Transparency International and Reporters Without Borders have consistently given Cameroon a low score in their ratings due to the harsh treatment of journalists in the country. In 2014, a law meant to fight Boko Haram was passed and it criminalized certain acts by journalists. This led the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) to condemn the law for equating journalism with terrorism”.
Regime praise-singers like Prof. Elvis Ngolle Ngolle who claim that under Biya, the number of state universities has grown from one to more than 10, need a stiff reminder that it is the duty of the state to see to it that its citizens get quality education. It is the right of those citizens so sounding as if Mr. Biya has done Cameroonians a favour by doing what he ought to do is precisely the mindset that needs to change – or at least, be challenged.
Cameroon for forty has become Biya’s private property in many ways. He rules by decrees and his authority is supreme. This is wrong for many reasons.
It makes him to be a god-like figure beyond reproach. It also means that he can do and undo things as he alone sees fit and this has resulted in a country that does not function properly. Service delivery in the capital city where Mr. Biya lives is a complete mess.
A drive through the streets of Yaounde reveals sewage flowing in the streets, urine and garbage literally blocking some streets as was the case last year in the student residential neighbourhood of Bonas. Most Cameroonians are unable to get jobs upon graduation from universities and professional schools but there is never a shortage of fleets of government service vehicles or top government executives taking luxury trips to Swiss hotels on Cameroonians’ hard-earned money.
Personally, this author was born in 1992 when Mr. Biya had already been president for 10 years. Most Cameroonians born within this period are over 30 and already have children who would address Biya as “grandpa” but he seems to have no intentions of leaving the stage at a time when his body is obviously in need of rest. At a time when he is out of touch with the needs and desires of 21st century Cameroonians, having enjoyed his own youth in the 50s and 60s.
No, Mr. Biya is being lied to by those around him who would go on CRTV and have a few other Cameroonians to believe that he is the best thing (and only choice) to have. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Fourty years in power should be a time of stock-taking and we would find very little to sing and dance about as members of the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) would have us believe. After forty years, Cameroon remains one of the least infrastructurally developed countries on earth. After forty years, our healthcare system is still so under-developed that we can literally count the number of specialists we have in certain specialties. After forty years, Cameroon is only best recognized for football (which is thanks to the sweat of the citizens – but somehow Mr. Biya has been managing to take the glory for himself). After forty years, Cameroon does not have a properly managed airline or rail system that connects all parts of the country. International airports remain concentrated in Douala and Yaounde.
After fourty years, it is clear that Cameroon has more work to be done. There is no denying that President Biya has done some things that are worth commending.
However, the cons seems to apparently outweigh the pros.