By John Ikani
Cameroonian President Paul Biya, who is now the reigning world’s oldest head of state following the death last September of Queen Elizabeth II, will clock 40 years in power on Sunday.
Nationwide commemorative activities have been planned and his supporters are celebrating his achievements.
The nearly 89-year-old autocrat has uninterruptedly ruled central Africa’s largest economy since being sworn in for the first time on November 6, 1982 following the resignation of the country’s first post-independence president Ahmadou Ahidjo.
Commentators ascribe Biya’s extraordinary political longevity to a mixture of astuteness and ruthlessness — he has a constellation of loyalists in key positions and crushes or sidelines opponents and rivals.
But his public outings, except for a few choreographed TV appearances, have become rarer and rarer in recent years, stoking speculation about his health.
Any official talk of succession is taboo, and none of the most visible figures around Biya has publicly uttered a word about entertaining any wish to succeed him.
“Ministers have fallen into disgrace just for thinking about a theoretical departure of the president,” said Aimee Raoul Sumo Tayo, a defence and security specialist on Cameroon.
“Mr. Biya has put the saying ‘divide and rule’ into practice… forces which could have challenged him for power have been unable to get organised and, even less so, unify,” said Akoa.
The President’s opponents have been lukewarm in calling on him to step down and hand over power to a younger generation, with some wishing him dead.
But, as Mr. Biya told journalists some years back after returning from one of his lengthy stays abroad, anyone who wants him dead will have to wait another 20 years.
