By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Cameroon’s President, Paul Biya on Sunday marked his 40th anniversary since ascension into office, but stayed out of the spotlight as questions swirled.
Biya, 89 is the only leader most of the country’s people have ever known.
The President has not appeared in public since French President Emmanuel Macron visited the Central African nation in July.
Decrees and photos of Biya receiving various diplomats are regularly posted on the president’s social media accounts.
An event was scheduled at City Hall in Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde, to commemorate the anniversary of his presidency, but Biya did not attend.
Nearly 100 young adults marched through the streets of the country’s largest city, Douala, days earlier carrying banners with photos of the president and messages that included “Paul Biya: 40 years of stability, freedom and democracy.”
Darling Nguevo, a critic of the Biya regime, alleged the government paid the marchers to show such support.
“November 6 is considered a day of national mourning because Mr. Biya inherited a rich, prosperous and growing country,” Nguevo said. “And he set about unraveling every sector of life and society.”
“Corruption has made its bed in the country. So has bad governance. Paul Biya is old and his public appearances are rare, and this is happening against the backdrop of the succession battle,” he added.
Biya is Africa’s second-longest serving leader: The president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, has been in power since 1979.
Biya was Cameroon’s prime minister and became president in 1982 after his predecessor, Cameroon’s first president following the country’s independence from France, stepped down due to health reasons.
The majority of appointments Biya made in the ensuing years were members of his own southern Beti ethnic group, which quickly grew to dominate senior prefect positions and the prime minister’s office.
He survived a 1984 coup attempt. When the first multi-party elections were finally held in 1992, Biya bested his opposition rival by just 4 percentage points.
