As rumours continue to circulate about the health of the Cameroonian president, Cameroon’s Paris-based diplomat André Magnus Ekoumou says Biya is in Geneva.

For nearly a month, the health of Paul Biya, 91, has been the subject of widespread speculation, as the Cameroonian president has successively cancelled appearances at the United Nations General Assembly, the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) summit, and the Sustainable Development forum in Hamburg, Germany.

While the Cameroonian diaspora was mobilising in the Paris suburbs, where Paul Biya was allegedly hospitalised at the Percy military hospital in Clamart, the rumours reached a new peak on 8 October with the broadcast, by South African channel ABS Africa TV, of the announcement of the head of state’s death.

A “completely baseless piece of news”

Contacted by Jeune Afrique on 8 October, André Magnus Ekoumou, Cameroon’s ambassador to France, stated, however, that “Paul Biya has never been hospitalised in Clamart or anywhere in France”. Expressing his displeasure at the spread of rumours, the diplomat also confirmed the information that the president “is currently in Geneva”.

He added that the head of state is “in good health”, while some of our sources close to the presidency have indicated that he is currently under medical supervision after complications caused by his diplomatic activity in July and August.

From Yaoundé, the Minister of Labour and Social Security, Grégoire Owona, also took to his X account to address the rumours of the president’s death. “Those who are trying, by various means, to deceive public opinion by announcing the death of the Cameroonian head of state must pay a high price for such a gross lie. Since they no longer have any human conscience, the appropriate institutions must take action against these impostors, no matter their origin or location. We are in a democracy, but malice and hatred have their limits!” he declared.

‘Baseless news’

Jacques Fame Ndongo, Secretary for Communications of the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement and Minister of Higher Education, also penned a statement, in his own characteristic style: “This news is completely baseless. This phantasmagorical scheme must not shake the political maturity, clear-headedness, and patriotism of Cameroonians and our friends. Universal journalism relies on facts, not on fantasies or malicious news. It follows a rigorous approach inspired by experimental sciences, including observation, hypothesis, verification, and law, as Gaston Bachelard pointed out. Journalism is both an art, a technique, and a science.”

A segment of the political class called, on 8 October, for clarification from the civil cabinet of the presidency, led by Samuel Mvondo Ayolo, regarding the president’s true health status and the possibility of a vacancy of power. Noting the “prolonged absence” of Paul Biya and urging Cameroonians to “remain sufficiently cautious and vigilant,” the Cameroon Democratic Union, headed by MP Hermine Patricia Tomaïno Ndam Njoya, called on the presidency, the government, or “any other competent institution […] to take responsibility by providing official information to the people.”

Source: The Africa Report

President Biya’s family is now living in a well guarded house in France, it has been claimed.

Aides to the dictator have moved his family and a select band of relatives to France late yesterday. The move is said to have come about after the 91-year-old leader disappeared from public view.

Intelligence sources told Cameroon Intelligence Report that the Biya family is now under the protection of the French government, which effectively amounts to political asylum.

Cameroon Intelligence Report was also told that Biya’s family fear of chaos in Yaoundé the capital is one of the reasons why they have moved to Paris.

France has remained an ally of the regime since Biya took office from the late President Ahmadou Ahidjo in 1982.

Biya has not been seen in public since leaving Beijing on 8 September after attending the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (FOCAC).

Government sources say he is sick and undergoing medical treatment in Paris or Geneva.

We gathered that a bad prostate operation in France reportedly weakened the Cameroon strong man.

“It’s over now for Mr. Biya” our source said, adding that the Biya family may not return to Cameroon even with his remains.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with Intel files

In 2023, corruption cases in Cameroon’s public administration services cost the state over 114 billion CFA francs (more than 175 million euros). This is revealed in the economic report published by the National Anti-Corruption Authority (Conac), specifying that the phenomenon involves numerous sectors: taxation, customs, transport, police and gendarmerie, state property and land affairs, telecommunications, procurement and public works, among others. Published in English and French, the 454-page report highlights that the work is the result of the collaboration of 84 public and private entities, including 29 ministerial departments, 27 public establishments and companies, 14 jurisdictions and two civil society organizations.

The document takes into account the 7.548 complaints submitted to the Conac offices for the year 2023, which resulted in trials and investigations costing Yaoundé a total of 69 billion CFA francs (almost 106 million euros). In relation to the proceedings initiated, it should be noted, 23 sentences were issued, costing a total of 38,5 billion CFA francs (over 59 million euros). The cases of corruption detected in the public procurement sector led to the exclusion of 43 companies from tenders.

There are also cases of misappropriation of contributions intended for parents of students, the collection of salaries of deceased or immigrant people, a high number – 21,3 percent of the total reports – of misappropriations related to land disputes. There are also frequent cases of falsification in public employment and corruption during competitions, two aspects that represent 17,4 percent of the reports filed.

The report shows that the number of complaints filed in 2023 (7.548) is slightly higher than in 2022 (7.061). The 2024 Anti-Corruption Status Report will be presented next year.

Source: Nova News

It is being reported in France and Switzerland that Cameroon’s President is no more.

The 91-year-old dictator, who undertook a long tiring journey to China, might not be returning to his country in front of the plane.

Paul Biya, who has ruled Cameroon for almost 42 years, seems to have succumbed to the inevitable after a tough fight with prostate cancer which spread to other vital organs.

For many years, Mr. Biya has been a colony of diseases, with heart problems and memory failure stalking him like a stubborn shadow.

If this news gets confirmed, Mr. Biya will be remembered as a man who single-handedly destroyed a prosperous country handed over to him by the country’s first president, Ahmadou Ahidjo.

Once a buoyant nation, Cameroon is dealing with many development issues. The country’s economy has been in poor health for decades, causing many young Cameroonians to look outwards for opportunities.

Youth unemployment is very high and salaries are very low. Cameroonians have been transformed into “the roving Jews” of Africa by a man they thought would lead them to the land of promise when he took power in 1982.

Since taking over power in 1982, Mr. Biya has spent more time, money and energy just to maintain himself in power. The country has the worst roads on the continent and health care is unreliable.

Currently, there are reports of troop movement in Yaoundé. In the morning, helicopters could be seen and heard flying over the nation’s capital.

According to a military source, authorities in Yaoundé know that Mr. Biya’s time is over and the military might be preparing to take over or to ensure that chaos does not ensue when the news of the dictator’s death reaches Yaoundé.

Cameroon Concord News Group’s correspondent in France and Yaoundé are keeping an eye on the situation. Our Yaoundé city reporter who spoke to a senior military officer in the morning of Sunday said that the news was not good. Biya might be breathing his last and it is no surprise that the news of his death is already spreading.

Our Yaoundé correspondent also quoted the military source as saying that it was up to Cameroonians to urge the authorities to reveal the whereabouts of their president.

The senior military officer is also quoted as saying that people around the dictator were doing much to hide the truth and to intimidate the population.

This is a developing story.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai