Friday, August 1, 2025
  • Who’sWho Africa AWARDS
  • About Time Africa Magazine
  • Contact Us
Time Africa Magazine
  • Home
  • Magazine
  • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
  • News
  • World News
    • US
    • UAE
    • Europe
    • UK
    • Israel-Hamas
    • Russia-Ukraine
  • Politics
  • Crime
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Column
  • Interviews
  • Special Report
No Result
View All Result
Time Africa Magazine
  • Home
  • Magazine
  • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
  • News
  • World News
    • US
    • UAE
    • Europe
    • UK
    • Israel-Hamas
    • Russia-Ukraine
  • Politics
  • Crime
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Column
  • Interviews
  • Special Report
No Result
View All Result
Time Africa Magazine
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
  • News
  • Magazine
  • World News

Home » Featured » Cameroonian President Paul Biya marks 40 years in power

Cameroonian President Paul Biya marks 40 years in power

November 19, 2022
in Featured, News
0
540
SHARES
4.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Cameroonian President Paul Biya marked 40 years in power Sunday but stayed out of the spotlight as questions swirled about the 89-year-old who is the only leader most of the Central African country’s people have ever known.

Thousands of his supporters gathered in the capital, Yaounde, to celebrate the anniversary but there were only giant portraits of the absent president.

Biya has not appeared in public since French President Emmanuel Macron visited in July. Decrees and photos of Biya receiving various diplomats are regularly posted on the president’s social media accounts.

“Since our father took power we live in peace — he protects us well,” said Biya supporter Paul Ambassa on Sunday. “May God keep him.”

However, critics of the Biya regime were wearing black Sunday amid the celebrations.

ReadAlso

Cameroon Opposition Leader Banned From Challenging World’s Oldest President

World’s oldest president eyes eighth term – at the age of 92

“Nov. 6 is considered a day of national mourning because Mr. Biya inherited a rich, prosperous and growing country,” said critic Darling Nguevo. “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.

ADVERTISEMENT

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 country’s first multi-party election was finally held in 1992, Biya bested his opposition rival by just four percentage points.

In the decades since, Biya’s party has used everything from fraud to redistricting to expand his victories and the ruling party’s legislative majorities, according to political analysts. Human rights groups have accused him of brazen strongman tactics, including torture and intimidation of his opponents.

Biya has faced challenges in recent years that range from a secessionist movement in Cameroon’s English-speaking provinces to the threat in the north posed by Islamic extremists aligned with the Nigeria-based Boko Haram group.

Critics point to the role that corruption has played in entrenching Biya’s regime, with the spoils allegedly going to his allies in government, the security forces and the president’s family.

Political analyst Aristide Mono said the celebrations around Biya’s 40th anniversary in power were “part of a tradition of sanctification.”

“The people in charge of these various mobilizations are very much driven by the logic of clientelism, as each tries to show his allegiance, to show a lot of fidelity and loyalty,” Mono said.

Displays of loyalty have become particularly important as Biya gets older. The president’s son, Franck Biya, has been more visible at his father’s side. Some think he is positioning himself as a possible successor.

There are fears chaos could break out in a country with more than 200 different ethnic groups once the president’s long tenure ends.

“Biya hasn’t taken the time to prepare a successor, someone who could amply inherit his power,” Mono said.

Tags: 40th AnniversaryCameroonPresident Paul Biya
ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

Nnamdi Kanu not a separatist but self-determination activist – Mike Ozekhome

Next Post

Equatorial Guinea President Nguema Obiang running for a sixth term

You MayAlso Like

News

Aboh Monarch Extols Diaspora Contributions To Nation Building

July 31, 2025
News

Pzafaama Helping Hand Foundation to Empower 500 Less Privileged Pupils in Nigeria

July 30, 2025
Column

Nigeria’s Borrowing Binge, Poverty Soars | By Peter Obi

July 30, 2025
Featured

Dangote daughters take on growing leadership roles as billionaire tycoon steps back

July 30, 2025
News

Ex-president found guilty of bribery and witness tampering

July 29, 2025
A farmer holds cocoa beans while he is drying them at a village in Sinfra, Ivory Coast April 29, 2023. REUTERS/Luc Gnago/File Photo
News

Uganda expects to boost cocoa output by 29% this year

July 27, 2025
Next Post

Equatorial Guinea President Nguema Obiang running for a sixth term

Bill Gates pledges additional $7 billion for African countries

Discussion about this post

BLACK SUNDAY: Islamic Terrorists attack Catholic Church, killing at least 34 Worshipers 

New Male Contraceptive Pill Tested

Kidnapped Nigerian Catholic Priest Regains Freedom after 51 Days in Captivity

Dangote daughters take on growing leadership roles as billionaire tycoon steps back

Breakthrough HIV jab to be supplied to millions at knock-down price

Nigeria came from two goals down to defeat Morocco 3-2 in final Women’s Africa Cup of Nations

  • British government apologizes to Peter Obi, as hired impostors, master manipulators on rampage abroad

    1239 shares
    Share 496 Tweet 310
  • Maids trafficked and sold to wealthy Saudis on black market

    1065 shares
    Share 426 Tweet 266
  • Flight Attendant Sees Late Husband On Plane

    969 shares
    Share 388 Tweet 242
  • ‘Céline Dion Dead 2023’: Singer killed By Internet Death Hoax

    902 shares
    Share 360 Tweet 225
  • Crisis echoes, fears grow in Amechi Awkunanaw in Enugu State

    735 shares
    Share 294 Tweet 184
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest

British government apologizes to Peter Obi, as hired impostors, master manipulators on rampage abroad

April 13, 2023

Maids trafficked and sold to wealthy Saudis on black market

December 27, 2022
Flight Attendant Sees Late Husband On Plane

Flight Attendant Sees Late Husband On Plane

September 22, 2023
‘Céline Dion Dead 2023’: Singer killed By Internet Death Hoax

‘Céline Dion Dead 2023’: Singer killed By Internet Death Hoax

March 21, 2023
Chief Mrs Ebelechukwu, wife of Willie Obiano, former governor of Anambra state

NIGERIA: No, wife of Biafran warlord, Bianca Ojukwu lied – Ebele Obiano:

0

SOUTH AFRICA: TO LEAVE OR NOT TO LEAVE?

0
kelechi iheanacho

TOP SCORER: IHEANACHA

0
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan

WHAT CAN’TBE TAKEN AWAY FROM JONATHAN

0

Aboh Monarch Extols Diaspora Contributions To Nation Building

July 31, 2025

Pzafaama Helping Hand Foundation to Empower 500 Less Privileged Pupils in Nigeria

July 30, 2025

Nigeria’s Borrowing Binge, Poverty Soars | By Peter Obi

July 30, 2025

Dangote daughters take on growing leadership roles as billionaire tycoon steps back

July 30, 2025

ABOUT US

Time Africa Magazine

TIME AFRICA MAGAZINE is an African Magazine with a culture of excellence; a magazine without peer. Nearly a third of its readers hold advanced degrees and include novelists, … READ MORE >>

SECTIONS

  • Aviation
  • Column
  • Crime
  • Europe
  • Featured
  • Gallery
  • Health
  • Interviews
  • Israel-Hamas
  • Lifestyle
  • Magazine
  • Middle-East
  • News
  • Politics
  • Press Release
  • Russia-Ukraine
  • Science
  • Special Report
  • Sports
  • TV/Radio
  • UAE
  • UK
  • US
  • World News

Useful Links

  • AllAfrica
  • Channel Africa
  • El Khabar
  • The Guardian
  • Cairo Live
  • Le Republicain
  • Magazine: 9771144975608
  • Subscribe to TIME AFRICA biweekly news magazine

    Enjoy handpicked stories from around African continent,
    delivered anywhere in the world

    Subscribe

    • About Time Africa Magazine
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • WHO’SWHO AWARDS

    © 2025 Time Africa Magazine - All Right Reserved. Time Africa is a trademark of Times Associates, registered in the U.S, & Nigeria. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service.

    No Result
    View All Result
    • WHO’SWHO AWARDS
    • Politics
    • Column
    • Interviews
    • Gallery
    • Lifestyle
    • Special Report
    • Sports
    • TV/Radio
    • Aviation
    • Health
    • Science
    • World News

    © 2025 Time Africa Magazine - All Right Reserved. Time Africa is a trademark of Times Associates, registered in the U.S, & Nigeria. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service.

    This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.