by Nurat Uthman
Supporters celebrate 42 years of Cameroonian President Paul Biya being in power on Wednesday, with rallies, special broadcasts and calls for an eighth term in office.
Just over two weeks after the 91-year-old returned to the country after a six-week absence amid rife speculation about his health, members of the president’s party face calls to show their ardent support.
“Let us mobilise as one behind President Paul Biya to ensure the stability and progress of Cameroon,” secretary general of the central committee of the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (RDPC) Jean Nkuete urged in a letter to party members.
Published late last month as part of the preparations, the missive praised Biya’s “fantastic record” and called for an end to “malicious speculation and predictions” surrounding the leader, who took the helm in 1982 on the resignation of Ahmadou Ahidjo.
“The Cameroonian people are the people of respect for age and elders,” it added, calling for backing another term next October for one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders.
Some party branches were quick to heed the call.
In the west, dozens of activists and supporters signed a motion inviting “all Cameroonians, without discrimination based on political opinion, to join us in our call for the candidacy of the President of the Republic Paul Biya”.
In the southern town of Ebolowa, at a screening of a documentary dedicated to “Paul Biya, a great statesman with a prodigious destiny”, Higher Education Minister and RDPC communication official Jacques Fame Ndongo likewise “solemnly requested” that Biya stand again.
