Quantcast

Africa's longest serving president looks to anoint son as next leader

Lifeisreal

Northern Nigerian American
Joined
Jan 14, 2012
Messages
6,246
Reaction score
Reactions
22,986 2,567 1,204
24,283
Alleybux
428,687
Africa’s oldest president, preparing to enter his fifth decade in power, may finally have a successor waiting in the wings: his eldest son.

1618796344313.png

Cameroon's incumbent President Paul Biya, of the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement party, casts his vote during the presidential elections in Yaounde, Cameroon, on Sunday Oct. 7, 2018.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Paul Biya, the 88-year-old autocrat who has dominated Cameroon for the past 39 years, is sometimes described as the world’s longest-ruling non-royal leader – if his seven years as prime minister are added to his decades as president.

And now some of his loyalists are campaigning for a quasi-monarchical transition. They call themselves “Franckistes,” and their goal is simple: to groom the President’s son, 49-year-old businessman Franck Biya, to succeed him. Rumours of a father-to-son handover have been splashed across newspaper front pages and social media in recent weeks.

If it happens, it will be another tumble in the backward slide of democracy in Africa and many other parts of the world. Freedom House, a U.S.-based organization, reported last month that 2020 was the 15th consecutive year of decline in global freedom. “The long democratic recession is deepening,” it said.

Freedom House estimated that less than 20 per cent of the world’s population is now living in a free country – the smallest percentage since 1995.

In a growing number of African countries, the deterioration of democracy has been marked by attempts to perpetuate the power of long-dominant families. In Togo and Gabon, sons have already succeeded their fathers as rulers, allowing their families to remain in control for more than half a century. Similar dynastic accessions to power have been rumoured in Equatorial Guinea, Uganda and the Republic of Congo.

And now Cameroon may become the next example. The Franckistes say they are organizing themselves across the country and in the Cameroonian diaspora to support the man they call “our champion” – the President’s son.

1618796563039.png


Franck Biya is a reclusive entrepreneur who has avoided the political spotlight. He is reported to have interests in the forestry sector and other private investments. But his backers are convinced that he is best qualified to succeed his father.

“We are charmed by his extraordinary humility, his exemplary behaviour, which should be copied by all our compatriots,” said Mohamed Rahim Noumeu, a business mogul who leads the Citizen Movement of Franckistes for the Peace and Unity of Cameroon.

Mr. Noumeu insists his movement has no connection to Cameroon’s government or ruling party. Its goal, he said, is simply “to ensure a peaceful transition in Cameroon in the coming years” with Franck Biya at the helm.

Officially the question of succession is a taboo topic within the ruling party, the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, because the President still has four years remaining in his term. The next election is not scheduled until 2025, by which time the President will be 92.

But in recent weeks, front-page articles in Cameroonian newspapers have been touting the possibility of a father-to-son handover, while social media has been buzzing with photos and videos of Franck Biya.


Cameroon has had only two heads of state since its independence in 1961. Opposition parties and independent analysts have described the country’s elections as routinely rigged. The ruling party voted in 2008 to amend the constitution to remove presidential term limits, allowing Mr. Biya to stay in power indefinitely.

Since then, he has become notorious for spending months at a luxury hotel in Geneva. Opponents called him “the President of the Hotel Intercontinental.” In some years, he has spent as much as a third of the year outside Cameroon.

An investigation in 2018 by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project estimated that Mr. Biya had spent US$182-million on his private travel since becoming President. During his Geneva jaunts, he has reportedly spent US$40,000 a day for hotel accommodations for himself and his entourage of as many as 50 bodyguards, politicians, butlers and other staff.

Meanwhile, among ordinary Cameroonians, frustrations have been growing over widespread poverty and war. Almost half the population has an income of less than US$2 a day, despite the country’s oil and cocoa resources. Military conflict and human-rights abuses have been fuelled by confrontations with the Boko Haram radical Islamist militia in the north and separatist forces in the English-speaking regions of the country.

As these pressures mount, it may be difficult for the ruling party to engineer a familial succession. Despite the Franckiste campaign, Franck Biya still lacks popularity or much of a profile, analysts say.

“I see the ongoing campaign as a teaser to see if people even know about Franck Biya, to see if people see him as a possible leader,” said Eyong Tarh, a human-rights activist and media commentator in the capital, Yaoundé.

In particular, the campaign is trying to gauge support among Cameroon’s youth, a key political constituency, Dr. Tarh said.

But even if the manoeuvre fails, it is unlikely to deter other African dynasties.

Paul Biya’s rival as the world’s longest-serving president, Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea, who has ruled his country since seizing power in a 1979 coup, has already installed his son as his vice-president and presumed successor.

In the Republic of Congo, President Denis Sassou Nguesso – who has ruled for 37 years – is reportedly seeking to anoint his son, Denis Christel, as his successor.
 

Lifeisreal

Northern Nigerian American
Joined
Jan 14, 2012
Messages
6,246
Reaction score
Reactions
22,986 2,567 1,204
24,283
Alleybux
428,687
I'm just glad my parents made the decision to official become Kenyan citizens. Cameroon is literally a sh#thole. Just look at the cities and compare them to other African cities. It has been 40 years of darkness and another 40 years of backwardness by way of their president's son who is no doubt being groomed to take over. And then the fact that they are puppets to the French language and the French system.

I will never in my lifetime step foot in Cameroon. NEVER! I am so grateful for my American citizenship and I cannot wait to get my Kenyan citizenship. As it stands, there is no hope for Cameroon. I'm literally done with this country. A country with NO VISION.
 

banksy212

Triggering fonts like fleas on a Cl*t,
Joined
Jul 22, 2020
Messages
9,706
Reaction score
Reactions
99,224 6,176 2,312
115,212
Alleybux
718,578
This is extremely sad.


Im really tired of african presidents thinking they are dynasties
 

Pizzana

Making These Dumb Heauxs Mad
Joined
Sep 12, 2012
Messages
15,447
Reaction score
Reactions
101,139 2,872 2,023
128,486
Alleybux
500
His wife in the background look like someone flicked her high beam switch so she can be extra bright in the room
 

AgentX

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2017
Messages
5,841
Reaction score
Reactions
39,735 4,139 10,866
33,346
Alleybux
21,125
He has got Mugabe beat who held Zimbabwe for 37 years. Only death will remove these geriatric dictators, hopefully the citizens are preparing for this man's death and can make a move one day
 

HeresyHermit

Yea I said it, and I'll say it again!
Time Out
Joined
Apr 8, 2021
Messages
6,903
Reaction score
Reactions
81,391 9,338 9,685
71,574
Alleybux
402,083
Another old ass cowardly Europuppet allowed to drain their country dry while Lumumba was assassinated at a very young age.
 

mdhlife

I have spoken ...
Joined
Jul 9, 2018
Messages
6,552
Reaction score
Reactions
36,707 2,150 1,090
40,934
Alleybux
6,913
He has got Mugabe beat who held Zimbabwe for 37 years. Only death will remove these geriatric dictators, hopefully the citizens are preparing for this man's death and can make a move one day
+1
Mugabe was fighting White settlers. Mugabe used that excuse to consolidate power.
IF he was a Western puppet like Paul Biya, Western media would not criticize him
what's the Cameroon's President's excuse ?
Selfishness and Arrogance
 

mdhlife

I have spoken ...
Joined
Jul 9, 2018
Messages
6,552
Reaction score
Reactions
36,707 2,150 1,090
40,934
Alleybux
6,913
+1
Mugabe was fighting White settlers. Mugabe used that excuse to consolidate power.
IF he was a Western puppet like Paul Biya, Western media would not criticize him
what's the Cameroon's President's excuse ?
Selfishness and Arrogance

I forgot Treason
 

Didimimi

President of the LSA History Art and Culture Club
Benched
Joined
Jul 10, 2018
Messages
13,130
Reaction score
Reactions
131,285 7,861 2,321
139,289
Alleybux
30,500
Cameroon is in the dark ages compared to the rest of Africa. No improvement what’s over. This guy eats up all the ressources and builds nothing.
 

Winterwonderland

Queen in training
Joined
May 22, 2019
Messages
5,689
Reaction score
Reactions
40,732 1,061 889
40,962
Alleybux
978
How do African leaders sleep at night knowing how many lives they’ve ruined? A bunch sociopaths!
There's a reason why they spend 3/4 of their time elsewhere. It's because they know they can't sleep soundly in their own.
Either way, I can't get myself to be mad anymore. Politicians are nothing more than criminals these days, only they get to steal legally.
 

LaTere

MVP
Joined
Feb 10, 2017
Messages
565
Reaction score
Reactions
4,582 103 19
4,909
Alleybux
91,921
Cameroon is in the dark ages compared to the rest of Africa. No improvement what’s over. This guy eats up all the ressources and builds nothing.
This!
My family always tell me how people would look at us in admiration 50/60 years ago and now... nothing.
A country full of resources that hasn’t advanced in nothing but corruption.

A shame.
 

chaelili

Et Dieu Créa la femme noire
Joined
Jul 10, 2020
Messages
8,633
Reaction score
Reactions
94,055 4,184 346
101,476
Alleybux
540,138
Many of my cameroonian family works for the government and they’re happy about Biya’s rule because it serves their interests. Disgusting! I’m never going back to live there. I’m so happy my mom sacrificed a lot to get us out of there. I feel sorry for the people because I remember everybody around me being really hardworking no matter if they had nothing. What’s the future for a country where the government stops all prospects of progress? Even if cameroonian immigrants come back to improve the country, government corruption is still gonna get in the way.
 

Ironman

Starter
Joined
Dec 3, 2019
Messages
464
Reaction score
Reactions
3,454 141 23
4,167
Alleybux
13,022
A lot of African leaders need to be removed but that would mean a civil war and sadly our lands back home can't survive more war. These leaders know this and use it to their advantage so while they steal all the resources their people are starving.
 

Cutiefab

The Hound’s b*tch
Joined
Jan 24, 2012
Messages
21,642
Reaction score
Reactions
121,923 4,993 4,288
130,281
Alleybux
498,466
Cameroon is so corrupted this is sad.

A coworker is getting married but he needed to have some type of authorization from the government, they refused to hand it to him and forced him to renounce his citizenship because he is marrying a French woman in France. He also wanted to have a passport made for his mother to come to the wedding, he has been waiting for 2 years, the reason: they have a passport paper shortage...
 

ChocolateCandi

Blackistan is a Mysoginistic Country
Joined
Jun 1, 2013
Messages
4,581
Reaction score
Reactions
36,734 2,325 1,255
37,452
Alleybux
104,184
A lot of African leaders need to be removed but that would mean a civil war and sadly our lands back home can't survive more war. These leaders know this and use it to their advantage so while they steal all the resources their people are starving.
Cameroon is at war now. The part where my family is from(Bamenda), is not safe. For Biya to do this when his country is at war and economically unstable is reckless and irresponsible. He’s a sociopath and a narcissist.
 

Beezmeez

General Manager
Joined
Feb 20, 2016
Messages
1,915
Reaction score
Reactions
31,720 1,496 1,087
31,590
Alleybux
219,157
Sociopathy and Narcissism is rampant in Africa. All Politicians and most civil servants are evil sociopaths.

The only thing that matters is themselves
 

LaTere

MVP
Joined
Feb 10, 2017
Messages
565
Reaction score
Reactions
4,582 103 19
4,909
Alleybux
91,921
A lot of African leaders need to be removed but that would mean a civil war and sadly our lands back home can't survive more war. These leaders know this and use it to their advantage so while they steal all the resources their people are starving.
Cameroon BEEN at war for quite some time now; just ask our brothers in the Anglophone area :/
 

godisgood

Team Owner
Joined
Dec 2, 2017
Messages
7,044
Reaction score
Reactions
45,759 4,463 2,289
45,713
Alleybux
592,861
I am saying this as an African myself, but African leaders seem so demonic, and seem hellbent on their country conforming to negative stereotypes.They enjoy seeing their people poor and miserable. Black people are truly wicked
 

Lifeisreal

Northern Nigerian American
Joined
Jan 14, 2012
Messages
6,246
Reaction score
Reactions
22,986 2,567 1,204
24,283
Alleybux
428,687
Cameroon is so corrupted this is sad.

A coworker is getting married but he needed to have some type of authorization from the government, they refused to hand it to him and forced him to renounce his citizenship because he is marrying a French woman in France. He also wanted to have a passport made for his mother to come to the wedding, he has been waiting for 2 years, the reason: they have a passport paper shortage...
It is like there is some sort of deep envy with the Cameroonian authorities. My dad has been denied a visa to cameroon multiple times only because he became a naturalized American citizen (since the 80s) and he no longer has his cameroonian passport. The last time he tried to go to cameroon was because his dad was ailing and he was looking to expedite him to the US for treatment. But these demonic cameroonian authorities denied him a visa and my granddad died as a result of this. This was my dad's last straw and he decided to give cameroon the boots.

Wickedness + Corruption + Envy = Cameroon
 

ANTIUSERNAME

Team Owner
Benched
Joined
Mar 26, 2017
Messages
24,792
Reaction score
Reactions
127,619 11,232 14,342
118,393
Alleybux
212,524
Africa’s oldest president, preparing to enter his fifth decade in power, may finally have a successor waiting in the wings: his eldest son.

View attachment 2485650
Cameroon's incumbent President Paul Biya, of the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement party, casts his vote during the presidential elections in Yaounde, Cameroon, on Sunday Oct. 7, 2018.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Paul Biya, the 88-year-old autocrat who has dominated Cameroon for the past 39 years, is sometimes described as the world’s longest-ruling non-royal leader – if his seven years as prime minister are added to his decades as president.

And now some of his loyalists are campaigning for a quasi-monarchical transition. They call themselves “Franckistes,” and their goal is simple: to groom the President’s son, 49-year-old businessman Franck Biya, to succeed him. Rumours of a father-to-son handover have been splashed across newspaper front pages and social media in recent weeks.

If it happens, it will be another tumble in the backward slide of democracy in Africa and many other parts of the world. Freedom House, a U.S.-based organization, reported last month that 2020 was the 15th consecutive year of decline in global freedom. “The long democratic recession is deepening,” it said.

Freedom House estimated that less than 20 per cent of the world’s population is now living in a free country – the smallest percentage since 1995.

In a growing number of African countries, the deterioration of democracy has been marked by attempts to perpetuate the power of long-dominant families. In Togo and Gabon, sons have already succeeded their fathers as rulers, allowing their families to remain in control for more than half a century. Similar dynastic accessions to power have been rumoured in Equatorial Guinea, Uganda and the Republic of Congo.

And now Cameroon may become the next example. The Franckistes say they are organizing themselves across the country and in the Cameroonian diaspora to support the man they call “our champion” – the President’s son.

View attachment 2485660

Franck Biya is a reclusive entrepreneur who has avoided the political spotlight. He is reported to have interests in the forestry sector and other private investments. But his backers are convinced that he is best qualified to succeed his father.

“We are charmed by his extraordinary humility, his exemplary behaviour, which should be copied by all our compatriots,” said Mohamed Rahim Noumeu, a business mogul who leads the Citizen Movement of Franckistes for the Peace and Unity of Cameroon.

Mr. Noumeu insists his movement has no connection to Cameroon’s government or ruling party. Its goal, he said, is simply “to ensure a peaceful transition in Cameroon in the coming years” with Franck Biya at the helm.

Officially the question of succession is a taboo topic within the ruling party, the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, because the President still has four years remaining in his term. The next election is not scheduled until 2025, by which time the President will be 92.

But in recent weeks, front-page articles in Cameroonian newspapers have been touting the possibility of a father-to-son handover, while social media has been buzzing with photos and videos of Franck Biya.


Cameroon has had only two heads of state since its independence in 1961. Opposition parties and independent analysts have described the country’s elections as routinely rigged. The ruling party voted in 2008 to amend the constitution to remove presidential term limits, allowing Mr. Biya to stay in power indefinitely.

Since then, he has become notorious for spending months at a luxury hotel in Geneva. Opponents called him “the President of the Hotel Intercontinental.” In some years, he has spent as much as a third of the year outside Cameroon.

An investigation in 2018 by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project estimated that Mr. Biya had spent US$182-million on his private travel since becoming President. During his Geneva jaunts, he has reportedly spent US$40,000 a day for hotel accommodations for himself and his entourage of as many as 50 bodyguards, politicians, butlers and other staff.

Meanwhile, among ordinary Cameroonians, frustrations have been growing over widespread poverty and war. Almost half the population has an income of less than US$2 a day, despite the country’s oil and cocoa resources. Military conflict and human-rights abuses have been fuelled by confrontations with the Boko Haram radical Islamist militia in the north and separatist forces in the English-speaking regions of the country.

As these pressures mount, it may be difficult for the ruling party to engineer a familial succession. Despite the Franckiste campaign, Franck Biya still lacks popularity or much of a profile, analysts say.

“I see the ongoing campaign as a teaser to see if people even know about Franck Biya, to see if people see him as a possible leader,” said Eyong Tarh, a human-rights activist and media commentator in the capital, Yaoundé.

In particular, the campaign is trying to gauge support among Cameroon’s youth, a key political constituency, Dr. Tarh said.

But even if the manoeuvre fails, it is unlikely to deter other African dynasties.

Paul Biya’s rival as the world’s longest-serving president, Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea, who has ruled his country since seizing power in a 1979 coup, has already installed his son as his vice-president and presumed successor.

In the Republic of Congo, President Denis Sassou Nguesso – who has ruled for 37 years – is reportedly seeking to anoint his son, Denis Christel, as his successor.
These African president are crazy.

FRANK Biya is kind of cute tho ...
 

ANTIUSERNAME

Team Owner
Benched
Joined
Mar 26, 2017
Messages
24,792
Reaction score
Reactions
127,619 11,232 14,342
118,393
Alleybux
212,524
Africa’s oldest president, preparing to enter his fifth decade in power, may finally have a successor waiting in the wings: his eldest son.

View attachment 2485650
Cameroon's incumbent President Paul Biya, of the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement party, casts his vote during the presidential elections in Yaounde, Cameroon, on Sunday Oct. 7, 2018.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Paul Biya, the 88-year-old autocrat who has dominated Cameroon for the past 39 years, is sometimes described as the world’s longest-ruling non-royal leader – if his seven years as prime minister are added to his decades as president.

And now some of his loyalists are campaigning for a quasi-monarchical transition. They call themselves “Franckistes,” and their goal is simple: to groom the President’s son, 49-year-old businessman Franck Biya, to succeed him. Rumours of a father-to-son handover have been splashed across newspaper front pages and social media in recent weeks.

If it happens, it will be another tumble in the backward slide of democracy in Africa and many other parts of the world. Freedom House, a U.S.-based organization, reported last month that 2020 was the 15th consecutive year of decline in global freedom. “The long democratic recession is deepening,” it said.

Freedom House estimated that less than 20 per cent of the world’s population is now living in a free country – the smallest percentage since 1995.

In a growing number of African countries, the deterioration of democracy has been marked by attempts to perpetuate the power of long-dominant families. In Togo and Gabon, sons have already succeeded their fathers as rulers, allowing their families to remain in control for more than half a century. Similar dynastic accessions to power have been rumoured in Equatorial Guinea, Uganda and the Republic of Congo.

And now Cameroon may become the next example. The Franckistes say they are organizing themselves across the country and in the Cameroonian diaspora to support the man they call “our champion” – the President’s son.

View attachment 2485660

Franck Biya is a reclusive entrepreneur who has avoided the political spotlight. He is reported to have interests in the forestry sector and other private investments. But his backers are convinced that he is best qualified to succeed his father.

“We are charmed by his extraordinary humility, his exemplary behaviour, which should be copied by all our compatriots,” said Mohamed Rahim Noumeu, a business mogul who leads the Citizen Movement of Franckistes for the Peace and Unity of Cameroon.

Mr. Noumeu insists his movement has no connection to Cameroon’s government or ruling party. Its goal, he said, is simply “to ensure a peaceful transition in Cameroon in the coming years” with Franck Biya at the helm.

Officially the question of succession is a taboo topic within the ruling party, the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, because the President still has four years remaining in his term. The next election is not scheduled until 2025, by which time the President will be 92.

But in recent weeks, front-page articles in Cameroonian newspapers have been touting the possibility of a father-to-son handover, while social media has been buzzing with photos and videos of Franck Biya.


Cameroon has had only two heads of state since its independence in 1961. Opposition parties and independent analysts have described the country’s elections as routinely rigged. The ruling party voted in 2008 to amend the constitution to remove presidential term limits, allowing Mr. Biya to stay in power indefinitely.

Since then, he has become notorious for spending months at a luxury hotel in Geneva. Opponents called him “the President of the Hotel Intercontinental.” In some years, he has spent as much as a third of the year outside Cameroon.

An investigation in 2018 by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project estimated that Mr. Biya had spent US$182-million on his private travel since becoming President. During his Geneva jaunts, he has reportedly spent US$40,000 a day for hotel accommodations for himself and his entourage of as many as 50 bodyguards, politicians, butlers and other staff.

Meanwhile, among ordinary Cameroonians, frustrations have been growing over widespread poverty and war. Almost half the population has an income of less than US$2 a day, despite the country’s oil and cocoa resources. Military conflict and human-rights abuses have been fuelled by confrontations with the Boko Haram radical Islamist militia in the north and separatist forces in the English-speaking regions of the country.

As these pressures mount, it may be difficult for the ruling party to engineer a familial succession. Despite the Franckiste campaign, Franck Biya still lacks popularity or much of a profile, analysts say.

“I see the ongoing campaign as a teaser to see if people even know about Franck Biya, to see if people see him as a possible leader,” said Eyong Tarh, a human-rights activist and media commentator in the capital, Yaoundé.

In particular, the campaign is trying to gauge support among Cameroon’s youth, a key political constituency, Dr. Tarh said.

But even if the manoeuvre fails, it is unlikely to deter other African dynasties.

Paul Biya’s rival as the world’s longest-serving president, Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea, who has ruled his country since seizing power in a 1979 coup, has already installed his son as his vice-president and presumed successor.

In the Republic of Congo, President Denis Sassou Nguesso – who has ruled for 37 years – is reportedly seeking to anoint his son, Denis Christel, as his successor.
These African president are crazy.

FRANK Biya is kind of cute
I'm just glad my parents made the decision to official become Kenyan citizens. Cameroon is literally a sh#thole. Just look at the cities and compare them to other African cities. It has been 40 years of darkness and another 40 years of backwardness by way of their president's son who is no doubt being groomed to take over. And then the fact that they are puppets to the French language and the French system.

I will never in my lifetime step foot in Cameroon. NEVER! I am so grateful for my American citizenship and I cannot wait to get my Kenyan citizenship. As it stands, there is no hope for Cameroon. I'm literally done with this country. A country with NO VISION.
You're doing to much.

Are you really from Cameroon??
 

Lifeisreal

Northern Nigerian American
Joined
Jan 14, 2012
Messages
6,246
Reaction score
Reactions
22,986 2,567 1,204
24,283
Alleybux
428,687
You're doing to much.

Are you really from Cameroon??
No, I am from Jupiter. The fact that i am "doing too much" or passionate about this issue should automatically make you put the two and two together to know i am originally from Cameroon. The fµck!

you don't know what my family and i have been through at the hands of these satanic cameroonian authorities simply because we come from the north and are American citizens ...donc tu la fermes!
 

Bourgie Boho

Igbo girls dey maintain
Joined
May 5, 2020
Messages
26,057
Reaction score
Reactions
236,718 9,040 6,388
253,228
Alleybux
729,004
The African leaders intend on killing its citizens. People are starting to stand up. I didn't know Cameroon was this bad. A guy in my neighborhood is Anglo-Cameroon and he says the franco ones are very wicked to them
 
Last edited:

sundaybest

AbundantlyAmazing
Joined
Sep 4, 2011
Messages
44,491
Reaction score
Reactions
236,752 11,967 10,194
252,404
Alleybux
491,923
Africa’s oldest president, preparing to enter his fifth decade in power, may finally have a successor waiting in the wings: his eldest son.

View attachment 2485650
Cameroon's incumbent President Paul Biya, of the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement party, casts his vote during the presidential elections in Yaounde, Cameroon, on Sunday Oct. 7, 2018.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Paul Biya, the 88-year-old autocrat who has dominated Cameroon for the past 39 years, is sometimes described as the world’s longest-ruling non-royal leader – if his seven years as prime minister are added to his decades as president.

And now some of his loyalists are campaigning for a quasi-monarchical transition. They call themselves “Franckistes,” and their goal is simple: to groom the President’s son, 49-year-old businessman Franck Biya, to succeed him. Rumours of a father-to-son handover have been splashed across newspaper front pages and social media in recent weeks.

If it happens, it will be another tumble in the backward slide of democracy in Africa and many other parts of the world. Freedom House, a U.S.-based organization, reported last month that 2020 was the 15th consecutive year of decline in global freedom. “The long democratic recession is deepening,” it said.

Freedom House estimated that less than 20 per cent of the world’s population is now living in a free country – the smallest percentage since 1995.

In a growing number of African countries, the deterioration of democracy has been marked by attempts to perpetuate the power of long-dominant families. In Togo and Gabon, sons have already succeeded their fathers as rulers, allowing their families to remain in control for more than half a century. Similar dynastic accessions to power have been rumoured in Equatorial Guinea, Uganda and the Republic of Congo.

And now Cameroon may become the next example. The Franckistes say they are organizing themselves across the country and in the Cameroonian diaspora to support the man they call “our champion” – the President’s son.

View attachment 2485660

Franck Biya is a reclusive entrepreneur who has avoided the political spotlight. He is reported to have interests in the forestry sector and other private investments. But his backers are convinced that he is best qualified to succeed his father.

“We are charmed by his extraordinary humility, his exemplary behaviour, which should be copied by all our compatriots,” said Mohamed Rahim Noumeu, a business mogul who leads the Citizen Movement of Franckistes for the Peace and Unity of Cameroon.

Mr. Noumeu insists his movement has no connection to Cameroon’s government or ruling party. Its goal, he said, is simply “to ensure a peaceful transition in Cameroon in the coming years” with Franck Biya at the helm.

Officially the question of succession is a taboo topic within the ruling party, the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, because the President still has four years remaining in his term. The next election is not scheduled until 2025, by which time the President will be 92.

But in recent weeks, front-page articles in Cameroonian newspapers have been touting the possibility of a father-to-son handover, while social media has been buzzing with photos and videos of Franck Biya.


Cameroon has had only two heads of state since its independence in 1961. Opposition parties and independent analysts have described the country’s elections as routinely rigged. The ruling party voted in 2008 to amend the constitution to remove presidential term limits, allowing Mr. Biya to stay in power indefinitely.

Since then, he has become notorious for spending months at a luxury hotel in Geneva. Opponents called him “the President of the Hotel Intercontinental.” In some years, he has spent as much as a third of the year outside Cameroon.

An investigation in 2018 by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project estimated that Mr. Biya had spent US$182-million on his private travel since becoming President. During his Geneva jaunts, he has reportedly spent US$40,000 a day for hotel accommodations for himself and his entourage of as many as 50 bodyguards, politicians, butlers and other staff.

Meanwhile, among ordinary Cameroonians, frustrations have been growing over widespread poverty and war. Almost half the population has an income of less than US$2 a day, despite the country’s oil and cocoa resources. Military conflict and human-rights abuses have been fuelled by confrontations with the Boko Haram radical Islamist militia in the north and separatist forces in the English-speaking regions of the country.

As these pressures mount, it may be difficult for the ruling party to engineer a familial succession. Despite the Franckiste campaign, Franck Biya still lacks popularity or much of a profile, analysts say.

“I see the ongoing campaign as a teaser to see if people even know about Franck Biya, to see if people see him as a possible leader,” said Eyong Tarh, a human-rights activist and media commentator in the capital, Yaoundé.

In particular, the campaign is trying to gauge support among Cameroon’s youth, a key political constituency, Dr. Tarh said.

But even if the manoeuvre fails, it is unlikely to deter other African dynasties.

Paul Biya’s rival as the world’s longest-serving president, Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea, who has ruled his country since seizing power in a 1979 coup, has already installed his son as his vice-president and presumed successor.

In the Republic of Congo, President Denis Sassou Nguesso – who has ruled for 37 years – is reportedly seeking to anoint his son, Denis Christel, as his successor.
What’s that country’s poverty rate?
 

Mrs.Giroud

RIP Cheverly 4.17.23
Joined
Jan 18, 2015
Messages
4,881
Reaction score
Reactions
111,416 4,132 1,281
115,745
Alleybux
570,239
I don't understand how any ruler can hold their head up high and be proud when their country is basically 1,000 years behind the rest of the world. If I'm a ruler, I want my country to be the cleanest, safety, most prosperous, and respected country on earth. What's the appeal of holding on to power in a place that has nothing? Are tacky clothing, LV bags, and bad wigs such a big deal to these men?
 

Solid Doo Doo

General Manager
Joined
Feb 23, 2011
Messages
3,143
Reaction score
Reactions
14,369 567 137
17,087
Alleybux
4,508
Africa just doesn't know how to do democracy, does it? I would make the excuse that dynasties and monarchies were the norm before the white man came and introduced this concept but then again europe was also full of monarchies. Could be cause it didn't happen organically?
 

FullMoonPuss

Team Owner
Joined
Jan 31, 2012
Messages
13,767
Reaction score
Reactions
88,599 2,910 1,403
94,067
Alleybux
168,438
Africa just doesn't know how to do democracy, does it? I would make the excuse that dynasties and monarchies were the norm before the white man came and introduced this concept but then again europe was also full of monarchies. Could be cause it didn't happen organically?
Why are you basing the individual capabilities of African countries maintaing democracy on the failures of a few? You cant just ignore countries like Ghana, Botswana, (sort of) Nigeria and South Africa who have done good jobs upholding elections and representative positions since the 90s.

Dynasties and monarchies as a form of governance had been the norm in Europe even after they had records of the Greek and Roman city state governments to show them differently.

But one of the biggest reasons for the failure of Cameroon to uphold a democratic political sysytem is because the French government have always made sure to support that failure. They've benefitted significantly over the decades by keeping Biya and Biya's underlings under French protection (eg promising he wont end up like Gaddafi). Not saying the West is entirely to blame since Biya has had a whole cabinet of ministers and military leaders and diplomats who had the influence or could have worked together to take him out. But lets be real, most of times when we hear of a foreign leader being taken out and replaced, its because the opposition has Western and CIA backing.
 

ANTIUSERNAME

Team Owner
Benched
Joined
Mar 26, 2017
Messages
24,792
Reaction score
Reactions
127,619 11,232 14,342
118,393
Alleybux
212,524
No, I am from Jupiter. The fact that i am "doing too much" or passionate about this issue should automatically make you put the two and two together to know i am originally from Cameroon. The fµck!

you don't know what my family and i have been through at the hands of these satanic cameroonian authorities simply because we come from the north and are American citizens ...donc tu la fermes!
Well, welcome Aliens. Some font on here talk reckless about Africans and aren't even African themselves.

I'm sorry for what you went tho with them but i never cosign generalization
 

Similar Threads

Trending Threads

News Alley

Ask LSA

The Lounge

General Alley

Top Bottom