For over four decades, Paul Biya has held the reins of power in Cameroon — not through democratic legitimacy or public trust, but through fear, repression, manipulation, and the tragic complacency of a broken political system.
At 92 years old, Biya is now one of the world’s longest-serving rulers, yet his leadership has done little to advance the dignity, well-being, or democratic aspirations of the Camerounian people. His presidency is not just a symbol of political decay; it is a damning indictment of an entire nation’s failure to rise against tyranny.
A Reign of Neglect and Repression
Paul Biya has presided over a country rich in potential, yet crippled by stagnation, corruption, and authoritarianism. Since taking office in 1982, he has overseen:
Institutional Decay: Cameroon under Biya is a textbook case of institutional erosion. Checks and balances are nonexistent. The judiciary serves the regime, not the people. Parliament is a rubber stamp. Elections are nothing but poorly staged performances where outcomes are determined long before the first ballot is cast.
Rampant Corruption: Transparency International has repeatedly ranked Cameroon among the world’s most corrupt countries. From embezzlement of public funds to the awarding of state contracts to cronies, corruption isn’t just tolerated — it’s institutionalized. Billions of dollars in public wealth have disappeared, while ordinary citizens are left to beg for basic services like clean water, electricity, and healthcare.
Economic Mismanagement: Despite its natural resources — oil, timber, agriculture — Cameroon remains underdeveloped, with youth unemployment soaring, infrastructure crumbling, and poverty deepening. Biya has utterly failed to modernize the economy or create sustainable jobs for a rapidly growing population.
Neglect of the Anglophone Regions: Perhaps the most tragic legacy of Biya’s rule is the ongoing crisis in the English-speaking regions of the country. His refusal to address legitimate grievances with dialogue and reform has plunged Cameroon into a brutal civil conflict. Government forces have been accused of war crimes, including extrajudicial killings, torture, and village burnings. Thousands have died, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced.
Absentee Leadership: Biya has become infamous for governing from luxury hotels in Europe — most notably in Geneva — where he spends months at a time. While his people suffer, he lounges abroad, burning public funds to maintain his comfort. He is a president in name only — a ghost at home, a burden on his people.
The Failure of the People — and the Opposition
As much as Biya deserves the blame for Cameroon’s tragedy, the people themselves — and especially the political elite — must face hard truths. How has a man clung to power for over 40 years in the face of so much suffering? How has the ruling party continued to rig elections with impunity? Why has there been no sustained mass uprising, no coordinated challenge, no successful political alternative?
The opposition is fragmented, often more concerned with personal ambition than national salvation. Civil society is either co-opted or crushed. Many Camerounians have resigned themselves to survival, understandably more concerned with daily bread than political revolution. But this silence, this passivity, is also complicity.
A Country Held Hostage
Paul Biya has hijacked the Camerounian state for his own survival. What should be a modern, thriving African democracy is now a shell of its potential — held hostage by an aging dictator and a cowardly political class. Cameroon deserves better. Its youth, its diaspora, its intellectuals — they all deserve a country they can be proud of. But until Biya’s reign ends — and a true democratic transition begins — that future remains hostage to a shameful legacy of failure and repression.
Conclusion: Enough is Enough
The time for quiet discontent is over. The time for waiting is over. Cameroon cannot afford another stolen decade, another sham election, another empty promise. The world must stop turning a blind eye. And the people — at home and abroad — must summon the courage that their leaders lack.
History will remember Paul Biya as one of Africa’s great tragedies — a leader who had every opportunity to build, but instead chose to destroy. But history will also judge the people of Cameroon — not only by how long they suffered, but by how long they waited to say “enough is enough”.
