Climate of Fear: President Biya’s Prolonged Absence Sparks National Anxiety, CPJ Challenges Biya to Make Public Appearance

A group of young people watches as Cameroon’s national team, the Indomitable Lions, battle the Harambee Stars of Kenya in an African Nations qualifier. Each goal Cameroon scores is met with boisterous celebration. By halftime, Cameroon leads Kenya by an impressive three goals.

Then, a dark, muscular man attempts to steer the conversation from football to a topic weighing heavily on the minds of many Cameroonians: the whereabouts of their President.

“The President has been out for more than forty days, and we are here watching football,” he announces loudly enough for everyone in the drinking spot to hear. “I just wonder if he is still alive,” he adds, casting an engaging look around, seemingly hoping to ignite a discussion.

But his was the only voice now being heard. The bar, lively just moments ago, falls silent. One by one, patrons begin to leave. “I know that guy. He is in the secret service, and I suspect he was trying to get us to talk about the Head of State’s health so he could call his colleagues to come to arrest us,” one of the football watchers whispers to his friend, his voice low with caution.

This behavior reflects the general mood in Cameroon, where any discussion about President Paul Biya’s health has been outlawed. Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Atanga Nji has instructed regional governors to set up monitoring units to oversee the media and track anyone discussing the President’s health.

The banning order came after reports surfaced online suggesting that the President might have died or that, in the best-case scenario, he could be battling for his life in a European hospital.

Atanga Nji addressed a letter to regional governors on October 9 stating that “debate in the media” on the president’s health was “strictly prohibited” and ordering that “monitoring cells” charged with tracking online content be set up.

The letter bore a red stamp reading “highly urgent”. It said that discussions on the health of the 91-year-old president were “a matter of national security”, warning that anyone violating the order would “face the full force of the law.”

President Biya was last seen publicly at the China-Africa Beijing summit a month ago. Since then, he has missed several expected appearances, including the United Nations General Assembly in New York and a summit of French-speaking countries in Paris.

The order to not talk about his health has stoked fear across the nation, but discordant voices are not lacking in the general climate of fear.

Edith Kah Wallah, a leading political figure in Cameroon, has, in a lengthy open letter addressed to Minister Atanga Nji, urged the Minister to “cease to threaten and insult us, citizens of Cameroon.”

“Freedom of expression is a Constitutional right! As a Minister of the Republic, you cannot ban any Cameroonian from speaking about any subject unless there exists a specific law allowing you to do so. Your directive of October 9, 2024, to Governors is therefore illegal,” Kah wrote.

She said the health of the President should be a matter of public interest, especially in the buildup to a presidential election next year. The nonagenarian President is still being urged by his party affiliates to stand.

In a statement on Thursday, the global press freedom organization, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), urged the Cameroonian government to “end its threats to sanction private media journalists who report on the condition and whereabouts of President Paul Biya.”

The president’s health, who has been in power for 41 years and may seek re-election next year, is of public interest. Any misguided attempt to censor reporting about his health for national security reasons fuels rampant speculation,” Angela Quintal, head of CPJ’s Africa Programme, stated.

“The Cameroonian government should put the rumors to rest by arranging a public appearance by the head of state,” she suggested.