Vol 55 No 17 | CAMEROON Biya's answer to Boko Haram 21st August 2014 The military's reorganisation to cope with the jihadist threat leaves unanswered the charge that the country is a soft touch for kidnappers As further details emerge about Boko Haram's 27 July attempt to capture Amadou Ali, one of President Paul Biya's top ministers and confidants, questions remain about the adequacy o...
Vol 55 No 16 | CAMEROON Embarrassing Biya 8th August 2014 When Boko Haram kidnapped one of the wives of a Deputy Prime Minister on 27 July, killing 16 people in the process, it also unleashed the latent competition for the succession to P...
Vol 54 No 22 | CAMEROONVATICAN Biya and the Bishops 31st October 2013 President Paul Biya saw Pope Francis on 18 October to re-affirm, Biya’s officials said, ‘the longstanding perfect communion between Yaoundé and Rome’. Yet ...
Vol 54 No 19 | CAMEROON A family divided 19th September 2013 Two weeks before the legislative and local elections on 30 September, the ruling Rassemblement démocratique du peuple camerounais (RDPC) has caused a shock by recruiting Ami...
Vol 54 No 15 | CAMEROON Ready or not, here they come 16th July 2013 The President finally reveals the date of the delayed general and local elections that were supposed to take place in July 2012 Twice postponed, the elections are now scheduled for 30 September, President Paul Biya announced on 15 July. Election timetables are set in law but it is the President who decides ...
Vol 54 No 15 | CAMEROON A season in Elecam 16th July 2013 The new voting system will not help electoral registration, which is now closed Cameroon is adopting biometric technology for its new electoral register and the upcoming polls now set for 30 September will be different from previous ones. President Paul Biya&r...
Vol 54 No 10 | CAMEROON Upper house of cards 10th May 2013 President Paul Biya has now appointed 30 Senators, bringing the new parliamentary upper house to its full complement of 100. Elections on 14 April – by an electoral college of loca...
Vol 54 No 7 | CAMEROON Biya's second house 29th March 2013 After 17 years, President Paul Biya has now decided to hold elections for a national senate on 14 April. The new body will have no real powers but may be a suitable berth for Biya'...
Vol 54 No 2 | CAMEROON Après Biya fears 18th January 2013 After 30 years in in charge, the President seems as secure as ever. Yet worries are growing that his legacy will be a political vacuum In November, President Paul Biya was conspicuous by his absence from any of his supporters’ nationwide celebrations of his 30 years in power. In this way, he kept intact his reputa...
Vol 54 No 2 | CAMEROON Family bonds 18th January 2013 One person who is never spoken of as a successor to President Paul Biya is his son Franck Biya, who is not a member of the ruling party and has never held political office or been...