President, Paul Biya, has officially announced his candidacy for the presidential election scheduled for October 2025. At 92 years old, Biya has been in power since 1982, making him one of the world’s longest-serving leaders. The announcement was made by Cavayé Yéguié Djibril, President of the National Assembly, who declared Biya as the candidate from the Far North region.
Cameroon’s constitution places no age or term limits on presidential candidates, allowing Biya to seek an eighth consecutive term. With 10 other candidates already declaring their intention to run, the stage is set for a competitive election as the country prepares for its next chapter of leadership.
TIME FOR CHANGE IN CAMEROON
Dr. Christopher Fomunyoh if the ruling CPDM decides to renew their trust in 92-year-old Biya as candidate for the party in the forthcoming polls, “they should be prepared to live with the consequences He proposed a huge package of far reaching reforms recently in an interview he granted Douala-based television station, Dash TV
Cameroon’s US-based good governance champion and democratisation expert, Dr Christopher Fomunyoh, has suggested the blueprint of what he says the country’s next Head of State needs in order to clean the mess of the current regime.
The Senior Associate and Regional Director for West and Central Africa at the National Democratic Institute, NDI, proposed the model, which he says would further solidify the shaken bonds of national unity.
His proposal comes within the context of mounting pressure from Catholic Bishops, the civil society and other quarters for the Head of State not to seek another term of office, after he subtly declared his intention to seek re-election in his traditional end-of-year address to the nation.
The erudite governance icon, it should be recalled, has repeatedly expressed readiness to put his decades-long experience at the disposal of fellow compatriots to push for change that would liberate the country from the shackles of the CPDM-led GOVERNMENT.
Post-Biya era vision
Speaking during the interview, Dr Fomunyoh was unequivocal that the post-Biya era would need an awake and hardworking leader in other to put the country back on the rails of development, unity, social cohesion and peace.
Addressing the systemic challenges facing the country, he said this can only be possible if Cameroon’s next leader is guided by “The three Rs of Reforming, Reconciliation and Rebuilding”.
“The country needs a strong visionary leader who can undertake massive reforms of the multiple sectors that are currently broken and that are in disrepair across the country,” Dr Fomunyoh stated.
The vocal democratisation expert was firm that the country at the moment needs a leader “who can reconcile and embrace national reconciliation as a national priority”.
Prioritising reconciliation, Dr Fomunyoh explained, is given the “excessive polarisation, excessive fragmentation, disaffection between even citizens and the State, the lack of functionality of various State institutions”.
A new Cameroon needs a leader, who will revive the country’s economic fabric and “lift it, not just at the level of where it was even 10, 20 years ago, but lift it to be a leading nation on the African continent and a major actor on the global stage”.
Dr Fomunyoh was clear that any leader who can meet these three criteria would be “my preferred choice for the next president of Cameroon”.
Using the challenges that the country faces at the moment to further buttress his points, Dr Fomunyoh stated: “…the country needs a leader who would be awake and hardworking 24 on 24 all seven days of the week”.
He said if the ruling CPDM decides to renew their trust in 92-year-old Biya as candidate for the party in the forthcoming polls, “they should be prepared to live with the consequences”.
The good governance icon urged Cameroonians to reflect more within the present context as it is still “uncertain if President Biya will seek re-election”.
“Whether he runs again or passes the baton to a new leader, the hope is that the next Head of State will address the country’s pressing challenges and usher in an era of renewal and progress,” he said.
Cameroon’s democratic process broken
Quizzed on whether he will accept multiple calls by political parties, civil society organisations and the media, for him to run for the office of Head of State, Dr Fomunyoh, said his interest lies with addressing the fundamental challenges facing the country and not about him as an individual.
The multiple calls for him to seek election, Dr Fomunyoh explained, are due to his works on advancing the democratic process around the world or across Africa.
He said it is the fruits of such works that other compatriots are thinking it is time for him to “join efforts with other compatriots to lift the country into a better place than it is today”.
“However, I think the subject matter is still premature, and the alignment isn’t quite there…I feel honoured that some of my compatriots think along those lines. There are multiple ways in which I could continue to contribute to lift our country from the current situation in which it finds itself,” he stated.
Dr Fomunyoh said messages that he receives from compatriots point to the fact that the “democratic process in the country is broken, that the security situation in the Far North with Boko Haram requires vigorous action, and that the conflict in the Southern Cameroons, Ambazonia referred to here as the North West and North West Regions of the country warrants maximum attention and resolution”.
The Senior Associate and Regional Director for West and Central Africa at the National Democratic Institute, NDI, US-based good governance champion and democratisation expert, Dr Christopher Fomunyoh Reiterates need to address root causes
On the deepening crisis in the Southern Cameroons – Ambazonia, styled North West and South West regions by the annexationist French Cameroon Dr Fomunyoh said the solution does not lie on the use of force.
He drummed the need for dialogue and negotiations to address the legitimate grievances of Anglophones from their roots.
“I still feel that until we sit around the table and deal with the root causes, until we bring into the room the people who have been the most aggrieved and most impacted by this conflict, until we give them a voice to speak for themselves and say precisely what it is they want, we are not going to be able to resolve this crisis,” he stated.
Dr Fomunyoh added that: “…no government in the world has ever benefited from a frozen conflict with its citizenry. We should not assume that even if the guns stopped firing, the conflict would have been resolved”.
Editor’s note
Some Cameroonians think that it is time for an “Anglophone” now to take over. This school of thought cites other names like Akere Muna, Osih Joshua. The dollar question Breaking News has been pondering over has been that an “Anglophone” cannot be considered today out of sympathy but out of a constitutional dispensation which should state clearly that after the Francophones have held the presidency for over six decades, will the presidency be handed equally to the Anglophones to run for another six decades since we came together in 1961 as two equals? Going memory lane in 1992 when Fru Ndi won the presidential elections, Mitterand, the French President at the time said no Anglophone at Etoudi except on the dead body of the French. In 2025, the French are still here, any rightful thinking Southern Cameroonian, Ambazonian or any schools of thought thinking that an Anglophone can actually take over today when no meaningful constitutional reforms are put in place should be referred to a psychiatric clinic.
The annexationist regime in Yaounde of the republic of Cameroon has been summoned equally at the ICC for crimes against humanity committed by its military against Southern Cameroonians – Ambazonians who have suffered under the Yaounde repressive regime for over six decades and on whom the ailing 92 year old dictator Paul Biya declared a senseless war in 2017 that has claimed close to 60.000 innocent lives, burnt hundreds of villages, homes, and properties, sent more than a million into involuntary exile as refugees in neighbouring countries like Nigeria, Ghana, others going across the oceans to the United States of America, Europe and thousands languishing in jails across the Cameroons. It is the cry of these-peace-loving and justice-seeking people of the Southern Cameroons – Ambazonia that President Donald Trump being a god fearing leader should tackle the plight of these people who have suffered in bondage for 64 years and free them from captivity. As he tackles the Israeli – Palestinian -Gaza and the Russia – Ukraine conflicts
This Dash TV interview was also published by The Guardian Post
As Paul Biya Announces Candidacy for 2025 Presidential Election, Dr. Fomunyoh Cautions
