Cameroon: Who is really calling the shots?

What the report says

Al Jazeera reports that questions over who is effectively governing Cameroon have intensified during President Paul Biya’s prolonged absences from public view. The issue was highlighted by a March dispute in Yaounde over roadworks ahead of Pope Leo XIV’s visit, involving Housing and Urban Development Minister Celestine Ketcha Courtes and Yaounde City Mayor Luc Messi Atangana. The episode was presented as a sign of broader uncertainty about how authority is exercised when Biya is away.

Biya, who has ruled Cameroon since 1982, returned to Yaounde on August 20 after more than 10 weeks abroad. The article says his absence has renewed scrutiny of constitutional power, informal influence around the presidency and the role of senior officials such as presidency secretary-general Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, who has a permanent delegation of signature. Al Jazeera notes that this is not the same as a transfer of presidential powers.

The report also points to recent legal and political changes that could affect succession. A constitutional amendment approved in April reintroduced the post of vice president, but no appointment had been announced by November 10. If the presidency were to become vacant before a vice president is named, the constitution provides for an interim role for the Senate president and a new election within 20 to 120 days. The article says these arrangements matter because Cameroon faces separatist violence in the English-speaking regions and attacks by Boko Haram-linked groups in the Far North, making stable decision-making at the centre especially important.