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Paul Biya: holidays in Switzerland, tensions in Cameroon

Since last Sunday, President Paul Biya has been on vacation in Switzerland. Meanwhile, the protest against the regime continues and, internally, the family is torn over the choice of the dolphin.

He is used to “short stays” in Europe. The Cameroonian president has never hidden his love for Geneva. He travels regularly to the Swiss Confederation, accompanied by his wife Chantal and his children. In all, he would have spent four and a half years on Swiss soil, including 650 days on the shores of Lake Geneva. Paul Biya has, this time, made an infidelity in Geneva and joined Cointrin, in Switzerland, for one of his many extravagant vacations. This infidelity at the Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva does not prevent the Head of State and his family from spending a stay in luxury.

This trip did not fail to widen a little more the gap which separates the Head of State and the Cameroonian people, who know that Paul Biya generally takes advantage of his Swiss stopovers to take care of himself and to spend the taxpayer's money. In Yaoundé, demonstrations have also started, taking the police by surprise. The police in the capital are, in fact, not used to disputes so close to the epicenter of power in Biya, especially when the head of state is far away. The leader of the Mouvement pour la renaissance du Cameroun (MRC), Maurice Kamto, was threatened by militias supporting Paul Biya.

The opponent was asked, not without being threatened, to return home, accused of wanting to "disrupt Paul Biya's stay in Europe". However, the MRC denied these “allegations” and denounced the death threats against Maurice Kamto. The situation is also turbulent in Switzerland, where hundreds of Cameroonians demonstrated in Geneva. In Cointrin, activists claiming to be Ambazonian, demonstrate in front of the hotel where Paul Biya and his wife Chantal have resided for three days. Several of them accuse the president of genocide against English-speaking Cameroonians. Some demand his arrest in Switzerland, while others denounce the complacency of the Confederation towards the Cameroonian power.

Family disputes and tensions

Demonstrations against Paul Biya are recurrent, especially in Europe, where dozens of buildings representing the Cameroonian state have been ransacked, especially in France and Belgium, where Cameroonian embassies have been taken by storm. What caused a diplomatic crisis between Paul Biya and Belgium. The Belgian kingdom saw its ambassador in Yaoundé reprimanded by the power in place. In Paris, several Cameroonians from the Anti-Sardinards Brigade (BAS), a diaspora movement which boycots artists supporting Paul Biya in particular, were arrested and tried, they received suspended prison sentences.

And in addition to the protesters, the Biya must manage internal tensions and power struggles. In the corridors of the Etoudi Palace, tensions are still palpable. Officially, the Biya empire is managed by his son Franck. The family does not hesitate to publish videos which testify to the solidarity of the clan. But according to Zona Coker, a friend of the regime, “the demonic enemies” of Paul Biya would have “possessed” his daughter, Brenda Biya. Young Brenda is an abundant source of controversy. She also eternally on vacation, she multiplies private parties. But the Cameroonian head of state, more occupied with his Swiss cures than with the management of his clan, lets it go.

The succession of Paul Biya divides the clan

It must be said that another subject fascinates those close to Biya: his succession. Chantal and Franck are focused on the political legacy of the Cameroonian leader. On the one hand, Franck Biya manages family finances and has put his paw on the presidential cabinet. He is also a close friend of the Chief of Staff Samuel Ayolo. And it is he who, today, holds the strings of the palace purse. For her part, the First Lady Chantal is more discreet but much more politicized. It would, if we are to believe the rumors, silenced several journalists, activists or opponents.

While Paul is resting, especially in Switzerland, Chantal and Brenda Biya are scarce with Franck. The two women would indeed have opposed a possible candidacy of the son Biya to succeed his father. The First Lady would have intervened with the national media in order to remove a video in which we saw Franck Biya wish happy holidays to Cameroonians, on the occasion of Labor Day. As for Brenda, she would have contacted the Minister of Communication, as well as the director of a television channel, in order to ask for "explanations" for what looks like a violation of the rules of decorum. But Paul Biya's health continues to be of concern, and in his entourage, everyone is advancing their pawns, preparing for a power vacuum that could happen at any time.

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