93 years old Paul Biya’s Departure for Europe Weeks to Elections is an Insult to Cameroonians

Biya’s Departure for Europe Weeks to Elections is an Insult to Cameroonians

President Paul Biya’s decision to leave Cameroon for a private stay in Europe just three weeks before a decisive election is deeply troubling and reveals a dangerous contempt for the Cameroonian people.

At 92 years old, Biya has ruled for more than four decades, and his repeated absences from the country suggest that he sees the presidency not as a duty but as a privilege or a birthright he can exercise at his convenience. This is not the first time Biya is out of the country during a decisive national moment.

In October 2016, he was in Europe when a train derailed in Eseka, leading to scores of deaths and injury. He only flew in afterwards and never set foot at the scene of the tragedy.

Later that same year, when the Anglophone Crisis escalated into spiraling protests, Mr. Biya never set foot in any of the Anglophone regions and has still not done so more than 8 years later. In 2017 during a United Nations General Assembly speech, he never bothered to even mention the issue.

In a democracy, election season should be a time when the head of state is present, accountable, and actively engaging citizens to discuss policies and reassure them about the future of the nation. Instead, Biya is absent, signaling a disregard for transparency and democratic accountability.

Such actions undermine confidence in Cameroon’s electoral process. His absence creates the impression that elections are a mere formality whose outcome is already predetermined. This weakens public trust in state institutions, discourages voter participation, and further entrenches apathy in a population that already feels disconnected from political power.

Moreover, leaving the country at such a crucial moment is an insult to citizens grappling with insecurity, poverty, and corruption — issues that demand the president’s leadership.

Cameroonians should not normalize this behavior. A president who treats the country like it’s his personal property or his backyard, sets a dangerous precedent.

Civic groups, opposition parties, and ordinary citizens must demand accountability from the Biya regime, insist on reforms that limit presidential overreach, and push for leaders who prioritize national interest over personal leisure.

Only by rejecting such disrespect can Cameroon reclaim its democracy and ensure that leadership is about service, not self-indulgence. Cameroon cannot be at breaking point under mounting debts from Biya’s reckless borrowing while he flies himself to Europe for personal visits at the expense of the Cameroonian taxpayer, just weeks to a high-stakes election.