October poll: Exploiting youth in Biya's name!.

Youth are a crucial segment of Cameroon’s population and as Frank Fannon would say, they are "wretched of the earth".

The World Bank, in one of its reports, noted that the youth, "aged 18 to 35, represent 57% of the labour force in Cameroon; but many struggle to get employed. With rapid population growth and urbanisation, the need for better employment opportunities is urgent".

The United Nations forecasts that by 2050, 70% of Cameroon’s population will live in urban areas. While this presents a chance to reap the benefits of a demographic dividend, it also "raises the risk of deepening poverty and exclusion, if jobs do not keep pace".

Jobs are not being created to match the rapid population growth. That should be the concern of the politicians of the ruling CPDM party, most of whom are in the evening of their ages, swimming in affluence and flaunting their wealth, to the chagrin of the youth, who remain the most affected by poverty and misery.

In such a lurch of poverty, misery, unemployment and frustration, who would want humanity to believe that they have been ‘raising millions to support the candidacy of President Biya,’ to run for an eighth term in October, at a time their peers are blazing trails of leadership in civilised African countries?

Unfortunately, that is exactly the fallacy that some CPDM politicians want people to swallow hook, line and sinker. 

Last Saturday, hundreds of youth converged on the Congress Hall in Bamenda, to throw in their support for President Paul Biya, ahead of the 2025 presidential election.    

Organised under the banner of the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement youth wing, YCPDM, the event culminated in a "symbolic fundraising" effort that reportedly raised about seven million FCFA.

Media reports of the ceremony noted that "speakers at the event praised Biya’s leadership and expressed hope for his continued guidance. However, while the atmosphere inside the hall was celebratory, outside, discontent was visible".

According to the reports, "several commercial motorcycle riders who had helped mobilise crowds and led convoys to the venue, voiced disappointment over alleged underpayment and broken promises. According to several riders, organisers had pledged 1,000 francs worth of fuel to each rider, which many said they never received".

Last month, in an identical rally that took place in Buea, youth reportedly donated a "symbolic" five million FCFA to support the campaign of a man who has not as much as expressed any intention to vie for office again.

At The Guardian Post, we understand that youth in nearly all the 10 Regions, have been holding rallies or planning to do so to back the candidature of incumbent Paul Biya in October. It has become like a campaign trail even before the electorate is convened.

Such maneuvers of hypocrisy and deception raise a number of issues. Isn't it the rich, many of them overnight millionaires because of illicit wealth, who are organising the events in the name of the youth?

Who will believe that young people, many making a living by riding commercial bikes, can donate over seven million FCFA, as part of the caution fee of their grandfather?

Was the agitation by the riders, who were not paid the peanut change of 1,000 FCFA in Bamenda as promised, not enough proof that they could not cough out the amount being dangled by politicians?

Has the social media not been awash with CPDM youth hustling to collect 2,000 FCFA note, sardine and bread, at rallies, yet humanity is being fooled that the same youth will raise millions at a rally?

The Guardian Post understands that within the ruling party, the definition of youth remains controversial. There have been cases where presidents of the youth wing of the party are older than those of the main stem. If we go by the universal definition, a youth is between 18 and 35.

Those eligible to vote begin at 18 in all democracies, but in Cameroon, the same young people of 18 and 19, are disenfranchised with the warp excuse that they are not old enough to decide who rules them! Yet, they are fit enough to be recruited into the military to use weapons of collateral destruction.

Nobody is fooled. The money being ‘donated’ by the youth to support the "Man of Experience", is offered by local party officials lurking behind to give the president the false impression that frustrated and unemployed Cameroonian youth are backing him for an eight term.

President Biya is experienced enough to understand those cheap tricks and maneuvers. He has, with every given opportunity, expressed his commitment to give them an education aligned with the demands of the job market and job creation. 

He doesn't need any financial support from frustrated and unemployed youth, which could be like using a teaspoon to throw water in an ocean.

If the politicians with masks giving money to youth to support the CPDM potential candidate care about the welfare of young people, who are in the nadir of poverty, they should rather support them with money to create small businesses and fight the scorch of youth unemployment, which is President Biya's paramount concern.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3449 of Thursday May 15, 2025