"Victory on a wheelchair": A shameful outing of regime baron.

Reactions ranged from the ridiculous, the sublime and even to a declaration of victory, even before the ballot was cast. 

One of the most ridiculous, though not unexpected, came from Dr Felix Zogo, Secretary General in the Ministry of Communication, whose direct boss, Emmanuel Rene Sadi, is Government's Spokesperson.

In a debate on Vision 4 Television's popular debate programme, Club d'Elites, he said Paul Biya "will beat the opposition, even on a wheelchair".

The statement has ignited debate on two fundamental issues. The first is the President’s health, which though in democracies like neighbouring Nigeria and the United States, for example, is public knowledge. A bill of health is even required to run for a presidential election.

But in Cameroon, it is a taboo subject.

The Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, is on record to have even warned against any debate on the wellbeing of the 92-year-old leader, never officially known to have been hospitalised.

The late Publisher of French language daily, Le Messager, Pius Njawe, was jailed when he published a report that the Head of State did not return to the Presidential Tribune to watch a Cup of Cameroon match, because he had cardiac arrest.

Dr Felix Zogo's affirmation that President Biya will win, even from a "wheelchair", particularly as he has not been seen in public for a while and even suspended an ECCAS-CEMAC Summit in Yaounde billed for Friday, raised the question of his health on the social media as a possible reason. 

So, is asserting that he can win on a wheelchair not an indication that the CPDM natural candidate is not in good health? How can a politician on a wheelchair win an election, if it is free and fair?

The second implication in Zogo's televised statement is that the results of the election are already known. 

His prophesy or affirmation tallies with criticisms that the electoral law in the country is cunningly engineered to favour the candidate of the ruling party. 

Archbishop Kleda of Douala Archdiocese, at the 2018 presidential election, said the result "was already known" that incumbent Biya would win before the polls.

The defects in the electoral law have been pointed to the government and members of parliament, for the umpteenth time for revision to include a single ballot, acceptance of all returning sheets at polling station and not only that of ELECAM that can be tinkered with by unscrupulous and crooked staff and stepping down voting age to 18. All that has fallen on deaf ears.

Despite the flaws, many Cameroonians have said massive registration and voting can change the situation in October, given that less than two million voters gave the incumbent victory in 2018.

With over eight million registered this year, voting and then returning to the polling station to watch the counting could be a different narrative, even if the opposition remains in divided alliances.

President Biya embedded a campaign message in his statement, announcing his candidature for an eighth term. 

He said his ambition this time is to ensure "the safety and wellbeing of the sons and daughters of our dear and beautiful country which is the sacred mission to which I have devoted my time and energy since my accession to the highest office. The results are there. Visible, appreciable. Thank you for the massive support you have continually given me in this regard".

He added: "However, much remains to be done. Due to an increasingly restrictive international environment, the challenges we are facing are becoming more acute. Faced with such a situation, I cannot shirk my mission. I have therefore decided to respond favorably to the urgent calls coming from the 10 regions of our country and from the diaspora. I am a candidate in the presidential election of October 12, 2025”.

While Dr Zogo's reaction gives him victory in advance, others question his invisibility. 

Prof Jacques Fame Ndongo, Minister of State, Minister of Higher Education and Communication Secretary of the ruling party, was asked by a French journalist on RFI, last week, if he had seen the President recently? 

He parried the question. Ironically, social media reactions continue to hammer on his "invisibility" and "inaccessibility". 

A social media commentator wrote: "Biya is running for office once again, like a shadow refusing to leave the theater of history, even when the curtains have long since fallen. This is no longer a political act; it is an ancient tragedy replayed and repeated in a country where the clock of time seems to have broken. It is not so much biological longevity that is astonishing, but the moral exhaustion it inflicts on a nation".

It is his reign, if he is even a nonagenarian to run, but he needs not "win on a wheelchair". He is as fit as a fiddle, so his callers for him to run again say. 

Patriotism and nationalism, however, require that the agility should be demonstrated on campaign trails, as is in all democracy, not by proxy in rallies for the voters to see, commune and feel him to decide in peace, transparency and fair play on voting day.

Cameroonians need to turn out massively to vote and defend their votes and not be discouraged and resign to the procrastination of victory on a wheelchair.

They should not help to make the future hollow because in such defeatist assumptions, they bury a past that insists on remaining present.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3504 of Tuesday July 15, 2025