2025 presidentials: Biya’s subtle declaration attracting more bickering!.

Rene Emmanuel Sadi: Government Spokesperson

A recent statement made by President Biya, 92, which has been considered by many as a subtle declaration of his determination to seek an eighth term in office in the upcoming presidential election, is further attracting debates within public space.   

The debates have been animating the political scene since the Head of State’s traditional end-of-year address to the nation on December 31, 2024.



In the meantime, the Archbishops of the Catholic Archdioceses of Bamenda in the North West Region and Douala in the Littoral Region, His Grace Andrew Nkea and His Grace Samuel Kleda, have called on citizens to take their responsibility in the upcoming presidential election.

In his state-of-the-nation address, Biya had declared that: “I can assure you that my resolve to serve you remains steadfast and grows stronger by the day as we address the immense challenges facing us”.

The Minister of Communication and Government Spokesperson, Rene Emmanuel Sadi, in a release issued yesterday, described the debates as to whether President Biya will seek re-election as “unnecessary”. 

The member of government qualified as “misleading and inaccurate”, the misinterpretation of President Biya’s end-of-year message.

The Head of State’s statement in relation to the upcoming presidential election, Minister Rene Sadi said, have been given varied interpretations “on mainstream and social media from our fellow citizens, including those of some prelates of the Catholic Church”. 

The Spokesperson of the regime was however categorical in his release issued yesterday, that the controversies surrounding the President Biya’s candidacy for the upcoming polls are “unnecessary”.

This, Rene Sadi explained, is based on the fact that the current seven-year mandate of President Biya will run out in a few months. He added that Biya is still to openly declare if he will seek re-election or not. 

“As such, it is entirely up to him [Biya] to reassure his fellow citizens of his determination to fully assume it, with the same enthusiasm and commitment,” Rene Sadi noted.

To further buttress his point, the minister said President Biya had earlier made clarifications with regard to his possible candidacy in the upcoming polls “that, at the appropriate time, he will disclose whether or not he will be seeking re-election. As of now, any controversy on this issue is unnecessary”. 

 

Condemns Catholic Bishops’ outings 

Minister Rene Sadi while recognising the right of all to freely express their opinions on issues of the nation, “deeply deplores the vehemence of some declarations focused solely on the presidential stakes”, especially by prelates of the Catholic Church. 

He restated that Cameroon is a secular State where religions co-exist in harmony and maintain peaceful relations with public authorities. This, the minister said, “implies there is no conflict between the government and religious denominations, in this case the Catholic Church”. 

“As a matter of fact, government considers that the clear-cut declarations made by some religious authorities on the upcoming presidential election, which smack of pure speculation, are the sole responsibility of those authorities and can in no way call into question the relationship between the State and religious denominations, nor influence the free choice of Cameroonians, who will, when the time comes, make up their minds in all sovereignty and responsibility,” the minister stated. 

Rene Sadi on behalf of government invited all and sundry to stick to the earlier response of the Head of State as to whether he was going to seek re-election or not.

While assuring that government is closely working with competent structures to ensure that the election is organised in a serene, transparent and peaceful atmosphere, Minister Rene Sadi urged all those aspiring to the presidential office to prepare themselves, in the best possible way, to take part in the election.  

 

Context of the minister’s outing 

The minister’s outing followed pressure being mounted by some Catholic bishops for the country’s veteran leader to step aside during the upcoming polls. 

The Bishop of Yagoua, His Lordship Barthélemy Yaouda Hourgo, in a viral video shortly after Biya’s end-of-year speech, said Cameroon is in dire need of change at the helm of the State, even if it means handing the country to a devil. 

“Can you give a machete to your 92-year-old grandfather to walk for one kilometer to go to the farm? What kind of Cameroonian is that? And you are telling us to only preach peace? People have had enough! No,” the prelate stated. 

On his part, the Bishop of Ngaoundere, His Lordship Emmanuel Abbo, questioned why the worries of citizens are not addressed added to threats and violation of their rights to freedom of expression.

The reactions of the prelates added to that of the Archbishop of the Diocese of Douala, His Grace Samuel Kleda, in which he declared that the candidacy of aging Biya for the 2025 presidential election is not feasible. 

“I would simply say that that it’s unrealistic. We are human beings. At some point, we will leave this world. That’s why I am talking about transition…,” Kleda told RFI in an interview on December 25, 2024.

 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3332 of Wednesday January 08, 2025

 

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