October 12 poll: Time for Biya to speak out.

Like all presidential candidates during an election period, President Biya, as candidate for his ruling party, is supposed to be communicating in person with the electorate.

But he has, for months now, been communicating his messages of peace, unity, justice and living together, only through the social media, an open market place hardly familiar to nonagenarians, raising reservations if it is actually him writing.

Last week, one of the contestants in the presidential election, with solid legal credentials, Bâtonnier Akere Muna, went to the Constitutional Council. 

His prayers to the Council was for the disqualification of President Biya from running for an eight term, with victory predicted by some Catholic Bishops as a foregone conclusion, given the reported flaws in the electoral system.

Akere used 11 supporting documents; such as press articles, photos, videos, and a geriatric assessment, which aimed to demonstrate that the President, at his age of 92, is necessarily dependent on proxies to govern.

His main arguments were: "On dependence: His prolonged absences (42 days abroad in 2024), his physical absence, and his governance by proxy prove his inability to act independently".

Point two was on "shadow governance: Institutions such as the Higher Council of the Judiciary have not been in session for six years. Power is exercised by unelected officials invoking "High lnstructions".

Thirdly, "his disorientation at the 2022 US-Africa Summit, requiring assistance for basic tasks, and his non-transparent medical stays in Switzerland".

Barrister Akere argued that "a President who has become a ghost, absent for weeks abroad, ruling through “High lnstructions,” relayed by unelected proxies incapable of fulfilling his constitutional duties, lacks the requisite capacity to credibly seek re-election."

One of his lawyers, Barrister Ndoki Michelle, wrote on her Facebook page that: "The aim is to ensure that the next presidential election respects both the letter and the spirit of the law. It is about preserving the integrity of our institutions and strengthening democracy in Cameroon”.

As was widely predicted, even before the Council could sit, the case was dumped for "no justification" of the claims, especially without a medical report to prove inability to govern.

Before the decision, a former Minister of Communication and Government's Spokesmman, Issa Tchiroma, on resigning from the CPDM government as Minister of Employment and Vocational Training, had said: "...the Head of State is inaccessible, he is invisible".

Against speculations that the President could not be reached, even by his ministers, Radio France Internationale, RFI, last July asked the Minister of Communication and Government's Spokesman, Sadi Rene Emmanuel: "Have you seen Biya?". The minister parried the question.

For weeks, the Minister of State, Secretary General at the Presidency, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, received various delegations of traditional rulers, senators, parliamentarians, Imams at the Presidency of the Republic, to register their support for President Biya's candidacy.

On the background were giant size portraits of the Head of State, prompting cynics likening the event as "wake without corpse".

Such prolonged absences from the public view of a powerful Head of State who alone holds other key functions such as National President of the ruling CPDM party, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Chair of the Higher Judicial Council, brew vicious comments, especially on the social media and gossip mills which are not conducive for our nascent democracy.

The Guardian Post remembers that in 1991 when Douala was grounded by "Ghost Town" protests and the President criticised for being absent, he said: “Silence and moderation are not signs of weakness.

He stormed Douala with his memorable quote: "Me voici donc à Douala", to calm the situation.

The atmosphere with the uncertainty of the presidential poll and a subterranean succession conflict do not warrant silence and invisibility that could be interpreted as acquiescence to the claims of Akere Muna.

Muna's arguments were "not justified", as rejected by an institution perceived as a court of law and not a court of justice. But it remains in the court of public opinion and the longer it stays, the more it is believed. That's no credit to the legacy of a leader of President Biya’s ’s experience.

At least, the President should, in a televised speech, speak out to assure the electorate that he remains in control, not by proxies for the interest of nourishing our democratic process on the eve of a crucial election predicted to make or mar the country.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3547 of Thursday August 28, 2025