70 million FCFA to paint Biya's statue unacceptable!.

During a debate on Canal 2 International television programme, "Canal Presse," at the weekend, Barrister Emmanuel Simh, Vice-President of Cameroon Renaissance Movement, MRC, said: "I discovered yesterday a public tender for the renovation of President Paul Biya’s statue in Sangmélima. Do you know how much it costs? Seventy million FCFA. Seventy million FCFA to renovate the statue of the President of the Republic, but we can’t hold elections in Cameroon. So, repainting the statue representing the President is more important than holding elections?”

Stunned by the 70 million FCFA tender, launched by Minister Célestine Ketcha Courtès, to renovate the Paul Biya monument in Sangmélima, Barrister Simh argued that the money could have been used to organise legislative and municipal elections, postponed because of supposedly financial constraints.

The Guardian Post disagrees. Though not in support of the postponement as we have had occasion to articulate, 70 million is peanuts change with regards to organising municipal and legislative elections, which normally cost billions of FCFA.

But is painting the statue a priority, especially given that the reunification monument constructed in Buea and unveiled by President Paul Biya on February 19, 2014, remains without a facelift?

The 25-metre-high monument of Paul Biya, strategically located at the Abeo Junction in Sangmelima, in the South Region, was offered in 2021, as an anniversary gift from the Sangmelima Council to recognise President Biya’s "efforts in preserving peace, unity, and development in Cameroon".

Reports in 2022, speculated it could cost up to 20 billion FCFA, and said to be part of a larger ongoing complex, intended to include a library, restaurant, and park.

According to a document, dated 2021, circulating on social media, the Minister, Director of the Civil Cabinet, Samuel Mvondo Ayolo, had requested the Minister of Finance to release 1,271,824,000 FCFA, to support the construction of  Paul Biya Monument.

Initiated by the Sangmelima City Council, Paul Biya Monument is built on an area of 3,000 square metres, at "Avebe-Yekombo: a legendary crossroads and convergence point for the municipalities of Meyomessi, Meyomessala, Djoum, Oveng, Mimtom, and neighbouring countries such as Congo and Gabon".

The monument was scheduled for delivery on November 6, 2025, to coincide with the 39th anniversary of Paul Biya's accession to the Presidency, but, like many projects in Cameroon, the deadline was not met.

According to media reports, the "representative of the Minister, Director of the Civil Cabinet, Aristide Omgba Onambele, visited the construction site on April 14, 2025, to assess the progress of the work and it was 98% complete".

Apart from criticising the renovation cost, the construction bill also came under caustic attack by some commentators, given that Paul Biya has also had a stadium in Yaounde and the National Assembly complex named in his honour. 

But government apologists, especially traditional rulers who are auxiliaries of the administration, approved of the project with alacrity.

As reported by the CPDM propaganda news organ, L'Action, ahead of last year's presidential election, "...several dignitaries from the National Council of Traditional Chiefs of Cameroon, led by their President, His Majesty Guy Tsala Ndzomo, presented Jean Faustin Bekono, Mayor of Sangmélima, with cultural and ritual objects, destined for the historical monument". 

The publication added that the ritual was "imbued with mystical and cultural significance that transformed the Paul Biya Monument into a compendium of mystical ritual objects from Cameroon's four cultural Regions, thus reflecting the country's immense cultural richness".

His Majesty, Guy Tsala Ndzomo, was quoted as saying "...the involvement of the custodians of ancestral practices and rituals in Sangmélima contribute to anchoring this monumental work in cultural traditions”. 

“The Paul Biya Monument will showcase the fundamental role of culture in building a harmonious and deeply-rooted Cameroon," he stated.

Speaking on the occasion, the mayor of Sangmélima commended the traditional authorities for their prompt response in providing the objects, which he said reflect their commitment to contributing to the construction of a monument, worthy of its illustrious recipient.

As The Guardian Post has found out, the project, however, goes beyond just a monument, as it will reflect an ambition for a lasting impact on the economy and tourism sectors of the city.

Promoters say it "represents an economic opportunity for the municipality, boosting catering services and creating jobs. The media library, already stocked with over 1,000 writings on the Head of State, will enrich access to historical knowledge for all generations."

The Ministry of Arts and Culture will manage the museum in collaboration with the Sangmelima City Council.

The associated infrastructure attached to the monument are designed to attract an influx of visitors, with direct beneficial impact on local businesses, employment, and the city's image.

This can however only be made possible, if it is promoted more as a tourism attraction than, to borrow from Prof Jacques Fame Ndongo, " a metaphysical, spiritual, celestial, and eternal" molded effigy to glorify the Head of State.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3746 of Monday March 30, 2026