Cabinet reshuffle must wait!.

Half a year later, the reshuffle, which was part of a general “reform” of the Biya regime governing architecture, has not come, compelling commentators to conjecture many reasons, most based on a clan war, ego rivalries and internal fighting for positions.

Though the reasons projected cannot be demised with a wave of the hand as smoke without fire, it has emerged that the Head of State, to use the words of his party Secretary General, Jean Nkuete, is engaged in “profound reforms...with the aim of transforming Cameroon and facilitating its integration into the modern world”.

Several major institutional projects are said to be prerequisites for the “reforms,” before the next government. 

On the table is speculated to be the creation of the post of a Deputy Prime Minister, new ministries, and a territorial reorganisation awaiting a fourth General Population and Housing Census, originally scheduled to end on May 29, 2026. 

The census has been extended to July 31, 2026, due to logistical challenges and enumerator strikes because of delayed payments. 

Like the Constitutional review draft done on secrecy, the reforms, according to credible media reports, are being meticulously crafted by Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, Minister of State, Secretary General at the Presidency, and the Minister, Director of the Civil Cabinet of the Presidency, Samuel Mvondo Ayolo.

The two closest confidantes of the Head of State, reportedly assisted by consultants from Europe, are redrawing a new government organisational chart that modifies portfolios with the Ministry of Justice to become the "Ministry of Justice and Human Rights".

The commentators point out that the modification of the crucial ministry is “more like a diplomatic gesture than a substantive reform, aimed at an international community that is regularly critical of the human rights situation in Cameroon”.

The Ministry of Supreme State Audit would incorporate the phrase "Public Transparency", to emphasise the fight against corruption, which is endemic in the country, with declaration of assets in limbo.

Also on the drawing boards are Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons, Ministry of Urban Infrastructure, and a portfolio dedicated to Women, Family, and Equity. The Ministry of Higher Education will integrate that of Scientific Research. 

However, the most significant change is the proposed creation of a Deputy Prime Minister position, which does not exist in the current organisational chart.

The media reports quoting a source close to the Presidency mention the "desire to strengthen the coordination of government action".

The reforms, if they come to light as the Constitutional review provided for the reintroduction of a Vice Presidency of the Republic, are intended to change the performance of the civil service where bureaucracy is business as usual. This is where the issues at play become more complex than it initially appears. 

Several territorial reforms are being discussed in parallel: increasing the number of members of the National Assembly, currently set at 180, creating new municipalities, and revising the July 1977 decree on traditional Chieftaincy law, that has become hot spots of disputes across the country.

The aim would also be to strengthen the role of the authorities in Regional Councils, following the 2019 reform of the General Code of Decentralised Local Authorities.

Finally, a National Agency for Electronic Security is reportedly being prepared, directly attached to the DGRE, the foreign intelligence service to curb scamming and cyber attacks.

The reform projections align with the June 2, 2026 press statement, by the ruling CPDM party’s scribe, Jean Nkuete, that they are “...the President's commitments to a renewal, rejuvenation, and progressive nurturing of national institutions, in order to take into account the socio-anthropological realities of our environment”. 

He strongly reiterated that the principles underpinning the functioning of the country's institutions are specific and adapted to Cameroon but with an endogenous tinting, given the impact of globalisation.

For The Guardian Post, on paper, the reforms, which are imminent, have to be approved by President Paul Biya before appointing a new government, no matter how long the “the coming days” take. They are not déjà vu reforms.

But how effective, taking into account Regional balance and the specificities of the two States that came together some sixty years ago, will determine the progress in the country’s democratisation journey to unity, justice, freedoms and stability that fundamentally change the wellbeing of the citizen on the street without a god father.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3811 of Monday June 08, 2026