Paul Biya is a strange president. A president like no other. Always invisible, discreet and surrounded by mysteries. It fascinates as much as it worries the Cameroonians.
We understand very quickly that his behavior, for 36 years he occupies power, has not changed. He remains the all-powerful master of Cameroon despite his long absences in the country.
Like his Togolese counterpart, his main fault is the lack of communication. Paul Biya speaks little. But privately, this man paradoxically renowned for his stays abroad, is a big charmer.
As for his character and his temperament, they have nothing fiery or cleavable. Paul Biya lonely and singular knows how to polish his image and flees the media.
Who is Paul Biya, the Cameroonian president under international pressure with political crises with Kamto in the French-speaking part and Anglophones in the south-west. The Cameroonweb editorial office unveils the 15 little known secrets of the Cameroonian president.
1. Paul Biya is a former seminarian
Paul Barthelemy Biya'a Bi Mvondo. This is the full name of the Cameroonian president. He is the son of a catechist. A former seminarian, he was destined for the priesthood. Paul Biya was a brilliant pupil who was often first, strong in mathematics and everywhere, especially in Latin. "It's a discreet boy, even erased that we only discovered when we gave the report of homework," recalls François Eyikè
The young Biya spoke little, preferring to listen, he was not the type to argue loudly, not that he was fearful, rather reserved, even mistrustful, a temperament that obviously stood the test of time, even after doing a good job, Paul Biya kept calm, or at most, showed a modest triumph. However, we felt within him a certain passion for football.
2. Author
Paul Biya is the author of a political essay, For Community Liberalism, Marcel Fabre Editions, Lausanne 1987. This book has been translated into English, German and Hebrew.
The Head of State announces the advent of the multi-party system (which became effective in 1990) after the provisional stage of the single party. He explains his option for economic liberalism and private initiative while advocating national solidarity, the equitable distribution of the fruits of growth, social justice, the emergence of a culture based on inventiveness and the harmonious coexistence of values of the various communities that make up the Nation.
Finally, it reaffirms the need to modernize the state and to maintain cooperative relations with other countries of the world.
3. His first wife was a midwife
Born in 1935, Jeanne-Irène BIYA is from Endom, in the department of Nyong-et-Mfoumou. She grew up in the Ava-Ava family, educated by her uncle Thomas Bitomo Ava, producer, cocoa exporter, little brother of Jean Louis Ava-Ava, former deputy for decades in Nyong-and-Mfoumou, chairman of the parliamentary group UNC (single party) in the National Assembly. She was a midwife at the central hospital of Yaoundé, after having studied at the Nantes School of Midwives.
Paul Biya meets and marries her in Antony, France, on September 2, 1961. They have a son, Franck Emmanuel-olivier Biya.Official sources, she died on 29 July 1992, at the palace of the Unit of Yaoundé, following a short illness. She is buried on August 1, 1992 at Mvomeka'a Palace. She is the older sister of Minister Robert Nkili (Labor between 2002 and 2011 and Transport between 2011 and 2015) and the aunt of Louis-Paul Motaze, Minister of the Economy, Planning and Spatial Planning1, and the cousin of the late Joseph Emmanuel Ava-Ava, businessman, MP Nyong-et-Mfoumou (1997-2003).
4. Biya is passionate about Songo'o
Everyone agrees that the Cameroonian President is an excellent songo'o player.This game is often evoked by the opponents of Biya to make a mockery of it.This board game typical of Central and Southern regions in Cameroon can find an equivalent in the West with chess. Highly strategic, it consists of taking the maximum of pawns to his opponent. The rules of the game vary according to the ethnic groups, which supposes a rather sharp knowledge of local customs.
5-Paul Biya is one of the biggest fortunes in Africa
At the head of Cameroon for 34 years, Paul Biya is naturally one of the biggest fortunes of the black continent. Its heritage valued at $ 200 million, however, controversy because some say that his fortune goes beyond the amount indicated and could even cross the billion dollar mark. Whatever the case may be, the Cameroonian president has his place in this African ranking.
6. He is in love with mystical practices
According to Michel Roger Emvana, in the first months of his presidency, that year, Biya receives magic props. The Sawas, Bamileke, Peul, Betis, Pygmies ... offer spears, machetes. "He is the guarantor of the mystical powers of the country." This does not prevent the former seminarian from regularly visiting the Vatican. Two of the last three popes made the trip to Cameroon, which they consider a land of future for the Catholic Church.
7. He is part of the Rose Cross and Freemasonry
He would have left the Rose-Croix. The French newspaper "Le Point" in its edition of January 9, 1999 writes that "Raymond Bernard, (former Grand Master for life of the Rose-Croix who died in 2006, Editor's note) has also been made Commander of the Order of the Value by Cameroonian President Paul Biya. Decree dated 8 February 1983. Paul Biya, Grand Master of National Orders, is keen on Rosicrucian mysticism ". The controversy swells even when the newspaper reports that Paul Biya has paid, as a loan interest-free repayable over 99 years, 4 billion CFA francs to the sect for the construction of the International Center for Cultural and Scientific Research (Circes) early 90s
This controversy has resurfaced recently in favor of the debate on the alleged ill-gotten gains of the head of State of Cameroon. According to the French newspaper "L'Express" of June 25, 2009, the presidency of the Republic of Cameroon "denies any relationship with the Templars and ensures never to have made such a loan". Yet, says the same newspaper, the sect recognizes, through the voice of one of its officials, Yves Jayet, that this loan "is the subject of significant refunds recorded each year since 1999"! In any case, the relationship between Paul Biya and Raymond Bernard was so important that between 1987 and 1988, Raymond Bernard had almost settled in Yaoundé where he wrote most of the writings that will serve as a basis for the establishment of the future CIRCES . Was the generosity of the Cameroonian president to this order free? Certainly not.
8. Biya is a paradoxical president
The Biya paradox is manifested in many ways by incomprehensible decisions. He really uses his discretion. He appoints and dismisses a minister without explanation, if not his. Biya alone knows why and how he dismisses his relatives, recruits his friends and keeps those who do not respond to his aspirations in a conjunctural and circumstantial way
9. Biya is a racunier
Political scientist Mathias Owona Nguini seems to know the "somewhat resentful" side of the head of state, which would support any authority other than his own or anything that could make him a shadow. "His extremely tense relations with Titus Edzoa [Editor's note: former secretary general of the presidency accused of embezzling 61 billion FCFA, or 93 million euros, and incarcerated for fifteen years] are only related to the precedence that this last on the President in the order of the Rose-Cross, "says the academic, who is also the son of a clutch of the regime.
This is reminiscent of the shattering sacking in early 1987 of William Etéki Mboumoua. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and former Secretary General of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) seemed to be in the spotlight at this time."All this was not seen favorably by Paul Biya, especially since Etki is the only boss, except the former president Ahidjo, that he had, between 1962 and 1965."
10. He is not a fan of
Mandela Nelson Mandela, the hero of the anti-apartheid struggle, who spent 27 years in the jails of South African racist power, became president of the rainbow nation, before leaving power at the end of his mandate. Adored by a whole continent, respected beyond Africa, "Madiba", has never received the honors due to its stature in Cameroon. In July 1996, however, the country has an opportunity to celebrate this African hero. The whole country is waiting for it thanks to the ordinary summit of the Oua. All Cameroonians except Paul Biya.
Arrived in the morning, not only had he not been greeted by Paul Biya in person when he got off the plane, but he was also discreetly leaving, while the opening ceremony was still taking place at the Yaoundé Convention Center. The living legend then left for an official visit to Europe. The Yaoundean township likes to iron the story that no one in Etoudi dared interrupt the sleep of the lion man while Nelson Mandela's plane was announced. It's back from his European tour that a "technical stop" will be created, so that there is finally a meeting at the top. Paul Biya also shone by his absence at the funeral of Mandela in 2013. An event that saw the participation of all the leaders of the world.
11. He loves classical music
The attraction of classical music, which most Cameroonians do not listen to, makes the loneliness of the president even more particular. He is different from his people. This removes him from worldly life where Cameroonians prefer more sensual rhythms
12. He has never met the national press
In 33 years of teaching, Paul Barthélémy Biya Bi Mvondo, has never met the national press. Not a hint of a scrum, or an informal meeting with men and women in the media. Even the government media are forced to see the head of state prefer the foreign press. So President Paul Biya, apart from these traditional addresses to the nation, has never held a press conference on a hot topic. Cultivating a long distance with the national media, which he accused in a confidence to an American diplomat to be "too hard" with him, Paul Biya had no more respect towards the national office.
Apart from the spontaneous statements, torn off at the bend of a plane or a polling station exit, the head of state does not keep with the government media, the type of communications made for example to France 24, or Radio Monte Carlos. It must be said that his long career at the head of the state has not improved his ease in front of microphones and cameras, the head of state provoking controversy with each spontaneous speech.
13. He is afraid of the army
The reform of the Cameroonian army that took place in 2001 was mainly seen by the public as a vast operation to promote many officers, and as a pretext for expanding the corps of generals. Since the Cameroonian army had not really experienced a redevelopment since 1973, the reform that took place ten years ago made many observers say that it is the expression of the fragility of the relations between the Head of State. and the military since the assassination attempt he suffered in August 1983 and the April 1984 coup.
Without asserting that Paul Biya is "hostage" to the army, as his opponents say, his biographer Michel -Roger Emvana still believes that "keeping men in good condition allows him to maintain a certain stability for his regime and in the country."Even if, according to Emvana, he would have hardly forgiven the perpetrators of the 1983 and 1984 putschs, despite the amnesty law of 1989.
14. His protection is provided by Israelis
The key man in Paul Biya's security galaxy is not Cameroonian. A major asset for Mayer Heres, retired general of the Israeli army, who can therefore stay away from the struggles of ethno-regionalist clans whose palace Etoudi is the theater. As a private law contractor, he escapes bureaucracy, including military. This privileged enjoys direct access to this president difficult to approach, even for his ministers. To dispose of his budgets, the Israeli does not care about the vicissitudes of the chain of expenditure of the Treasury. Special funds are allocated to him.
15. Paul Biya suffers from prostate cancer
In March 2015, the French newspaper "LeMonde" revealed that "Paul Biya is currently staying in a hospital in the canton of Geneva, where he is undergoing treatment for heart problems and a Prostate cancer. The newspaper "camer.be" to note that "To finance the trip of the president of all Cameroonians, the Treasury (the Cameroonian taxpayer's money) had to be off the astronomical sum of 1,250 billion CFA francs. "
Source: Cameroonweb.com