YAOUNDE, Cameroon: Supporters celebrate 42 years of Cameroonian President Paul Biya being in power on Wednesday, with rallies, special broadcasts and calls for an eighth term in office. Just over two weeks after the 91-year-old returned to the country after a six-week absence amid rife speculation about his health, members of the president’s party face calls to show their ardent support.

“Let us mobilize as one behind President Paul Biya to ensure the stability and progress of Cameroon,” secretary general of the central committee of the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (RDPC) Jean Nkuete urged in a letter to party members. Published late last month as part of the preparations, the missive praised Biya’s “fantastic record” and called for an end to “malicious speculation and predictions” surrounding the leader, who took the helm in 1982 on the resignation of Ahmadou Ahidjo.

“The Cameroonian people are the people of respect for age and elders,” it added, calling for backing another term next October for one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders.

Some party branches were quick to heed the call. In the west, dozens of activists and supporters signed a motion inviting “all Cameroonians, without discrimination based on political opinion, to join us in our call for the candidacy of the President of the Republic Paul Biya”. — AFP

In the southern town of Ebolowa, at a screening of a documentary dedicated to “Paul Biya, a great statesman with a prodigious destiny”, Higher Education Minister and RDPC communication official Jacques Fame Ndongo likewise “solemnly requested” that Biya stand again. In keeping with his customary silence on the matter, Biya has given no indication of his intentions.

Nor has he named a successor—the subject of who will replace him remains taboo. After highly contested elections in 2018, Biya further toughened his autocratic grip on power, with dissenting opinion firmly met with repression, arrests and prison terms, human rights activists say.

His long absence after leaving Beijing at the beginning of September following a China-Africa cooperation summit led to many questions. Health rumors swirled, prompting authorities to take the unusual step of releasing a statement on October 8 saying the president was well, was working from Switzerland and would return home in a few days.

Biya—who has previously spent long periods in Switzerland for medical care or staying at luxury holiday resorts—finally re-appeared in Cameroon on October 21, to a rapturous welcome by his party.

He was greeted at Yaounde airport by the secretary general of the presidency Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh and by his wife Chantal, though a lift for assisting passengers with reduced mobility could be seen nearby. Since then, he has signed a number of decrees, including a string of military appointments, in a sign that he remains in control, according to his supporters.

His party’s deputy secretary Gregoire Owona said on CRTV state television on Saturday that the president “is working hard for his country” and “knows the issues well”.

In photos released last week by the presidency, a smiling Biya is seen meeting Gabon’s high commissioner at the presidential palace. They are the only images of the president since his return. Meanwhile, some 50 pages in the latest edition of “Time of Opportunity” magazine, published by the civil office of the presidency, are dedicated to outlining what it calls Biya’s “intense” diplomatic activities. – AFP