Cameroun: ruling party dismisses claims over president’s prolonged absence

Addressing claims about an alleged power vacuum, Jacques Fame Ndongo, Minister of State, dismissed such assertions as a legal and political absurdity. He emphasized that Cameroon lacks any legal provision specifying the maximum duration a head of state may spend outside the country.

According to Ndongo, suggesting that President Paul Biya’s extended absence is unconstitutional would require inventing a non-existent constitutional rule. He described such claims as a fanciful and baseless narrative, typical of those who thrive in legal ambiguities.

The Minister further clarified that the President, who has led Cameroon since 1982, remains actively engaged in governance. He meticulously oversees national matters, whether through in-person consultations or digital means—methods widely recognized and utilized.

«This is not a vacation—it is de facto exile»

The Movement for the Renaissance of Cameroon (MRC), an opposition party led by Maurice Kamto, swiftly countered Ndongo’s remarks. Mamadou Mota, the MRC’s vice-president, questioned the threshold at which presidential duties become meaningless due to physical absence: “Forty-five days abroad is not a stay—it is de facto exile.”

The MRC also ridiculed the idea of Cameroon being governed remotely, joking that the country had become “the first in the world to operate under a clandestine telecommuting system.”