President Paul Biya of Cameroon marked 40 years in power by staying out of the spotlight as questions swirled about the 89-year-old, who is the only leader most of the country’s people have ever known.
Biya has not appeared in public since French President Emmanuel Macron visited the Central African nation in July.
An event was scheduled at City Hall in Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde, to commemorate the anniversary of his presidency, but Biya was not expected to attend.
Nearly 100 young adults marched through the streets of the country’s largest city, Douala, days earlier carrying banners with photos of the president and messages that included “Paul Biya: 40 years of stability, freedom and democracy.”
Darling Nguevo, a critic of the Biya regime, alleged the government paid the marchers to show such support.
“November 6 is considered a day of national mourning because Mr Biya inherited a rich, prosperous and growing country,” Mr Nguevo said. “And he set about unravelling every sector of life and society.”
“Corruption has made its bed in the country. So has bad governance. Paul Biya is old and his public appearances are rare, and this is happening against the backdrop of the succession battle,” he added.
Biya survived a coup attempt in 1984. When the first multi-party elections were finally held in 1992, he beat his opposition rival by four percentage points.
In the decades since, his party has used everything from fraud to redistricting to expand his victories and the ruling party’s legislative majorities, according to political analysts.
Human rights groups have accused him of brazen strongman tactics, including torture and intimidation of his opponents.
There are fears chaos could break out in a country with more than 200 different ethnic groups once the president’s long tenure ends.
