08/10/2024
The Deputy Secretary-General of the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM, the ruling party), Grégoire Owona, demanded on Tuesday that those who attempt, by various means, to deceive the public by announcing the death of the Head of State, Paul Biya, should “pay a heavy price.”
In a social media post, he called on the appropriate institutions to crack down on these impostors, wherever they come from and regardless of their location.
Referring to people who “no longer have any human conscience,” Mr. Owona reminded that the country is a democracy but that malice and hatred must have limits.
At the same time, the Secretary for Communication, also a member of the political bureau of the party's central committee, Jacques Fame Ndongo, described it as “a baseless piece of news,” a phantasmagorical scheme that should not shake the political maturity, clarity, and patriotism of Cameroonians and friends of the country.
Referring to “a foreign television channel” that announced the death of the President of the Republic on the same day, he reminded that “universal journalism relies on facts and not on fabrications or deceitful news,” a profession that strictly adheres to the methodology inherent to experimental sciences.These reactions from regime officials come as the prolonged absence of Paul Biya, 91 years old with 42 years in power, raises all sorts of questions and even wild rumors about him.Having left Cameroon for the 4th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit, the Head of State has not been seen since a brief appearance at the commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the Provence landings (France).Since then, political and civil society leaders, ordinary citizens, and other diplomats have been having a field day on social media, with some announcing his hospitalization in France following a cardiac incident.
