The President Who Wouldn't Leave

Every Cameroonian below the age of 43 has known only one president all their lifetime.

Every Cameroonian below the age of 43 has known only one president all their lifetime. As a teenager, Paul Biya was so meek that his tutors recommended him for the seminary –how he has risen to become one of Africa's strongest men is a story worth telling. Following the fall of Robert Mugabe in 2017, Biya moved to number two of Africa's longest-serving heads of state, with Equatorial Guimea's Teodoro Obiang at number one. Following a long term of absence from public functions and a history of deteriorating health, News of his death on the 10th of October 2024 was welcomed with a celebration on the streets of Yaounde, Cameroon's Capital, only to be debunked as fake. With elections scheduled for 2025, a fog of uncertainty beclouds Cameroon's future. I know you're wondering how it got here. Who is this man Paul Biya? How did he become so intertwined with his country that two generations have known no other president than him?

This is his story and the story of Cameroon. Watch below.