It is becoming obvious that Cameroon’s President, Paul Biya, will no longer rule the country as his health takes a turn for the worse.

While Mr. Biya is fighting for his life, there is a huge battle brewing in Yaoundé as different factions seek to take control of things. The king is dying but the princes are more interested in his succession.

In the event that President Biya gives up the ghost in the days ahead, his constitutional successor, Niat Njifenji Marcel, is supposed to step in to run the interim, but he too is very ill and it is being reported that he is in a deep coma. Mr. Niat has been out of the country for almost three months and it is gradually emerging that he is not responding to treatment. 

In such a situation, a vacancy can be declared at the Senate and Aboubakary Aboubakar, the 63-year-old Senate Vice President, will take the reins of power and run the country for at most 120 days.

The Lamido of Rey-Bouba was invited last week to Geneva where Mr. Biya is battling for his life and was asked to resign. The ruling mafia does not want him to run the transition period. He was not allowed to see the President. He left Switzerland disappointed and devastated.

Aboubakary has no plan to resign and is not in a rush to yield to any pressure and he is sticking to his guns. The ruling mafia does not want a northerner to be anywhere close to power and there are fears that if Mr. Aboubakary runs the show, he will deploy a game strategy that will not sit well with Chantal Biya and Ngoh Ngoh. The battle lines have been drawn and the pressure is mounting.

Meanwhile, the country’s finance minister, Louis-Paul Motaze, who was called to Geneva was refused access to the ailing 91-year-old Biya. Mrs. Biya who is now restricting access to the dying President rejected Motaze’s request to see his boss.

There is a lot of political drama playing out in Geneva and Yaoundé and the French are principal architects in the break dance. Nicolas Sarkozy, a former French President,  is reported to be rooting for Franck Biya and he is insisting that power be handed to the young Biya who has no place in the country’s constitution.

Several regime insiders are against Franck Biya though not many of them have the courage to openly express their minds.

Cameroon Intelligence Report understands the ruling CPDM is quietly planning an extraordinary congress for the end of this year. Though not many party stalwarts are talking about it, the plan is for members to choose another candidate for the 2025 Presidential Election, given that the party’s natural candidate, Paul Biya, is caught up in another battle that he might not win.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai