By Njodzeka Kernyuy
Cameroon’s Minister of Tourism and Leisure, Bello Bouba Maigari, is reported to have resigned from the government and has been replaced by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Gabriel Mbairobe.
A statement circulating on social media, allegedly signed by the Secretary General at the Prime Minister’s Office, Seraphin Magloire Fouda, confirms this.
However, no official channel government channel has confirmed this as Mr Maigari plans on holding a press conference on Friday, August 8.
The purported release from the PM’s claims Minister Mbairobe was appointed to replace him via a prime ministerial decree, following instructions from President Paul Biya.
Bello Bouba Maigari has been a long-standing ally of the Biya regime and in July this year, he broke out from the alliance and launched his presidential bid for the National Union for Democracy and Progress (UNDP).
Maigari had retained his ministerial post since announcing his presidential bid last month but reportedly submitted his resignation on Wednesday.
He has not publicly disclosed reasons for stepping down after serving as tourism minister for over 14 years.
Maigari, who served as Cameroon’s second prime minister under Paul Biya in 1982, went into exile before returning in the early 1990s and aligning with the ruling party in the early 2000s.
Maigari’s departure marks the second ministerial resignation from Biya’s government in less than two months. Issa Tchiroma Bakary, the former Minister of Employment, resigned earlier, citing the regime’s failures over 43 years. Maigari is scheduled to hold a press conference on Friday, though no agenda has been revealed. It is widely anticipated that he will address his resignation and outline his manifesto for the presidential race.
