President Paul Biya and wife Chantal on Friday, February 28, made a rare outing to Meyomessala, in the Dja et Lobo Division of the South Region to bury his sister-in-law, Martine Meba.
The wife of the president’s younger brother, Pierre Meba, died of illness on January 27, 2025, at the age of 70. Her husband died 12 years earlier.
Martine Meba was a fervent supporter of President Paul Biya and had held important positions in the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement party in the South Region.
At the time her death, she was leading a CPDM organisation in the Dja et Lobo III Meyomesala section of the party.
She was a well-known political figure in the South Region and had obviously transfered her political charisma to her daughter, Cathy Meba, who is a member of the South Regional Council.
Biya’s presence at Martine Meba’s funeral however surprised many. First he went there unannounced and secondly the “absent” President rarely attends public events and funerals in Cameroon, not even those of his closest allies.
The President must have gone to Meyomessala based on blood ties, and not for political solidarity.
A day before the burial, the corpse removal and wake keeping of Martine Meba took place in Yaounde and was attended by members of government, members of the diplomatic corps, relatives, friends and acquaintances.
The Director of Cabinet at the Presidency, Samuel Mvondo Ayolo, represented President Biya, who would show up at the burial the next day.
Martine Meba’s death left a void in the CPDM in Meyomessala during a crucial election year, but her life will also inspire many of her party militants who looked up to her her as a matron.
