Chantal Biya’s Miss Cameroon Appearance Reignites Questions Over Silence on Femicide

By Tata Mbunwe

First Lady Chantal Biya’s appearance at the Miss Cameroon 2026 beauty pageant on Saturday, September 19, to support young women, despite maintaining a deafening silence over the recent surge in femicide cases, has raised questions about her concern for the ordinary Cameroonian woman.

She appeared at the pageant dressed in her usual lavish attire, accompanied by her daughter, Brenda Biya, and watched as Maellys Ngo Mboui was crowned winner.

But while her attendance at the event is not a problem on its own, her silence over the past weeks, amid skyrocketing femicide cases, has drawn criticism whether she is actually concerned about the ordeals of women in Cameroon.

At least 10 women have been killed by their male partners between late August and early September 2026 alone and Chantal Biya’s last public comment on femicide was in March, when she addressed the issue in her Women’s Day message.

Despite the current outrage from civil society and the agony of affected families, the First Lady appears to be unbothered.

In a country where a culture of silence is seen as a key factor fueling gender-based violence, Chantal Biya’s silence on femicide, critics believe, only helps to normalize abuse.

Her recent appearance at the Miss Cameroon pageant to support women, despite failing to support those in distress, has not escaped scrutiny. Vocal Jesuit priest Fr. Ludovic Lado took to social media to vent his thoughts.

He appeared to suggest that the First Lady supports women only selectively and prefers glamorous events like beauty pageants rather than championing the cause for justice for the dozens of women killed through intimate partners violence.

“This is the kind of thing that mobilises Chantou… Not femicides or infanticides. That’s not her problem!!! What a country!!! What a regime!!!” he wrote.

“Chantou” is the nickname by which some Cameroonians fondly refer to Chantal Biya, wife of the world’s oldest President, Paul Biya.

For over 30 years of their marriage, Chantal Biya has blended squarely into President Biya’s culture of silence, hardly commenting on national issues or engaging with ordinary citizens.

While she runs a charity organisation that has helped thousands of women, persons with disabilities and children, many citizens expected greater engagement with issues facing ordinary women in the country.

Aside from femicide, women continue to face broad discrimination especially relating to land ownership and other property, access to education and are the worst affected in the armed conflicts in the Anglophone regions and the Far North.

But Chantal Biya has hardly been seen showing any empathy towards such women. Instead, her critics say she often appears in the most glamorous and extravagant outfits that sharply contrast the reality of millions of women in a country where roughly 37 percent of people live below the poverty line.

Meanwhile, the femicide crisis continues unabated. More than 60 women have been killed by intimate partners since January, according to government data, with at least 50 cases reported between January and April alone. The government has said a bill to establish femicide as a standalone criminal offence is being finalised and is expected to reach Parliament in November.

For families of the victims and civil society organisations, the First Lady’s appearance at a beauty pageant while remaining silent on the killings of women in the country has deepened the perception that the establishment is out of touch with the suffering of ordinary Cameroonians.