Some cocoa and coffee farmers in Cameroon have thrown their weight behind President Paul Biya, urging him to be their candidate in this year’s presidential election.
On Thursday, April 3, the farmers submitted a motion of support to Trade Minister Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, calling on President Biya to once again stand as a candidate in the upcoming polls.
Their call comes after similar endorsements from a few bike riders in Douala, traditional rulers, and supporters of the ruling CPDM party.
All of them want the 92-year-old leader to extend his already four-decade-long stay in power.
Though Biya has not declared his intentions for the October vote, there is mounting speculation that he will once again run under the banner of the CPDM, the party he has chaired since its creation.
The CPDM has recently been attributing Cameroon’s rising cocoa prices—which peaked FCFA 7,000 per kilogram, the highest ever—to President Biya’s leadership.
But analysts say market dynamics, not government policies, drove the Cocoa prices high.
While the President remains silent on his candidacy, his party is pushing hard to secure endorsements from various sectors.
During the CPDM’s 40th anniversary celebration on March 24, party militants reaffirmed their unwavering support for Biya and expressed hope that he would lead them into the next presidential race.
If Biya does decide to run and wins again, he will be 99 by the time his next term ends in 2032.
Who is really behind the calls for Biya’s candidacy?
Government ministers—most of whom owe their positions to President Biya—have been instrumental in engineering public declarations of support for his continued rule.
When Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, Minister and Secretary General at the Presidency, visited Douala, he claimed bike riders had endorsed Biya.
Not long after, many riders publicly distanced themselves from that claim.
The same happened with traditional rulers whose supposed support, led by Territorial Administration Minister Paul Atanga Nji, was later questioned.
Now, the latest group to show up is a section of cocoa and coffee farmers who met Minister Mbarga Atangana.
However, the Trade Minister provided no details about how many producers participated in this endorsement.
Meanwhile, the sector counts thousands of farmers, many of whom were neither consulted nor represented in the meeting.
Farmers in Cameroon have often decried poor farm-to-market roads as one of their greatest challenges.
They have often blamed the government for not prioritizing roads, especially in rural areas, most of which are in dire conditions.
This adds to high input prices, which have kept skyrocketing under President Biya’s leadership, contributing to high food prices.
