Germany’s Annalena Baerbock Replaces Philemon Yang as UNGA President

In September, Cameroon’s former Prime Minister, Philemon Yang, will cease to be the President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

This is due to the election of Annalena Baerbock, a former German foreign minister, as the 80th UNGA president on Monday, June 2.

Yang was elected last year for a one-year mandate.

Where Was Yang Before UNGA Job?

Before he secured the UN job, Philemon Yang served as the Grand Chancellor of National Orders in Cameroon, a role that allowed him to decide who received Cameroon’s honour medals.

When Yang was elected to the UNGA, he also served as the Head of the Permanent Regional Delegation of the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) party in the North West Region.

In one of the CPDM’s rallies in Bamenda, he openly said the region would give President Paul Biya, who has been in power for 42 years, victory in this October’s presidential elections.

Will He Return to His Positions?

At the time he was serving in the UN, nobody was appointed to replace him as Grand Chancellor of National Orders and as the CPDM’s delegation head in the North West.

While he was away, the CPDM co-opted Senator Regina Mundi to act on his behalf during party events in the North West.

But there is no official text from the party appointing her as his replacement.

However, the CPDM recently appointed some persons to the Central Committee of the party, and former Governor and DDR National Coordinator, Fai Yengo Francis, was among the appointees.

Now that Yang’s mandate will expire before the presidential elections in October, there are speculations he would return to his former roles.

This is because the CPDM party has a history of maintaining loyal militants in top government and party positions for several years.

Yang as UNGA President

Philemon Yang replaced Dennis Francis at the UNGA, an organ that deliberates and votes to set the UN’s tone on key issues in the world.

Although the office does not wield much power globally, Yang was largely silent during his tenure as UNGA President.

He did not pay an official visit to Cameroon. The only place in Africa he officially visited was Kenya.

Philemon Yang comes from Oku in Bui Division of Cameroon’s North West Region, a part of the country where a Separatist conflict has been playing since 2017.

However, many expected him to use his office to push for global visibility of the ongoing conflict in Cameroon.

The Norwegian Refugee Council recently ranked the Cameroon Anglophone conflict as the most neglected conflict in the world.

Mimi Mefo Info