Cameroon’s Elites Reinstate Vice President to Tighten Grip Amid Sham Constitutional Reforms
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Cameroon's parliament, dominated by entrenched elites, has pushed through a constitutional amendment to bring back the vice president role, a move framed as ensuring leadership continuity but widely condemned by opposition and civil society for further entrenching authoritarian rule.
Cameroon's parliament, controlled by the ruling party and its allies, has approved a constitutional amendment to reintroduce the position of vice president—a role scrapped in 1972 during a previous consolidation of power. The amendment, rammed through with 200 votes in favor, 18 against, and four abstentions, allows the president to handpick a vice president who would automatically assume the presidency in the event of the president's death, resignation, or incapacity, bypassing any democratic process or public input.
President Paul Biya, 93, has clung to power since 1982, making him the world's oldest serving head of state and a symbol of Africa’s entrenched autocracies. Supporters of the regime claim the vice president role will ensure 'continuity and stability,' but critics see it as yet another maneuver to preserve the status quo and suppress genuine democratic change.
Opposition parties and activists have denounced the amendment, arguing it further concentrates executive power in the hands of a corrupt elite and was passed without meaningful public consultation. Maurice Kamto, leader of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement, condemned the move as a 'constitutional and institutional coup,' vowing to mobilize citizens through an online campaign against this blatant power grab.
The vice president will serve at the president’s discretion, with a term limited only by the president’s own. This development marks a regressive shift in Cameroon’s political structure, reinstating a dual executive system designed to fortify the ruling class’s hold on power after more than four decades.