Opinion
Cameroon: preparing now for the post-2032 era
Preserving unity, peace and public responsibility
Cameroon must prepare for continuity
Cameroon cannot wait until 2032 to think about what comes after 2032. Paul Biya’s re-election in October 2025 for a seven-year term extended a political cycle that began in 1982. It did not remove the questions running through society: how can continuity of the State be guaranteed, national unity preserved and political change made possible without rupture or violence? These questions arise from a collective responsibility. A strong State prepares succession, clarifies powers, protects procedures and builds trust before an emergency forces it to do so.
Fear of tomorrow is a political fact
Rumours fuelled by the Head of State’s prolonged absences, his age and the perceived opacity of some decision-making channels reveal a deeper concern. Part of public opinion doubts who truly decides, under what procedures and with what oversight. The first duty of institutions is therefore to make continuity understandable. The constitutional reform adopted in April 2026 reintroduced a vice-presidency. It can provide lasting reassurance only if its implementation is transparent, its holder is unquestionably lawful and the office does not encourage clan rivalry or suspicions of a privatised succession.
The Republic must be stronger than clans
The debate should not be reduced to the name of a future vice-president, the survival of the CPDM or the personal future of any official. The decisive issue is the Republic to be handed on: predictable rules, an impartial administration, justice that completes its work, monitored public finances and clearly assigned responsibility. Current trials and public accusations must be handled by the competent institutions with respect for the presumption of innocence. The Martinez Zogo case remains a major test. Fighting corruption likewise requires public data, independent oversight, traceable expenditure, reasoned decisions and equal justice.
National unity cannot be decreed
Cameroon’s unity is built every day. It weakens when citizens feel permanently excluded from the State, when territories do not receive comparable services or when public appointments appear to follow affiliation rather than competence. Violence in the English-speaking regions and attacks linked to Boko Haram have different causes and actors, but impose the same rule: protecting civilians and restoring normal life must prevail over permanent confrontation. Dialogue does not erase the State; it is one of the instruments of its strength.
Demographic pressure changes the equation
Cameroon is approaching thirty million inhabitants. People under fifteen account for about two in five residents and children for almost half the population. This youth is a considerable asset, but turns every delay into an emergency: schools, health, training, housing, jobs, transport, energy and digital access. Economic growth close to four per cent does not necessarily raise living standards rapidly when the population is growing strongly, territorial inequalities persist and humanitarian crises absorb resources. Political continuity must therefore mean the ability to offer prospects, not merely the absence of rupture.
Making knowledge a policy of sovereignty
Cameroon has a large young population, universities, entrepreneurs, engineers, artists, researchers and an experienced diaspora. These strengths must be linked to a national production strategy. Artificial intelligence, life sciences, precision agriculture, energy, cultural industries and digital services must become sectors, courses, laboratories, markets and jobs. A knowledge economy complements agriculture, industry and infrastructure. It requires demanding education, better-funded research, reliable public data, intellectual-property protection and rules that allow initiatives to grow.
Preparing the transition without preparing chaos
Cameroon must avoid coups, uncontrolled revolts, communal clashes and any unconstitutional rupture. Rejecting chaos does not mean freezing society. The best prevention is reform before crisis: clarify succession, strengthen checks and balances, secure elections, make the administration accountable and restore trust in justice. Peace is not silence; unity is not uniformity; stability is not immobility. Cameroon will preserve unity and progress beyond 2032 through solutions rather than rupture, reform rather than chaos, and the Republic rather than clans.
Pr Pierre Mila Assoute
Paramount Chief of Mbo
President of the DMMC/RDMC
(This opinion article expresses the position of its author, President of the DMMC/RDMC, on the continuity of the Cameroonian State. It does not constitute a position of Merisphere Publishing. Editor’s note)