Paul Biya celebrates 33 years of rule in sobriety

A new day has dawned in Yaounde. The suffocating heat in the early hours of the morning did not seem to disturb the vendors of the locality of Roundabout of the central station, the main crossing point for residents of the capital of Cameroon.

As usual, they come and go between cars and taxis, while selling paper handkerchiefs, small bottles of water of dubious quality. Nearby, on the sidewalk was Sadi BOFIA, who was selling mobile phone recharge cards. He had a straight face. The day before, he made some very bad business and "hoped for nothing today, especially today."

"In Cameroon, November 6 cannot be a lucky day. I am 34 and have three mouths to feed. There is no work, no money, we lack everything. It's like we regressed while others progressed." Sadi BOFIA evoked in perspective of the 33rd anniversary of President Paul Biya's regime.

On November 6, 1982, Mr. Biya succeeded the first president, Ahmadou Ahidjo, who resigned from his post as president. The new head of state immediately promised a good future for Cameroonians with an ambitious program called "Renouveau" supposed to be marked by a rigorous management of public affairs and moral behavior.

But 33 years have passed and the head of state of Cameroon, soon 83 years old, has become the symbol of an aging political class.

"There is a smoldering anger that people fear even to externalize. All across the country, you feel fatigue and suffering as you will never know what will happen the next day," explained Jean-Pascal Talla, a member of civil society, host of the 'Great palaver'; a debate program which has been banned by authorities for a year. For him, the promised prosperity on the accession of Paul Biya in power "was only the wind."

Today, over 70% of the 25 million inhabitants of the country are under 30 and half of them are unemployed. The guaranteed minimum wage (minimum wage) is FCFA 36,200 (55, 11 euros). Despite the sustained growth of around 5% in recent years, one in four people still live below the poverty line, on less than one Euro a day.

It is a low performance, despite the significant natural resources which ranks the country as 152nd in the Human Development Index of the UN, after Myanmar (150th). Health coverage, it remains precarious with a doctor to 15,000 inhabitants.