Latest news with #presidency
France 24
2 hours ago
- Politics
- France 24
Cameroon's Paul Biya: World's oldest president is the favourite as he seeks an eighth term
Cameroon's Paul Biya still has no intention of stepping down at the age of 92. In power for almost 43 years, he announced in mid-July that he would stand in the October 12 presidential elections, seeking an eighth seven-year term. In a statement posted on X, Biya suggested he was giving in to widespread calls for him to remain in power. 'I have therefore decided to heed the numerous and insistent calls from the ten regions of our country and the diaspora,' he said as he announced his candidacy. 'Rest assured that my determination to serve you is commensurate with the serious challenges facing us,' he added. The announcement was remarkably similar to a previous one from 2018. 'Aware of the challenges we must take up together to ensure a more united, stable and prosperous Cameroon, I am willing to respond positively to your overwhelming calls,' said the Cameroonian president back on his seventh presidential candidacy. Biya does enjoy relative popularity, according to Roger Nicolas Oyono Mengue, a doctorate student at the Les Afriques dans le Monde (LAM) research centre at Sciences Po Bordeaux. 'Since 2020, there have been numerous motions of support from across the political spectrum calling on the president to run again. Paul Biya also declared in December 2024 that his determination to serve the people remains intact,' he said. 'Paul Biya tends to create suspense in the way he governs, only to ultimately reassert his legitimacy by presenting himself as the key piece of the puzzle.' But this latest announcement has sparked some criticism as Biya's public appearances have dwindled. He spends most of his time in his palace in his hometown Mvomeka'a, in the country's south, or on private trips to Geneva. His absence from the public sphere for more than six weeks last October reignited rumours about the state of his health. The man who has ruled unchallenged for more than four decades has also come under fire for embezzlement and corruption allegations, poor leadership and a failure to address Cameroon's security issues. As the leader of a nation where almost 40% of the population lives at or below the poverty rate, his taste for luxury and lavish holidays has also sparked criticism. Cracks in the ruling party Biya's camp has already seen several defections, including presidential bids announced by former government minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary and former prime minister Bello Bouba Maïgari – both long-time supporters of the president. To formalise his bid for candidacy, the incumbent bypassed the traditional preliminary consultations with the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM) leadership, prompting unease within the ruling party. Municipal councillor Léon Theiller Onana has been an outspoken voice of this discontent within his party, filing a legal challenge to Biya's nomination and demanding a party congress. 'This creates a sense among the public that there is a kind of erosion of power linked to Paul Biya's age and his increasingly rare appearances in the public sphere,' Brice Molo, a sociologist and historian at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and the University of Yaoundé, told FRANCE 24's sister station Radio France Internationale. 'His absence is being offset by the prominence of Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, secretary-general to the president, who appears to be the main beneficiary of this new candidacy.' Ngoh Ngoh is set to be the key player in the forthcoming campaign. According to the magazine Jeune Afrique, he has taken the reins of an informal strategic committee charged with calling up the troops and setting the CPDM's electoral machinery in motion. A system that maintains 'national peace' Despite signs that the Biya regime is weakening, it still seems able to silence – or at least push aside – the critical voices to maintain what it calls the 'national peace', said Oyono Mengue. 'The system works by dividing up the 'national cake' – handing out government positions and resources – which helps it keep support across the country,' the expert explains. 'Ethnic factors may also play a role, though the regime calls it 'sociological logic'. Altogether, this creates a kind of consensus. Ordinary people may be struggling, but some still benefit from how the system is set up.' 'Paul Biya remains a unifying figure because his name is associated with the levers of power: the public administration has so far remained fairly loyal, as has the army. He still can reward and punish,' Molo observed. Cameroon is one of the world's leading cocoa exporters and has vast natural resources including oil, gas and valuable hardwoods. According to the World Bank, the African country's GDP grew by 3.5% in 2024, up from 3.2% in 2023, thanks to rising cocoa prices, higher cotton yields and improvements in electricity supply. But despite its natural resources, Cameroon continues to face deep inequalities, and weak infrastructure remains a recurring challenge. Inflation also continues to impact purchasing power, with an official rate of 5% in 2024. The almost 40% of Cameroonians who live below the poverty line increasingly voice their frustration over precarious living conditions and the lack of basic services such as access to clean water and quality healthcare. While the opposition may hope to tap into this social discontent and the desire for change among sections of the youth, who are particularly hard-hit by unemployment, political rivalries make the prospect of uniting behind a challenger unlikely. According to Elecam, the body overseeing electoral processes, nearly 30 presidential applications have already been submitted. With just a few months to go before the vote, negotiations are in full swing between several opposition figures and parties, but no clear consensus has emerged yet. Among the contenders are Cabral Libii, a prominent opposition figure and MP, and law professor Maurice Kamto, a fierce critic of the regime who came second in the 2018 presidential election and is widely seen as one of the few candidates capable of challenging Biya. Kamto, who was a former candidate from the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MRC), is running this time under the banner of the African Movement for New Independence and Democracy (Manidem). The move is aimed at bypassing an electoral law that requires parties to hold seats in parliament or local councils to take part in the presidential race; the MRC boycotted the last legislative and municipal elections in 2020. Several government officials have already challenged this move, saying it breaks the rules, and have asked for Kamto's candidacy to be rejected. A decision is expected in early August with the publication of the final list of candidates.
Fast Company
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Fast Company
Trump l'oeil: How does Trump rate as an artist?
As President Donald Trump considers life after the White House when his term-limited time in office ends in 2029, might he follow the path set by one of his predecessors and make a post-presidency pivot to an art career? Trump's artistic skills are in the spotlight after The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump allegedly contributed a suggestive drawing and lewd poem for Jeffrey Epstein's 50th birthday in 2003. Trump denied having anything to do with the page, but in his denial, he told an undisputable lie: 'I never wrote a picture in my life,' he told The Journal. Trump has, in fact, made many pictures in his life, and the description of the medium used to make the drawing reportedly sent to Epstein—a heavy marker— just so happens to be his medium of choice. Say what you will about the inconsistencies between his words, politics, and actions, but Trump has a consistent, distinctive artistic style. Trump created marker-made doodles showing recurring motifs of city skylines for charity auctions throughout the 2000s, when he hosted NBC's The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentic e. 'It takes me a few minutes to draw something. In my case, it's usually a building or a cityscape of skyscrapers, and then I sign my name. But it raises thousands of dollars to help the hungry in New York through the Capuchin Food Pantries Ministry,' he wrote in his 2008 book, . Far from trompe l'oeil (French for 'fools the eye'), a style in which objects are depicted with photographically realistic detail, one of Trump's doodles of the Empire State Building is filled in with sharp black squiggles that resemble his own sharp, jagged signature, while a 2006 sketch of the George Washington Bridge stands apart from the rest and proves Trump has more artistic skill than he might let on. His sketch of the bridge shows a sense of depth and angles. Viewed as a body of work, most of Trump's sketches are rudimentary and his skylines blocky and simple ('Art may not be my strong point,' he admitted in Trump Never Give Up), but they share an aesthetic. And judging Trump's work alongside the art of other presidents—from presidential doodles to former President George W. Bush's post-presidency oil paintings —it's clear that his style is singular. 'It's sort of surprising that Trump's doodles show a bit of artistic talent,' David Greenberg, a journalism and media studies professor at Rutgers University and author of books including Presidential Doodles, tells Fast Company. 'I'd put him in maybe the top third of presidents in his doodling. Of course, it's hard to say. He's no Herbert Hoover, that's for sure.' The National Archives called Hoover 'among America's greatest doodling presidents.' Is there a market for Trump to make a name for himself as an artist out of office? Still, like with a painting by, say, Khloe Kardashian, Trump's doodles aren't valuable for their artistic merit, but for the artist's famous name. Trump's Empire State Building drawing sold at auction for $100 in 1995 for a charity; by 2017, when he was president, it resold for $16,000. By this measure, Trump's potential value as an artist has never been higher. More famous than ever, Trump could do worse than an art career. The super-early-rate deadline for Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies Awards is this Friday, July 25, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today.
Bloomberg
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Ramaphosa Axes Accused Minister Before South African Budget Vote
South Africa's president ousted his embattled education minister, clearing the path to secure backing from a key coalition partner for crucial budget legislation that's set to go before lawmakers this week. Higher Education and Training Minister Nobuhle Nkabane is being replaced by Buti Manamela, the presidency said in a statement on Monday, without providing reasons for the change. Nkabane has faced allegations of lying to parliament, which she has denied.
BBC News
a day ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Muhammed Babangida accept appointment as BOA chairman?
Recently Nigeria president Bola Tinubu appoint Muhammed Babangida, son of former military head of state General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd) as oga of Bank of Agriculture. Since di appointment, na silence follow as e be like say nothing big don happun. Few days afta di announcement tori burst out for social media say Babangida no gree take di appointment. But Nigerian Presidency say Muhammed Babangida don accept im new appointment as di chairman of di Bank of Agriculture contrary to wetin pipo dey tok. Dis na according to statement wey di President Tinubu special assistant on social media, Dada Olusegun bring come outside. Di statement reveal say, oga Babangida even thank di president say im trust am wit appointment. Oga Olusegun also quote oga Babangida say im "dismiss as lie and malicious, di tori wey dey go around online wey suggest say e reject di appointment. E call am deliberate attempt to mislead kontri pipo and spoil di image of di Tinubu administration". Despite di statement from di presidency, who sign am neva clear. Oga Muhammed Babangida no get any verified social media handle wia e don tok about di appointment. Dis dey come a day afta one statement wey bin dey linked to d pikin of di former head of states, wia e allegedly tok say e reject di appointment sake of say, personal and professional mata wey dey for im plate, e no go fit to accept di role. But di presidential special assistant quote am say im say, "we wan make di public know say di pipo wey dey fake di fake news go dey investigated well-well and dem go dey brought to justice". Muhammed Babangida appointment bin dey part of plenti appointments wey President Tinubu announce on Friday 18 July across goment institutions. E bin dey appointed to di Bank of Agriculture togeda wit Lydia Kalat Musa (Kaduna State) wey get Chairman, Oil and Gas Free Zone Authority (OGFZA) and Jamilu Wada Aliyu (Kano State) wey get Chairman, National Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC). Oda latest appointment na Yahuza Ado Inuwa (Kano State) wey bin get di Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) chairman; and Sanusi Musa (SAN, Kano State) as di Chairman of di Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution(IPCR) Wetin be di Bank of Agriculture? Di Nigerian Bank of Africulture (BOA) Limited bin start as di Nigerian Agricultural Bank (NAB) for 1972 and start operations for 1973. Dem change di name again for 1978 to di Nigeria Agricultural & Co-operative Bank Limited (NACB), den again for 2000 wen dem change di name to di Nigeria Agricultural Cooperative & Rural Development Bank Limited (NACRDB) wen dem bin combine wit di now dead People's Bank of Nigeria (PBN), and di Family Economic Advancement Programme (FEAP). Na until 2010 dem name am di Bank of Agriculture Limited (BOA). E start to carry out di functions of Development Finance Institution (DFI) for di Agricultural and Rural Development sector. Na di Federal goment of Nigeria get am fully and dem own am through di Federal Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) wit 60%:40%. E currently be di biggest agricultural financial institution for Nigeria
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Why Republican Biden fixation may distract from Trump's priorities
The House has launched investigations asserting that Biden's closest advisers covered up a physical and mental decline during the 82-year-old Democrat's presidency. The Senate has started a series of hearings focused on his mental fitness. And Trump's White House has opened its own investigation into the Biden administration's use of the presidential autopen , which Trump has called 'one of the biggest scandals in the history of our country'. It all fits with Trump's practice of blaming his predecessors for the nation's ills. Just last week, he tried to deflect criticism of his administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case by casting blame on others, including Biden. Turning the spotlight back on the former president carries risks for both parties heading into the 2026 midterms. The more Republicans or Democrats talk about Biden, the less they can make arguments about the impact of Trump's presidency – positive or negative – especially his sweeping new tax cut and spending law that is reshaping the federal government. 'Most Americans consider Joe Biden to be yesterday's news,' Republican pollster Whit Ayres said.
