Fair nothing the Africa Report.

The Africa Report is going to take a different turn for some time to come.

What we're doing is we really want to immerse ourselves into the rest of the continent, both in terms of historical issues, current issues, good and bad.

We'll cover entertainment, will cover politics, will cover big events, will cover music.

You might have profiles every now and again.

I still want to get Angelie Kijo, for example.

So we're going to really really open up the Africa Report to bring you all kinds of interesting things that are happening on the rest of the continent.

But to get us off, we thought we'd have this conversation.

Imagine if P.

W.

Butter was still President of the Republic, because that's who was in charge of South Africa in nineteen eighty two.

For Cameroon, little has changed at the top for the last forty three years.

You know, most Cameroonians have known no other president than Paul Bier the strong Man.

Cause has survived multiple attempts to ask him, including attempted coups, but has clung onto power mostly through the support of the army and sham elections.

Now at ninety two, he's been cleared to run for an eighth term, potentially staying in office until nearly one hundred.

But beneath the official parades and propaganda slogans lies a nation be deviled by poverty, corruption and a battered economy, and yet it is a country that is endowed with oil and agricultural wealth.

We've invited Dr Pippi Hughes, who is in fact based in the capital, Yawunde, is a policy analyst in governance and the Democracy division of the rather than Gufful Policy Institute, and holds a PhD in international law.

Doctor Hughes, thank you so much for your time and welcome to seven or two breakfast.

Thank you, thank you muchable lady for having me.

I've been to Yawunde, I've been to Dullah and I remember the first impression that he hit me as somebody from the southern tip of the continent.

Is just the heat, right, the temperature and the humidity that's almost it smacks your face as you arrive.

But Cameroon is a beautiful country, is it not.

Of course, of course, a very very beautiful country.

Times.

So in terms of climate, a good climatic condition.

We have the dry season and the rainy season, now and only we are moving towards the reigning season.

Talk to me about the early nineteen eighties.

What kind of country did Paul Beer inherit?

Thank you very much once again, BUNGANI.

I think that in the nineties it is when named President Beer came to power, he erted purely a country from President madu Id country.

I was moving towards economic growth, towards economic development.

Agriculture was hot, to speak, the gross domestic product grow in.

In terms of infrastructure, there was high riate of infrastructural development, and there was equally what we call political stability.

In those early years.

What were his biggest political and economic challenges?

Then, I suppose carrying through with that.

In terms of economic challenges, one of the biggest economic challenges we had in those early theaities when the current president came to part the biggest challenge was how to realize this vision that president ide hard.

That is why I went President ba King.

He brought a policy called the Communia Liberalism.

He brought in this policy to see how he could match him to effectively stit into the tools of his predecessor in terms of our political advancement, to discover that when the people of the Grand note where IDEO came from proto Grand not they failed treated when they discovered that they are brought us from the ground.

Nott was manupulated out out of office.

So several attempts were made on the head of state tried to out him.

But he has been very, very vigilant internationals in holding on to power.

So just for context of course, Paul Beer took over from Amadu Ahidra, as you say, and there was some reaction in the early years from those who felt that that had been unjust.

But poorl BIA's group on power was iron clad certainly from the beginning.

But he tried to loosen that group nineteen ninety two the presidential election, where in fact he came quite close to losing that power, didn't he.

Yeah that in the early nineties, well, we had the multi party multiparty politic for work from in Cameroon, because you agree with me that prior to President Paul Bia on idol at this one party system and so in the nineties early nineties cameroone welcome multiparty politics.

And one of the greatest and strongest strong party that emilged to the nineties was the Social Democratic Front to the HDF, which was headed by late Nied John Frundi, and they participated massively in nineteen ninety two presidential elections, which are some analysts, some political scholars, I believe that the HDF won that election.

But you know, in Cameroon it is official election.

Official results are declared by the election management body.

At the end of the day, the election market body declared President the incumbent winner.

But it was a very very tight election.

Well, talk to me about continuing tensions that have their roots.

I suppose in the colonial era what has now been called the Anglophone crisis really the intensions between English and French speaking regions that are now escalated into violence.

Yeah, the Anglophone called the Anglophone crisis or the Anglophone conflict, emerged in twenty in twenty sixteen.

They are been ongoing up close to seven to eight years.

Where hero Cameroon is made up of ten regions and eight of these regions are French speaking, while two of these regions are English speaches, the Northwest Region and the Suddwest regions.

They formed the Anglophone part of Cameroon and they feel the film marginalized out of the film, marginalized, the field, discriminated.

They feel that they adults receiving their unfair quarter of national representation.

And so in twenty sixteen, this conflict emerged with lawyers and teachers taking to the street, lawyers who are advocating for the translation of the Hadda law to English teachers who are completing of marginalization access to our government institutions.

So it started like a protest that has plunged the country into eight years of crisis before it moved into censation demands and stuff like that.

But the central government and here only has been very, very tactful in handling this crisis to ensure that it doesn't escalate beyond where it has been.

All Right, So we're looking at an election coming up in October.

I think it is at ninety two.

The incumbent is seeking another term.

What will that mean for Cameroonians, many of whom who don't remember another president that wasn't called Paul Bea.

Yeah, the country will be going in for presidential elections on the twelfth, twelfth of October at twenty twenty five, and the incumbent is seeking at eight term in office.

You see, basically the problem here is the constitutional reforms that were made in two thousand and eight, because initially these mandates had a limitation.

But in two thousand and eight the constitution was changed to give the president the latitude how to seek re election any time he wishes.

Included the constitution was changed to a seven year mandate eligible for re election.

So that is that was where the problem started.

And as long as is there is surrounded by it's a term as all that gives him that push to always a claim to pass.

The problem we are having in terms of this election is that the populice the majority of Cameroonians.

For us to effectively effect change, we must get involved in the process.

Camaron is a country of about tighten million people, but if you look at the electoral register, just eight million people have registered to take part in this election, which is a very very insignificant number.

Just as to show if you don't participate in your democracy, then the results are difficult to complain about.

Doctor P.

P.

Hughes speaking to us from Yawunda, consultant in governance in that part of the continent, a ninety two year old seeking yet another term after forty three years at the Helm, I said earlier, can you imagine PW.

Water still being president of this country?