Cameroon’s silent unraveling

Jean Pierre Bekolo’s recent commentary doesn’t merely predict Cameroon’s future—it chronicles its present unraveling. The filmmaker argues that beneath the surface of daily politics, the nation is already experiencing the first tremors of a power vacuum that will only deepen when President Paul Biya eventually departs the political stage.

The signs are unmistakable: the erosion of institutional legitimacy, the proliferation of shadow networks operating above the law, and the growing inability of state institutions to fulfill their basic functions. What makes Bekolo’s warning particularly chilling is that these developments aren’t occurring in some distant future—they’re happening right now, in broad daylight.

The fading shadow of authority

Even in his advanced age and diminished physical presence, President Biya’s symbolic authority has remained the only force capable of maintaining a fragile cohesion among Cameroon’s competing power centers. His absence—whether physical or political—has exposed a harsh truth: no successor possesses comparable legitimacy.

Every day brings fresh examples of this reality. High-ranking officials who should command respect instead face public skepticism and outright ridicule. Questions swirl around the true centers of power—not the state institutions, but the inner circles surrounding certain elites. When a Minister of Mines casually dismisses national gold reserves as mere speculation, citizens see through the facade: Cameroon’s wealth is being diverted away from collective benefit.

The institutional collapse nobody dares name

The Constitutional Council’s validation of contentious political maneuvers has further eroded public trust in what should be the nation’s highest judicial body. Meanwhile, ministries that once functioned—however imperfectly—now appear paralyzed, incapable of addressing citizens’ daily struggles while their leaders cling to privileges that have long outlasted their usefulness.

Consider the proliferation of acting appointments and permanent delegations, where the line between presidential decisions and those of his entourage becomes indistinguishable. When a constitutional reform extends parliamentary mandates beyond legal limits to create a vice-presidential position, the message is clear: the system is operating by decree, not by rule of law.

These aren’t isolated incidents—they form a coherent pattern. Each reveals the same truth: Cameroon’s institutions are failing because they were never designed to function without Paul Biya’s symbolic presence.

The chaos nobody wants to acknowledge

Bekolo’s analysis cuts to the heart of what many Cameroonians sense but struggle to articulate: the coming chaos won’t come from opposition forces or foreign interference—it will emerge from the collapse of a system that has exhausted its capacity to govern.

The warning signs are everywhere:

• Public finances will become a battleground as competing factions fight over dwindling resources
• Every decision will be met with immediate suspicion and legal challenges
• Every appointment will be contested by those excluded from power
• Every succession will spark violent confrontations between rival factions

These aren’t predictions of some distant dystopia—they’re descriptions of processes already underway. The only remaining question is how much longer Cameroonians will tolerate a system that produces only paralysis and resentment.

The only path forward: responsible departure

Bekolo doesn’t call for revolution. Instead, he advocates for what he terms a responsible historical departure—a voluntary withdrawal from power by those who recognize their time has passed. His prescription has three essential components:

1. A transitional government with a strictly limited mandate to restore basic functionality to state institutions
2. A constitutional reset to rebuild trust and establish new rules that reflect Cameroonian realities
3. Proper elections conducted with integrity and transparency

The alternative—a desperate scramble to prolong a failing system through backroom deals and constitutional manipulations—will only accelerate the chaos everyone fears. Every secret meeting, every shadowy arrangement, every attempt to circumvent the people’s will through legal trickery deepens the crisis rather than resolving it.

History will judge harshly those who choose to cling to power when their time has passed. The only path to avoid national collapse is through an orderly transition conducted in full view of the Cameroonian people.

There is no alternative.