Cameroon: government bans debate on president’s state of health

Paul Atanga Nji, Cameroon’s Minister of Territorial Administration formally, forbids any discussion of President Paul Biya’s state of health.

Amid rumors of the death of Cameroon’s president, his government has banned any discussion of his state of health.

Paul Atanga Nji, Cameroon’s Minister of Territorial Administration, denounced rumors whose unhealthy aim is to disturb the peace of Cameroonians, sow confusion and doubt in people’s minds, with a view to plunging the country into uncertainty.

Paul Atanga Nji thus instructs each Governor to set up monitoring cells within his or her relevant departments, responsible for monitoring and recording all broadcasts and debates in the private media, and for identifying the authors of tendentious comments, including those acting via social networks.

“Any debate in the media on the state of the President of the Republic is therefore formally prohibited. Offenders will face the full force of the law,” he wrote.

Paul Biya left Cameroon at the beginning of September to take part in the Sino-African Economic Forum. Since then, he has not been heard from again, although several sources report that he is in a critical condition.