The Presidency of the Republic has sparked further controversy by successively appointing two different representatives of head of state Paul Biya, for the inauguration of Fecafoot’s new headquarters, scheduled for May 13, 2026.
This is reminiscent of the incident in early May, when Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute, initially designated to represent President Paul Biya at the inauguration of the Libreville Convention Center in Gabon, was replaced at the last minute by the Minister of External Relations, while the Head of Government was already at Yaoundé Nsimalen International Airport, ready to board his flight.
In the case of the Fecafoot inauguration, a letter marked “very urgent,” signed on May 12 by the Director of the Presidential Cabinet, designates the Minister of Sports to represent the Head of State, while another letter marked “very urgent/confidential,” signed by the same Director of the Cabinet, designates the Prime Minister. A public debate arose from these two letters, without it being specified which one superseded the other. Ultimately, the choice of the Prime Minister was confirmed on the midnight news on state television.
In any case, these two letters have reignited the debate about the increasingly frequent inconsistencies in government coordination.
Observers say it exposes the reality of leadership vacuum at the helm of the state.