Nnana editorial marks 44 years of Biya’s Renouveau with praise and criticism

Journalist Marie-Claire Nnana published an editorial titled "Le Renouveau, ses mythes, ses vérités" on 6 November 2026, the 44th anniversary of Paul Biya's accession to the presidency. In the text, she defends the achievements of the Renouveau project and acknowledges difficulties including corruption and shortcomings in governance.

Nnana presents the Renouveau as a project initially founded on political, economic and social liberalisation, rigour in public management and the promotion of fraternal citizenship. She links the programme to Biya's book "Pour le libéralisme communautaire", which she says set out a vision for a democratic, prosperous and united Cameroon. She writes that Biya's arrival in 1982 raised significant hope in the country, including an ambition to transcend ethnic and linguistic divisions to strengthen national cohesion.

She argues that democratisation has become a reality, that the foundations of a solid and diversified economy have been built, and that the Cameroonian nation exists and is proud of its symbols. She cites crises that marked the period, including economic shocks, structural adjustment programmes and what she describes as an armed secession, and writes that these set the country back in several domains.

The editorial is one of several public statements timed to the anniversary. Gregoire Owona, deputy secretary general of the central committee of the Cameroon People's Democratic Rally (RDPC), said on 6 November 2026 that he chose to celebrate 44 years of peace, stability and democratic life under Biya, and that a country is not defined only by its difficulties. Samuel Hiram Iyodi, national president of the Patriotic Movement for the Prosperity of the People (MP3), said the same day that Cameroon had moved from greatness to mediocrity since 6 November 1982, and counted 44 unfulfilled promises.

Biya was sworn in for an eighth seven-year term on 6 November 2025. A year later, commitments to reforms and a new government made at the start of that term remain unfulfilled, and the RDPC has mobilised its structures for the coming elections.

The RDPC's celebrations took place across its party structures on 6 November 2026. The next electoral deadlines, including the legislative and municipal calendar set by the electoral commission, will show whether the party's mobilisation translates into candidate selections and whether the reform commitments are placed before parliament.

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