YAOUNDE — Edith Kah Walla was at the front of a crowd of students that welcomed Cameroon's new president Paul Biya on a tour of the US in 1984, full of hope that the young leader would bring stability and democracy, and end corruption. Four decades on, Biya, now the world's oldest leader, turns 90 on Monday (Feb 13). When...
YAOUNDE — Edith Kah Walla was at the front of a crowd of students that welcomed Cameroon's new president Paul Biya on a tour of the US in 1984, full of hope that the young leader would bring stability and democracy, and end corruption.When he cuts a large cake, as he usually does on his birthday, Kah Walla, who was one of Biya's challengers in the 2011 presidential election, will not be celebrating.
After studying in Paris, he returned to Cameroon in 1962 as a top civil servant and quickly rose to become the Prime Minister in 1975. Biya has ruled with openness and tolerance, said former minister Elvis Ngolle Ngolle. Old age, he said, has its advantages. On March 9 last year, unknown assailants bundled him into the back of a car and drove him to an isolated spot near Yaounde airport. They beat him with stones and batons and left him for dead, he said.
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