Betrayal and Belly Politics Behind Biya’s "Phantom Government"

A Stolen Mandate Wrapped in Bureaucracy

At the top of the list sits Manaouda Malachie as Prime Minister and Head of Government—one of the few ministers whose record during the pandemic was defined by opacity, procurement scandals, and selective discipline. Around him cluster the usual courtiers: Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh at Foreign Affairs, Joseph Béti Assomo retaining Defence, and René Sadi rebranded as Minister of Transparency—a title as cynical as it is self-incriminating.

This is not a cabinet born of an election; it is an insurance policy for a regime that no longer trusts its own shadow.

“Opposition” for Hire

Even more alarming are the names of supposed opposition figures quietly inserted into the line-up. Joshua Osih—once touted as a reformist voice—is pencilled in as Minister of Labour. Cabral Libii appears as Minister of Youth and Civic Education. If true, these inclusions expose a rotten bargain: opposition leaders swapping outrage for office, conviction for convenience.

It raises the question every Cameroonian is asking: were they ever opposition at all, or just actors in Biya’s long political play?

The Anatomy of Co-option

For four decades, Biya’s survival has rested on one formula—absorb, neutralise, recycle. The leaked “unity” cabinet simply extends that logic. By co-opting his loudest critics, the regime hopes to smother dissent beneath the banner of reconciliation. It is not reconciliation; it is ingestion. Those who enter this government are not partners—they are prisoners with protocol.

Expert Analysis – Echoes of Decay

Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Tibor Nagy once described Biya’s Cameroon as “a gerontocracy clinging to power through fear and favor.” This list is precisely that: an atlas of fear and favor. It shows how the system feeds on the ambition of its critics, offering stomachs where there should be spines. No nation renewed itself by rewarding those who pretend to oppose while plotting to join.

Cameroon’s institutions have been turned into lifeboats for the same crew that sank the ship. The country deserves leaders who build bridges, not backdoors into the palace.

Verification and Risk

Cameroon Concord has reviewed the document’s metadata and cross-checked ministerial titles with Presidency sources. While the file’s authenticity remains unconfirmed, its layout and terminology mirror genuine presidential draft decrees. Multiple senior officials privately admit that names were “indeed under discussion.” If fabricated, it was crafted by someone inside the machine. Either way, it reveals how little faith remains in Cameroon’s electoral process or in the regime’s ability to renew itself honestly.

The Bigger Picture

Forty-plus years into Biya’s rule, Cameroon has become a theatre of managed crisis and manufactured consent. This leak pulls the curtain back: a stolen mandate prepared in advance, a cabinet of cronies and co-opted critics, and a nation trapped between fear and fatigue.

The real question is no longer who governs, but who still believes any of it. Cameroon’s so-called unity government is unity only for those feeding at its table.