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Money in the pipeline

Biya still looks like the only show in town but critics keep the loyalists on their toes

With first oil from the Chad-Cameroon pipeline set to reach Kribi port in September, this new source of revenue will come at a perfect time for President Paul Biya to seek re-election in October 2004. He has not yet made his intentions clear but the disarray of the opposition appears to leave the way open for him to sweep the board once again though even the ruling Rassemblement Démocratique du Peuple Camerounais (RDPC) is not immune to dissent (AC Vol 43 No 17). Biya owes his hold on power to a north-south (or Peul-Béti) alliance of the same kind used by the country's first President, Ahmadou Ahidjo and the northern vote is key to giving him another seven-year term as President. There has been speculation that Biya, now 70, may not serve a full term, though....

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Money in the pipeline

Biya still looks like the only show in town but critics keep the loyalists on their toes

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