Cameroon’s vice presidency, restored by Law No. 2026/002 on April 14, remains unfilled more than a month after President Paul Biya returned to the country, and no new cabinet has been named. The prolonged inaction has turned an institutional question into a national test of transparency, constitutional mandate and the president’s control over the timing of appointments.
Biya, 93, arrived back in Cameroon on August 20 after roughly 10 weeks abroad. His absence had fuelled speculation about his health and whereabouts, including unverified claims that he had died. The expectation that his return would trigger a reshuffle has so far gone unmet: as of October 6, no new government had been appointed, and the vice presidency created by constitutional amendment remains vacant.
The legal framework is clear on paper. Under the April law, parliamentarians restored the vice presidency abolished in 1972, giving the president the power to appoint and dismiss a vice president. The amendment provides that if the presidency becomes vacant through death, resignation or permanent incapacity, the vice president assumes the office on an interim basis and serves the remainder of the seven-year term under conditions set out in the Constitution. The reform thus establishes a formal succession mechanism. But it leaves the activation of that mechanism entirely to Biya, and it sets no deadline for filling the post.
That gap between legal architecture and political practice is where public anxiety has concentrated. In his December 31, 2025, address to the nation, Biya promised a new government would be formed “in the coming days”. More than nine months later, the promise has not materialised. Elvis Mbi, a 39-year-old Yaounde resident who listens to the state broadcaster’s flagship radio bulletin every weekday at 5pm in hopes of an announcement, said every Cameroonian expected a change of government upon the president’s return, but nothing has happened. “We all know the president needs assistance in order to execute state duties and that’s why we are anxiously waiting for the appointment, but nothing has happened yet to our greatest dismay,” he told Al Jazeera.
Meanwhile, a disputed document purporting to appoint a vice president surfaced in June, when an individual delivered a sealed envelope to Cameroon Radio Television (CRTV) in Yaounde. According to a government statement published by the state newspaper Cameroon Tribune on July 1, the document appeared to bear the official seals of the presidency and a signature attributed to Biya. CRTV did not broadcast its contents. The government said the decree had not been issued through the proper official process and confirmed that the individual had been detained and that an investigation was under way. The episode underscores the stakes of a post that exists in law but not yet in fact.
Governance analysts warn that the vacuum carries consequences beyond palace politics. Jude Mutah, a Washington-based governance and democracy expert and director of member relations at the Corporate Council on Africa, said the attention paid to the evening bulletin reflects public expectations of political change, and that in the absence of clear information, rumours gain traction. Cabral Libii, leader of the Cameroon Party for National Reconciliation and an opposition figure in the 2025 presidential election, has argued publicly that the appointment matters for stability itself. “The vice presidency is not just another administrative post to be filled. Appointing your vice president means securing your leadership,” Libii said in a public appeal, adding that a vice president of that calibre could help mitigate the succession struggles currently paralysing collective action.
The institutional drift is also being felt in economic and policy circles. Jason Healy, a sub-Saharan Africa country risk analyst at BMI, part of Fitch Solutions, said uncertainty over political leadership could weigh on investor confidence and discourage commitment to large, long-term projects. He suggested the delay may be a political calculation by Biya, preserving his control over the timing and composition of any changes. Mbi Aziseh Azimboh, executive director of the Policy Lab for Civic Innovation and Community Solutions (POLITICOS), said prolonged uncertainty could slow government decision-making and delay reforms and public policies.
The government, for its part, has defended the president’s prerogative. In an August interview with RFI, Communication Minister and government spokesperson Rene Emmanuel Sadi said Biya had the authority to form a new government and determine when to do so. “It is surely quite normal for him to take his time when entrusting such a high office to one of his fellow citizens,” Sadi said. Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, a former minister and coordinator of the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement’s academy, acknowledged that citizens’ concerns were legitimate but maintained that the constitutional prerogative to act belongs to the president alone. The presidency did not respond to an Al Jazeera request for comment.
The leadership questions unfold as Cameroon confronts a separatist conflict in its English-speaking regions and an armed rebellion linked to Boko Haram around the Lake Chad Basin, raising the cost of a stalled centre of executive authority. For now, citizens continue to wait for an official word that has not come. “No one knows anything any more. It is so disheartening when I tune in each time but don’t get the big news,” Mbi said. As coverage of the standoff continues, readers can follow the reporting at https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/17/cameroonians-await-government-reshuffle-after-biyas-return, where the gap between constitutional design and presidential timing remains the central story. Whether Biya moves before the next scheduled bulletin, or lets the vacancy stretch further into the year, is the open question now facing the institutions he alone controls.